Bob Newhart

How do people feel about Bob's patients? When I was a kid they used to creep me out, although I eventually grew to like Mister Carlin. I remember when he showed Bob what he was going to give out for Halloween.

"A butter dish? That's very nice, Mister Carlin."
"Read the inscription."
"Happy Halloween from Elliot Carlin. Boo!"

John Fiedler, who was also an Odd Couple poker player and one of the 12 Angry Men...

Ditto on Pleshette. "Gimme a break, Bob" (after she served him frozen bacon at 5 am). I think both Peter Bonerz and Jack Riley (Carlin) came outta the Chicago improv comedy scene.

Besides that, every apartment and office on the Bob Newhart Show is decorated so over the top early/mid 70s it is fun just too look at the stuff on the set.

Newhart was also pretty good. It had Larry, Daryl and his other brother Daryl, which were pretty funny characters.

My dad was a Bob Newhart fan, even still has some of the albums, so I grew watching both of his shows.

Peter Bonerz has been pretty successful as a TV director.

And Suzanne P is now married to Tom Poston!!!

and ned otm about the final episode! awesome.

an Odd Couple poker player
Oh yeah, his character was called Vinnie, I think.

xpost

Howard: "He said 'Moo goo goo goo!'"
Bob [in mock-hauteur]: "Maybe I'm ordering Chinese baby food."

Holy shit, Carol = Edna Krabapple! I never made that connection, but of course, that voice!

The first season is new on DVD.

I find TBNS waaay less self-congratulatory than Seinfeld.

I even remember, sometimes, when I would have a really awful day at school, I would actually think about that show and that character and try to remind myself that it wasn't me that was crazy, it was the school (turns out, of course, that it was both).

"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*.

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!

also forgot that Dr Hartley's mom was played by Martha Scott, who played Heston's mother in Ben-Hur AND The Ten Commandments!

Season 4 has Tom Poston (twice) as The Peeper, plus "moo goo gai pan" Thasnksgiving ment'd above.

man bob newhart is the best

this bit kills me every time

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

one of my coworkers is cousins with Peter Scolari!

my eyes popped out of my head when I learned this detail. He was surprised anyone knew who Peter Scolari was. :( I said they gave the Oscar to the wrong Bosom Buddy.

love the dude. had never watched "newhart," started watching them on hulu - first two episodes were amazing and had some surprisingly dark stuff - ep. 1 has bob having to tell the daughters of the american revolution that their ancestors were prostitutes, and ep. 2 has them dealing with an ancient corpse in their basement. things got a little cheesier after that so i lost interest but i should go back and give it another shot.

kind of strange how Newhart had a supporting cast overhaul after about what, 3 seasons?

it did?

Another notable guest star was actor Jack Riley, who had portrayed Mr. Carlin, a mean-spirited patient of psychologist Bob Hartley, Newhart's character in The Bob Newhart Show. Riley (possibly playing another character, but acting exactly the same as Mr. Carlin) has a brief encounter with Dick Loudon, who finds him strangely familiar-looking. Dick then speaks to the man's psychologist, who complains about the terrible mental damage done to Riley by "some quack in Chicago", referring to Newhart's previous character. (Riley also appeared as a patient in the psychiatric ward on an episode of St. Elsewhere. He told another patient he is there because his life was ruined by "a quack psychologist in Chicago!")

never saw this one :(

also seem to recall it switched from being videotaped to filmed.

xp

Julia Duffy replaced Jennifer Holmes in season 2 and plus Steve Kampmann's character left at the end of season 2. Larry, Darrell and Darryl* were introduced in season 2 and became series regulars in season 3.

* I don't know if they actually had different spellings

He's performing at a casino just outside of Chicago tomorrow night. I keep thinking now is probably the time to see him.

Larry, Darrell and Darryl* were introduced in season 2

they're in the second episode of season one, bob hires them to get the ancient corpse out of the hotel's basement

that was a typo

i do love me some bob newhart. agree that episodes of most of his shows were hit and miss. but his persona is A+

this is pretty obvious but his stand-up shtick (ie the phone calls) is so unique in that he basically makes himself the straight man to an imagined comedian - can't really think of anyone else who does this. it's such a backward idea but plays to his strengths as a performer, essentially turning the straight man into the star. he's got to have an interesting psychology, since he seems perfect to be the actual straight man to a comedian in a partner act, but is intent on being the star himself (see his whole thing about refusing to have a kid in the bob newhart show because he didn't want it to turn into a "dad is dumb" kinda show).

TV's New Odd Couple: Sisqo and Newhart

why did that never happen

I remember 'Bob' from the 90s, but not the other one with Judd Hirsch.

btw Neil Patrick Harris, yes, Bob Newhart was an accountant. #buttoneddownmind

he should do a silent movie, he was hilarious last night without saying a word.

He looks the same for years now. he guest starred in an episode of The Big Bang Theory, for which he won his first Primetime Emmy Award

Haven't seen his guest spot

it's okay

90 today

If you can access it:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/04/arts/television/bob-newhart.html

that interview was wonderful, especially this:

On your 1980s sitcom “Newhart,” you had one of the most famous finales in TV history, waking up to discover the entire show was a dream.

Some people felt cheated. They devoted eight years of their life and it turns out none of them existed.

What’s your response?

O.K.

'Tis the day for TBNS S4 E11, "Over the River and Through the Woods."

if Howard Borden was my neighbor i would have him arrested

he is an idiot and a menace
DO NOT LET HIM IN YOUR APARTMENT BOB HE IS A NIGHTMARE

(but i love the actor bcz I Dream Of Jeannie)

seriously, I started watching reruns of this recently, for the first time since I was a kid, and it never occurred to me how freakin annoying and boundary-less dude he is… “here I’ll just pop into my neighbors house with my new upright bass”

I had forgotten how sweet and funky the theme tune is.

I've been watching an episode each week--this show is relentlessly brown! It's a shame no one has given it a remaster--both the streaming and DVD episodes look subpar, especially when compared to Columbo. (Although the latter is blu-ray, so perhaps an unfair comparison). My Mary Tyler Moore sets also look a little pixelated.

My favorite bit of the theme is when it slows down in the middle, with the tinkly piano.

I would also be uncomfortable with Howard Borden being my flight navigator.

Have we mentioned the excellent use of this shop in the "Hi Bob!" episode of For All Mankind when the three of them are all alone together on Jamestown Base?

otm! i think about that all the time

Shop = show. My autocorrect needs an autocorrect

I can't think of anyone else to have done the thing Newhart did in his old phone-call routines where ... it's just a solo straightman! Alone on a stage, reacting to implied dialogue. Totally agree with Nick in his thread start about how this made the sitcoms interesting: they have a straightman so good he doesn't even need comedy to react to, so they can just set up a mundane awkward conflict and it's more than funny enough to watch the guy just stand there in it. I can think of a few performers you could kind of do this with today, but I can't picture any television brave enough to actually try it.

nabisco otm!

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.