Bob

BOB was ahead of its time - certainly in its setting. A comic book company? Now a network would LOVE that - how hip, how edgy, comic books and graphic novels are everywhere!!! But in the early 90's comic books hadnt quite had their comeback yet. But that's what made the show unique. The very underrated Cynthia Stevenson was so good playing off of Bob and I loved his pet cat. The show should have been given a chance and NOT changed the setting. The second season they totally changed it so Bobw as working for a greeting card company and they crowbarred in Betty White and jere Burns but the show was already staggering at that point. Seems like too much interference and second guessing. They should have left it alone and let the audience find it instead of the other way around (which failed anyway).

The first season of "Newhart" sucked eggs. The only really funny episodes were a couple with Larry, Darryl and Darryl and one with a visit by Stephanie. Fortunately, CBS showed its faith in Bob Newhart and gave his 1980s show a slightly retooled 2nd season, with more visits from Larry and the Darryls and making Stephanie a regular. The third season moved the brothers three next door and added Peter Scolari, and "Newhart" proved a classic.

"Bob," Bob Newhart's 1990s show, had a solid premise: milquetoast greeting-card artist has an early comic book of his revived, but rather than a cuddly, old school superhero comic book it's dark and edgy. Bob is surrounded by strange comic book people including an A-personality partner. He also has a home life (harkening back to the double setting of "The Bob Newhart Show.") Only, this time he has a daughter (one of the biggest laughs I ever got from a TV show between the end of "Newhart" and the start of "Andy Richter Controls the Universe" was an episode where his daughter got a hot date . . . By phone. It might not be an odd occurrence today, but back then it was downrighr bizarre).

The daughter is played byCynthia Syevenson, a real, deadpan plus to the show. She's great.

Again, CBS showed their faith in cash cow Bob Newhart and they let the show run a full season. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, "Bob" never got traction.

"Bob" was retooled for a second season, and, unlike "Newhart," which started out limping and got better and better for nine seasons, "Bob" in its second season got worse. Rather than tweaking the show until it was as fine-tuned as a racing engine, the entire office side of the show was thrown out and changed. When the revamped "Bob" didn't catch fire, it went where the bad shows go.

I liked "Bob" and, seeing what happened with "Newhart," I was willing to give it time to find its sea legs. But I'm not a network exec.

For a different sort of Newhart vibe, the first season of "Bob" is worth a peek, if you can find it.

"BOB" was Bob Newhart's return to television after 2 very successful sitcoms. Newhart stars as Bob McKay who is the creator of a '50s comic book superhero known as "Mad-Dog". But thanks to a senate sub-committee hearing on the moral goodness of comic books Mad-Dog is short lived.

Years later, Bob is a frustrated greeting card artist whose comic book creation gets a second life. Unfortunately the new owner of Mad-Dog Comics, American-Canadian Trans-Continental Communications Company, (AmCanTranConComCo), has different ideas about the comic than Bob.

Bob's boss Harlan Stone (played by John Cygan), wants to make Mad-Dog a vigilante while Bob argues that Mad-Dog is a superhero. This leads to problems in conceiving the first issue of the comic book. In fact, episodes of the show go by and the first issue isn't completed.

Kaye McKay (Carlene Watkins) and Trisha McKay (Cynthia Stevenson) are Bob's Wife and Daughter. Trisha's story lines deal with her being hopelessly single and Bob's wife really has nothing to do with the show accept to be hit on by Bob's friends and be there for Bob. Highlights include Appearances by Comic book legends Jim Lee and Jack Kirby and Trisha's roommate Kathy Fleisher (played by Lisa Kudrow). At the end of the first season the show was retooled and the comic book storyline is nixed and replaced with Bob returning to the world of greeting cards and becoming the president of Schmitt Greetings.

"Bob" didn't really catch on and only lasted a season and a half. Instead of the lovable Bob we all know and love, viewers found an irritable, scheming and more often than not, unlikable Bob. In more than one episode Bob is caught Plagiarizing. In another episode he takes credit for work that his daughter Trisha did. In just about every episode Bob faces conflict at work or with his daughter. What made "the Bob Newhart Show" and "Newhart" so great was that Bob's character was never truly mean-spirited. He was the straight man in a world of off-beat characters and situations. Bob's main purpose in both shows seemed be to make sense of the situations brought to him by wacky next door neighbors, patients and co-workers. In "Bob" he seems annoyed when presented with similar situations that might have been funnier had Newhart's character been more patient and forgiving.

Another problem was that the cast lacked the chemistry that made his past shows so memorable. Even the additions of Betty White and Tom Poston didn't really work. To make matters worse the show's time slot was Friday's at 9:30. The younger audience didn't relate to the characters or the comic book. The show also lacked ideas. In 3 of the 30 aired episodes Bob is having difficulty making a speech. Changing the main focus of the show to the Greeting card Company was too little too late and felt like a last ditch effort.

Bob is one of the most talented comedians of all time & is truly a class act. But not even Bob Newhart could overcome mediocre writing and mismatched cast members. While highly unlikely, I would love to see Bob Newhart star in a fifth Television series.

"Bob" ran on CBS for 30 episodes. 3 previously unaired episodes premiered on Viacom's TV LAND 5 years later.

When Bob (the show) began, I already loved it just because 8t was about a comic book character. Since I too am an illustrator, and a fan.of comics, I was happy to see it. Unfortunately, CBS decided to rewrite the show and make it about greeting cards. Even Betty White couldn't save it because the writers sucked. This is one of those great shows that was never given a chance. A true shame... like The Tony Randall Show about a judge and his caustic secretary.

Bob Newhart's third sitcom was mostly a crashing non-success,which is a shame since,besides Mr.Newhart,the show had a very good ensemble cast that included veteran actors like Ruth Kobart and Carlene WAtkins mixed in with solid younger talent like Cynthia Stevenson,Andrew Bilgore and John Cygan. This was the first season. Then CBS decided to re-up this show(rather tenuously it appeared)for a second year,they blew-up that cast,inserted pros Betty White,Tom Poston and Jere Burns,that and a schedule move(from the no-man's land that was Friday nights to Monday nights)and hoped it would inflate the less-than-scintillating returns.It didn't,and the show was quietly pushed off the air after the half-way point of the 1993-94 season.

I personally felt like this show,while hardly up there with the first two Newhart entries,was still very watchable,quite funny and seemed to have plenty of potential to get better and/or get a better following. But who knows? Maybe audiences were expecting too much of either Dr.Bob HArtley or Dick Loudon. Or maybe the loyal t.v. audiences didn't like what they saw in grouchy cartoonist Bob McKay. Or maybe the audiences were not warming to Newhart's dry,button-down style of comedy. Whatever,I thought this show deserved a better treatment,given the pedigree of the eponymous star.