The Bob Newhart Show - General Discussion

[Lola16]

1 hour ago, roseha said:

He also appeared on Night Court a few times.  Such a brilliant actor, I'm so sad. 

DECADES is currently running Bob Newhart as a weekend "Binge" in honor of Bob's 87th birthday this week!  Happy Birthday Bob!

By the way, Bob is on Facebook and he wrote a sweet note there saying how touched he was by all the birthday wishes this week.

I follow Bob's FB page. Hoping to see him perform later this year.

[rubaco]

I happened to stumble across Decades showing nonstop Bob Newhart last night, and I put aside the remote and said, "Bob Newhart on a Saturday night! All is right with the world."

And then I got a little misty as I remembered that he's still with us, and thank God for that. In a year when we're losing so many famous people, it's comforting to realize there are plenty of legends who are still around. 

[prican58]

I'm watching the marathon and I am so thrilled to see just how funny this show was. I was a viewer when it originally aired. It really was ahead of its time with its quirky characters and their situations. 

It only dawns on me now how all those one sided phone calls Bob had were actually a continuance of his famous telephone skits from his stand up days. Brilliant dead pan from Newhart.

And how masterful was Bill Daily as Howard? This show is a perfect example of how so many sitcoms from years past were for grown ups and didn't rely on bathroom & sex jokes and the dumbing down of society. Of course there were dumb/stupid sitcoms since the Golden Age but this CBS era of sitcoms was really something.

Love this show. Season 4 is airing and I've been watching since about 3pm. Poor Bob. Brilliant show. 

[roseha]

Quote

Don't forget, it IS a sitcom, not a drama. Even if BN was on today, I'm sure we would have focused on wacky patient hijinks more than anything more meaningful, much in the way that we focused on Howard's wacky hijinks more than any more average neighbor.

Just a couple of thoughts after some binge watching on Decades:

I love the show but it's correct that it shouldn't be taken too seriously.   I mean, of course there are a lot of Elliot Carlins out there (though none as brilliantly funny as Jack Riley, RIP I am sure) but suffice to say that in real life a therapist's patients wouldn't visit the doctor at home, drop by on Thanksgiving, etc. and certainly Bob wouldn't be telling Emily all about them on a regular basis.  There didn't seem to be much confidentiality in Dr. Hartley's world, but of course it's a sitcom.

On another note, I just watched the very funny ep where Bob finds out that Emily  has a higher IQ than he does, and I noticed a familiar actor playing a bit role in the High IQ Party scene.  I'd seen the actor on The Odd Couple.  It turns out his name was Bill Quinn and he was Bob's father in law!

[roseha]

I've watched a lot of them but it looks liked they skipped Over the River and Through the Woods?  I wonder why, it's such a classic. 

[Blergh]

Funny Thanksgiving episode in which both sets of Bob and Emily's parents clashed over the Hartleys' dinner and Carol had to endure it wearing part of the spinach casserole that spilled in her car along with a Illinois-shaped pin Jerry made from one of his patients' retainers. No, no need for kids when all these personalities clashed so funnily.  BTW, Emily's mother was played by Ann Rutherford who'd costarred with Mickey Rooney in Andy Hardy films AND was one of Scarlett's sisters in GWTW. She'd live to almost 95- surviving her TV daughter by a few years.

[auntjess]

Sundance channel is having a marathon of Bob Newhart Show tomorrow, 11/16, from 6AM-1PM ET.

[Lola16]

topic thread for patients, other doctors, and guest stars

[Lola16]

John Fielder who played Mr. Peterson was the voice of Piglet.  Now that I know that, I wonder how I didn't know that while watching this show.

[bmasters9]

On 2/11/2017 at 0:17 AM, Lola16 said:

John Fielder who played Mr. Peterson was the voice of Piglet.  Now that I know that, I wonder how I didn't know that while watching this show.

Indeed! Seeing Piglet before on that VHS tape of Winnie-The-Pooh and Tigger Too, and then seeing the man who voiced Piglet (John Fiedler) on The Bob Newhart Show as Mr. Peterson (that was before he did Piglet)-- the voice is unmistakable.

Edited February 26, 2017 by bmasters9
Clarification of name

[Rinaldo]

John Fiedler (that's the spelling BTW) goes way back, of course. The role in which he's imprinted in my memory is as one of the cast of twelve in 12 Angry Men.

[Lola16]

On 2/26/2017 at 7:40 AM, Rinaldo said:

John Fiedler (that's the spelling BTW) goes way back, of course. The role in which he's imprinted in my memory is as one of the cast of twelve in 12 Angry Men.

Never saw it. Did just see him in a old Doris Day show episode (Decades). He played a nebbish widower who is matched up with Doris by a computer.

[Blergh]

Saw the "Of Mice and Men" one in which Bob insisted Emily join his 'henpecked men' group session to give them 'a woman's point of view' and then wound up shutting her out then dismissing her altogether as the session (in their apartment) broke down. Not only was the dialogue between everyone razor-sharp and rat-a-tat but it was so cool seeing Emily get at her MOST furious ever and letting her glacial silent treatment overwhelm him far more than any amount of screaming could have done! I mean,  Miss Pleshette truly shined there believably conveying how a silence could be utterly deafening to the target and somehow the viewer wound up having sympathy for both Hartleys even though Bob was totally in the wrong here.

[Lola16]

Just saw that episode. Emily iced Bob out well. Masterful scene by Suzanne.

[Blergh]

Absolutely, Lola!

 

 Also, loved the ending when Bob told Carol to call the waitress named Flo at the dinner whose raisin pie seemed to have saved the Hartley and Peterson marriages! BTW, Flo was played by Betty Kean who was the ex of Frank Fay (Barbara Stanwyk's 1st husband) and Jim Backus (yes, Messrs. Howell and Magoo) as well as the widow of Lew Parker ( Ann Marie's overprotective dad on "That Girl").

[Rinaldo]

While we're giving Betty Kean's bio, it should be said that she was half of one of the big "sister acts" when that was a thing in vaudeville: Betty and Jane Kean. They appeared together on Broadway for the last time in 1955, in a musical titled Ankles Aweigh, more or less the last of the old-school anything-for-a-laugh and ogle-the-girls vaudeville-style musicals (before, that is, new-style musicals like A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum began to comment on the form and put it in quotation marks). It was received as embarrassingly dated even then, and closed after a short run, rating a place on the list of notorious flops. Both sisters did OK afterwards, Jane being the third actress to play Trixie Norton on The Honeymooners, and the voice of Belle in Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol. And Betty made some interesting marriages (Parker was in Ankles Aweigh and Backus of course was Mr. Magoo) and made some interesting guest appearances in her later life.

[Crs97]

Run, don't walk, to get a copy of 12 Angry Men.  One of the best movies ever!

[Blergh]

Just rewatched the episode in which Howard and Emily discovered on old lady in their apartment building literally believing she was still living in the 1920's. Not one of their better episodes (and one couldn't ignore the fact that it never got explained how this 1920's apartment somehow managed to get plopped into a lofty level of this very modern building). Yet, Emily, Carol and Howard shined in relating to her and trying to keep her from being overwhelmed by  the 1970's and her more pragmatic niece's wishes. Oh, and this was one of Bob's cameo episodes during that last season.

[Lola16]

On 5/15/2017 at 8:04 AM, Blergh said:

Just rewatched the episode in which Howard and Emily discovered on old lady in their apartment building literally believing she was still living in the 1920's. Not one of their better episodes (and one couldn't ignore the fact that it never got explained how this 1920's apartment somehow managed to get plopped into a lofty level of this very modern building). Yet, Emily, Carol and Howard shined in relating to her and trying to keep her from being overwhelmed by  the 1970's and her more pragmatic niece's wishes. Oh, and this was one of Bob's cameo episodes during that last season.

Did Bob & Emily ever move apartments?  In the earlier seasons, Howard was across the hall and they had the end unit (as they had the exterior wall with balconies). When this episode came on, it seemed like the old ladies apartment was between Howard's and the Newharts'.  Plus their apartment looked totally different, not just a make-over but bigger.

[TheLastKidPicked]

Funny the little things that stick with you.

As a kid watching the show during it's first run I remember a scene where Emily asked Howard what he was going to do over the holidays.  Howard responded that he always volunteers to work during the holidays so one of the family guys could have the time off.

Years after, once I was grown up and working,  I would think about that tiny little scene and tell management,  "I'll volunteer to work over the holidays so one of the family guys can have the time off"

Funny what you remember from your childhood that still affects you as an adult.

Edited May 26, 2017 by TheLastKidPicked

[Lola16]

On 6/1/2014 at 9:39 PM, Rinaldo said:

And of course The Mary Tyler Moore Show attempted to give him a backdoor pilot as a well-meaning but inept Minneapolis politician with a loyal ragtag staff. It didn't take, but he got the Bob Newhart role the following fall in any case. (Both shows from MTM Enterprises.)

 

On 6/1/2014 at 10:26 PM, Lola16 said:

Oh, I never knew about that.  I didn't get to see this shows in first run so I probably missed a lot of the chatter etc.

Saw the MTM episode a month or so ago. It was awful. He was pretty much the same character. His character on I Dream of Jeannie had a bit more of an edge to him but I didn't like him in that either. I found him to be a little too mean and the show a bit cringe-worthy.

[Blergh]

Lola,

 

 I recall the MTM episode. I like Howard better,too. However; I always thought it having him be a divorced dad of a kid who was easily smarter than him was a bit of a sour note inasmuch as watching a clueless rube latching onto the Hartleys as their de facto child was funny but thinking that he had a child out there dependent on him when he couldn't take care of himself was NOT. I think it may have worked better had they made Howie his nephew so at least the audience could imagine him having a responsible father offstage instead of him being raised solo by a weary but patient mother and having to somehow not  suffer from having an astoundingly immature father.

[Blergh]

Just saw "Emily Carlin, Emily Carlin" and even though Bob himself was only in one of his maddening final-season cameos this episode, I have to say that both Jack Riley and Suzanne Pleshette shined here.  Yes, even though Mr Carlin's demands (and Bob's cave in) were outrageous and should have been shot down, Mr. Riley actually let the obnoxious, antisocial Mr. Carlin be a bit sympathetic here and even though at NO point did I NOT sympathize with Emily, I still liked that Miss Pleshette got her  believably empathetic to her husband's impossible patient without losing her edge.  Also, oddly enough, I actually WAS able to imagine how much better Mr. Carlin's life would have been had he actually been able to marry her  instead of Bob.

[Blergh]

Saw the "Crisis in Education" in which not only was Bob absent but for two phone calls( the latter of which ended with him joining a Horah dance line[!]), but it was intriguing seeing Emily have to contend with a very serious issue at her elementary school with parents blaming them for the students' low reading scores while her principal dumped the entire problem on her head! Won't spoil it but I will say that it was good to see Emily being the voice of reason among these rather contentious parties- while never losing her comedic edge (and Carol did a good turn as her de facto assistant) !  Even though I missed Bob, I wished that there could have been more episodes focusing on Emily's educational career- and, of course, it was bittersweet to watch it knowing that there was just ONE more episode before the show ended altogether!.

[Blergh]

Even though I knew it was coming and it's been almost 40 years, it STILL was punch in the chops to have to see "Happy Trails to You" knowing that THIS was the last BNS that would be made. Yes, I know that Mr. Newhart had actually wanted to end the show a year earlier but had extra monies and frills (AKA those cameo episodes) thrown in to keep him this last year but it still didn't make it any less sad to see it happen.  On the plus side it WAS an actual Series Finale as opposed to a simple regular episode with all loose ends left untied. However; for Bob to suddenly announce that he was leaving to teach at a small college in Oregon definitely seemed to come out of left field as I can't recall him ever seriously considering giving up his practice. Also, I would have liked to have seen a little dialogue with Emily before the decision was final since she had no desire to leave her friends, her school or Chicago but it wasn't hard to imagine that they WOULD have had some serious convos before Emily decided that she would make the best of it and even consider it an exciting adventure in a new setting with the man she loved and was confident that she,too, would find fulfilling work in Oregon! Still, even with all this hypothetical offstage dialogue, I COULD imagine her being upset and sad at leaving her familiars. I liked how The Group reacted with Mr. Peterson and Mrs. Bakerman openly sad over this turn of events but then getting charmed by Bob's evident replacement Dr. Wyler (played by Mr. Newhart's Real Life father-in-law the late Bill Quinn).  while Mr. Carlin became even MORE defensive and hostile to Bob than usual before he broke down and begged (and then tried to REALLY tip the scales via pulling a Klinger) . No surprise that Howard was so shocked at the decision that he literally fainted away! Oh and nice touch that their one-shot landlord was itching to avoid giving them ANY kind of refund. Glad that Carol got her real estate license so that we knew she'd be okay and not have to be totally dependent on her now-unseen husband. Also, nice touch that the Hartleys had a Farewell Party for their friends on their last night in Chicago and THAT is where they ended the show. I guess we'll have to imagine that Howard and Mr. Carlin somehow learned to survive without the Hartleys to bail them out as they had done previous to meeting them. Also, since we know that the whole LATTER show of Mr. Newhart's was a dream and he was back in his Chicago bedroom with Emily, I suppose that the teaching deal didn't work out and he came back without any protests from Emily.   It's good to know that offstage, that the cast virtually ALL stayed real friends for the rest of their lives AND that next week we can see them back and six years younger when the series starts all over.

[Rinaldo]

3 hours ago, Blergh said:

....nice touch that their one-shot landlord...

One-shot in this role, but Bobby Ramsen was their Guest Star On Call (most series then had at least one such person): he made six guest appearances starting in Season 3, each in a different role.

3 hours ago, Blergh said:

the cast virtually ALL stayed real friends for the rest of their lives

And, as I'm sure you know, in one case very good friends indeed: Emily and The Peeper married in 2001. (They had first met long before this show, when they appeared together in a Broadway play in 1959.)

[Blergh]

Rinaldo,

 

 Good trivia re Mr. Ramsen!  I guess we could say he was somewhat like Carole Cook on "The Lucy Show" in that regard!

Yes, I knew about Miss Pleshette and Mr. Poston! I remember when they announced their marriage after their respective spouses had died, I was shocked because Emily had barely tolerated The Peeper   for Bob's sake alone but I guess this showed Emily had different tastes. Well, I hope that means that Miss Pleshette did NOT have a fear of flying.

[Rinaldo]

58 minutes ago, Blergh said:

Mr. Ramsen!  I guess we could say he was somewhat like Carole Cook on "The Lucy Show" in that regard!

Or Alvy Moore and even more Frank Adamo (seriously, 51 episodes! in fact he was Van Dyke's personal assistant, so he was always on hand to fill out a scene, despite not being primarily an actor) on The Dick Van Dyke Show. Or Barbara Jane Edelman on Lou Grant.

Those were the days before home video, when nobody worried unduly about continuity or long-term consistency, and the studio contract players could count on probably guesting once per season on each of their studio's series. It's a living!

[Blergh]

Spoiler

 

Saw "Tennis Emily" in which she took up the  hobby after Bob urged her to combat her summer boredom- and virtually every female got enthralled with Emily's tennis instructor while the instructor sought Bob's professional help for being too attractive and believed Emily was interested in him beyond tennis !  What I liked was not only how effectively Emily shot down that idea while admitting that she did find him attractive but she also sincerely yet amusingly reiterated her devotion and love for the somewhat insecure Bob. Can anyone imagine Joanna having done the same thing on "Newhart"- with any believability?

[SnarkySheep]

All I can think is that having a character named "The Peeper" would have entirely different connotations in the 21st century.

[Blergh]

3 hours ago, SnarkySheep said:

All I can think is that having a character named "The Peeper" would have entirely different connotations in the 21st century.

True- not to mention that the show drew out some humor from Bob's collegiate nickname- 'The Mooner ' which  the shrewd Emily seemed suspicious about but the adult Bob was too coy to actually explain HOW he got it much less what it meant! I guess it showed that while 'The Peeper' stayed stuck in his fratboy mode his entire adult life, Bob went back to his nebbishy persona after college that he'd had up to college but had temporarily shed away from his parents.

[Blergh]

Funny episode in which Bob, after capping off a rather lousy morning, has Emily talk him into making it a point of telling his mother he loves her -only to find himself putting it off and even putting obstacles in that path!  It was interesting that Bob's parents seemed to live in the same city as their son yet he didn't interact with them nearly as much as his officemates or even Howard. Prolific performer Martha Scott  whoplayed the well-meaning yet smothering  if sometimes passive-aggressive Eleanor Hartley on an occasional basis throughout the whole series and this would give good insight as to why Bob was so undemonstrative and coy.

[rubaco]

Decades (the network) is airing episodes all weekend to celebrate the series' 45th anniversary. 

[Blergh]

"Backlash" was on and it definitely showed them literally barely hanging onto their last nerves as a double whammy of Bob' s bad back and Emily's flu cancelled their vacation and forced them to be stuck in their apartment only able to watch soaps! This one ended with no happy ending in sight (just as what happens with so many married couples when these things happen). I'd like to add that it can't have been easy for Mr. Newhart to pull off pretending his back was injured and barely able to move but he definitely conveyed the pain well (and I only hope that this didn't cause stiffness offstage).

[CueVeeCeeGirl]

This blooper bothered me so much that I almost quit watching the show (this show is relatively new to me)... During that tennis instructor episode ( the one about the wife's tennis pro who's so good looking that "every" woman wants him), Bob is in his dentist pals chair for a cleaning. Well at one point the dentist is wiping the plaque from Bob's teeth, from the tool directly onto the cape that Bob has on. Directly on the cape! Not on a napkin or anything else. Horrid, nasty tooth muck on a cape that's supposed to be used for a dozen other patients. How did they overlook that?

[MusubiMyHomie]

Because the series finale aired 40 years ago, THR posted a nice oral history of TBNS, a show I'm watching for the first time ever. I talked about the THR article here.

But if you don't want to have to read my rambling about the oral history and the writing of TBNS co-showrunner Jay Tarses, the oral history itself is here.

[rubaco]

Thanks for that, MusubiMyHomie!

From the oral history, regarding the casting of Suzanne Pleshette:

Quote

Newhart: Arthur called me the next day and said, "I think I found your wife." I said, "I didn't know she was missing." He said, "No, no, no. Suzanne Pleshette. I think she'd be a great foil." 

Bob Newhart remains a national treasure.

[auntjess]

I see that U-verse has it on demand, until 5-2, or 5-3.  Season 5 I think it said.

[chessiegal]

I watched an episode today where Bob and Emily were going on a 63 day around the world cruise - and they left from Chicago? I don't think so.

[Rinaldo]

Ha! Yes, as a born-and-raised Chicagoan, that always amused me too. (And that being Mr. Newhart's heritage too, he must have known as well.) I suppose a special cruise around the world could originate in Chicago, if everyone was willing to pay and allow extra time both ways for getting out to sea -- but it's better not to think about it too much.

[chessiegal]

The last 3 years we’ve taken the Queen Mary 2 from Brooklyn to Southampton or Hamburg. We get so many emails from Cunard. I can’t remember where they start from, but their round the world cruises last about 160 to 180 days. Yes, you’re right- best not to think about it too much. ?

[chessiegal]

I watched an episode where Jerry convinced Bob to use his financial planner. Early in the episode the planner said he would be paying Bob's bills, and he replies that's not a chore. To which Emily replies it's not a chore for him because she pays all the bills. In another episode, the entire plot point was around Bob and his elaborate bill paying system, which Emily convinces him to let her take over, and they end up with a ridiculously overdrawn checking account.

I'm mourning the loss of my Decades channel starting Monday with this stupid StartTV channel. No more Bob Newhart for me. There's a station in DC that airs Decades over the air. I'm considering getting an indoor antenna and seeing if I can pick it up.

[Loandbehold]

R.I.P. Mr. Daily

[chessiegal]

Just watched a Christmas show, Season 5 I think, where Jerry says he's having Christmas dinner with his mother. I thought Jerry's thing was that he was an orphan. Did I miss something along the way?

[SnarkySheep]

Yes, he was. But I think he said he was adopted as an older child.

[chessiegal]

Thanks.

[catlover79]

FETV (Family Entertainment Television; 323 on DirecTV and 578 on UVerse) airs TBNS on Saturdays and Sundays in a four episode block. The timeslot is 10 pm to midnight.

[biakbiak]

Even though he was just awesomesauce on the Conan podcast I worried he was dead! 

[Loandbehold]

2 hours ago, biakbiak said:

Even though he was just awesomesauce on the Conan podcast I worried he was dead! 

Anytime I see there's been a post in this forum, that's what I'm scared will be here.

[annzeepark914]

On 6/10/2019 at 12:13 PM, Loandbehold said:

Anytime I see there's been a post in this forum, that's what I'm scared will be here.

Uh-oh...never thought of that.  Now I'm going to be worried each time I see a new post has arrived.  My favorite character was the grumpy patient...Mr. Carlisle? Can't remember his name. And I loved Marcia Wallace, the world's best receptionist.  She knew how to handle those guys.