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The Bob Newhart Show: Difference between revisions
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[[File:BobNewartcast_3822.jpg|frame|Hi, Bob!...& Carol & Jerry & Emily & Howard!]]
A [[Sitcom]] that aired on [[CBS]] from 1972-1978 and was the forerunner to two of [[Bob Newhart]]'s other sitcoms, ''[[Newhart]]'' and ''[[Bob!]]''. It was a top-rated success at the time, and has quietly earned classic status since. Produced by David Davis and Lorenzo Music as a deliberate complement to ''[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]'' (an established hit produced by the same studio, MTM Enteprises, and immediately preceding it in CBS' Saturday-night lineup), it shared much the same format: drop a bunch of wacky character actors into a professional setting and hire an established star as their [[Straight Man]].▼
▲A [[Sitcom]] that aired on [[CBS]] from 1972-1978 and was the forerunner to two of [[Bob Newhart]]'s other sitcoms, ''[[Newhart]]'' and ''[[Bob]]''. It was a top-rated success at the time, and has quietly earned classic status since. Produced by David Davis and Lorenzo Music as a deliberate complement to ''[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]'' (an established hit produced by the same studio, MTM Enteprises, and immediately preceding it in CBS' Saturday-night lineup), it shared much the same format: drop a bunch of wacky character actors into a professional setting and hire an established star as their [[Straight Man]].
At the time Newhart was one of comedy's hottest stars, renowned for his dryly understated standup persona. Who better to field the role of an uptight psychologist than the guy whose biggest hit album was ''The Button-Down Mind''?
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This was actually the ''[[Name's the Same|second]]'' show Newhart did that was called ''The Bob Newhart Show''. The first was a [[Variety Show]] that aired for one season from October 1961 to June 1962.
{{tropelist}}
* [[Absentee Actor]]: Part of Newhart's deal for doing one last season was that he could take some episodes off. The sixth season has five episodes where Bob is out of town and doesn't appear except for a pre-filmed sequence on the phone.
* [[The Alcoholic]]: Carol, although its played for laughs with her getting tipsy at work after lunches and making Irish Coffee for the Office Christmas parties.
* [[Alliterative Family]]: More rhyming than alliteration. Howard Borden had a brother: Gordon Borden the game warden. Later, Emily told Bob about Howard's other brother: Norman Borden the Mormon doorman
* [[All Just a Dream]]: Most of the episode
* [[Amicable Exes]]: Howard and his ex-wife.
* [[Berserk Button]]: If Bob BBQs a steak for you, do
* [[Bucket Booby Trap]]: Subverted. Emily and the Peeper's wife rig up one of these for Bob and the Peeper, but it remains balanced atop the door when each of them comes inside.
* [[Catch Phrase]]: "Hi, Bob!"
* [[Christmas Episode]]: One each season, in fact.
* [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome]]: The show devoted quite a few episodes to Bob's sister Ellen (Pat Finley) and her romance with Howard, but shortly after getting engaged to Howard in
** Margaret Hoover, a neighbor seen in a few
* [[Cute Kitten]]: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgqjOBcXarM Mimsie], the MTM Enterprises [[Vanity Plate]].
** In one episode Mimsie is replaced with a cat featured in that story.
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: A Newhart trademark. The supporting characters (especially Emily and Mr. Carlin) often responded in kind.
* [[Distant Finale]]: The final scene of Bob Newhart's ''next'' series, ''[[Newhart]]'', revealed that the events of ''Newhart'' were all a dream that Bob Hartley had one night.
* [[The Ditz]]: Howard▼
* [[
* [[Drop-In Character]]: Howard.
* [[The Eponymous Show]]
* [[Everything's Better with Bob]]
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* [[Newhart Phonecall]]: Natch.
* [[Notable Commercial Campaigns]]:
** In one episode Howard blames his divorce from his Stewardess wife on the fact that "the skies got a little ''too'' friendly".
** In the hostage episode Howard excitedly exclaims "The Colonel's got breasts!", a parody on a then current KFC ad.
* [[Only Sane Man]]: Bob on occasion, though not nearly to the extent that Dick Loudon was on ''Newhart''.
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* [[Reunion Show]]: A 1991 special had Bob and his friends analyzing his crazy Vermont dream.
* [[Running Gag]] / [[Once Per Episode]]: Bob and Emily would be in bed, one of them would say something, shut off the light, then the other would turn their light on and continue the conversation. Became a [[Brick Joke]] in the final episode of ''[[Newhart]]''.
* [[Sassy Secretary]]: Carol.▼
* [[Shown Their Work]]: Subtly. Newhart insisted that his character be a psychologist (ie., therapist), not a psychiatrist, as he didn't want to poke fun at serious mental illnesses.▼
▲* [[Sassy Secretary]]: Carol
* [[Shout-Out]]: The episode "It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time" pays tribute to ''[[The Sting]]'' with an "Entertainer"-ish version of the theme music and scene titles like "The Deal" and "The Fuse".
▲* [[Shown Their Work]]: Subtly. Newhart insisted that his character be a psychologist (
* [[Sit Comic]]
* [[Snowed In]]: One Christmas episode has Bob trapped at the office by a blizzard.
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* [[What Happened to the Mouse?]]: When Carol first meets Howard in "Bob and Emily and Howard and Carol and Jerry", he's come from a dentist appointment and the drugs haven't worn off, so he's uncharacterically serene and poetic. This makes a good impression on Carol, who decides she wants to go out with him. On the date, Howard is back to his [[The Ditz|old]] [[Cloudcuckoolander|self]], leading to a disastrous date that causes Carol to change her mind about him and start avoiding him. When Howard finally figures out what's going on and calls her on it, they briefly argue, but then both decide that they love each other after all and run off to take a trip together. No mention is ever made of this again, nor do we ever see Carol and Howard dating after this.
* [[The Windy City]]
* [[You Look Familiar]]: The Peeper (Tom Poston) would return as Handyman George Utley
** The actor who occupied the position of wacky neighbor in the pilot would later play the role of Howard's brother Warden Gordon Borden.
** Comedian Archie Hahn (from the British [[Whose Line Is It Anyway?]]) made his television debut in one episode of this show, playing a hotel bellhop. He appeared again in a later episode, this time playing a cruise director.
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{{reflist}}
{{TV Guide's 50 Greatest}}
[[Category:Comedy Series]]
[[Category:Work Com]]
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[[Category:The Bob Newhart Show]]
[[Category:TV Series]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bob Newhart Show, The}}
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