# Bob Newhart's Apt, is it viable **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [April 3, 2022, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-apt-is-it-viable/962366 "2022-04-03T18:50:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-apt-is-it-viable/962366/21 "2022-04-04T01:18:31Z")
I’ve been browsing local real estate listings a lot lately, and yes, there is definitely a trend in mid-70s era apartment buildings to have a sunken living room. Not all by any means, but around here, there are 3 or 4 that feature them. Most of them have a dining area just off the kitchen/foyer, and then the sunken living room on the outside wall, with the balcony access. The ceilings all seem to be one level, though, so yes, the ceiling in the living room area is relatively higher than in the dining area and kitchen. I guess they just accepted having to make each floor a foot or two higher overall to accommodate this, which probably explains why they aren’t more common, and don’t seem to be made any more. If it’s a 10 story building, an extra foot of height on each floor adds up to 10 feet, which is almost enough to make it an 11 story building, so you can either make a smaller building using less materials, or a bigger building with more units to sell. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-apt-is-it-viable/962366/22 "2022-04-04T02:07:07Z")
I have sold houses that had multiple levels, sometimes built on a hillside, where they made more sense. Some house plans have you, after entering the front door, step up 2-4 steps for one part of the house, but step down 2-4 steps for another, and one floor is essentially on top of the other. Your entry way is mid-floor level. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-apt-is-it-viable/962366/23 "2022-04-04T02:08:32Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > > [@Senegoid](#): > > > > I never understood what was the point of that. Just another step or two for someone to trip over? > > Most of the places I’ve seen sunken living rooms had an open layout and the different level sort of sets a boundary for the living room and divides it from the dining room or the kitchen , in the same way as the opposite ( raised entry) sets a boundary between the living room and the entry in the apartment in _The Odd Couple_ > [http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6SyAkvpiq5w/VZWXjCAjKZI/AAAAAAAAG5o/SXqVS3p-7pY/s1600/OddCouple1\_2.jpg](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6SyAkvpiq5w/VZWXjCAjKZI/AAAAAAAAG5o/SXqVS3p-7pY/s1600/OddCouple1_2.jpg) I always thought it was deliberately that way so Oscar could pull a hamstring. Isn’t that how he met his lady doctor? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-apt-is-it-viable/962366/24 "2022-04-04T02:18:00Z")
I remember seeing that in raised ranches. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-apt-is-it-viable/962366/25 "2022-04-04T02:22:32Z")
Imagine trying to film _The Bob Newhart Show_ or another classic sitcom [in this apartment](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/feb/17/londons-smallest-microflat-up-for-sale-at-50000-for-7-square-metres). ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-apt-is-it-viable/962366/26 "2022-04-04T02:29:07Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I always thought it was deliberately that way so Oscar could pull a hamstring. Isn’t that how he met his lady doctor? No, I remember now. She was called in when Felix was sick once. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-apt-is-it-viable/962366/27 "2022-04-04T02:44:34Z")
_Mad Men_ featured a sunken living room in [Don and Megan Draper’s](https://www.google.com/search?q=mad+men+living+room&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS924US924&hl=en-US&prmd=inv&sxsrf=APq-WBu0eKS1Nsz8bGbADV-BVY7UoWtBrA:1649040077999&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwif5saAsfn2AhVOGs0KHYTJDiMQ_AUoAXoECAIQAQ&biw=320&bih=454&dpr=2) apartment. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-apt-is-it-viable/962366/28 "2022-04-04T03:19:20Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Some house plans have you, after entering the front door, step up 2-4 steps for one part of the house, but step down 2-4 steps for another, and one floor is essentially on top of the other. Your entry way is mid-floor level. This neighborhood dates from around the Bicentennial and the majority of the single-family homes are that way. https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=%213m2%212sen%214v0%216m8%211m7%211sPHnAJ0NKorGp53jVrZULAA%212m2%211d41.4069204%212d-73.6046642%213f326.16%214f8.981%215f0.9 ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-apt-is-it-viable/962366/29 "2022-04-04T03:27:46Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Sometimes it is best to just not think to hard about these things. If you like the show, you just ignore its flaws. When I was very young a bunch of us tried to make Rick’s Café Americain in _Casablanca_ work. It proved impossible. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-apt-is-it-viable/962366/30 "2022-04-04T03:37:24Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Imagine trying to film _The Bob Newhart Show_ or another classic sitcom [in this apartment](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/feb/17/londons-smallest-microflat-up-for-sale-at-50000-for-7-square-metres). - It’s simple. Everyone takes turns. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-apt-is-it-viable/962366/31 "2022-04-04T03:38:15Z")
Single camera will do, and a 28mm lens. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-apt-is-it-viable/962366/32 "2022-04-04T11:58:12Z")
In college I dated a guy briefly that was from Long Island [near Lake Ronkonkoma] and his entire neighborhood [probably 4 streets by 5 streets] where all the closely packed houses built in the 60s were classic split levels - basement level garage on the left, stairs up to a livingroom with a conversation pit focused on a stacked stone fireplace at the front of the house with a sort of entry foyer, in the center leading to the dining area/kitchen at the back of the house, a staircase in the foyer hall to the upstairs that was centered above the garage with 3 bedrooms and a bathroom. I actually looked at a fabulous early 70s dome house, the central dome was about 25 feet in diameter, the center was a sunken conversation pit circling around one of those funky round open fireplaces and had 4 rectangular arch topped rooms coming off the center dome - 2 bedrooms, an entry with the bathroom along one side and the utilities along the other [hot water heater, furnace, washer and dryer] and the kitchen dining area in the 4th ‘wing’. Normally I would have jumped at the idea of renting it, but the plasterwork on the inside and outside was starting to spall and flake off and I had a horror of finding out that the interior of my bedroom would end up on me sometime in the middle of the night. I think in retrospect that it had moisture issues that the landlord had covered up with a fast coat of paint on the outside and a quick spray of ceiling coating on the entire inside. It had that funky multicolored inch and a half long shag in 3 tones of blue. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-apt-is-it-viable/962366/33 "2022-04-04T12:10:14Z")
My cousin’s old house had one, but it had more to do with it being built in hilly terrain. Lowering it meant that doors on either sided would be ground level. I think it was an addon room, actually. His new house has a step down laundry room–or at least, that’s what the room was when it was my grandmother’s. That one was just because it was a converted porch. The library (not a huge room) was also a step down. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-apt-is-it-viable/962366/34 "2022-04-04T12:17:26Z")
My childhood home was a split level. Front door came into a 6x8ft landing. You could go up 5 steps to the main floor with living room,kitchen,bathroom, and 2 bedrooms. Or go down 5 steps to a den, bathroom,and 3 guest bedrooms. I originally used the bedroom next to my parents bedroom. I moved downstairs to a guest bedroom in high school. More privacy, I could listen to music or watch tv without disturbing my parents. I do vaguely remember sunken living rooms. A couple of my friends homes had them. It was always one step down from another room. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-apt-is-it-viable/962366/35 "2022-04-04T13:40:13Z")
The house my family bought in 1980 had a sunken family room off the kitchen. It also had a cathedral ceiling. Two steps down to the family room, which also had the door out to the patio. There were several of the same model house on that block. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-apt-is-it-viable/962366/36 "2022-04-04T14:43:47Z")
In the 70s, when I was a kid, I always wanted a sunken living room. They seemed so cool, so modern. Now that I’m old, I worry about falling down in one and breaking my hip. 🙂 My current house does have a sunken bathtub, custom made. Now that’s unusual, at least in Arizona. It’s the only house in the neighborhood that has one. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-apt-is-it-viable/962366/37 "2022-04-04T14:52:48Z")
Bob Newhart’s apartment is hardly the most egregious example. What about Friends - how is it a group of marginally employed 20 somethings managed to afford to live in those palatial flats in that real estate market? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-apt-is-it-viable/962366/38 "2022-04-04T15:05:54Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > What about Friends - how is it a group of marginally employed 20 somethings managed to afford to live in those palatial flats in that real estate market? Fiscal impossibility vs. geometric impossibility. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-apt-is-it-viable/962366/39 "2022-04-04T15:52:26Z")
Rent control, or at least that how it was explained in a couple of episodes. Monica technically took over the lease from her (dead) grandmother. How Chandler and Joey slipped in, I have no idea. Mind you, I have no idea how rent control in New York City in the 1990s actually worked. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-apt-is-it-viable/962366/40 "2022-04-04T15:59:56Z")
I think it was established fairly early on that Monica was illegally subletting the apartment from her dead grandmother–there was an episode where the building super threatened to report them unless Joey taught him how to dance (don’t ask). As for Chandler and Joey, their apartment was portrayed as smaller, and Chandler supposedly had a pretty good job. He had stock options and year-end bonuses, and stuff like that, so he might have been able to afford it. When they switched apartments, you’d think that would have screwed up the illegal sublet, but hey, it’s TV. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-apt-is-it-viable/962366.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-apt-is-it-viable/962366.md?page=3)