his style is being the straight man (in a multiperson comedy is the person who doesn’t get the joke) to himself, even as a solo act. he gives a punch line totally dead pan where most people attempting this can’t do it without a smirk.
that is great acting.
Well, I am American and if someone would have asked me who Bob Newhart was I would have said “Gilligan from Gilligan’s Island?” I also can’t stand Professor Proton and his delivery - it’s makes the scenes awkward and uncomfortable for me. Not sure if that makes amanset feel any better.
Bob Newhart was a comedy genius, his stand-up routines often involved phone-call type jokes. Back in the early 1960s, I saw him as Elwood Doud in a stage performance of “Harvey.” and he did one of his routines after the play was over. Wonderful, he was.
He is now retired, and I understand that talk around Hollywood is that Chuck Lorre pounded on him until he agreed to do this role.
Given his age (84 years old), it seems somewhat unconscionable that anyone would “pound” on him for any reason. I take it that you mean Lorre “hounded” him and maybe even “pursued” him beyond the bounds of reason?
Even when he was on stage alone he used to give the funny lines to someone else (via his one-sided phone calls).
There is a name I never hear enough of! 
As British, I had barely heard of Bob Newhart until 2 years ago.
Then in my quest for ever more sitcoms the complete Newhart arrived on my drive, and I would say it’s now one of my top ten, a great deal of which is due to Julia Duffy, not merely because of her beauty. She being a brilliant comic actress.
The Bob Newhart Show followed, and I can barely watch it: not funny, terrible 70s fashions for men, and no eye candy. Also psychology is just not that funny, as Frasier showed whenever it went there, away from it’s usual broad humour in a family context. And I found out that some older English people had fond memories of his phone routines from the 1960s; which didn’t appeal to me at all when I heard them: very dated.
The fact I only appreciate some of his stuff doesn’t negate the fact he is a deadpan genius.
However it is weird to imagine that Americans believe that the whole world knows of their older comedians… Firstly they should have been grateful they have been obscured from knowing of many, many unfunny British comedians; and secondly, I doubt if famous Argentinian comedians such as Jorge Porcel, Gogó Andreu and Dr. Tangalanga ( to whom are also only names to me ) are household names in the USA.
Still, he was prolly the best thing in this episode: none of the three strands really made it, and it was just blah. And the opening sequence was strange, since by now Penny really can’t possibly be thrown by the guys’ feeble enthusiasms. It’s been seven years living alongside the fools…
However Penny’s hair was really fine. One gets to grasp at small mercies from even the least distinguished episodes of any sitcom.
Well … if you feel that way about Newhart, I may have the perfect solution for you.
Have you heard his comedy albums?
His first and arguably his best was titled, “The Button Down Mind of Bob Newhart”. It was great! It came out in 1960 and I still remember laughing so hard I thought I would bust a gut. I would strongly recommend it to you since you don’t like the video portions of his TV show. Do a search on Youtube. There are lots of his performances to be had.
If I recall correctly, two of his funniest titles were, “Bus Driver Training” and there was one about a flying school and storm door company. These are easy to find on Youtube and you won’t have to worry about any of the 70s fashions because it’s strictly audio.
P.S. Here are three of Bob NewHart’s best audio routines for you.
Who is Bob Newhart dating? Bob Newhart girlfriend, wife
Bob Newhart "The Driving Instructor" Comedy - YouTubeUmm … btw … by “three strands” do you mean his three TV sitcoms?
I think he means the A, B, and C plotlines.
@Charlie Wayne
Thanks.
Yes.
They didn’t gel, and didn’t resolve much.
By now, I’d settle for losing half the cast and watching a spin-off concentrating on Howard and Penny.
[ And Alex. ]
Complaining about horrible men’s fashion in a 70’s sitcom has got to be one of the most bizarre complaints I ever heard. “OMG I can’t even watch it with those wide ties!”
I understand the actor himself had to have Star Wars explained to him by Mr. Lorre.
Apart from the fact there are many competing interests in the world, it’s not hard to understand that someone who’d served in the Korean War might be totally able to ignore Star Wars ( and Star Trek ) and it’s cultural impact in addition. A lot of stuff happened since 1929.
To point out an equivalent case to Star Wars, a whole lot of middle-aged men would be unable to list the characters in My Little Pony. It’s the ones who can who are the problem.
[QUOTE=CarnalK]
Complaining about horrible men’s fashion in a 70’s sitcom has got to be one of the most bizarre complaints I ever heard. “OMG I can’t even watch it with those wide ties!”
[/QUOTE]
I’m not blaming you if you like 70’s fashions — and I like the mid-length dresses and tight-waisted prints for women — but the whole thing made the 70s look kinda cheap. I’m sure a lot of males in Chicago — where it was set — dressed very nicely in the 70s.
I don’t think it’s that odd. In general American popular culture has more global influence than any other. Many Americans take that to an extreme by assuming some sort of American cultural hegemony, but it’s not like it’s completely baseless.
That said, I really enjoyed Bob Newhart as Obi-Wan, but did anybody else expect him to guide Sheldon towards his destiny by giving him career advice, since he’s somewhat rudderless now, given his crisis of faith with string theory?
I would say semi-retired as he still does some touring as well as tv appearances.
No eye candy? Suzanne Pleshette as Emily Hartley was probably the hottest sitcom wife of all time!
That would be Courtney Thorne-Smith.
Miss Pleshette seemed a perfectly decent person, albeit with short hair, and I am certain my grandparents would have thought her French housewifely attractive [ not a criticism, just social commentary ]; however I was struggling to find the word that captures her attractiveness: it’s some ana- word, near to anaesthetic, meaning bland and tepid, if pleasant.
Still, each to his own.
Emily Hartley was smart, capable, and attractive.
I find that extremely sexy.
And FWIW, I am in my early 50’s, an engineer, really like science and math, and I have NEVER watched a Star Wars movie.
Yes, I know, but just too far-fetched for me to believe it. You don’t have to be a physicist to know a spherical cake would roll.
I liked the episode. I had no problem with Professor Proton not knowing Star Wars, as the character is only a year or two younger than my Dad, who has never seen any of the films. Oh, Dad knows that Star Wars is a popular series of films, but I doubt that he could name a character or plot point. I think it is possible that Professor Proton could be the same way.
