The Bob Newhart Show
Encyclopedia
The Bob Newhart Show is an American situation comedy
produced by MTM Enterprises
, which aired 142 original episodes on CBS
from September 16, , to April 1, . Comedian Bob Newhart
portrayed a psychologist
having to deal with his patients and fellow office workers. The show was filmed before a live audience.
, a Chicago psychologist
. The show divided most of its action between the character's home life and work, with Suzanne Pleshette
as Hartley's supportive (though occasionally sarcastic) wife Emily, and Bill Daily
as their friendly but inept neighbor, airline
navigator Howard Borden. At the medical office where Hartley had his psychology practice, Peter Bonerz
appeared as Jerry Robinson, D.D.S., an orthodontist who shared the office suite, and Marcia Wallace
portrayed their joke-loving receptionist, Carol Kester (later Kester-Bondurant).
Hartley's three most frequently seen regular patients were the mean-spirited and neurotic Elliot Carlin (Jack Riley), the milquetoast Marine
veteran Emil Peterson (John Fiedler
), and shy, reserved Lillian Bakerman (Florida Friebus
), an elderly lady who spent most of her sessions knitting. (Carlin was ranked 49th in TV Guide's List of the 50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time, and Riley reprised the character in guest appearances on both St. Elsewhere
and Newhart
.)
Most of the situations involved Newhart's character playing straight man
to his wife, colleagues, friends, and patients, an extension of Newhart's stand-up comedy
routines, where Newhart would play one side of a telephone conversation, the other side of which was not heard. Emily routinely acted as straight man to dimwitted Howard, and on occasion to Bob.
with his wife Henrietta), as numerous brief shots document Bob's journey home from work, ending with a shot of Emily greeting Bob at their apartment. As is often the case with location filming, Bob's commute journey was geographically inconsistent. For example, he leaves his office building by heading west toward Michigan Avenue
, only to then be seen from below walking east from Michigan Avenue, before strolling south over the Michigan Avenue bridge
. Bob boards a pair of Chicago Transit Authority
6001-6200 class PCC rapid transit cars at a Loop Elevated station, with the train moving from left to right on screen. The next shot shows Bob sitting down and removing his hat on a 2000-class car, moving from right to left. After that is seen a long shot of a pair of 6000-class cars crossing the Wells Street bridge northbound (screen left to right). Finally, Bob leaves the train at Isabella station (now demolished) on the Evanston line—several miles from his condo building in the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago.
In the 1990s, Nick at Nite
parodied this opening by adding lyrics to it. The lyrics consisted solely of the words "Bob Newhart" repeated throughout, echoing the melody (and drum rhythms), finally ending with "Here on Nick at Nite."
Later seasons, set to new music, show Bob's morning commute and feature all of the principal actors.
Bob's patients
Bob and Emily's relatives
Neighbors, friends and others
Rimbau Medical Arts Center
).
The series has aired repeatedly in reruns on numerous local and cable television channels. It is currently being shown Monday through Thursday nights at 5PM on the AmericanLife TV Network.
listed it as #44. In 2007, Time
magazine placed the show on its unranked list of "100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME".
Bravo ranked Bob Hartley 84th on their list of the 100 greatest TV characters.
In 2004 TV Land
commemorated the show with a statue of Newhart in character as Dr. Hartley, seated and facing an empty couch, as if conducting a therapy session in his office. The statue was temporarily installed in front of 430 North Michigan Avenue, the building used for exterior establishing shots of Hartley's office. The statue is now permanently located in the sculpture park in front of Chicago's Navy Pier
entertainment complex.
(also produced by MTM) from the previous year.
, partnered with Oliver Clark as the amnesia
c John Doe Number Six. Carlin and Doe have been committed to the hospital's mental ward, where Carlin treats Doe with the same verbal abuse he directed toward Clark's "Mr. Herd" on The Bob Newhart Show. Carlin blames his insanity on an unnamed "quack in Chicago." While Oliver Clark's recurring portrayal of John Doe Number Six is essentially identical to Mr. Herd, the two are never stated to be the same individual.
Later, Newhart and Pleshette reprised their roles from the show for the surreal finale of Newhart in 1990, in which it was revealed that the entire later Newhart series had been just Bob Hartley's dream
. Bob and Emily are shown in either their old bedroom from the Chicago apartment, or a similarly decorated bedroom as the couple had moved out of that apartment more than a decade earlier per the Bob Newhart Show finale.
(Note that through Carlin, both The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart are incorporated into the so-called Tommy Westphall Universe; such that either Newhart was just a dream of Bob Hartley who is, in turn, a figment of Tommy Westphall's autistic imagination or that Westphall had watched The Bob Newhart Show and incorporated it into his imagination.)
During the course of the show, one of the things the characters did was analyze Bob's dream. During the discussion, the Hartleys' neighbor Howard Borden (Bill Daily) recalled, "I had a dream like that once. I dreamed I was an astronaut in Florida for five years," as scenes from I Dream of Jeannie
featuring Daily were shown.
, when he showed up at the end of the episode "Anything But Cured" (March 14, 1994) to beg Carol (Marcia Wallace reprising her role) to leave her job as Murphy's secretary and come back with him to Chicago. A running gag on Murphy Brown was Murphy's dissatisfaction with each new secretary she was assigned, with each lasting less than a day. Carol was one of only two who measured up to Murphy's standards, and each quit by the end of their respective episode for a better job (the other being Paul Reubens
as Andrew J. Lansing III who was promoted to an executive position through nepotism
).
. In one sketch, he appears on a satirical version of Ricki Lake
, befuddled by both Ms. Lake's dysfunctional guests and Lake's armchair pop psychology. The episode ended with a repeat of Newhart’s "just a dream" scene, in which Bob Hartley again wakes up with Emily (Pleshette), and tells her that he just dreamt he had hosted SNL. Emily responds, "That show's not still on, is it?"
The two programs shared a setting in the 1970s. During the Bob Newhart Show’s original run, SNL (or NBC's Saturday Night as it was then known) featured a recurring sketch, "Olympia Restaurant," based on the Billy Goat Tavern
in the lower level of Bob's office building; the stairs in the sidewalk at the start of the opening credits lead to Lower Michigan Avenue in front of the tavern.
has released the first four seasons of The Bob Newhart Show on DVD in Region 1. Currently, the series' fifth and sixth seasons are available for pre-order from amazon.com, with release dates yet to be determined.
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
produced by MTM Enterprises
MTM Enterprises
MTM Enterprises was an American independent production company established in 1969 by Mary Tyler Moore and her then-husband Grant Tinker to produce The Mary Tyler Moore Show for CBS...
, which aired 142 original episodes on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
from September 16, , to April 1, . Comedian Bob Newhart
Bob Newhart
George Robert Newhart , known professionally as Bob Newhart, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. Noted for his deadpan and slightly stammering delivery, Newhart came to prominence in the 1960s when his album of comedic monologues The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart was a worldwide...
portrayed a psychologist
Psychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
having to deal with his patients and fellow office workers. The show was filmed before a live audience.
Premise
The popular CBS series stars Newhart as Robert Hartley, Ph.D.Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
, a Chicago psychologist
Psychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
. The show divided most of its action between the character's home life and work, with Suzanne Pleshette
Suzanne Pleshette
Suzanne Pleshette was an American actress, on stage, screen and television.After beginning her career in theatre, she began appearing in films in the early 1960s, such as Rome Adventure and Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds...
as Hartley's supportive (though occasionally sarcastic) wife Emily, and Bill Daily
Bill Daily
Bill Daily is an American comedian and dramatic actor, and a veteran of many television sitcoms. He is best known for playing astronaut Roger Healey on I Dream of Jeannie and commercial airline navigator Howard Borden in The Bob Newhart Show.-Biography:Daily's father died when Bill was very...
as their friendly but inept neighbor, airline
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
navigator Howard Borden. At the medical office where Hartley had his psychology practice, Peter Bonerz
Peter Bonerz
Peter Bonerz is an American actor and director who is best known as the character Dr. Jerry Robinson on The Bob Newhart Show....
appeared as Jerry Robinson, D.D.S., an orthodontist who shared the office suite, and Marcia Wallace
Marcia Wallace
Marcia Karen Wallace is an American character actress, comedienne and game show panelist, primarily known for her roles in television situation comedies...
portrayed their joke-loving receptionist, Carol Kester (later Kester-Bondurant).
Hartley's three most frequently seen regular patients were the mean-spirited and neurotic Elliot Carlin (Jack Riley), the milquetoast Marine
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
veteran Emil Peterson (John Fiedler
John Fiedler
John Donald Fiedler was an American voice actor and character actor in stage, film, television and radio. He was slight, balding, and bespectacled, with a distinctive, high-pitched voice and a career lasting more than 55 years.He is best remembered for four roles: as the nervous Juror #2 in 12...
), and shy, reserved Lillian Bakerman (Florida Friebus
Florida Friebus
Florida Friebus was an American writer and actress of stage, film, and television. Friebus's best-known roles were Winifred "Winnie" Gillis and Mrs...
), an elderly lady who spent most of her sessions knitting. (Carlin was ranked 49th in TV Guide's List of the 50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time, and Riley reprised the character in guest appearances on both St. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series is set at fictional St. Eligius, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston's South End neighborhood...
and Newhart
Newhart
Newhart is a television situation comedy starring comedian Bob Newhart and actress Mary Frann as an author and wife who owned and operated an inn located in a small, rural Vermont town that was home to many eccentric characters. The show aired on the CBS network from October 25, 1982 to May 21, 1990...
.)
Most of the situations involved Newhart's character playing straight man
Double act
A double act, also known as a comedy duo, is a comic pairing in which humor is derived from the uneven relationship between two partners, usually of the same gender, age, ethnic origin and profession, but drastically different personalities or behavior...
to his wife, colleagues, friends, and patients, an extension of Newhart's stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...
routines, where Newhart would play one side of a telephone conversation, the other side of which was not heard. Emily routinely acted as straight man to dimwitted Howard, and on occasion to Bob.
Opening credits
The original opening of the show begins with a ringing telephone on Bob's office desk, which he answers with a simple, "Hello?" This is a reference to Newhart's stand-up comedy act, which often featured him carrying on a phone conversation with an unheard party on the other end. A piano riff then introduces a jazzy, trumpet-heavy instrumental theme tune ("Home to My Emily," composed by series co-creator Lorenzo MusicLorenzo Music
Lorenzo Music was an American actor, voice actor, writer, television producer and musician. His best-known roles include voicing the animated cartoon cat Garfield, and Carlton the doorman on the CBS sitcom Rhoda...
with his wife Henrietta), as numerous brief shots document Bob's journey home from work, ending with a shot of Emily greeting Bob at their apartment. As is often the case with location filming, Bob's commute journey was geographically inconsistent. For example, he leaves his office building by heading west toward Michigan Avenue
Michigan Avenue (Chicago)
Michigan Avenue is a major north-south street in Chicago which runs at 100 east south of the Chicago River and at 132 East north of the river from 12628 south to 950 north in the Chicago street address system...
, only to then be seen from below walking east from Michigan Avenue, before strolling south over the Michigan Avenue bridge
Michigan Avenue Bridge
The Michigan Avenue Bridge has a north–south orientation, spanning the main stem of the Chicago River between the Near North Side and Loop community areas of Chicago. Its northern portal lies at the foot of the Magnificent Mile, between the Wrigley Building and Tribune Tower...
. Bob boards a pair of Chicago Transit Authority
Chicago Transit Authority
Chicago Transit Authority, also known as CTA, is the operator of mass transit within the City of Chicago, Illinois and some of its surrounding suburbs....
6001-6200 class PCC rapid transit cars at a Loop Elevated station, with the train moving from left to right on screen. The next shot shows Bob sitting down and removing his hat on a 2000-class car, moving from right to left. After that is seen a long shot of a pair of 6000-class cars crossing the Wells Street bridge northbound (screen left to right). Finally, Bob leaves the train at Isabella station (now demolished) on the Evanston line—several miles from his condo building in the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago.
In the 1990s, Nick at Nite
Nick at Nite
Nick at Nite is the nighttime Cable network that broadcasts over the channel space of Nickelodeon on Sundays from 8.p.m.-7.am., Monday through Fridays from 9 p.m.-7 a.m. and Saturdays from 10 p.m.-6 a.m. . Though it shares channel space with Nickelodeon, A.C. Nielsen Co...
parodied this opening by adding lyrics to it. The lyrics consisted solely of the words "Bob Newhart" repeated throughout, echoing the melody (and drum rhythms), finally ending with "Here on Nick at Nite."
Later seasons, set to new music, show Bob's morning commute and feature all of the principal actors.
Cast
- Bob NewhartBob NewhartGeorge Robert Newhart , known professionally as Bob Newhart, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. Noted for his deadpan and slightly stammering delivery, Newhart came to prominence in the 1960s when his album of comedic monologues The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart was a worldwide...
as Dr. Robert Hartley, psychologist - Suzanne PleshetteSuzanne PleshetteSuzanne Pleshette was an American actress, on stage, screen and television.After beginning her career in theatre, she began appearing in films in the early 1960s, such as Rome Adventure and Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds...
as Emily Hartley (née Harrison), his wife, a school teacher - Bill DailyBill DailyBill Daily is an American comedian and dramatic actor, and a veteran of many television sitcoms. He is best known for playing astronaut Roger Healey on I Dream of Jeannie and commercial airline navigator Howard Borden in The Bob Newhart Show.-Biography:Daily's father died when Bill was very...
as Howard Borden, their next-door neighbor, an airline navigator who also dates Bob's sister - Peter BonerzPeter BonerzPeter Bonerz is an American actor and director who is best known as the character Dr. Jerry Robinson on The Bob Newhart Show....
as Dr. Jerry Robinson, Bob's friend, an orthodontist - Marcia WallaceMarcia WallaceMarcia Karen Wallace is an American character actress, comedienne and game show panelist, primarily known for her roles in television situation comedies...
as Carol Kester, their receptionist
Bob's patients
- Jack Riley as Elliot F. Carlin (76 episodes)
- Renée Lippin as Michelle Nardo (17)
- Florida FriebusFlorida FriebusFlorida Friebus was an American writer and actress of stage, film, and television. Friebus's best-known roles were Winifred "Winnie" Gillis and Mrs...
as Mrs. Lillian Bakerman (17) - John FiedlerJohn FiedlerJohn Donald Fiedler was an American voice actor and character actor in stage, film, television and radio. He was slight, balding, and bespectacled, with a distinctive, high-pitched voice and a career lasting more than 55 years.He is best remembered for four roles: as the nervous Juror #2 in 12...
as Mr. Emil Peterson (15) - Oliver ClarkOliver ClarkOliver Clark is an American character actor.Clark was born Richard Mardirosian in Buffalo, New York, the son of Afro and Matthew Mardirosian. He is of Armenian heritage. His brother, Tom Mardirosian, is also an actor. Clark made numerous appearances in film and television, particularly in the...
as Mr. Ed Herd (8) - Noam PitlikNoam PitlikNoam Pitlik was an American television director and actor. In 1979, Pitlik won an Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for his work on the ABC-TV sitcom Barney Miller.-Early life and career:...
as Mr. Victor Gianelli (5) - Daniel J. TravantiDaniel J. TravantiDanielo Giovanni "Daniel J." Travanti is an American actor best known for his starring role as Captain Frank Furillo in the 1980s television drama Hill Street Blues.-Biography:...
as Mr. Gianelli (1) - Howard HessemanHoward HessemanHoward Hesseman is an American actor best known for playing disc jockey Johnny Fever on WKRP in Cincinnati and schoolteacher Charlie Moore on Head of the Class.-Early life:...
as Mr. Craig Plager (7) - Lucien Scott as Mr. Edgar T. Vickers (5)
- Merie Earle as Mrs. Loomis (4)
- Rhoda Gemignani as Miss Joan Rossi (3)
- Jerry Fogel as Paul Billingham (2)
- Richard LibertiniRichard LibertiniRichard Libertini is an American stage, film and television actor known for playing numerous character roles and his ability to speak in numerous accents....
as Franklin Pitt (2) - Michael ConradMichael ConradMichael Conrad was an American television actor.-Career:Conrad had a long acting career in television from the 1950s to the 1980s...
as Mr. Trevesco (2)
Bob and Emily's relatives
- Pat Finley as Ellen Hartley, Bob's sister; later Howard's girlfriend (15 episodes)
- Martha ScottMartha ScottMartha Ellen Scott was an American actress best known for her roles as mother of the lead character in numerous films and television shows.-Early life:...
as Martha (Eleanor) Hartley, Bob's mother (7) - Barnard HughesBarnard HughesBernard Aloysius Kiernan “Barnard” Hughes was an American actor of theater and film. Hughes became famous for a variety of roles; his most notable roles came after middle age, and he was often cast as a dithering authority figure or grandfatherly elder.-Personal life:Hughes was born in Bedford...
as Herb Hartley, Bob's father (3) - John RandolphJohn Randolph (actor)John Randolph was an American film, television and stage actor.-Early life:Randolph was born Emanuel Hirsch Cohen in New York City, the son of Jewish immigrants Dorothy , an insurance agent, and Louis Cohen, a hat manufacturer...
as Cornelius Harrison, Jr., Emily's father (3) - Ann RutherfordAnn RutherfordAnn Rutherford is a Canadian-American actress in film, radio, and television. She has had a long career starring and co-starring in films, playing Polly Benedict on the big screen of the 1930s and 1940s in the Andy Hardy series, and on The Bob Newhart Show as Newhart's character's...
as Aggie Harrison, Emily's mother (2)
Neighbors, friends and others
- Patricia SmithPatricia Smith (actress)Patricia Smith Lasell was an American actress who appeared in film and television roles from the early 1950s through the 1990s.-Career:...
as Margaret Hoover, Emily's friend (7 episodes) - Tom PostonTom PostonThomas Gordon "Tom" Poston was an American television and film actor. He starred on television in a career that began in 1950...
as Cliff "The Peeper" Murdock, Bob's college friend from Vermont (5) - Moosie DrierMoosie DrierMoosie Drier is an American television and film actor known for his voice that sounded like someone with a head cold. His career began as a child actor...
as Howie Borden, Howard's son (6) - Will MackenzieWill MacKenzieWilliam Ruggles MacKenzie is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour.MacKenzie was born and raised in Greenville, North Carolina. He was a golfing prodigy growing up but burned out on golf at age 14 and completely quit the game after high school...
as Larry Bondurant, Carol's boyfriend (later husband) (8) - Richard SchaalRichard SchaalRichard Schaal is an American television actor.He was married to actress Valerie Harper from 1964 to 1978. His daughter is actress Wendy Schaal by his first marriage to Lois née Treacy....
as Chuck Brock, a boyfriend of Carol's (3) - Jill Jaress as Mary Ellen, a girlfriend of Jerry's (3)
- Gail StricklandGail StricklandGail Strickland is an American character actress.Strickland was born in Birmingham, Alabama, the daughter of Theodosia and Lynn Strickland, who owned a tire shop...
as Courtney Simpson, a girlfriend of Jerry's (2) - Raúl JuliáRaúl JuliáRaúl Rafael Juliá y Arcelay was a Puerto Rican actor.Born in San Juan, he gained interest in acting while still in school. Upon completing his studies, Juliá decided to pursue a career in acting. After performing in the local scene for some time, he was convinced by entertainment personality Orson...
as Dr. Greg Robinson, Jerry's brother (1)
Rimbau Medical Arts Center
- Larry GelmanLarry GelmanLarry Gelman is an American film and television character actor. He is best known for playing Dr. Bernie Tupperman on the US TV series The Bob Newhart Show and Vinnie, the poker playing friend of Oscar and Felix, in The Odd Couple.He also played Professor Albert Einstein in the real-time...
as Dr. Bernie Tupperman, urologist (13 episodes) - Howard PlattHoward PlattHoward Platt is an American stage and television actor, singer and director, best known for his role as "Officer Hopkins", or"Hoppy" in the hit NBC-TV comedy series Sanford and Son from 1973-1977...
as Dr. Newman, cosmetic surgeon (6) - Shirley O'Hara as Debbie, temp receptionist (3)
- Phillip R. Allen as Dr. Walburn, another psychologist (2)
- Teri GarrTeri Garr-Early life:Garr was born in Lakewood, Ohio in 1947. Her father, Eddie Garr , was a vaudeville performer, comedian and actor whose career peaked when he briefly took over the lead role in the Broadway drama Tobacco Road...
as Miss Brennan, Dr. Walburn's receptionist (2)
Episodes
The first four seasons aired Saturdays at 9:30, season five aired Saturdays at 9:30 and 8:30 and the final season aired Saturdays at 8:00.Ratings
The show ranked in the Top 20 for its first three seasons (it followed the Mary Tyler Moore Show in CBS's Saturday night lineup), but schedule changes eventually pushed it to #53 by its final season (1977-781977-78 United States network television schedule
This was the television schedule on all three United States television networks for the fall season beginning in September 1977. All times are Eastern and Pacific.New fall series are highlighted in bold. Series ending their original runs are in italics....
).
The series has aired repeatedly in reruns on numerous local and cable television channels. It is currently being shown Monday through Thursday nights at 5PM on the AmericanLife TV Network.
- 1972-1973: #16 (21.8)
- 1973-1974: #12 (22.3) - Tied with The Wonderful World of Disney
- 1974-1975: #17 (22.4)
- 1975-1976: #26 (20.7) - Tied with Donny and Marie and The Streets of San FranciscoThe Streets of San FranciscoThe Streets of San Francisco is a 1970s television police drama filmed on location in San Francisco, California, and produced by Quinn Martin Productions, with the first season produced in association with Warner Bros...
- 1976-1977: N/A
- 1977-1978: N/A
Awards and honors
The show was nominated for an Emmy as "Outstanding Comedy Series" in 1977. Newhart was nominated for Golden Globes as "Best TV Actor—Musical/Comedy" in 1975 and 1976. In 1997, the episodes "Over the River and Through the Woods" and "Death Be My Destiny" were respectively ranked #9 and #50 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All TimeTV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time
TV Guides 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time is TV Guides list of the 50 most entertaining and influential television series in American pop culture...
listed it as #44. In 2007, Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine placed the show on its unranked list of "100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME".
Bravo ranked Bob Hartley 84th on their list of the 100 greatest TV characters.
In 2004 TV Land
TV Land
TV Land is an American cable television network launched on April 29, 1996. It is owned by MTV Networks, a division of Viacom, which also owns Paramount Pictures, and networks such as MTV and Nickelodeon...
commemorated the show with a statue of Newhart in character as Dr. Hartley, seated and facing an empty couch, as if conducting a therapy session in his office. The statue was temporarily installed in front of 430 North Michigan Avenue, the building used for exterior establishing shots of Hartley's office. The statue is now permanently located in the sculpture park in front of Chicago's Navy Pier
Navy Pier
Navy Pier is a long pier on the Chicago shoreline of Lake Michigan. It is located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side community area. The pier was built in 1916 at a cost of $4.5 million, equivalent to $ today. It was a part of the Plan of Chicago developed by architect and...
entertainment complex.
Final episode
In the show's final episode, "Happy Trails to You," Bob gives up his psychology practice and accepts a teaching position at a small college in Oregon, with the Hartleys leaving Chicago—as well as their friends and neighbors, and Bob's patients—behind them. The closing scene, in which the cast exchange tearful goodbyes and embrace before bursting into an impromptu refrain of "Oklahoma," is a wry nod to the Mary Tyler Moore Show finaleThe Last Show (Mary Tyler Moore Show episode)
The Last Show is the 168th episode and series finale of the television sitcom, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and was written by Allan Burns, James L. Brooks, Ed Weinberger, Stan Daniels, David Lloyd and Bob Ellison...
(also produced by MTM) from the previous year.
St Elsewhere (1985)
Jack Riley reprised his Elliot Carlin role in 1985 for an episode of St. ElsewhereSt. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series is set at fictional St. Eligius, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston's South End neighborhood...
, partnered with Oliver Clark as the amnesia
Amnesia
Amnesia is a condition in which one's memory is lost. The causes of amnesia have traditionally been divided into categories. Memory appears to be stored in several parts of the limbic system of the brain, and any condition that interferes with the function of this system can cause amnesia...
c John Doe Number Six. Carlin and Doe have been committed to the hospital's mental ward, where Carlin treats Doe with the same verbal abuse he directed toward Clark's "Mr. Herd" on The Bob Newhart Show. Carlin blames his insanity on an unnamed "quack in Chicago." While Oliver Clark's recurring portrayal of John Doe Number Six is essentially identical to Mr. Herd, the two are never stated to be the same individual.
Newhart (1988 & 1990)
Riley also turned up on the show Newhart in 1988, playing an unnamed character who acted very much like Mr. Carlin. This character is being treated by the same therapist in Vermont whom Dick Loudon (Bob Newhart) visits for marriage therapy. Dick feels he recognizes Riley's character but cannot place his face, whereupon the unnamed patient insults him. Echoing Carlin's statement in Boston three years earlier, the therapist apologizes for his patient, explaining that it has taken her "years to undo the damage caused by some quack in Chicago."Later, Newhart and Pleshette reprised their roles from the show for the surreal finale of Newhart in 1990, in which it was revealed that the entire later Newhart series had been just Bob Hartley's dream
Dream
Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, philosophical intrigue and religious...
. Bob and Emily are shown in either their old bedroom from the Chicago apartment, or a similarly decorated bedroom as the couple had moved out of that apartment more than a decade earlier per the Bob Newhart Show finale.
(Note that through Carlin, both The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart are incorporated into the so-called Tommy Westphall Universe; such that either Newhart was just a dream of Bob Hartley who is, in turn, a figment of Tommy Westphall's autistic imagination or that Westphall had watched The Bob Newhart Show and incorporated it into his imagination.)
The Bob Newhart Show 19th Anniversary (1991)
The entire cast assembled for the one-hour clip show The Bob Newhart Show 19th Anniversary in 1991, in which we visit the show's characters in the present day. This show is set in Chicago, in the same apartment and office that Bob Hartley had in his 1970s show—the move to Oregon is never mentioned. Viewers are left to assume that either the move never actually took place or that, if it did take place, the Hartleys quickly moved back to Chicago and resumed their life there.During the course of the show, one of the things the characters did was analyze Bob's dream. During the discussion, the Hartleys' neighbor Howard Borden (Bill Daily) recalled, "I had a dream like that once. I dreamed I was an astronaut in Florida for five years," as scenes from I Dream of Jeannie
I Dream of Jeannie
I Dream of Jeannie is a 1960s American sitcom with a fantasy premise. The show starred Barbara Eden as a 2,000-year-old genie, and Larry Hagman as an astronaut who becomes her master, with whom she falls in love and eventually marries...
featuring Daily were shown.
Murphy Brown (1994)
Newhart played Bob Hartley once again on Murphy BrownMurphy Brown
Murphy Brown is an American situation comedy which aired on CBS from November 14, 1988, to May 18, 1998, for a total of 247 episodes. The program starred Candice Bergen as the eponymous Murphy Brown, a famous investigative journalist and news anchor for FYI, a fictional CBS television...
, when he showed up at the end of the episode "Anything But Cured" (March 14, 1994) to beg Carol (Marcia Wallace reprising her role) to leave her job as Murphy's secretary and come back with him to Chicago. A running gag on Murphy Brown was Murphy's dissatisfaction with each new secretary she was assigned, with each lasting less than a day. Carol was one of only two who measured up to Murphy's standards, and each quit by the end of their respective episode for a better job (the other being Paul Reubens
Paul Reubens
Paul Reubens is an American actor, writer, film producer, and comedian, best known for his character Pee-wee Herman. Reubens joined the Los Angeles troupe The Groundlings in the 1970s and started his career as an improvisational comedian and stage actor...
as Andrew J. Lansing III who was promoted to an executive position through nepotism
Nepotism
Nepotism is favoritism granted to relatives regardless of merit. The word nepotism is from the Latin word nepos, nepotis , from which modern Romanian nepot and Italian nipote, "nephew" or "grandchild" are also descended....
).
Saturday Night Live (1995)
Newhart reprised Hartley twice in the February 11, 1995 episode of Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
. In one sketch, he appears on a satirical version of Ricki Lake
Ricki Lake (talk show)
Ricki Lake was the first daytime tabloid talk show hosted by American actress Ricki Lake.The show specialized in sensationalist topics involving invited guests and incorporated questions and comments from a studio audience...
, befuddled by both Ms. Lake's dysfunctional guests and Lake's armchair pop psychology. The episode ended with a repeat of Newhart’s "just a dream" scene, in which Bob Hartley again wakes up with Emily (Pleshette), and tells her that he just dreamt he had hosted SNL. Emily responds, "That show's not still on, is it?"
The two programs shared a setting in the 1970s. During the Bob Newhart Show’s original run, SNL (or NBC's Saturday Night as it was then known) featured a recurring sketch, "Olympia Restaurant," based on the Billy Goat Tavern
Billy Goat Tavern
The Billy Goat Tavern is a chain of taverns located in Chicago, Illinois, founded in 1937 by Billy Sianis, a Greek immigrant. It achieved fame primarily through newspaper columns by Mike Royko, a supposed curse on the Chicago Cubs, and the Olympia Cafe sketch on Saturday Night Live.It now has...
in the lower level of Bob's office building; the stairs in the sidewalk at the start of the opening credits lead to Lower Michigan Avenue in front of the tavern.
DVD releases
20th Century Fox20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of the 20th Century Fox film studio. It was established in 1976 as Magnetic Video Corporation, and later as 20th Century Fox Video, CBS/Fox Video and FoxVideo, Inc....
has released the first four seasons of The Bob Newhart Show on DVD in Region 1. Currently, the series' fifth and sixth seasons are available for pre-order from amazon.com, with release dates yet to be determined.
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| The Complete 1st Season | 24 | April 12, 2005 |
| The Complete 2nd Season | 24 | October 4, 2005 |
| The Complete 3rd Season | 24 | April 11, 2006 |
| The Complete 4th Season | 24 | September 5, 2006 |
| The Complete 5th Season | 24 | TBA |
| The Complete 6th Season | 22 | TBA |
External links
- The Bob Newhart Show at TVGuide.com
- The Bob Newhart Show at TVLand.comTV LandTV Land is an American cable television network launched on April 29, 1996. It is owned by MTV Networks, a division of Viacom, which also owns Paramount Pictures, and networks such as MTV and Nickelodeon...
- I Laugh, therefore I am - The Quest for Bob Newhart's Apartment Building retrieved February 19, 2010