Bob Newhart(1929-2024)

Newhart insisted there never be any children for his character to be the father of in each of his television series. "I told the creators I didn't want any children, because I didn't want it to be a show about 'How stupid Daddy is, but we love him so much, let's get him out of the trouble he's gotten himself into.'" In the sixth year of Newhart's CBS sitcom, The Bob Newhart Show (1972), the writers wrote a script in which Emily Hartley was pregnant. When Newhart was asked his opinion of the script, he said, "It's very funny. Who are you going to get to play Bob?".

Laughter gives us distance. It allows us to step back from an event, deal with it and then move on.