Editing The Bob Newhart Show

{{short description|American television sitcom (1972–1978)}}
{{about|the 1970s TV show|the 1960s variety show|The Bob Newhart Show (1961 TV series)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox television
| image                = The Bob Newhart Show.jpg
| image_alt            =
| genre                = 
| creator              = {{Plainlist|
* [[David Davis (TV producer)|David Davis]]
* [[Lorenzo Music]]
}}
| starring             = {{Plainlist|
* [[Bob Newhart]]
* [[Suzanne Pleshette]]
* [[Peter Bonerz]]
* [[Bill Daily]]
* [[Marcia Wallace]]
}}
| theme_music_composer = {{Plainlist|
* Lorenzo Music
* Henrietta Music
}}
| opentheme            = "Home to Emily"
| country              = United States
| language             = English
| num_seasons          = 6
| num_episodes         = 142
| list_episodes        = List of The Bob Newhart Show episodes
| camera               = [[Multi-camera setup|Multi-camera]]
| runtime              = 30 minutes
| company              = [[MTM Enterprises]]<br>[[20th Television]]
| network              = [[CBS]]
| first_aired          = {{Start date|1972|09|16}}
| last_aired           = {{End date|1978|04|01}}
| related              = ''[[Newhart]]'' 
}}
'''''The Bob Newhart Show''''' is an American television [[sitcom]] produced by [[MTM Enterprises]] that aired on [[CBS]] from September 16, 1972, to April 1, 1978, with a total of 142 half-hour episodes over six seasons. Comedian [[Bob Newhart]] portrays a [[psychologist]] whose interactions with his wife, friends, patients, and colleagues lead to humorous situations and dialogue. The show was filmed before a live audience.

==Premise==
[[File:Newhart show cast 1977.JPG|thumb|187px|left|Standing, from left: Howard Borden, Carol Kester, Jerry Robinson; seated: Bob and Emily Hartley]]

The show centers on Robert "Bob" Hartley (Newhart), a Chicago [[psychologist]], his work and home life, with his supportive, though occasionally sarcastic, wife Emily ([[Suzanne Pleshette]]), and their friendly but mildly pesky neighbor, airline navigator Howard Borden ([[Bill Daily]]). The medical building where Bob's practice is located also houses Jerry Robinson ([[Peter Bonerz]]), an [[orthodontist]] whose office is on the same floor, and their receptionist, Carol Kester ([[Marcia Wallace]]), as well as a number of other doctors who appear on the show occasionally.

Bob's three most frequently seen regular patients are cynical, mean-spirited and neurotic Elliot Carlin ([[Jack Riley (actor)|Jack Riley]]), milquetoast former US Marine cook Emil Peterson ([[John Fiedler]]), and quiet, reserved Lillian Bakerman ([[Florida Friebus]]), an older woman who spends most of her sessions knitting. Carlin was ranked 49th in ''TV Guide'''s List of the 50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time, and Riley reprised the character in guest appearances on both ''[[St. Elsewhere]]'' and ''[[Newhart]]''.

Most of the situations involve Newhart's character playing [[Double act|straight man]] to his wife, colleagues, friends, and patients. A frequent running gag on the show is an extension of Newhart's [[stand-up comedy]] routines, where he played one side of a telephone conversation, the other side of which is not heard. In a nod to this,{{citation needed|date=February 2024}} for the first two seasons, the episodes opened with Bob answering the telephone by saying "Hello?"{{clear left}}

==Cast==
[[File:Bob Newhart Show Suzanne Pleshette Bill Daily 1973.JPG|thumb|225px|Emily listens to Howard in the Hartleys' apartment.]]
[[File:Bob Newhart Show Carols Wedding 1975.JPG|thumb|225px|Bob (right) congratulates Carol and Larry Bondurant on their marriage.]]

===Stars===
*[[Bob Newhart]] as Dr. Robert Hartley, psychologist
*[[Suzanne Pleshette]] as Emily (née Harrison) Hartley, his wife, a school teacher and, later, assistant principal
*[[Peter Bonerz]] as Dr. Jerry Robinson, Bob's friend, an orthodontist
*[[Bill Daily]] as Howard Borden, Bob and Emily's next-door neighbor and friend, an airline navigator and later co-pilot
*[[Marcia Wallace]] as Carol Kester, Bob and Jerry's receptionist

===Bob's patients===
Seen on a recurring basis in group therapy sessions. Mr. Carlin, Mrs. Bakerman and Mr. Peterson were by far the most frequently seen patients.
*[[Jack Riley (actor)|Jack Riley]] as Elliot F. Carlin
*[[Florida Friebus]] as Mrs. Lillian Bakerman
*[[John Fiedler]] as Emil Peterson
*[[Renée Lippin]] as Michelle Nardo (seasons 1–5)
*[[Oliver Clark]] as Ed Herd (seasons 2–6)
*[[Noam Pitlik]] as Victor Gianelli (seasons 1–2)
*[[Daniel J. Travanti]] as Victor Gianelli (season 3)
*[[Howard Hesseman]] as Craig Plager (seasons 2–6)
*Lucien Scott as Edgar T. Vickers (seasons 2–3)
*[[Merie Earle]] as Mrs. Loomis (seasons 2–3)
*[[Rhoda Gemignani]] as Joan Rossi (seasons 2–3)
*[[Michael Conrad]] as Mr. Trevesco (season 2)

[[Henry Winkler]] played patient Miles Lascoe in one season 2 episode.

===Bob and Emily's relatives=== 
Seen very occasionally, except for Bob's sister in seasons 2–4.
*[[Pat Finley]] as Ellen Hartley, Bob's sister (introduced near the end of season 2, and featured in nearly half of the episodes in season 3, the character was eventually dropped midway through season 4)
*[[Martha Scott]] as Martha Hartley, Bob and Ellen's mother
*[[Barnard Hughes]] as Herb Hartley, Bob and Ellen's father
*[[John Randolph (actor)|John Randolph]] as Cornelius "Junior" Harrison Jr., Emily's father
*[[Ann Rutherford]] as Aggie Harrison, Emily's mother

===Neighbors, friends and others===
Most of these were occasional or even one-shot characters.
*[[Patricia Smith (actress)|Patricia Smith]] as Margaret Hoover, Emily's friend (seen only in the first part of season 1, then dropped)
*[[Tom Poston]] as Cliff "The Peeper" Murdock, Bob's college friend from Vermont
*Jean Palmerton as Corrine Murdock, "The Peeper's" wife
*[[Moosie Drier]] as Howie Borden, Howard's son
*[[Will Mackenzie]] as Larry Bondurant, Carol's boyfriend and later husband
*[[Richard Schaal]] as Don Livingston (later Don Fesler), boyfriend/short-lived fiancé of Carol's; in the 1st season played Chuck Brock, husband of Nancy, who had previously been briefly engaged to Bob
*[[Mariette Hartley]] as Marilyn Dietz, downstairs neighbor and friend of Emily's
*[[Gail Strickland]] as Courtney Simpson, a girlfriend of Jerry's
*[[Raul Julia]] as Dr. Greg Robinson, Jerry's brother
*[[Heather Menzies]] as Debbie Borden, Howard's younger sister
*[[William Redfield (actor)|William Redfield]] as Howard's brother, Gordon Borden, the game warden; the actor also appeared in the pilot episode as Margaret's husband Arthur Hoover

===Rimpau Medical Arts Center===
Doctors Tupperman and Newman were recurring characters; the others were mostly one-shots.
*[[Larry Gelman]] as Dr. Bernie Tupperman, urologist
*[[Howard Platt]] as Dr. Phil Newman, cosmetic surgeon
*[[Shirley O'Hara]] as Debbie Flett, older, scatterbrained temp receptionist who constantly calls Bob "Dr. Ryan"
*Gene Blakely as Dr. Ralph Tetzi, Ear/Nose/Throat specialist
*Julie Payne as Dr. Sharon Rudell, who prefers "scream therapy" as a therapeutic device whenever she feels stressed
*Tom Lacy as Dr. Stan Whelan
*Paula Shaw as Dr. Tammy Ziegler
*[[Ellen Weston]] as Dr. Sarah Harris
*[[Kristina Holland]] as Gail Bronson, Carol's vacation replacement
*Phillip R. Allen as Dr. Frank Walburn, another psychologist
*[[Teri Garr]] as Miss Brennan, Dr. Walburn's receptionist

==Episodes==
[[File:Newhart Building.jpg|325px|thumb|right|The Thorndale Beach North condominium, at 5901 N. Sheridan Road in Chicago's [[Edgewater, Chicago|Edgewater]] community, was used for exterior [[establishing shot]]s of the Hartleys' apartment building.]]
{{Further|List of The Bob Newhart Show episodes}}
{{:List of The Bob Newhart Show episodes}}

The first four seasons of ''The Bob Newhart Show'' aired on Saturday nights at 9:30{{nbsp}}p.m. [[Eastern Standard Time (North America)|Eastern Standard Time]]. During the winter of the [[1976–77 United States network television schedule|1976–77 season]], the program moved to 8:30{{nbsp}}p.m. EST. For its final season during [[1977–78 United States network television schedule|1977–78]], the program moved to 8:00{{nbsp}}p.m. EST.

The program typically aired following ''[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]'', which was also produced by [[MTM Enterprises]].<ref>{{cite news| last1=McEnroe| first1=Colin| title=Mary Tyler Moore Was Just 'One Of Us'| url=http://www.courant.com/opinion/op-ed/hc-op-mcenroe-mary-tyler-moore-cool-0129-20170126-column.html| newspaper=[[Hartford Courant]]| date=January 15, 2017| access-date=15 February 2017}}</ref>

The credits feature the [[Cooper Black]] typeface, after it was made famous in 1966 by its use in the artwork for the Beach Boys' ''[[Pet Sounds]]'' album.<ref>{{cite news |first=Amanda |last=Lewis |url=https://www.laweekly.com/cooper-black-the-story-behind-louies-typeface/ |title=Cooper Black: The Story Behind Louie's Typeface |newspaper=[[LA Weekly]] |date=August 6, 2012 |access-date=May 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218171553/https://www.laweekly.com/cooper-black-the-story-behind-louies-typeface/ |archive-date=18 February 2020 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Finale===
In the show's [[April Fools' Day]] final episode, "Happy Trails to You," Bob gives up his practice and accepts a teaching position at a small college in Oregon. In the closing scene, Bob, Emily, Jerry, Carol and Howard exchange tearful goodbyes and embrace; an emotional Emily bursts into an impromptu refrain of "[[Oklahoma (Rodgers and Hammerstein song)|Oklahoma]]," and the others join in (except for Howard, who does not know the words), a nod to [[The Last Show (The Mary Tyler Moore Show)|''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' finale]] (also produced by MTM) from the previous year, in which the newsroom characters embraced and sang "[[It's a Long Way to Tipperary]]". The final credits show the cast of the episode in a [[curtain call]].

==Awards and honors==
In 1977, the show received two [[Emmy]] nominations – for "Outstanding Comedy Series" and for Pleshette for "Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Comedy Series".<ref name=awards>{{cite web| url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068049/awards| title=The Bob Newhart Show| website=[[IMDb]]}}</ref> Newhart, himself, was nominated twice for a [[Golden Globe Award]] as "Best TV Actor—Musical/Comedy" in 1975 and 1976.<ref name=awards/> In 1997, the episodes "Over the River and Through the Woods" and "Death Be My Destiny" were respectively ranked No. 9 and No. 50 on [[TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time]].<ref>{{cite web| title=TV Guide's list of top 100 episodes| url=https://www.apnews.com/8c682851e51fad1bdb1448a2e24d963e| website=[[Associated Press]] |date=June 28, 1997| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071028140448/http://members.aol.com/speaker606/jim/tv.html| archive-date=October 28, 2007| access-date=21 January 2019}}</ref> [[TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time]] listed it as No. 44.<ref>{{cite news| title=TV Guide Names Top 50 Shows| last=Cosgrove-Mather| first=Bootie| url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tv-guide-names-top-50-shows/| work=[[CBS News]]| date=April 26, 2002| access-date=21 January 2019}}</ref> In 2007, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' placed the show on its unranked list of "100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME".<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/completelist/0,,1651341,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070911082724/http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/completelist/0,,1651341,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 11, 2007 |title=The 100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME |access-date=2007-09-25 |magazine=Time |date=September 6, 2007}}</ref> [[Bravo (American TV network)|Bravo]] ranked Bob Hartley 84th on its list of the 100 greatest TV characters.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.bravotv.com/The_100_Greatest_TV_Characters//index.shtml| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015070449/http://www.bravotv.com/The_100_Greatest_TV_Characters/index.shtml| archive-date=2007-10-15| title=The 100 Greatest TV Characters| website=[[Bravo (American TV network)|Bravo]]| access-date=2010-10-19}}</ref>

In 2004, [[TV Land]] commemorated the show with a statue of Newhart in character as Dr. Hartley, seated and facing an empty couch, as if conducting a therapy session in his office. The statue was temporarily installed in front of 430 North Michigan Avenue, the building used for exterior establishing shots of Hartley's office. The statue is now permanently located in the sculpture park adjacent to Chicago's [[Navy Pier]] entertainment complex.<ref>{{cite news| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180420074305/https://www.today.com/popculture/chicago-dedicates-bob-newhart-statue-wbna5529551| archive-date=April 20, 2018| url=https://www.today.com/popculture/chicago-dedicates-bob-newhart-statue-wbna5529551| url-status=dead| title=Chicago dedicates Bob Newhart statue| date=July 27, 2004| agency=Associated Press| website=[[Today (American TV program)|Today]]| access-date=May 3, 2022}}</ref> In 2005, the [[TV Land Award]]s honored ''The Bob Newhart Show'' with its Icon Award, presented by [[Ray Romano]].

In 2013, ''[[TV Guide]]'' ranked the series No. 49 on its list of the 60 Best Series of All Time.<ref>{{cite journal| url=http://www.tvguide.com/news/tv-guide-magazine-60-best-series-1074962/| title=TV Guide Magazine's 60 Best Series of All Time| journal=TV Guide}}</ref>

==Later appearances by series characters==

'''''St. Elsewhere''''' (1985)

Jack Riley reprised his Elliot Carlin role on a 1985 episode of ''[[St. Elsewhere]]'' and partnered with Oliver Clark as the [[amnesia]]c John Doe Number Six. Carlin and Doe have been committed to the hospital's mental ward, where Carlin treats Doe with the same verbal abuse he directed toward Clark's "Mr. Herd" on ''The Bob Newhart Show''. Carlin blames his insanity on an unnamed "quack in Chicago." While Oliver Clark's recurring portrayal of John Doe Number Six is essentially identical to Mr. Herd, the two are never stated to be the same individual. In a nod to the ''[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show|Mary Tyler Moore Show]]'', John Doe Number Six addresses a character played by [[Betty White]] as Sue Ann Nivens, which Betty White's character denies.

'''''ALF''''' (1987)

In the 1987 ''[[ALF (TV series)|ALF]]'' episode entitled "Going Out of My Head Over You", Willie visits a psychologist, Dr. Lawrence "Larry" Dykstra, portrayed by Bill Daily. Jack Riley is in the waiting room, apparently portraying Elliot Carlin. Also in this episode, ALF mentions learning about psychology by watching episodes of ''The Bob Newhart Show''.

'''''Newhart''''' (1988 and 1990)

Riley appears in a 1988 episode of ''[[Newhart]]'', playing an unnamed character who acts very much like Mr. Carlin. This character is being treated by the same therapist in Vermont whom Dick Loudon (Bob Newhart) visits for marriage counseling. Dick feels he recognizes Riley's character, but cannot place his face; whereupon the unnamed patient insults him. Echoing Carlin's statement from the 1985 ''St. Elsewhere'', the therapist apologizes for her patient, explaining that it has taken her "years to undo the damage caused by some quack in Chicago."

Tom Poston, who played Cliff "The Peeper" Murdock, Bob's college friend from Vermont, played "George" the resident handyman from Vermont, throughout the Newhart series. Poston and Suzanne Pleshette married in 2001, with the marriage lasting until Poston's death in 2007. Pleshette died the following year.

Newhart and Pleshette reprised their roles from the show for the 1990 [[The Last Newhart|finale of ''Newhart'']], in which it was revealed that the entire ''Newhart'' series had just been Bob Hartley's [[dream]]. Bob and Emily awake in a room identical in appearance to their Chicago bedroom from ''The Bob Newhart Show''. (This plot device had previously been used in the season five finale ("You're Having My Hartley") in which Emily is pregnant. At the end, the pregnancy is revealed to have been a dream.)

'''''The Bob Newhart Show: The 19th Anniversary Special''''' (1991)

The entire cast assembled for the one-hour clip show ''[[The Bob Newhart Show: The 19th Anniversary Special]]'' in 1991, which finds the show's characters in the present day. This show is set in Chicago, in the same apartment and office that Bob Hartley had in his 1970s show. During the course of the show, the characters analyzed Bob's dream from the ''Newhart'' finale. At one point Howard recalled, "I had a dream like that once. I dreamed I was an astronaut in Florida for five years," as scenes from ''[[I Dream of Jeannie]]'' featuring Bill Daily as Roger Healey were shown.

'''''Murphy Brown''''' (1994)

Newhart played Bob Hartley on ''[[Murphy Brown]]'', in the episode "Anything But Cured" (March 14, 1994) to beg Carol (Marcia Wallace reprising her role from ''The Bob Newhart Show'') to leave her job as Murphy's secretary and come back with him to Chicago.

'''''Saturday Night Live''''' (1995)

Newhart reprised Hartley twice in the February 11, 1995, episode of ''[[Saturday Night Live]]''. In one sketch, he appears on a satirical version of ''[[Ricki Lake (talk show)|Ricki Lake]]'', befuddled by Ms. Lake's dysfunctional guests and her armchair pop psychology. The episode ended with a repeat of ''Newhart''’s "just a dream" scene, in which Bob Hartley again wakes up with Emily (Pleshette), and tells her that he just dreamed he had hosted ''SNL''. Emily responds, "That show's not still on, is it?"

'''''George and Leo''''' (1997)

''[[George and Leo]]'' was a sitcom starring Bob Newhart and [[Judd Hirsch]], and a 1997 episode called "The Cameo Episode" featured a raft of cameo appearances by their co-stars of previous series. Although the actors were not necessarily playing the same characters as they played in the previous shows, there was certainly a suggestion with some of the unnamed characters that they ''could'' be. Amongst the ''Bob Newhart Show'' actors making cameos in the episode were Peter Bonerz (as "Dr. Robins"), Oliver Clark, Bill Daily (as a pilot), John Fiedler, Tom Poston (as a police officer), Jack Riley, and Marcia Wallace.

'''''CBS at 75''''' (2002)

Newhart and Pleshette, as "The Hartleys," were the hosts of a segment of the ''CBS at 75'' broadcast.

==Home media==
[[20th Century Fox Home Entertainment]] released the first four seasons of ''The Bob Newhart Show'' on DVD in Region 1 in 2005/2006.

On February 3, 2014, [[Shout! Factory]] announced it had acquired the rights to the series. It subsequently released ''The Bob Newhart Show: The Complete Series'' on May 27, 2014.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Bob-Newhart-The-Complete-Series/19428| title=The Bob Newhart Show DVD news: Box Art for The Bob Newhart Show – The Complete Series| website=TVShowsOnDVD| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222012625/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Bob-Newhart-The-Complete-Series/19428| archive-date=2014-02-22}}</ref> The fifth and sixth seasons were later released on DVD in individual sets on February 3, 2015.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Bob-Newhart-Seasons-5-and-6/20456| title=The Bob Newhart Show DVD news: Announcement for Season 5 and The Final Season| website=TVShowsOnDVD| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141106042943/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Bob-Newhart-Seasons-5-and-6/20456| archive-date=2014-11-06}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
!DVD Name
!Ep #
!Release Date
|-
| The Complete 1st Season
| align="center"|24
| April 12, 2005
|-
| The Complete 2nd Season
| align="center"|24
| October 4, 2005
|-
| The Complete 3rd Season
| align="center"|24
| April 11, 2006
|-
| The Complete 4th Season
| align="center"|24
| September 5, 2006
|-
| The Complete 5th Season
| align="center"|24
| February 3, 2015
|-
| The Complete 6th Season
| align="center"|22
| February 3, 2015
|-
| The Complete Series
| align="center"|142
| May 27, 2014
|}

==In popular culture==
Season 1 episode 7 of the 2019 Sci-fi alternate history series, ''[[For All Mankind (TV series)|For All Mankind]]'', in which the USSR beats the United States to a crewed lunar landing, has the crew of Apollo 22 watching ''The Bob Newhart Show'' on the Jamestown lunar base and greeting each other with "Hi Bob."

==See also==
* [[Hi, Bob]] – a drinking game based on watching the show

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{more citations needed|date=September 2018}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* {{EmmyTVLegends title|bob-newhart-show-the-1972-78-cbs|The Bob Newhart Show}}
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPORUwkeNnY Bob Newhart Show 35th Anniversary Reunion] at PaleyLive LA 2007 @ [[The Paley Center for Media]]
* [http://jbw53191.blogspot.com/2009/03/quest-for-bob-newharts-apartment.html I Laugh, therefore I am – The Quest for Bob Newhart's Apartment Building] ([[fansite]])
*{{IMDb title|id=0068049}}
* [http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/bob-newhart/100452 ''The Bob Newhart Show''] at TVGuide.com

{{MTM Enterprises}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bob Newhart Show, The}}
[[Category:1972 American television series debuts]]
[[Category:1978 American television series endings]]
[[Category:1970s American multi-camera sitcoms]]
[[Category:1970s American workplace comedy television series]]
[[Category:American English-language television shows]]
[[Category:Psychotherapy in fiction]]
[[Category:Television series about marriage]]
[[Category:Television series by MTM Enterprises]]
[[Category:Television shows set in Chicago]]
[[Category:CBS sitcoms]]