I used to love watching Nick at Nite. I was trained from an early age to be a classic movie lover, so I found watching old shows like My Three Sons and I Love Lucy really appealing. The Nick at Nite advertisements were also usually hilarious. They had segments on “How to Be Swell,” as well as great show promos, and every once in a while they’d make up words to a familiar TV theme. I clearly remember the words to the Dick Van Dyke tune:
Dick Van Dyke is Robert Petrie,
He comes in, hugs Laura,
and accidentally trips over that thing.
But sometimes he doesn’t do it,
because they changed it,
instead he skirts it with a nifty step.
And in yet another version,
He clears the ottoman,
But ironically he stumbles on the rug.
After that, Rob and Sally and Buddy shake hands,
The episode title comes on (obscuring Richie’s head),
And notice Rob shakes hands with Buddy again.
Frankly, I’m pretty sad about the shift in Nick at Nite’s programming. They’ve changed from classic TV shows to what they call “Modern TV Classics,” such as Roseanne, Full House, Home Improvement, and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. There’s nothing wrong with (most of) the shows that are currently running on Nick at Nite, but the network executives seem to have abandoned their original vision of Nick at Nite. I can see “Fresh Prince” reruns on TBS, but where are they showing old Donna Reed episodes?
Here’s a compilation video of some of the old show promos for Nick at Nite (late 1980s). Enjoy!
