The Bob Newhart Show: Difference between revisions

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A [[~~Sit Com~~]] that aired on [[CBS]] from 1972-1978 and was the forerunner to two of [[Bob Newhart]]'s other sitcoms, ''[[Newhart]]'' and ''[[~~Bob (TV)|~~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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* [[The Danza]]: Bob Newhart as Bob Hartley.

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: A Newhart trademark. The supporting characters (especially Emily and Mr. Carlin) often responded in kind.

* [[Directed By Cast Member]]: Peter Bonerz eventually parlayed this into an entire career as a respected TV director.

* [[Directed by Cast Member]]: Peter Bonerz eventually parlayed this into an entire career as a respected TV director.

** Will Mackenzie (Larry Bonderant) directed one episode and then went on to direct episodes of ''[[Taxi]]'' and ''[[WKRP in Cincinnati]]''.

* [[The Ditz]]: Howard

* [[Drop in Character]]: Howard

* [[The Eponymous Show]]

* [[Everything's Better ~~With~~ Bob]]

* [[Everything's Better with Bob]]

* [[Failure Is the Only Option]]: No matter how many breakthroughs Bob has with his regular patients, they never even come close to getting better. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in an episode where Bob becomes frustrated at his lack of progress with Mr. Carlin.

** Also lampshaded in a [[Christmas Episode]] in which Bob's gift to Mr Peterson was that he was cured and Bob was "letting him go free". Mr Peterson was less than thrilled.

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* [[Happily Married]]

* [[Hey, It's That Guy!]]: Bob's therapy-group regulars include [[The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis|Dobie Gillis' mom]] and [[WKRP in Cincinnati|Dr. Johnny Fever]].

** Bob and Emily are marriage-counseled in one episode by none other than [[Whos the Boss ~~(TV)~~|Mona Robinson]]!

** Bob and Emily are marriage-counseled in one episode by none other than [[Whos the Boss|Mona Robinson]]!

** [[Barney Miller|Sgt. Ron Harris]] is an elevator repairman.

* [[Hey, It's That Voice!]]: Rather retconned but still works. You have [[The Rescuers|Bernard]] working as a psychologist and married to [[The Lion King|Zira]]. His receptionist is [[The Simpsons|Mrs Krabappel]] and his two most notable patients are [[Rugrats|Stu Pickles]] and [[Winnie the Pooh|Piglet]].

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** Referenced in an episode of ''[[Taxi]]'' in which Jim Ignatowski - a big ''Bob Newhart Show'' fan - finds himself set up on a date with Marcia Wallace [[As Himself|playing herself]]. He insists on regaling her with the [[With Lyrics|lyrics he's composed]] for the theme:

{{quote| '''Jim''': Here comes Bob and Carol/His wife Emily really likes him/He has five people in his group...(repeat)}}

* [[Locked in A Room]]: Bob and Emily spend the Bicentennial Fourth stuck in their building's storage room.

* [[Locked in a Room]]: Bob and Emily spend the Bicentennial Fourth stuck in their building's storage room.

* [[Man Child]]: Howard is this through and through, more childish than his young son. The show [[Lampshade Hanging|frequently hints]] that Bob and Emily see him as the child they never had.

* [[Marathon Running]]: Two for [[Nick At Nite]] ... first ''Better Living Through Bob'', which introduced the series to the schedule with a season-a-night run of all the episodes for eight nights; and then ''Bob's [[~~Bob (TV)|~~Bob]]!, [[The Bob Newhart Show|Bob Newhart]], [[Newhart]] Marathon'', which featured selected episodes of all three series as it introduced ''Newhart'' to N@N and ''Bob!'' to sister channel TV Land.

* [[Marathon Running]]: Two for [[Nick at Nite]] ... first ''Better Living Through Bob'', which introduced the series to the schedule with a season-a-night run of all the episodes for eight nights; and then ''Bob's [[Bob]]!, [[The Bob Newhart Show|Bob Newhart]], [[Newhart]] Marathon'', which featured selected episodes of all three series as it introduced ''Newhart'' to N@N and ''Bob!'' to sister channel TV Land.

* [[Mandatory Motherhood]]: Deliberately subverted. Newhart's response when the producers told him that 'Bob & Emily were going to have a baby' that season has passed into legend: "Sounds great. Now, who are you going to get to play Bob?"

* [[Miniseries]]: In one episode Howard wants to watch a show called ''Sick Man, Well Man'' (''Rich Man, Poor Man'').

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* [[Parental Abandonment]]: Jerry was raised in an orphanage, and one season 5 episode involves his efforts to locate his natural parents.

* [[Peking Duck Christmas]]: Or, in this case, Moo Goo Gai Pan Thanksgiving.

* [[Pie in ~~The~~ Face]]: When "The Peeper" comes to visit, Bob tries to nail him with this as he comes in the door...and gets his new wife instead. Then the Peeper hits Bob with a pie of his own.

* [[Pie in the Face]]: When "The Peeper" comes to visit, Bob tries to nail him with this as he comes in the door...and gets his new wife instead. Then the Peeper hits Bob with a pie of his own.

** Also featured in the final [[Christmas Episode]] entitled "'Twas the Pie Before Christmas" in which Mr Carlin puts a hit out on Bob ... with a professional pie thrower.

* [[Post Script Season]]: Newhart originally planned to stop the show after the fifth season, so the writers all took new jobs and wrote a [[Grand Finale]] where Emily and Bob would finally become parents. Then Newhart agreed to come back for one more year, so the episode became [[All Just a Dream]] and a sixth season was produced with an entirely new team of writers.

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* [[We Want Our Jerk Back]]: When Howard sees a therapist and gets cured of his dependency on Bob and Emily, the Hartleys do everything they can to bring the old Howard back and make him helplessly dependent on them again.

** Justified in that the therapy has given Howard an entirely new personality that's even more unhealthy than his old one.

* [[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.

* [[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 {{spoiler|in Bob's "Newhart" dream, although Bob doesn't seem to recognize him when he wakes up}}.

** 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.

** 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.

* [[Your Favorite]]: For Bob Banana Cream Pie, for Emily Blueberry Cheesecake.