How Could Rob Petrie Actually Afford A House In New Rochelle? [Dick Van Dyke Show]

The Dick Van Dyke Show put Rob Petrie in a $27,990 New Rochelle house on a head writer's salary. So why was he filing for unemployment, and why was his accountant telling him to cut back? We put real 1960s dollars on Rob and Laura Petrie to find out. Rob made six or seven times what an ordinary family made. His house cost six years of an ordinary family's income. And every summer, his paycheck stopped. Spotlight Moments: - Carl Reiner builds the Petries' house on his own real street, Bonnie Meadow Road - Rob, the new head writer, files for unemployment when Alan Brady goes dark for the summer - Rob panics over a blank check he knows could bounce at a literary fundraiser - Laura saves $300 out of the grocery money to buy Rob a sports car - Rob goes to bat for Buddy and Sally over a raise, and walks out with 15% for himself while they get nothing - Procter and Gamble saves the show from cancellation after it finishes season one ranked 80th Classic TV sold us the polished suburban dream. When you put real prices behind the Petries (the mortgage, the station wagon, the $2,500 ransom for a lost script), you see a family one bad summer away from trouble. Behind the camera, Dick Van Dyke owned part of the show. Rob Petrie was just an employee. 00:00 Rob's Money Problems 01:17 The Real Rob Petrie 02:04 Casting Dick Van Dyke 02:52 Rob's Real Salary 03:44 The $27,990 House 04:51 The Unemployment Summer 06:18 Buddy's $25 Debt 06:51 The Pool Hustler 07:17 Laura's Secret Bankbook 08:02 Dizzy Land Party 08:22 The $2,500 Script 08:44 Laura's Working Wife 09:29 Sally Rogers' Paycheck 09:50 The Raise Strike 10:42 Soap Saves the Show 11:34 The Cast's Real Pay 12:37 Could Rob Afford It Tap like if you grew up with Rob, Laura, Buddy and Sally, and subscribe for more classic TV money breakdowns. Share this with the friend who still quotes the ottoman gag. Now tell us in the comments: could Rob Petrie really afford that life in New Rochelle, or was he living beyond his means? #DickVanDykeShow #ClassicTV #RobPetrie #MaryTylerMoore #CarlReiner #1960sTV #TVHistory #NewRochelle Before television had color, it had characters we never forgot. TV Life Black & White celebrates classic black-and-white television, from the laughs of I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners to the mysteries of The Twilight Zone and the dusty streets of Gunsmoke. Rediscover your favorite shows through behind-the-scenes stories, memorable moments, and a closer look at the lives those characters lived. Could they really afford those homes? How realistic were those picture-perfect families? And what did we miss when we watched the first time? From sitcoms and Westerns to crime dramas and science fiction, these shows still give us plenty to talk about. Subscribe, settle into your favorite chair, and revisit a world that never needed color to come alive. https://www.youtube.com/@TVLifeBlackWhite?sub_confirmation=1 Subscribe to Our Sister Channel in Color TV Life YT: https://www.youtube.com/@TVLIfeYT?sub_confirmation=1