Remember that great episode of “The Dick Van Dyke Show?” I know: I have to be more specific than that. Laura Petrie (Mary Tyler Moore) has her portrait painted as a special gift for husband Rob (Dick Van Dyke). She is wearing a smart black blouse and slacks that he particularly favors, but the quirky artist paints her as nude. Of course, we never see the painting, but the fact was made very obvious. Incensed when she finally sees the finished painting, Laura destroys it by smearing it with paint and runs out of the studio in a huff. Except it isn’t destroyed. It’s hard to relate today how avant-garde this script was on network television in the 1960’s. It is what made “The Dick Van Dyke Show” ground-breaking and popular. So what happened next? Well, it’s a long story, but I’ve always thought Rob would have been quite pleased to have the artist’s version. I guess 60’s television wasn’t quite ready for that.
