Dick Van Dyke's 10 Greatest Movies and TV Shows

Mary Poppins (1964)

Arguably the most beloved kids’ film of all time, Disney's Mary Poppins is a candy-colored balm of sheer song-and-dance exuberance. It's a cure for what ails regardless of your age. Julie Andrews, of course, stars as the parasol-toting British nanny with a magical air of infectiously plummy whimsy as she transforms the boring lives of her new charges into a rejuvenated household full of high adventure and showstopping joy. Meanwhile, Van Dyke as a chimney sweep named Bert gets to trot out a laughable cockney accent and steal the screen whenever he turns up covered head to toe in soot. You could say that he and the rest of the film are “practically perfect in every way."

Watch it: Mary Poppins, on Amazon Prime, Disney+, Fandango Now, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)

As hard as it may be to believe, this runner-up to Mary Poppins in the kids’ classic department was penned by none other than Ian Fleming, the man who created James Bond. Although, if you think about it, it kind of makes sense, since the film's wacky inventions could have easily been cooked up by MI6's Q branch. Van Dyke has a ball here as the oddball tinkerer Caractacus Potts, who regales two young kids with a tale about the villainous Baron Bomburst and his evil plan to get his hands on Potts’ magical, splendiferous car, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. If the movie's late ‘60s special effects haven't aged all that well, its message remains timelessly innocent and charming.

Watch it: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, on Amazon Prime, Fandango Now, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube

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The Carol Burnett Show (1977)

Beginning in 1967 and running for a staggering 11 seasons, The Carol Burnett Show quickly became the gold standard of television variety shows in an era with no shortage of them. Thanks to her brilliant repertory company of regular players (Tim Conway, Harvey Korman, Lyle Waggoner and Vicki Lawrence), the show was the smartest, silliest showcase for sketch comedy on the dial — at least until Saturday Night Live debuted in 1975. Van Dyke was a late addition to Burnett's stable (he filled in when Korman left in 1977), but the TV veteran proved to be a natural at the conceptually ambitious, loosey-goosey, let's-put-on-a-show vibe that turned the program into a decade-long hit.

Watch it: The Crol Burnett Show, on Amazon Prime

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Dick Tracy (1990)

Warren Beatty's vibrant, stylized homage to the classic ‘40s comic-strip detective remains an underrated gem that was too quickly dismissed when it hit theaters. As the yellow-trenchcoated hero, Beatty (who also directed and produced the film) checks his ego and lets his supporting players shine. Whether it's Al Pacino as the grotesque villain Big Boy, Madonna as the aptly named lounge singer Breathless Mahoney or Van Dyke as the politically ambitious district attorney Fletcher, they all turn this eye-candy slice of pulp fiction into a delirious Day-Glo fever dream.

Watch it: Dick Tracy, on Amazon Prime, Fandango Now, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube

Diagnosis: Murder (1993-2001)

After The Golden Girls and Murder She Wrote proved that TV shows aimed at grownups could be smart, funny and well-plotted (not to mention ratings magnets), Van Dyke returned to the small screen for this weekly mystery series set at the generically named Community General Hospital, where his snowy-haired Dr. Mark Sloan presided over both the young staff and a nonstop spate of seemingly unsolvable whodunits. Aided by his off-screen son Barry Van Dyke, who plays his on-screen son, a homicide detective, Sloan is a bit like Angela Lansbury's Jessica Fletcher with a stethoscope instead of a typewriter. What made the show so addictive is that regardless of who actually dunit, it was always a pleasure to spend an hour in the company of Van Dyke in a lab coat.

Watch it: Diagnosis: Murder, on Fubo, Sling

Night at the Museum (2006)

In this fun-for-all-ages blockbuster starring Ben Stiller as a night watchman at New York City's Museum of Natural History, where the exhibits come to life after hours, Van Dyke plays Cecil Fredericks, an elderly security guard partnered with Mickey Rooney, who turns crankiness into an art form. While the film is loaded with cheeky star turns (Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Ricky Gervais, etc.), there's something about Van Dyke's passing of the flashlight torch to Stiller that gives this fantasy free-for-all some heart and warmth. Sure, the special effects are great, but Van Dyke turns out to be the film's secret weapon.

Watch it: Night at the Museum, on Amazon Prime, Disney+, Fandango Now, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube

Mary Poppins Returns (2018)

Many questioned the wisdom of Disney messing with one of its most cherished celluloid classics when this reboot was announced. And while it never quite measures up to the Julie Andrews original (although Emily Blunt is excellent as the new Poppins), it is at its very best when it nods to its predecessor. Take Van Dyke's cameo as a rich eccentric who dazzles with a sprightly song-and-dance number with the athleticism and twinkle of a man half his age. It's a pure blast of happiness. In fact, you could say it's the spoonful of sugar that makes the rest of Mary Poppins Returns go down.

Watch it: Mary Poppins Returns, on Amazon Prime, Disney+, Fandango Now, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube