The Dick Van Dyke Show (TV Series) Uhny Uftz (1965) User Reviews

Very Funny Season 5 Episode! But edited when aired on TV Land

[critic_w · 9/10 · 1 May 2013]

This is a classic bit of what had become a staple of the Dick Van Dyke show, the comedy mystery. It has the team working late into the night/morning. When left alone, Rob sees something he cannot identify and the comedy ensues. Other than an oddly uncharacteristically dry Sally Rogers, it is a very funny episode, especially for season five (their last).

Curiously, when TV Land aired the episode in 2013 the did so minus what is arguably the funniest line. It's still a great episode, but (spoiler alert) at the point when Buddy returns to the office to get something he left, Rob, having just heard the UFO say "uhny uftz" again is certain that Buddy is pranking him. He says "Buddy, you son-of-a-gun, you Uhny Uftz me!" to which Buddy replies the missing line of "Rob, I've done some terrible things in my life, but I've never Uhny Uftz nobody!" The typically great Morey Ansterdam delivery is just perfect, but for reasons I would love to know, TV Land airs a version with the line removed!

Spooky funny

[dlynch843 · 9/10 · 23 November 2020]

Late at night in the office.....no ideas......Mel Cooley comes in, wants a completed sketch. He doesn't think Rob, Sally and Buddy are trying hard enough. Sally says, 'Buddy, give it to him!'. Buddy points at Mel and says 'Mel, ....you're very bald'. They all put on a perplexed face, in a doesn't- quite- make-it mode. Anyway, another good episode, has some mysterious/funny moments when Rob spots a flying saucer outside the office window. A good discovery of what Rob saw.

Uhny Uftz

[williammaceri · 10/10 · 27 January 2022]

Like many people, I love the DickVan Dyke show. I have been watching the show since the early 60s before it went into syndication and. I Still watch every episode like it's the first time I ever saw it. The writing is excellent,,the actors are great, their timing is perfect as they work together perfectly. After 60 years on TV, it's still funny.

My all time favorite is this episode. When ever I watch it, it brings me back to when I was 10 years old. It's a great episode. I have many other episodes I really like, too many to list.

Ingeniously funny

[footpuppy · 10/10 · 21 March 2022]

In objection, to the one that didn't like this.

I believe you miss the comedic point.

It's not that it was discovered as a child's toy, it's all that led up to the discovery.

A person can really relate to being alone and everything quiet. Every little sound is amplified and a person begins talking to himself.

Dick van Dyke demonstrates that with such genius. Buddy's one liners are a scream.

Utterly charming.

[planktonrules · 10/10 · 16 December 2023]

Rob, Sally and Buddy have been pulling some late nights working on a script. They are exhausted and finally decide to call it a night. Rob is the last to go and he ends up hearing a strange sound. He runs to the window and sees a UFO go by! The problem is that no one believes him when he says he saw it and heard it. Rob is so flummoxed he decides to talk to a friend who is a psychiatrist...but just when Rob is convinced the UFO doesn't exist...he and Buddy hear that weird sound again. This time, however, they figure out that the sound is coming from an office above and soon they learn the dark, and adorable, secret!

This is a totally silly and fun episode. And, like a prior alien episode (involving planet Twylo and walnuts), it's directed by Jerry Paris. Overall, a ridiculously sweet and charming story.

IS UHNY UFTZ CONTAGEOUS? BEWARE!

[tcchelsey · 10/10 · 29 October 2023]

This outstanding episode may very well have been inspired by the famous Exeter Incident that occurred a few weeks earlier (before it aired) at Kensington, New Hampshire.

The story goes that a teenager was hitchhiking back to his home late at night when he spotted a UFO in all its flashing glory. He immediately told police who, in fact, drove him back to the scene where they ALSO saw a large black space craft.

Amazing stuff. It's too bad there weren't any cell phones and cams back in the day!

Bottom line... why not have Rob see and hear a flying saucer? This is fun stuff, and Dick Van Dyke gives it his best shot, trying to convince everybody in the office he actually saw a UFO right outside the window. It's also a relatable story, regardless of the Exeter case, as most people who claim they saw something in the sky --at first -- are never taken seriously.

Rob is really in a mess, making him look like a kook with an overactive imagination. And he pulls it off soooo well.

Credit Carl Kleinschmitt for writing this classic, who wrote 9 episodes for the series, also writing many episodes for the JOEY BISHOP SHOW. Carl, who passed in 2022, had a long list of sitcoms, including THAT GIRL and GOMER PYLE. He knew his stuff.

I can also relate to what the last reviewer wrote about TV LAND cutting out a line from this classic episode, some years back. It's not unusual, but it is nevertheless annoying and could be due to censureship at the time, believing the line inferred "something else" .... OR..... they simply broke it off to play a commercial???

Of course, if the episode was aired in 1965 without cuts, why not today? Could be a management decision to not "insult" anyone, and I can't figure that one out --or just sloppy editing. ME TV is guilty of this (as of 2023), as they will cut some of their late show tv episodes (MANNIX, CANNON etc) or break them up at the end, to insert silly promos and commercials. That's when I get more pizza!

Recommended from SEASON 5 EPISODE 3 remastered dvd box set.

What's really Funny about the Dick vanDyke Show...?

[lrrap · 4/10 · 28 November 2021]

Obviously, everyone has their own taste, especially when it comes to the very subjective world of comedy. But I'm surprised as I read through the viewer ratings for this series.

Glad to see that a classic like "Coast-to-Coast Big Mouth" was rated 8.5..but so was "Uhny Uftz", a somewhat labored, contrived, cartoon-y show which IMHO is NOWHERE near "Big Mouth" in terms of quality (the similarly un-funny, labored, cartoon-y "Ghost of A Chantz" is scored as one of the highest-rated shows of the series).

"100 Terrible Hours" (slow, labored) rates 8.0, and "Br-rooom..." (OK) gets an 8.4, while an absolute gem.."Baby Fat" receives a paltry 7.2! Even a good show..not outstanding, but still very good..like "There's No Sale Like Wholesale" only merits a measely 6.7.

This goes beyond the occasional "out-lyer" syndrome, and seems to reflect a deeper pattern. Again, nobody is right or wrong here, but it also seems odd that a classic show like Dick van Dyke has garnered very few viewer reviews overall here on IMDB.

Strange.