RIP, Peter. Loved him ever since Bosom Buddies.
Aye; fantastic actor. I was always happy to see him in a show or film. RIP.
I don’t watch a lot of TV and didn’t see Bosom Buddies or many of the other shows, but I’m a fan of Newhart (I mean the show, but also the man) and Scolari was fantastic in it. He played Stephanie’s shallow and self-absorbed boyfriend and Bob’s producer for the fictional Vermont Today show, and his perfect mannerisms in that role were for me one of the show’s highlights.
Very said. There was a picture of him from 2016 and he looked almost like he did back on Newhart, still a young man.
Man, haven’t thought about him for years even though he was on Girls (which I stopped watching mid second season because I could not stand any of them bitches). Whodathunk Bob Newhart would outlive him?
RIP and thanks for all the funnies.
Peter was very, very good on Newhart. Peter and Julia Duffy made a great team. I’m not familiar with his other work.
RIP
Peter, Juila, and Bob Newhart reunite in 2008
https://www.nwitimes.com/bob-newhart-julia-duffy-peter-scolari/image_63edfe0e-e40e-5045-8e44-ad5cf2f9ad74.html
I love that he and Tom Hanks had a lifelong friendship based on working together on Bosom Buddies, with Hanks later casting him in That Thing You Do. Great actor.
RIP.
He was also in Tom Hanks’ mini-series about the Apollo program, From the Earth to the Moon. He played Apollo 12 (and Skylab) commander Pete Conrad, although another actor played him in later episodes.
Scolari was also a professional level juggler. I never knew him, but friends of mine remember seeing him at the Carmine Street Juggling Club in NYC back in the day, and he was supposed to be really good.
I remember liking him, but all I can specifically recall of his is a single line:
“That seems…(reaction take)…SHOCKING…to me.”
I’m not even sure if that line is from Bosom Buddies or Newhart. I don’t know the context or anything. Very odd. I’m usually good at recalling that sort of televisual thing.
Anyway, I liked him. Rest In Peace.
I liked him in “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” (the tv series) too.
Man, the age of 66 is seeming younger and younger to me.
This does not help me not get him confused with Rick Moranis all the time.
Sorry.
I swore Peter Scolari was in My Blue Heaven until I realized I had him confused with Bill Irwin.
Bob Newhart is heading towards being the last surviving cast member on that show. Not really, but man, who knew he’d outlive Peter Scolari and Mary Frann?
Mary Frann (“Joanna” in Newhart) also died much too soon, of a heart attack at the age of 55.
Watching reruns of Newhart (it’s on Decades TV afternoons, right after The Bob Newhart Show) you start to realize that Scolari’s manic portrayal of Michael single-handedly picked up the tempo and energy level of what - in retrospect - could have been the slowest-paced sitcom since My Three Sons.
Aye; that was part of the fun of his “fish out of water” character, that he was so different from his laconic Vermont/New Englander compatriots.
I, too, was going to mention his lifelong friendship with Tom Hanks. It would have been easy for him to be somewhat bitter, given that Hanks became a superstar while he remained a Hey-It’s-That-Guy working actor. But from all accounts, they remained close friends with not a hint of unpleasantness between them.
As Kent_Clark mentions, his addition to Newhart was something that show really needed. He replaced Steven Kampmann, who played Kirk, the habitual liar who owned the cafe next door. Kirk was a fairly annoying and unlikeable character, who wasn’t really pleasant to spend time with. Scolari’s Michael could be annoying as well, but Scolari brought a personal charm and sense of fun to the part that hadn’t been there before. The contrast between his manic energy and Bob Newhart’s quiet, deadpan style really brought the show to life.
I used to watch Bosom Buddies back in the day. I was always struck by how much better Tom Hanks’ comedic timing/acting was than his co-star’s and thinking “Man, that guy is going to be huge.”
The latest episode of Ghosts, referenced Newhart a lot this week. Funny timing as I haven’t thought about the show in quite a while.
Best part about Kirk was his mother (grandmother?) played by the always great Ruth Gordon.
For a show that only lasted two seasons, Bosom Buddies casts a pretty large shadow. Part of that is probably because of Tom Hanks.