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TV Legend Disses ‘The Apprentice,’ Turns Down ‘Dancing With the Stars’ … and Isn’t a Big Fan of TV in General

May 6, 2011  •  Post A Comment

One of the true legends of television–who has four Primetime Emmys and one Daytime Emmy among his countless awards–had plenty to say about the current offerings on TV in a recent interview, AOL’s PopEater.com reports.

Dick Van Dyke is one of television’s most beloved stars, from playing Rob Petrie on "The Dick Van Dyke Show" in the 1960s to starring in "Diagnosis Murder" for eight seasons. But he says he’s not fond of much of today’s television programming, according to the piece.

The 85-year-old star says he hates reality television, noting that when he watched Donald Trump’s "The Apprentice," "I’ve never been so bored in my life!" Reality shows "encourage bad behavior," he added, according to the piece.

Van Dyke also noted that he was asked to compete in "Dancing With the Stars," but "I said I can do one show but on that show you have to come up with a new number every week and I told them that I think I’m a little past that stage."

Van Dyke noted that "Mary Poppins," in which he played the chimney sweep Bert, was his favorite film, although he realizes that his Cockney accent wasn’t the best. "I not only wince every time I hear it but every Brit that I run into rakes me over the coals for it," he said.

Van Dyke won three Emmys for “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and another for the 1976 special “Van Dyke and Company,” along with a Daytime Emmy for children’s programming for “CBS Library.” He recently released his memoir, “My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business.”

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