I always felt this was one of the most underappreciated sitcoms in TV history.
tdn mentioned that the first few episodes weren’t very good. I totally agree. In fact, the whole first season was pretty meh. When it premiered, it was pretty much just another formula comedy–Dick runs the inn, has a pretty wife, a couple of goofy supporting characters–nothing really special. It was also shot on videotape, only going to film in the second season. Somehow, that change made a big difference in the feel of the show. With very few exceptions, I’ve always felt that filmed sitcoms somehow come off a lot funnier than the taped variety. Don’t know exactly why, but that’s how they seem to me.
Bob Newhart was, is, and always will be the ultimate comedy “straight man”. One of the most appealing things about his 1970s show was the fact that there was no lack of buffoons for him to play off. When Newhart began introducing more of these characters, that’s when the show really hit its stride. Larry, Darryl and Darryl, of course, that goes without saying. But I always loved Jim and Chester (the two guys tdn mentioned). More than anyone else, they represented the town and truly emphasized Dick’s “fish out of water” situation–almost a Greek chorus, if you will.
But the true turning point was Stephanie. The addition of her character added another level of frustration to Dick’s situation. Two completely different ends of the sophistication spectrum–with Dick right in the middle, mining the comedy gold for all it was worth.
This show worked on so many levels–and yet it’s almost never mentioned when talking about the best sitcoms in TV history!
So, any other fans out there? Who are your favorite characters? Favorite moments? Anything else to add?
Somehow, I always thought it was for old people, but I still watched it. Scolari, and Tom Poston and the brothers were always funny.
I love Newhart’s humor. I heard an OLD bit once where he was pretending to be a security guard at the Empire State Building on the phone with his supervisor.
It was his first night on the job, and it was the night that King Kong showed up and he didn’t know what to do.
It was indeed the best series finale ever. Brilliantly conceived and perfectly executed. I wouldn’t have seen it coming in a million years, and yet it was the perfect resolution to a very wacky show. Newhart is a great master of timing, and he makes other actors around him better. I do wish TVLand or someone would run it.
William Sanderson’s perfect timing, along with Tony Papenfuss and John Voldstad’s hit-with-a-brick expressions, made Larry, Darryl, and Darryl funnier than they had any right to be, considering how minimal, predictable, and heavily repeated the gag was. And Tom Poston is one of the greats.
Julia Duffy’s character, Stephanie, a working woman who didn’t like to get her hands dirty, I loved. She was hilarious.
When she showed up on Designing Women playing essentially the same character, a partner in a design firm who didn’t like to get her hands dirty, not so much.
I always kinda wanted to do the dirty with Stephanie.
And ditto on TV Land. If there was ever a show that needed to be TV Land-ed, this is it (oh, and the original Peter Graves Mission: Impossible, m’kay?).
While Newhart was a decent show, I much preferred and was always a bigger fan of The Bob Newhart Show. Just waaaay too many classic moments from that run.
Newhart was okay but his wife had absolutely zero personality unlike his Chicago wife. And everybody was a buffoon in that Vermont town except him and his dull wife. At least in Chicago Jerry, Carol, and Emily were fairly normal compared to his patients and neighbor Howard.
An I don’t think anybody was a fan of his show Bob.
I loved the show, never missed it, laughed so hard at the punch line of the finale that my sides hurt. I fell in love with Julia Duffy, but I was a little old for her, so I didn’t move to Hollywood and stalk her – it would have been inconsiderate to my wife and child to do that. But she was a real hottie! There was an episode when Stephanie and Michael were talking about having a baby, and Michael has a nightmare that his little girl will grow up to be like her mother – the scene with the closet full of sweaters was a scream.
I felt bad for poor Mary Frann after that finale. It was like all of her work the previous eight seasons hadn’t counted for anything. Sure, she was no Suzanne Pleshette and if she hadn’t worn colorful, bulky sweaters that never managed to conceal her fascinating bustline she could’ve been invisible for all she added to the show, but fercryinoutloud, IMDB list her as having been in THREE freakin’ episodes!
I too loved LD&D and Chester & Jim, plus all the Vermont Today segments. Scolari & Duffy I could only take in small doses, but I loved when Stephanie’s father (Jose Ferrer) would have a guest spot. And Mary Frann was nice, but couldn’t hold a candle to Suzanne Pleshette.
That’s the biggest problem with IMDB’s “upgrade”/expansion is that it’s incredibly spotty in ironing out all the details re: show appearances. The old set-up allowed you to see who was a regular vs. a guest, but now, you’d never know that Frann was the leading lady unless you were actually familiar with the show. I suspect it’ll take a long time before they correct things to the point where these credits can be seen as reliable.
You know, I watched Newhart religiously as a kid, but I don’t really remember any specific episodes (the show wrapped up just after I turned 13, so no wonder). I too wish they’d run it again, since I remember is liking it a lot.
