ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, December 23, 1995 TAG: 9512260001
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES
SOURCE: BOB THOMAS ASSOCIATED PRESS
You never know where you're going to find a TV series company nowadays. From the yacht harbor at Marina Del Rey to horse country in Valencia, they are tucked away in the oddest places.
``Diagnosis Murder,'' now back on the CBS schedule Fridays starring Dick Van Dyke, can be found adjacent to Van Nuys Airport in an abandoned warehouse. It has all the facilities of a film plant, but without the weighty overhead that goes with occupancy at a major studio.
The other day Van Dyke as Dr. Mark Sloan could be found rehearsing a scene set in a murdered woman's apartment. For a practicing physician, Doc Sloan certainly encounters a lot of murders. But then, so does the mystery novelist Jessica Fletcher.
``The concept of this show requires you to shelve your credibility as you watch it,'' Van Dyke said. ``I'm a doctor, Victoria Rowell is a doctor in a big hospital, and we're never there. We're always out chasing criminals, solving and sleuthing.
``I think people don't mind that at all. I think we fill a niche. We don't have a lot of gratuitous violence or sex; it's a family show. The murder mystery is a time-honored formula. Nobody minds if there's a murder every week.''
``Diagnosis: Murder'' opened its third season Dec. 8 after CBS tried out a couple of sitcoms and failed. A resurrected crime show, ``Due South,'' took over the 8 p.m. hour once belonging to ``Diagnosis Murder,'' which now appears at 9 p.m. (on WDBJ-Channel 7). ``Picket Fences'' moved up to 10 p.m. replacing ``American Gothic'' which was placed on hold.
Van Dyke retired to his trailer outside the stage and ruminated about how he had been dragged into yet another series in a career of more than 40 years in television.
``This is ridiculous,'' he sighed. ``I said to somebody: `This business is as hard to get out of as it is to get into.' It's incredible.''
His experience harks back to the first ``Dick Van Dyke Show'' (not the classic with Mary Tyler Moore) which he did in New Orleans circa 1954.
``I've been involved with this show five years now,'' Van Dyke said. It doesn't seem possible. It was five years ago January that we did the spinoff from `Jake and the Fat Man.'
``I said to [producer and former network chief] Freddie Silverman, `I don't want to do an hour series, not at my age.' He said, `No, it's just a spinoff. Help me sell it, then you're outta there.' I said OK.
``First we did a two-hour movie, then another. Then I got my son involved [Barry Van Dyke plays the detective son]. I said, `This is a good deal: maybe three movies-of-the-week a year. Nothing to it.' All of a sudden they turned it into a series.
``Then I said, `It can't last.' Now we're in our third season, we've got enough to go into syndication, and it shows no sign of dying.''
Van Dyke grumbles laughingly, but it's obvious he enjoys working with his son. Barry, a tall, good-looking man of 44, joined the interview. His father turned 70 this month, his white hair and mustache belying his unflagging energy.
How did he feel about son, Barry, becoming an actor?
``I think it's great.'' the father replied. ``I neither encouraged nor discouraged any of my children. They grew up knowing what it is.''
``Yeah, but we judged by `The Dick Van Dyke Show,''' Barry interjected. ``We thought, `Hey, this is a good line of work to go into; these people are enjoying themselves.' Then we found out it isn't all like that.
``I started out kinda quick, got easy contracts and did pilots, but I've certainly had ups and downs.''
Dick Van Dyke claims to be ``not gifted with a lot of drive,'' yet this season he has taken on the duty of executive producer, along with three others. He advises on casting and scripts, ``but just keeping alert and energetic through the working days are plenty for me.
``Out of deference to my age, I only work four days a week, not five. So it does give me a chance to get my energy back.''
He starts working out in the gym at 6 a.m. three days a week, saying it's ``the only way I can stay ambulatory. I've gotten arthritic in my old age. I took so many pratfalls in my time that my spine looks like the Colorado River.''
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Dick Van Dyke (clockwise from front center), Charlieby CNBSchlotter, Barry Van Dyke, Michael Tucci and Virginia Rowell star in
"Diagnosis Murder" Friday at 9 p.m. on WDBJ-Channel 7. color.