The Bob Newhart Show - General Discussion

[fernsehen]

Quinn Martin (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0552918/?ref_=fn_nm_nm_1) was the man behind QM Productions.  In the 1970s alone, he was the executive producer of The F.B.I., Cannon, The Streets of San Francisco, and Barnaby Jones, plus a few others.  Each episode of those series had a voice-over introduction which gave the title of the show, the names of the leading actors as well as the top 2 or 3 guest stars (with head shots), and the title of the episode.

[Lola16]

There's a Bob Newhart chair and couch sculpture at Navy Pier!  

 

http://chicago-outdoor-sculptures.blogspot.com/2007/11/bob-newhart.html

[auntjess]

Love it!  They should add Mr.Carlin.

[auntjess]

This isn't on the schedule next week.

It's one of 2 MeTV shows that I always watch.  I hope it will how up again at some point.

[Lola16]

Thanks, Lola16! Boy, I had forgotten that whole exchange -- it's been a long time since I've seen the last two seasons. It sure makes mincemeat of what I said there, doesn't it?

 

In between these two paragraphs I took myself off to Amazon and ordered the last two seasons on DVD (both being released next week), to remedy my ignorance.

They just had the apartment hunting scene on last week.  Bob and Emily go view the new apartment (I think it's in the same building, just on the top floor).  The current renter has 3 huge dogs that he parades out one by one from the bedroom.  Howard comes over and when he leaves, he lets himself into the apartment across the hall (which isn't his) and walks in on the current residents in bed.  As if anyone in that area of Chicago would have an unlocked door!

[Rinaldo]

People in tvland always have unlocked front doors. It shaves precious half-minutes off the running time.

[Lola16]

People in tvland always have unlocked front doors. It shaves precious half-minutes off the running time.

If I lived across from Howard, I'd have more locks on my door than they had on One Day at a Time!

[auntjess]

I was hoping to see the one where Howard invited them to dinner, and had those meals on trays, from the plane.

[Lola16]

I was hoping to see the one where Howard invited them to dinner, and had those meals on trays, from the plane.

Funny!  I thought those were just regular TV dinners.  I remember all the little liquor bottles Howard brought out.

[Lola16]

Happy 86th Birthday Bob Newhart!

 

http://metvnetwork.com/monitor/26-facts-about-the-incredible-bob-newhart-on-his-birthday

[rubaco]

Thanks for that link, Lola16. I love it, Bob Newhart hanging with Jack White.

 

I also did not know he was on Twitter, so I'm off to check out his tweets. Happy b-day to Bob!

[cynicat]

Am I the only one watching the marathon on the Decade channel?

[auntjess]

I don't have that , but it's back on MeTV tonight.

[Lola16]

Thanks for that link, Lola16. I love it, Bob Newhart hanging with Jack White.

 

I also did not know he was on Twitter, so I'm off to check out his tweets. Happy b-day to Bob!

Bob's also on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bob-Newhart/147547279204?fref=ts

 

 

Am I the only one watching the marathon on the Decade channel?

I am!

 

 

I don't have that , but it's back on MeTV tonight.

So excited!

[Lola16]

Bob celebrating his birthday with Don Rickles:

 

https://www.facebook.com/147547279204/photos/pcb.10153139904444205/10153139903899205/?type=1&theater

 

too bad Rickles wasn't on any Bob Newhart episodes (at least not that I know).

[BizBuzz]

Oh my ... I just spent about 45 minutes on You Tube with everything I could find on Don Rickles and Bob Newhart ... I have laughed so much this morning, I almost cried.

 

Seriously ... these two were priceless together!

[Calvada]

I will be getting ready for Thanksgiving by pulling out the DVDs and watching Season 4's "Over the RIver and Through the Woods" tonight.  One of my favorite episodes.  I just cry with laughter from start to finish - Howard concerned that Emily looks different, the butter dish scene, the knock-knock joke, more goo to go, the worst loss in William and Mary history, and finally Ding!  The turkey . . .  Bob, there's not a turkey in the oven.  Emily, whatever you do, don't look in the dishwasher. 

 

One of the best episodes in any show, at any time.  Also will be waching WKRP's "Turkeys Away" and will head to that forum to comment.

[torqy]

I will be getting ready for Thanksgiving by pulling out the DVDs and watching Season 4's "Over the RIver and Through the Woods" tonight.  One of my favorite episodes.  I just cry with laughter from start to finish - Howard concerned that Emily looks different, the butter dish scene, the knock-knock joke, more goo to go, the worst loss in William and Mary history, and finally Ding!  The turkey . . .  Bob, there's not a turkey in the oven.  Emily, whatever you do, don't look in the dishwasher. 

 

One of the best episodes in any show, at any time.  Also will be waching WKRP's "Turkeys Away" and will head to that forum to comment.

Mrs. Torqy and I watched it again this year, as usual. We started married life the year that this epi first aired (get off my lawn!) and I enjoy the time-capsule aspects of this show. I will admit, reluctantly, that I once wore the sort of double-knit pants that Bob wore. He always looked impeccably dressed (for the 70s anyway).

[DXD526]

Saw the Season 2 Christmas episode for the first time in many years recently, and was impressed with how good it was. Bob's devotion to his patients is really impressive; his going out in a blizzard on Christmas Eve just to talk with a patient who was upset, was truly touching. What a good guy Dr. Hartley was! Quote of the episode, when Bob, frozen solid, finally gets home and Emily asks what happened to his hat: "It blew off; I think it broke a plate glass window."

 

Interesting that when Bob was describing the ordeal he went through getting home in the blizzard, he mentions his car (which got abandoned in a snow bank). Several forms of public transport were also mentioned, as expected, but did he ever refer to having a car before? In the show's opening getting-to-work montage, no car is seen.

[Lola16]

 

 

Interesting that when Bob was describing the ordeal he went through getting home in the blizzard, he mentions his car (which got abandoned in a snow bank). Several forms of public transport were also mentioned, as expected, but did he ever refer to having a car before? In the show's opening getting-to-work montage, no car is seen.

I don't remember ever seeing the car but it gets mentioned in various episodes. Howard I believe dents or scratches it.  When the couple from France come, there's talk of picking them up in the car. Emily and Bob share the car.  I think she might drive it to work but I'm not sure.

[SnarkySheep]

In one of the later seasons Emily is frustrated about having a mechanic give her the runaround about her car...and it's emphasized as HER car, implying Bob had his own. But when we saw the apartment building's garage it seemed like each unit only had one spot.

[SnarkySheep]

What I could never figure out is why they bothered having Carol marry, considering her husband was such a minor character. As mentioned, it was really about Carol herself and how she interacted with the main characters.

[Rinaldo]

Any series of this type has to face the problem that each season, you must have at least one episode for each member of the regular cast, in which they get the A story. And what can happen to Carol away from work? She has bad dates, she finds what seems to be a more attractive job... eventually they decide to get her married. (And I don't think it can be blamed entirely on sexist attitudes about women's possibilities: one of the Jerry-centric episodes was about him quitting his job to run off with the woman he loved. And that too went nowhere in the end, it was just an idea to fill up half an hour.)

[henrysmom]

I'm not a big fan of the last two seasons of this show so I don't think I've watched the DVDs more than once since I bought them.  But a couple of nights ago I decided to take them out and watch a few of the later episodes.  I was shocked by how much the characters swore.  Honestly, it really kind of stunned me.  We aren't talking really bad cursing here, the occasional damn or hell, but I really don't remember any swear words in other shows of this era, or from the earlier seasons of this show.

 

Has anybody else been struck by this or am I just getting old(er)?

[Rinaldo]

"Damn" and "hell" were all over TV in the 1970s. Even demure Mary Richards uttered one from time to time, and sweet little Georgette described herself as "damn cute."

 

Or listen to All in the Family or M*A*S*H from the same period.

 

Ever since Captain Kirk said "Let's get the hell out of here" back in the late 1960s, it was all over.

[henrysmom]

I'll be darned.  I do watch Mary Tyler Moore and remember that line, now that you brought it up.  Have not seen MASH or All in the Family for years, and when I did see them they were probably butchered for syndication so who knows if swear words would make the cut or not.

 

It just strikes me as odd since the first four seasons of Bob Newhart didn't seem to have any curse words, then the last two seasons did.   Maybe the censors at the network were loosening things up or something around that time.

[Rinaldo]

Suzanne Pleshette had a colorful way of speaking, as would sometimes come out on her (bleeped) talk show appearances and her relatively few R-rated movies (granted that those were scripted, she still seemed right at home). So an occasional "damn" or "hell" was probably nothing to her.

[henrysmom]

 

It just strikes me as odd since the first four seasons of Bob Newhart didn't seem to have any curse words, then the last two seasons did.   Maybe the censors at the network were loosening things up or something around that time.

 

I hate to quote myself, but it is just to point out that I was wrong :(  Last night I was watching a season 3 episode (An American Family) and sure enough, a swear word (from Bob's father).  So I guess I didn't know what I was talking about.

 

But as long as I brought up that episode, I have to say how much I love it.  I know the other Thanksgiving episode Over the River and Through the Woods gets more attention (and rightfully so), but I love this one too.  The dynamics between Emily's parents and Bob's parents are wonderful and I love seeing poor bumbling Howard try to impress his girlfriend's parents, who of course also happen to be Bob's parents.

[SnarkySheep]

You know, I totally forgot that Howard had been dating Bob's sister! Didn't they come up with some inane reason for her to leave, like a job offer she couldn't refuse? Then we never saw or even heard of her again. Too bad, because it made for an interesting dynamic.

[SnarkySheep]

What I loved best about Carol was that particular brand of sarcasm, a bit understated but always definitely there...it always seemed like Carol was amusing her own self with it (and Marcia Wallace too, no doubt.)

What I loved best about Carol was that particular brand of sarcasm, a bit understated but always definitely there...it always seemed like Carol was amusing her own self with it (and Marcia Wallace too, no doubt.)

[SnarkySheep]

The one thing I didn't like about Emily was her wardrobe! It wasn't too bad in early seasons, but toward the last few, she seemed to hit the '70s in a very hard (and awful) way. Pleshette was an attractive woman with a nice figure, but Emily tended to drape herself in huge shapeless garments that were practically laundry bags. I wonder if that was the choice of TPTB or Pleshette herself?

[Rinaldo]

I thought she looked great in those caftan-y things. And I thought her hair was styled more becomingly in later seasons.

[Lola16]

There were some truly awful outfits - a denim ensemble when she was doing that make-over comes to mind.  Overall, I like her style and agree that her hair improved as the series went on.

[Lola16]

You know, I totally forgot that Howard had been dating Bob's sister! Didn't they come up with some inane reason for her to leave, like a job offer she couldn't refuse? Then we never saw or even heard of her again. Too bad, because it made for an interesting dynamic.

She was a local reporter iirc.  Maybe she got a new job out of town?  Howard became too dumb for me as the series wore on.

[Rinaldo]

Yes, out of town in Cleveland or some such place. But I remember this as a major unresolved plot thread, but she and Howard never actually broke up, so she just moved away and nobody ever mentioned her again.

[Lola16]

"Telephone operators have called me 'sir' since I was 6." – Suzanne Pleshette, who would have been 79 today.

[ByaNose]

Bob's doctor says he's overweight for his age of 49. Bob tells him he's going to be 41 and that his 1's look like 9's thus the confusion on his chart. According to Wikipedia Bob Newhart would have been 44 in 1973 (Season 2) so I guess that's close enough. LOL!!! I remember being young (9 at the time) and, thinking he was so old. Now, I'm 51 and I really feel old. Thanks a lot, Bob! LOL!!!!

[Lola16]

Bob's doctor says he's overweight for his age of 49. Bob tells him he's going to be 41 and that his 1's look like 9's thus the confusion on his chart. According to Wikipedia Bob Newhart would have been 44 in 1973 (Season 2) so I guess that's close enough. LOL!!! I remember being young (9 at the time) and, thinking he was so old. Now, I'm 51 and I really feel old. Thanks a lot, Bob! LOL!!!!

That was a cute episode.  One I hadn't seen before in reruns.  I liked Olga the fitness instructor.

[SnarkySheep]

The character of Bob, IMO, was meant to be Joe Average...balding, a little paunchy, nobody you'd really take notice of. But it always felt like he was somebody you'd be lucky to know, or have as your neighbor (Howard took total advantage and nobody would've been surprised if Bob and Emily ended up in prison over him...)

[auntjess]

I agree Howard took advantage of them, but don't understand why they might end up in prison.

[Loandbehold]

Howard could be so annoying that it wouldn't have surprised me if either Bob or Emily had killed him.

[Big Mother]

I just started watching the show. I was scrounging around Hulu looking for new comedies. It's interesting and refreshing to watch a show set in such a simple era, and the jokes are actually really funny and clean. It's not just about who's sleeping with whom. The setups, the storylines, the punchlines, they're funny. What strikes me interesting is that in the 2010's, therapy and psychology have become more mainstream and there's less of a stigma attached. In the 70s, psychology and psychotherapy were reserved for the severely mentally ill, and anyone seeing a psych was deemed crazy and insane. So I'm surprised to see how normalized Bob's profession seems to be. Maybe things will get weirder later on; I'm only on the 2nd episode. But watching a show that was actually filmed before I was born is an intriguing prospect :D

[Blergh]

Good insight on the show, Big Mother (and the times which I WAS alive for). Yes, one might even go so far as to say that the show may have helped make psychology become more acceptable for those in need to seek. Still, I also liked that it wasn't above showing how utterly dependent some clients [e.g. Mr. Carlin] became on the sessions to the detriment of themselves being able to have independent, autonomous, contended lives.  Oh, and Newhart could convey more emotion with an eye twitch or pause (while Dr. Hartley was trying be diplomatic to his clients, colleagues and even Emily) than some of the most exhaustive physical comedians could achieve.

 Loandbehold,

   I think the key to the Hartleys not killing   accepting Howard is that Howard was their de facto child who was never intentionally mean or annoying (unlike his 'MTM' counterpart Ted Baxter).  Even when Howard met up  with Bob's engaged sister and 'inspired' her to break it off, they couldn't  get mad at him because  they believed that he'd meant no harm.

[auntjess]

Big Mother, do go to youtube and look at the Bob Newhart videos.
Here are a couple of my favorites, Lincoln, and Walter Raleigh and tobacco.

[Rinaldo]

I was in my 20s when The Bob Newhart Show originally ran, and I would say that seeing a psychiatrist or therapist was quite mainstream by then -- half the people I knew were in one kind of therapy or another (and social histories of the period, like Nora Ephron, bear out its ubiquity). I would say the time of "seeing a shrink" being seen as only for the seriously nuts (or the bored wealthy) was more in the 1940s and 50s.

In crass commercial terms, a network wouldn't have approved it as the profession for a sympathetic lead for a sitcom unless it were seen as thoroughly mainstream (the same network had recently objected to the idea of Mary Tyler Moore playing a divorcée).

[Jynnan tonnix]

On 5/29/2016 at 6:29 PM, auntjess said:

Big Mother, do go to youtube and look at the Bob Newhart videos.
Here are a couple of my favorites, Lincoln, and Walter Raleigh and tobacco.

We saw Bob Newhart live this past February...Along with regular standup, he did one of his old "driving instructor" bits. He was onstage for a good two hours, and I don't remember laughing so hard in forever. Even though a lot (though not all, by any means) of his material was slightly dated or you could see a punchline coming from a mile away, his delivery is still so impeccable that whatever he says is hilarious.

[SnarkySheep]

I was born in 1980, so I can't speak firsthand. But judging by the show and what I know about history in general, I think a large part of the way Bob's clients were depicted had more to do with the need for humor and amusing plotlines than anything else. 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. (Remember in Season 1, Emily had a female friend in the building who used to pop in occasionally? She was quickly and quietly phased out.)

[Loandbehold]

Mr. Carlin passed away. R.I.P. Jack Riley

[Lola16]

4 hours ago, Loandbehold said:

Mr. Carlin passed away. R.I.P. Jack Riley

I had no idea he was in all those Mel Brooks movies.  I had only seen him on Bob Newhart and Barney Miller.

[roseha]

On 8/19/2016 at 11:57 PM, Lola16 said:

I had no idea he was in all those Mel Brooks movies.  I had only seen him on Bob Newhart and Barney Miller.

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.