The Bob Newhart Show

"The Bob Newhart Show" is possibly the most brilliant of the "adult sitcoms" of the early 1970's. Along with "The Odd Couple" and "Mary Tyler Moore", this show exhibits a subtle, mature humor that has all but disappeared from television today. Great actors make this show with a simple "situation" -- adults working, talking, eating, and going to bed -- hilarious and reflective. Bob Newhart's unique comedic style finds a perfect outlet in "The Bob Newhart Show." For the uninitiated, it might be compared to "Seinfeld" in that it is a "show about nothing" that derives humor from the interactions between people and not "jokes."

I loved this show as a kid (I was 10 in 1975)... it was a show that actually made sense to me (yeah, yeah, I watched all the other 70's shows too...). It was adult without being sexy (I hated that in TV shows... nothing's grosser than Marion & Howard getting "frisky")-- the characters were wry, the situations were plausibly ridiculous (?!?!?), and the writing was intelligent. I knew, even then, that there was a difference between intelligent humor and (gawd help us) pratfall humor (think: Jack Ritter), and what I preferred. I also dug that I "got" it, and that Bob was a nebbishy kind of guy, who stumbled along through life, really making it on his wits (certainly wasn't his good looks). Gave a geeky girl a certain hope for her future.

Bob Newhart and MTM put together a winning formula when they debuted the Bob Newhart Show in the Fall of 72. This was Deadpan comedy on the part of Newhart at it's best. Psychologist, Dr. Bob Hartley, deals with the day to day problems of his zany and quite real patient's. Jack Riley's, Elliot Carlin being one of the most notable of the group, with his bizarre problems and abrasive attitude towards other group members, especially the wishy-washy Mr. Peterson.

Bob's life outside his group was a bit less zany but just as interesting and funny. His relationship between his wife Emily, played by the sultry Susan Pleshette, was a very real relationship. Newhart and Pleshette complimented each other quite well.

I think everyone loved his wise cracking secretary, Carol, and the bumbling antics of his neighbor, Howard Borden.

This was part of the great CBS Saturday night line-up which included "Mary Tyler Moore", "All in the Family". Bob Newhart's deadpan reactions to all the craziness that was going on around him was what helped to make this show special. Its surprising how it never received an Emmy, or for that matter a nomination. Maybe it was because it was part of such a legendary prime time line-up that it got lost in the shuffle. Also, maybe it was due to the fact that it had such a strong ensemble that no one particular member of the cast stood out. Besides Newhart, Suzanne Pleshette, Peter Bonnerz, Marcia Wallace and Bill Daily all made this show what it was, but the funniest character on the show had to be Elliot Carlin. He definitely was one of the most acerbic characters ever created for television. This still is one of the classic situation comedies of its era and it was very much more of an intellectual show.

Not cutting edge like "All in the Family," and lacking the social relevance of Mary Tyler Moore's single woman who was gonna make it after all in a man's world, "The Bob Newhart Show," which shared the CBS Saturday night lineup with those shows in the 70s, nonetheless had the strongest legs. While Archie Bunker fumbled once daughter Gloria and "Meathead" moved out, leaving him without a regular nemesis, "The Bob Newhart Show" delivered first rate comedy as dependably in its last season as it did in its first.

Newhart was a more mature Seinfeld in that most of the madness was provided by the supporting cast, and a terrific one it was too: Suzanne Pleshette, sassy and sexy as Bob's earthy wife, Emily; Peter Bonerz as the dentist and sarcastic ladies man, Jerry Robinson; and Bill Daley as perpetually befuddled pilot Howard Borden. Then there was Marcia Wallace as snippy receptionist Carole, the wonderful John Fiedler as mousy Mr. Peterson, and Jack Riley as the truly deranged Mr. Carlin. All had their moments of brilliance, but it was Newhart, with his low-key genius, who held the show together and made it work. A comedy classic.