Friday, March 27, 2015

"It May Look Like a Walnut" - The Dick Van Dyke Show

In this season 2 episode, The Dick Van Dyke Show meets The Twilight Zone, or rather, the Twylo Zone. "It May Look Like a Walnut" (episode 21, Feb. 1963) is among one of the most popular episodes and one of my personal favorites, though at the time the producer, Sheldon Leonard did not think it would go over well. Reiner was obsessed with The Twilight Zone at the time, which is why he wanted to do the episode.

Rob watch's a scary, late-nite movie

He covers up Laura's head so she doesn't have to listen to the scary music

Rob does an impersonation the Twylo-ite in the movie, Kolak,
who just happens to look like Danny Thomas (with a British accent)!

Rob explains how Twylo-ites have 4 eyes

I know a funny thing! A near-sighted turtle falling in love with an army helmet!

Rob finds the reminder that Danny Thomas is this weeks' guest star

Walnut filled with absorbatron

What is a Danny Thomas?

The famous scene, done in one take so the crew wouldn't have to put all the walnuts back in the closet.
 
Fun Fact: The thousands of walnuts used for the scene of Laura descending from the closet were supplied to the show by walnut wholesalers. Dick Van Dyke recalled that the actors and crew were allowed to eat as many walnuts as they wanted -- eventually causing many of them intestinal problems from over-consumption of the low-fiber nut meat. After the show, the producers returned any unbroken walnuts to the wholesalers -- most of which ended up on store shelves.

 
Rob: Laura...
 
Laura: My name is not Laura. It's Lolak. Lolak of Twilo. [parting the hair on the back of her head toward Rob] I SEE yooooou!
 
 
Rob: Oh, what a nightmare! What a night... I dreamed that I was a Twylo-ite. And I lost my sense of humor and my thumbs! [looking at his thumbs] Oh! [kisses them fervently]
 
Laura: I dreamt that Danny Thomas was chasing me and throwing walnuts at me, and every place he'd hit me I'd lose a thumb and grow an eye!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Watch the episode for free on Hulu. Also on Netflix.

IMDb

At Least One Thing You Didn't Know About the Dick Van Dyke Show

Spooky Dick Van Dyke Show Episodes - great description of the episode

If you like this post you may also like my other Classic Television related posts:

The Mary Tyler Moore Show

June's Dresses in "Leave it to Beaver" and Before She Became June...

Occasional Wife

Coming Soon: TV Show House Blueprints

Also, be sure to check out my list of Favorite TV Shows (above) and my classic movie blog, Phyllis Loves Classic Movies.

 
This post is part of the Favourite TV Show Episode Blogothon hosted by Shroud of Thoughts. Be sure to check out the other entries!

Thanks for looking!
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9 comments:

  1. A Candle to Read ByMarch 27, 2015 at 8:37 PM

    This is such a great, great show, and this episode is certainly one of the best. Although I have seen the episode recently, I remember seeing it as a little girl. Isn't this the episode with the water cooler scene? Thanks for the post!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Steve BaileyMarch 28, 2015 at 5:22 AM

    Kinda strange that a showrunner (Carl Reiner) who was so insistent on using life-like situations as the basis for his comedy would go so over-the-top here. But I agree, it's a hysterical episode. Great write-up!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Caftan WomanMarch 28, 2015 at 8:26 AM

    To this day I never pass the walnut bin at the store without thinking about Kolak!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Terence Towles CanoteMarch 29, 2015 at 2:08 PM

    This is one of the funnest episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show, primarily because Carl Reiner managed to do a riff on science fiction without departing from the show's true-to-life tone. It has always been one of my favourites!

    Thank you for taking part in the blogathon!

    ReplyDelete
  5. W.B. ReevesSeptember 18, 2015 at 1:05 AM

    It's a favorite of mine. I find it particularly interesting that it has such parallels to Invasion of the Body Snatchers since Richard Deacon (Mel Cooley) had an uncredited but significant role in that film.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PhylSeptember 20, 2015 at 12:21 PM

      I haven't seen the "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." I guess I'll have to watch it and then re-watch this!

      Delete

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