bob newhart show - question from a dumb brit (1 Viewer)

[andrew markworthy]

I notice that the Bob Newhart Show is coming to DVD. Please could someone put me out of my misery? Is this something built up around his monologues (which I love) or is it a situation comedy starring BN? I have a vague memory of a couple of sitcoms (something about a log cabin comes to mind for reasons I can't fathom) starring him back in the 70s, but they are only vague memories, so I assume they were never a huge hit in the UK.

If it is a sitcom, is it worth getting into or is it for nostalgia freaks only?

 

[Lew Crippen]

The Bob Newhart Show was a sitcom—nothing to do with his stand-up routines.

Newhart played Bob Hartley, a Chicago psychologist, whose life was complicated by the foibles of his friends and co-workers. A running bit were the patients in group therapy.

The characters were sharply drawn and remained consistent for the run of the series. The writing was very witty and made use of Newhart’s low key delivery (his wife Emily (Suzanne Pleshette) was the sharper counterpoint to Bob and the only truly well-adjusted person in the show). Even sharper was his receptionist at work, Carol (Marcia Wallace)—an inside joke here was her appearance on Murphy Brown, where she was one of a series of secretaries on that show.

This series was followed by another one titled Newhart that had Bob as a Vermont innkeeper. The final show in this series is pretty famous, but I won’t give any details, as it would spoil the fun.

 

[Elinor]

I think this is the one where he is a shrink (psychologist) and married to Suzanne Pleshette, living in a Chicago (?) highrise apartment. Elliot is the doorman, and there is some running gag with him.

I remember it being pretty funny ... imagine what Bob could do for material as a shrink ....

 

[Bob Turnbull]

I think that was Rhoda.

 

[Elinor]

Hah ... my mind merged two characters, two different shows ... there was an Elliot on BNS, but he was a patient, not a doorman

http://www.tvtome.com/BobNewhartShow/

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Carlton was the doorman on Rhoda. "Hello, this is Carlton your doorman". Played by veteran voice actor Lorenzo Music.

 

[andrew markworthy]

Thanks for the details everyone, and Lew, your description brought a lot back to me. I must have watched these shows sporadically and seem to recall enjoying them.



Apologies if this is a false memory - though if it is, I think it'd make a good ending anyway.

 

[Hugh Jackes]

Yep, that's right.

He was hit in the head by a golf ball (hit by one the Japanese businessman whom he had refused to sell the inn to, resulting is his inn being in the middle of a golf course), he woke up in the earlier series' bedroom, with his earlier series' wife (Pleshette), and said something to the affect or "Emily, you wouldn't believe the dream I just had!" This was a dig at Dallas's infamous Bobby in the shower scene.

 

[Anthony Hom]

The Elliot on BNS was Elliot Carlin, played by Jack Reilly. He was the longest running patient that Bob had, I would consider him part of the ensemble cast along with Carol and Jerry.
Even the show acknowledged him as Bob's oldest patient:

"Dr. Hartley, remember the old days when it was just you and me in one big overstuffed chair?"

 

[Hugh Jackes]

Mr. Carlin even checked into Dick Louden's (Bob's) inn on the Newhart Show. He commented that he had been under the care of a psychologist in Chicago for years. He ultimately realized that his Chicago shrink was really not very good.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

The reason you're remember a log cabin is that Bob ran a semi-rustic bread and breakfast in Newhart. Bob had yet another sitcom after those two long-running shows, but it didn't last. Called simply Bob, it featured Newhart as a rather cantankerous comic book or -strip artist. I've always joked that if he ever does another series he'll have to call it The Show to distinguish it from all the rest. (BTW, does anyone remember the series of commercials - for what I don't even remember - featuring Bob as the owner of a disaster-prone small business? They were little comedy gems in their own right. I'd love to see them preserved on DVD - along with his classic stand-up telephone bits.)

Regards,

Joe

 

[Hugh Jackes]

BTW, the actual inn used for the exteriors of The Newhart Show (mostly just the credits), is, in reality, The Waybury Inn, in Middlebury, Vermont. Very pretty.

 

[Marty M]

I want to make it clear that the spoilers in the above postings are in regards to the final episode of his second series, Newhart. The Bob Newhart Show was a very smartly written show with a great ensemble cast. There was great chemistry between Bob Newhart and Suzanne Pleshette.

 

[andrew markworthy]

Thanks for all the input guys - I think I'll risk it and buy the first series.

 

[Nelson Au]

Andrew's log cabin memory is likely to do with one episode of BNS where he takes his therapy group out to a log cabin. The group was disgruntled because they discover that Bob and Emily have a luxurious cabin and the group didn't, and the fun goes from there.