The Dick Van Dyke Show was preceded by a 1960 pilot for a series to be called Head of the Family, filmed at Gold Medal Studios, with a different cast, although the characters were essentially the same, except for the absence of Mel Cooley. In the pilot, Carl Reiner, who created the show based on his own experiences as a TV writer, played Robbie Petrie. Laura Petrie was played by Barbara Britton, Buddy Sorrell by Morty Gunty, Sally Rogers by Sylvia Miles, Ritchie by Gary Morgan, and Alan Sturdy, the Alan Brady character, was played by Jack Wakefield, although his face was never fully seen, which was also the case with Carl Reiner's Alan Brady for the first three seasons of The Dick Van Dyke Show.

Broadcast on CBS as an episode of the summer anthology series The Comedy Spot on July 19, 1960, the pilot was unsuccessful. Producer Sheldon Leonard later saw Reiner's script and concluded that the show could be successful if the character Reiner played, Rob Petrie, was recast with a different actor. Reiner reworked the show with Dick Van Dyke playing the central character (who went by Rob, not "Robbie", and pronounced his last name PET-tree rather than the pilot's PEE-tree.)

The season one episode "Father of the Week" was partly based on this pilot.

At least four episodes were filmed without a live studio audience: "The Bad Old Days", which featured an extended flashback sequence that relied on optical effects that would have been impractical to shoot with a live audience in the studio; "The Alan Brady Show Presents", which required elaborate set and costume changes; "Happy Birthday and Too Many More", which was filmed on November 26, 1963, only four days after President Kennedy's assassination; and "The Gunslinger", which was filmed on location. "The Last Chapter" was the last episode that aired; "The Gunslinger" was the last episode filmed.
Reiner considered moving the production of the series to full color as early as season three, only to drop the idea when he was informed that it would add about US$7,000 (equivalent to $70,000 in 2023) to the cost of each episode. In 2016, several episodes were colorized by West Wing Studios and aired on CBS.
• "That’s My Boy" (ep. 1, s. 3) – first broadcast December 11, 2016
• "Coast to Coast Big Mouth" (ep. 1, s. 5) – December 11, 2016 and July 3, 2020
• "My Blonde-Haired Brunette" (ep. 2, s. 1) – December 22, 2017
• "October Eve" (ep. 28, s. 3) – December 22, 2017 and July 3, 2020
• "Where Did I Come From?" (ep. 15, s. 1) – December 14, 2018 and May 28, 2021
• "Never Bathe on Saturday" (ep. 27, s. 4) – December 14, 2018 and May 28, 2021
• "Baby Fat" (ep. 29, s. 4) – May 21, 2021
• "The Bottom of Mel Cooley's Heart" (ep. 19, s. 5) – May 21, 2021

Main:
• Robert "Rob" Simpson Petrie (Dick Van Dyke) – Rob is the head writer of the comedy writing team for the fictional TV variety show, The Alan Brady Show, working with Sally Rogers and Buddy Sorrell. When not working, Rob enjoys life with his wife Laura Petrie, played by Mary Tyler Moore, and his son, Ritchie Petrie, portrayed by Larry Mathews. Rob, Laura, and Ritchie live in New Rochelle, New York. Their neighbors are longtime friends, Millie Helper and her dentist husband Jerry Helper. Rob is a big fan of old-time radio, cowboy movies, and Laurel and Hardy, as well as an excellent mime and fan of pantomime. He incorporates many favorite routines into his comedy writing. He has living parents, Sam and Clara Petrie. Rob was born in Danville, Illinois (Dick Van Dyke's boyhood home), along with younger brother Stacey Petrie, and served in the military at Camp Crowder, Missouri as a Special Services Sergeant. There he met his future wife, Laura Meehan, a USO dancer. After a number of jobs, he was hired by Alan Brady.
• Laura Petrie (Mary Tyler Moore) – Laura (née Meeker/Meehan) is Rob's wife. As a 17-year-old dancer in the United Service Organizations, she met and married Rob. Then, she became a stay-at-home mom. In early Season One episodes, Rob and others call her "Laurie" numerous times, as opposed to "Laura", which became his usual name for her. About 60 actresses auditioned for the part before Moore was signed. Moore later wrote that she almost skipped the audition.
• Maurice "Buddy" Sorrell (Morey Amsterdam) – Buddy is an energetic and at times sarcastic "human joke machine", and one of the comedy writers. Amsterdam was recommended for the role by Rose Marie as soon as she had signed on to the series. Buddy is constantly making fun of Mel Cooley, the show's producer, for being bald and dull. His character is loosely based on Mel Brooks who also wrote for Your Show of Shows. He makes frequent jokes about his marriage to his wife, former showgirl Fiona "Pickles" Conway Sorrell, who is a terrible cook. In several episodes, it is mentioned that Buddy is Jewish. He was identified by his birth name, Moishe Selig, when he had his belated bar mitzvah in "Buddy Sorrell – Man and Boy." Buddy plays the cello, which he sometimes incorporates into his comedy routines, and owns a large German Shepherd named Larry. Buddy made a guest appearance on the Danny Thomas Show episode, "The Woman Behind the Jokes" that aired October 21, 1963.
• Sally Rogers (Rose Marie) – Sally is another of the comedy writers, and the designated typist, who is always on the lookout for a husband. The character was loosely based on Selma Diamond and Lucille Kallen, both writers for Your Show of Shows. She never drinks and quotes frequently from her "Aunt Agnes in Cleveland". She has an on-again/off-again relationship with her boyfriend Herman Glimscher, who seems to be too much of a mama's boy to get married. She frequentl…

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