Good News on Newhart (4 Viewers)

[Stan]

I heard about that from SitcomsOnline. Hopefully it doesn't take too long to get to the 1990 finale where Dick Loudon wakes up as Dr. Bob Hartley from The Bob Newhart Show.

Probably one of the best scenes ever shown on TV. Most shows are forgettable, but that one was priceless.

 

[Dave Lawrence]

More good news...Season 6 is coming in September!

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Newhart-Season-6/22344

 

[BobO'Link]

That news makes me a *very* happy camper indeed!!

 

[The Obsolete Man]

Just 2(?) more seasons after this, Shout. I know you can have the series completed by Spring 2017.

 

[BobO'Link]

^Yes, 2 more after the season 6 release. At this point I'm optimistic we'll see those last 2 seasons be released, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Once that's done they need to find a way to release the original The Bob Newhart Show from 1961 - it's only 26 episodes. But does it still exist somewhere?

And then get George & Leo out as it's another short, 22 episode, series. Mr. Newhart's real first name is George so, like all his prior TV series, this one is also named after him. I once heard him joke about this saying "Well... we've had The Bob Newhart Show twice, then Newhart, and then Bob, so all that's left is The Show."

 

[Robbie^Blackmon]

I want to say/write this slowly, carefully, respectfully and purposefully.. without crossing any forum lines. I hope that.. if Shout! has to cobble together scenes from "unofficial" sources for season 6 and beyond.. I hope they spring for one of the more expensive unofficial sources that are of a higher image bitrate. There are sources better than the video they used to complete the season 5 episode "My Two and Only", which looks to be converted YouTube footage, replete with a fully-blurred Comedy Channel logo.

Also, if necessary to utilize syndication copies (which are hopefully unedited!), please try to get hold of ones that are not time compressed or sped up in any way.

Otherwise.. Bring it!!

 

[Dave Lawrence]

And then get George & Leo out as it's another short, 22 episode, series.

I'd love to finally see George & Leo. I was working nights when it aired originally - and must have been using the VCR to record something else - so I missed it entirely. Considering it only lasted a single season, I wonder if it was any good? Or was the cancellation less about quality and more about CBS wanting to replace it with something they felt would better target the younger demographic that's considered so crucial?

 

[BobO'Link]

I'd love to finally see George & Leo. I was working nights when it aired originally - and must have been using the VCR to record something else - so I missed it entirely. Considering it only lasted a single season, I wonder if it was any good? Or was the cancellation less about quality and more about CBS wanting to replace it with something they felt would better target the younger demographic that's considered so crucial?

In spite of feeling Judd Hirsch was miscast, and not really liking him much (I didn't care for him on Taxi either), I enjoyed the series. But I love the comedy of Bob Newhart and first discovered him via some records my dad brought home from the radio station he worked at in the 60s. The official reason it was canceled was "low ratings" but I suspect it had as much to do with not getting the demographic they wanted as with the ratings. Of course the "low ratings" could have been for that younger demographic and ratings could have been quite acceptable to the older groups.

 

[Dave Lawrence]

Thanks, Howie. I've always liked Bob, too. I also enjoyed Hirsch in Taxi as well as in Dear John, so the idea of pairing him and Bob suggests to me an Odd Couple-ish vibe which sounds like it would have had potential, assuming the show had solid writers who would write to Bob's strengths as he had in the 70s and 80s. I'm not surprised if CBS killed it due to the demos. After all, G&L debuted the season after CBS went out of its way to "murder" Murder She Wrote by moving it from its successful Sunday spot to Thursdays opposite Friends, where its demise was inevitable.

Anyway, I'd gladly blind buy G&L to go with the rest of my Newhart TV collection

 

[BobO'Link]

You are correct in your feeling it had a Odd Couple-ish vibe. That was exactly how it came off. Bob was... Bob and Hirsh was rather acerbic, much like Oscar Madison. They had a cast change fairly early - Bob's daughter-in-law (Hirsh's daughter) was recast. My wife hated it - but she's never been a fan of Newhart's work and doesn't like The Bob Newhart Show, Newhart, or Bob.

I like all his series and have purchased each as they've been released, double-dipping on The Bob Newhart Show when the complete series came out, just as much to get the first 4 seasons on SS discs as to get the last 2 seasons. I just wish Fox had've provided better prints on those last 2 seasons as well as the seasons of Newhart that've been released by Shout!

I'm constantly amazed at how little love Fox seems to have for their properties and how little regard they have for fans of films and TV shows for which they hold the rights when it comes to, apparently grudgingly, releasing copies for home consumption.

George & Leo was produced by Staley-Long Productions and Paramount and aired on CBS. That's almost as bad as if it had been a MTM/Fox property when it comes to getting a release. At least if it *does* come out it should be a good quality release, unless someone decides it has too much music.

 

[BobO'Link]

Newhart - S6 is now available for pre-order at Amazon for $29.93 - but I'm sure it'll drop by the September 13th, 2016 release date.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

Newhart - S6 is now available for pre-order at Amazon for $29.93 - but I'm sure it'll drop by the September 13th, 2016 release date.

Yeah, they usually come down to $20 by release day, which is a fair price.

 

[Dave Lawrence]

And the good news keeps on coming! Just in time for Christmas, Shout Factory is releasing Season 7 this December.

https://www.shoutfactory.com/tv/comedy/newhart-season-seven

 

[The Obsolete Man]

I'm hoping season 8 will be out Spring of next year to finally complete The Bob Newhart Show's run.

And speaking of, I wonder if there's any chance in hell of Shout getting the Bob Newhart Show 19th Anniversary Special as an extra, since it begins where Newhart ends, just to wrap everything Bob up in a nice bow?

 

[Dave Lawrence]

I'm hoping season 8 will be out Spring of next year to finally complete The Bob Newhart Show's run.

And speaking of, I wonder if there's any chance in hell of Shout getting the Bob Newhart Show 19th Anniversary Special as an extra, since it begins where Newhart ends, just to wrap everything Bob up in a nice bow?

Shout already included the "19th Anniversary" special as a bonus feature on the Complete Series set of The Bob Newhart Show. I don't know if they'd include it on a Newhart release also.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

Shout already included the "19th Anniversary" special as a bonus feature on the Complete Series set of The Bob Newhart Show. I don't know if they'd include it on a Newhart release also.

I had forgotten that.

Well then, bring on season 8 of Newhart and let's get this over with.

/and then find some way to pry George and Leo out of CBS/Paramount's hands.

 

[BobO'Link]

...and then find some way to pry George and Leo out of CBS/Paramount's hands.

Yes! In spite of it not being called "The" as Bob said in a interview he did on "The Tonight Show" with Carson shortly after Bob was cancelled.

I've done shows called The Bob Newhart Show, Newhart and Bob so the next show is going to be called The

 

[Rodney]

Happy Birthday, Bob!

 

[BobO'Link]

My S6 set arrived today!

AND - S7 is now available for pre-order from Amazon!! It has a December 13, 2016 release date with a current price of $29.93 which, based on prior seasons, will drop to ~$19 at some point before release date.
.
Mine is pre-ordered!

Just a few years ago I'd have said we'd *never* get this one to completion. Now it looks like it'll by done by Spring 2017!

 

[The Obsolete Man]

FFFFFFF*************************************KKKKKKKKKKKKK YEAH!

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Newhart-Season-8/22892

March 14, the 9 year wait comes to an end.

Part of me always gets a kick out of it when a show takes longer to release on DVD than it was on the air. Newhart, 8 seasons vs. 9 years, Mary Tyler Moore Show, 7 seasons vs. 8 years, Dragnet's 4 seasons vs. 6 years...

At least they finally get released, though.