AllMovie

Alan Brady (Carl Reiner) has signed on to star in the first comedy ever written by celebrated playwright Harper Worthington Yates (Strother Martin). During out-of-town tryouts, a nervous Alan decides that the play needs a lot more laughs, so he begs Rob (Dick Van Dyke) to join him for some last-minute rewriting. There's only one problem: no one is supposed to know what Rob is doing, so Alan has to improvise an elaborate -- and very hectic -- charade to "explain" Rob's sudden appearance. Listen for the audience's reaction to the line about famous play-doctor Dave Murrows, an obvious reference to real-life dramatist (and celebrated theatrical "fixer-upper") Abe Burrows.