Video: 'The Dick Van Dyke Show S1E01 The Sick Boy and the Sitter'

(Tuesday, October 3, 1961, 8:00 p.m. EDT) — Comedy writer Rob Petrie talks his wife Laura into leaving their “sick” son Richie with a babysitter while they attend a big party on tonight’s debut episode of the American television sitcom series The Dick Van Dyke Show on CBS.

Created by Carl Reiner, the series centered on the work and home life of television comedy writer Rob Petrie. It starred Dick Van Dyke (as Petrie), Mary Tyler Moore, Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam, Larry Mathews and Richard Deacon.

In 2002, the series was ranked at 13 on TV Guide‘s “50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time” and in 2013 it was ranked at 20 on their list of the 60 Best Series.