Bob Newhart

"You can't do it
You can't do it
You can't conquer a Whale!"

I guess Ray Romano is supposed to be an example of this, but it's not funny *at all*.

This PBS retros of Newhart's career airs tonight in most of the country... I never realized how 'overnight' his success was as a standup... he got the Best Album Grammy (not comedy album -- the major award) for his FIRST live club engagement.

I love Newhart's response to an Emily Gets Pregnant script: "Very funny; who will you get to play Bob?"

Aside from the fact that some of his jokes were just fucking terrible (of the "asians eat dogs" and "women are bad drivers" variety)

OTM in the first case (I cringed), but I demur on the second (The Driving Instructor bit was the only classic he did from the first 2 albums, I think). What can one reasonably expect from a guy who started writing jokes 50 years ago? It was a different culture. He also had a canny setup bit when he initially drew groans from women in the audience:

"Some of you think it's sexist? OK, I can adjust. We'll make it a Chinese driver. [Sits in chair and begins to speak in pidgin Chinese.] Now I can do this for the next 8 minutes, or..."

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103372/

I didn't know there was a second (albeit short) season.

maybe my favorite episode of television ever.

-- laurence kansas (lawrence_kansa...) (webmail), May 9th, 2005 1:18 PM. (lawrence kansas)

OTM

However, I know I'm not crazy for loving the theme song.

Suzanne Pleshette RIP

I just read that as well. Deserves a separate thread I think...

RIP. She was so funny, a perfect foil.

Bob Newhart Show and Newhart were both classics. Man, did I love the "Home to Emily" opening credit sequence of the 70s show. I dreamed about walking home through the city with a briefcase and going home to a cozy apartment with that jazzy theme playing. Seemed like a good life.

Ah, I recently watched the American Masters program in its entirety, and it made me remember how great the seventies' Bob Newhart Show was. Jack Riley's character was fantastic, and he came across in the interviews as being a super-sweet guy.

I never enjoyed the eighties Newhart show as much, but...

And, wow, I had no idea that Suzanne Pleshette was married to Tom Poston!

And, yes, the theme song to the Bob Newhart Show is unbeatable. Frantic jazzy drumrolls...

http://television.aol.com/show/the-bob-newhart-show/228372/main

AOL, you have redeemed yourself.

First two seasons of The Bob Newhart Show on Hulu

Oh wow! Awesome! Now can you revive a thread that explains wtf "hulu" is?

i seriously can't tell if you're trying to mock me or not

are you being
a. a cock, or
b. a moron?

kind of just joking around. i'm not tuomas, i know how to use google, i just felt like posting what my exact first thoughts when reading your post were.

although I like the idea that the word "mock" is derived from moron + cock

I've been watching a few TBNS Season 4 eps the last couple of weeks and forgot how often the writers put Bob on the phone, a la the standup days.

Also, Howard Borden is a bit more surreal than your standard Wacky Neighbor.

Bob also says on the commentary that Lorenzo Music (co-creator of the show) tried to get him to speak faster during the pilot, and he replied "Stammering is what got me the house in Beverly Hills."

Yeah, there's a phone bit in the very first episode. Two, actually, both with an airline reservation desk. And Penny Marshall as a stewardess!

Peter Sellers was brilliant when he did something similar in Dr. Strangelove. By then, Newhart's phone bits were already well-known and massively popular, so one wonders if it came to mind when they wrote that scene.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO7O7meqZlo

FWIW, a cursory search shows that Newhart's a big fan of the film, especially due to Sellers's performance (paywall prevents me from seeing whether he mentions the aforementioned scene).

Never thought of that before (or did I?) but it makes sense.