Dick Van Dyke News

MUSICAL extravaganza Chitty Chitty Bang Bang flies into Hanley from Tuesday, November 17.

Ok, we can see the appeal of a Murder, She Wrote game for a few people out there.

The writings of a comic genius are back in book form By KEITH LORIA Hour Correspondent Ask anyone who has ever been involved in the comedy world -- from Mel Brooks to Steve Martin to George Clooney -- and they'll tell you that Carl Reiner has one of the best comedic minds of all time.

MICHELLE Triola Marvin, whose landmark alimony-without-marriage court case against the Dirty Dozen actor Lee Marvin, her former boyfriend, helped lead to the concept of ''palimony'' settlements for unmarried partners, has died of lung cancer at home in Malibu.

Eccentric inventors were once the stuff of romantic comedy. Today they're the object of derision, anger and possible six-year jail sentences.

Forget Simon Cowell's put-downs - he's a pussycat compared with the heckling faced by the acts on Britain's Got Talent, 1903.

I don't think that Tim Burton's lavish remake is going to diminish the appeal of 1971's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory , a charming, smartly realized film version of Roald Dahl's popular children's book.

In a rare moment of curiosity, a recent World Council of Churches visitor at a North Korean Potemkin-style government-run church in Pyongyang apparently asked why no children were present.

Seen on Broadway: It's damning a show with faint praise to say that it's somewhat better than its bad reviews, but the first-ever Broadway revival of Bye Bye Birdie is somewhat better than its bad reviews.

"Once upon a time's gotta count for something." - Zloz to Hank Ah, the old friend from back home trick.

I liked England better when it had flying cars and there were Rube Goldberg machines to help with breakfast.

Carl Reiner, the famed writer, producer, and actor, has recently released two books, a children's story and a novel.

If it wasn't for Carl Reiner's older brother Charlie, "Your Show of Shows" would have been missing one of its funniest regulars, there would be no "2,000 Year-Old Man" routines with Mel Brooks, and no classic sitcom series "The Dick Van Dyke Show." Seventy-one years ago, Reiner was working for $10 a week as a shipping clerk in the garment industry ...

The Broadway revival of musical Bye Bye Birdie has been panned by New York's theater critics - who have dubbed the John Stamos and Gina Gershon-starring revenue "boneheaded." Ouch.

Robert Barron wants to make a clean sweep of things. He's a one-man operation for his business, The Nutcracker Sweep, in the Village of Montgomery.

The musical was a huge hit in New York in the 1960s, starring Dick Van Dyke in the lead role - but the new adaptation could be shortlived after a savage reception to Thursday's opening night.

Amaryllis in ''The Music Man'' on Broadway : '' Dick Van Dyke was Harold Hill and Christian Slater was Winthrop A A... It was so exciting, my first big professional gig.

No, Meryl Streep 's name is nowhere near this list. But if you click on this survey , you'll find no fewer than two Brad Pitt performances , a legendarily bad Cockney accent by Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins , plus a Leonardo DiCaprio turn that actually nabbed an Oscar nomination.

I was surprised to read that Joel Benson, the US pollster, was urging Labour to adopt an anti-Tory toffs strategy in the general election.

With Old Man Winter breathing down our necks, Hillsboro Fire & Rescue says it's a good time to have Dick Van Dyke climb your roof.