# There was once a TV Lineup that included 4 of the best shows in TV History and the Bob Newhart Show **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [May 30, 2023, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-once-a-tv-lineup-that-included-4-of-the-best-shows-in-tv-history-and-the-bob-newhart-show/984756 "2023-05-30T00:31:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-once-a-tv-lineup-that-included-4-of-the-best-shows-in-tv-history-and-the-bob-newhart-show/984756/21 "2023-05-30T01:37:42Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I think you might be taking this too seriously. And I think you are taking this too seriously, too. You’re matching me post for post. Do we each win half a cookie? > [@What\_Exit](#): > > But if TV Guide isn’t one of the best arbiters of best TV shows of all time, who? I don’t know, there probably isn’t any answer since, like I said, you can’t quantify art. I was just asking what, in your opinion, made Fretts and Roush the apparent end-all-be-all of judging TV shows. ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-once-a-tv-lineup-that-included-4-of-the-best-shows-in-tv-history-and-the-bob-newhart-show/984756/22 "2023-05-30T01:47:41Z")
Whatever night Sanford and Son was on was the best. ---
**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:** [May 30, 2023, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-once-a-tv-lineup-that-included-4-of-the-best-shows-in-tv-history-and-the-bob-newhart-show/984756/23 "2023-05-30T02:00:15Z")
Early 80’s ABC Tues night had Happy Days, Laverne Shirley, Too Close for Comfort and Hart to Hart. That was the night that I always stayed home. 79-80 featured Taxi instead of Too Close Comfort. It was the block of shows that I enjoyed. It was a fun evening. ---
**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:** [May 30, 2023, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-once-a-tv-lineup-that-included-4-of-the-best-shows-in-tv-history-and-the-bob-newhart-show/984756/24 "2023-05-30T02:00:22Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > And it’s a little bit amazing to me that that list of great shows was on a Saturday evening, in the years before DVRs and VCRs, meaning people stayed in to watch those shows. Whether or not this was the best lineup ever, can we agree that it’s amazing that a lineup of good to great shows was scheduled for first-run broadcast on a Saturday evening? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-once-a-tv-lineup-that-included-4-of-the-best-shows-in-tv-history-and-the-bob-newhart-show/984756/25 "2023-05-30T02:12:35Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Age must matter here. I was born in 1969, and MASH and Mary Tyler Moore were never anything I tuned in. You were _four years old_ when the lineup we’re discussing was on! ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-once-a-tv-lineup-that-included-4-of-the-best-shows-in-tv-history-and-the-bob-newhart-show/984756/26 "2023-05-30T02:22:31Z")
> [@zbuzz](#): > > The NBC 1984-85 Thursday night line up of > > The Cosby Show > Family Ties > Cheers > Night Court > Hill Street Blues This is almost the “great lineup” that I remember most, except with _L. A. Law_ instead of _Hill Street Blues_. It isn’t quite up to the level of the OP’s, but that one was sort of before my time (I was alive then, but too young to be watching and appreciating those shows). ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-once-a-tv-lineup-that-included-4-of-the-best-shows-in-tv-history-and-the-bob-newhart-show/984756/27 "2023-05-30T02:29:08Z")
Same here, My bedtime was 9pm back then. I know the 3 late shows from either later years or repeats. The 80s lineup I watched when it was new. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-once-a-tv-lineup-that-included-4-of-the-best-shows-in-tv-history-and-the-bob-newhart-show/984756/28 "2023-05-30T02:37:00Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > This is almost the “great lineup” that I remember most, except with _L. A. Law_ instead of _Hill Street Blues_. Well, see, there you go. Plug in Hill Street Blues and it’s all puppies and sunshine. ---
**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:** [May 30, 2023, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-once-a-tv-lineup-that-included-4-of-the-best-shows-in-tv-history-and-the-bob-newhart-show/984756/29 "2023-05-30T02:46:14Z")
My night’s viewing always ended when dad came into the den. He took control of the remote. I was too young to appreciate MTM or Carol Burnett. I saw them later in syndication. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-once-a-tv-lineup-that-included-4-of-the-best-shows-in-tv-history-and-the-bob-newhart-show/984756/30 "2023-05-30T02:51:18Z")
> [@zbuzz](#): > > Plug in Hill Street Blues and it’s all puppies and sunshine. Holy moly, that was one great, groundbreaking show. I actually cried at the end of the pilot. Also had a crush on Capt Furillo (goddamned Joyce Davenport!) ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-once-a-tv-lineup-that-included-4-of-the-best-shows-in-tv-history-and-the-bob-newhart-show/984756/31 "2023-05-30T02:53:36Z")
I’m not so sure that was amazing - or that it meant people stayed in to watch those shows. I was around before VCRs and DVRs and I never knew anyone of any age who stayed home on Friday or Saturday night just to watch a particular TV show(s). But you also didn’t have to - because the 1973-74 Saturday line-up didn’t have shows with continuing storylines - for the most part, if I missed an episode or two of _All in the Family_ _The Mary Tyler Moore Show_ _The Bob Newhart Show_ _The Carol Burnett Show_ I wouldn’t have been lost when I watched it the next week. And that means even if I’m not home every Saturday, I might still watch that line-up on the Saturdays I am home. On the other hand put a _St Elsewhere_ or _Hill Street Blues_ or _LA Law_ on Saturday and I will never watch even if I am home because you can’t really watch those shows inconsistently. It’s just a guess but I don’t think most people are/were out every Saturday night or even close to it - I surely wasn’t out every Saturday night in 1973-74 since I was only ten years old and had to be home by 8pm or so. And that meant my parents weren’t out every Saturday night either, not with me and my three younger siblings at home. I’m nearly 60 years old and there have been a total of maybe 13 years where I was out most Saturday nights. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-once-a-tv-lineup-that-included-4-of-the-best-shows-in-tv-history-and-the-bob-newhart-show/984756/32 "2023-05-30T03:31:51Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > _[**The Bob Newhart Show**](http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/the-bob-newhart-show/200150/)_ Wow even the weaker link made the top 60. No argument with your OP or with the TV Guide list, and I was a frequent watcher of _The Bob Newhart Show_, but I feel I must register a complaint! Maybe it’s just me, but I always felt that his later series _Newhart_ didn’t get as much recognition as it deserved, and was often funnier and more creative than the earlier series (but at least, according to Wiki, “_TV Guide_, TV Land, and A&E named the _Newhart_ series finale as one of the most memorable in television history”). As a hapless innkeeper with his wife Joanna in a quiet but eccentric little Vermont village, I thought he was more likeable than he was as a big-time Chicago shrink. The only problem with _Newhart_ is that it doesn’t really hit its stride until the third season, when Julia Duffy (as Stephanie Vanderkellen) and Peter Scolari (as Michael Harris) replace the rather unlikable previous characters. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-once-a-tv-lineup-that-included-4-of-the-best-shows-in-tv-history-and-the-bob-newhart-show/984756/33 "2023-05-30T04:57:39Z")
Anybody else start reading this thread title and think for a moment it was going to be a limerick?.. Well, if so, I wouldn’t want you to be disappointed: There once was an old TV Lineup That stacked four best-shows-of-all-time up, What with Mary and Bob And that loud Bunker yob— But some think the list needs a shine-up. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-once-a-tv-lineup-that-included-4-of-the-best-shows-in-tv-history-and-the-bob-newhart-show/984756/34 "2023-05-30T04:58:40Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > The only problem with _Newhart_ is that it doesn’t really hit its stride until the third season, when Julia Duffy (as Stephanie Vanderkellen) and Peter Scolari (as Michael Harris) replace the rather unlikable previous characters. Stephanie and Michael weren’t all that likable, either. I’ve always felt that Bob Newhart’s shows tended to break the usual TV comedy template. Usually, the main character is eccentric and goofy, interacting with a supporting cast of mostly normal, sane people. Newhart always played to reasonable center, surrounded by a cast of crazies. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-once-a-tv-lineup-that-included-4-of-the-best-shows-in-tv-history-and-the-bob-newhart-show/984756/35 "2023-05-30T06:01:47Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Stephanie and Michael weren’t all that likable, either. Quite true. “Likable” wasn’t really the right word here. I guess what I meant was that Stephanie and Michael’s self-indulgent over-the-top shallowness was funny, in a Seinfeld-like way, whereas the previous pair – especially Kirk – were just annoying. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-once-a-tv-lineup-that-included-4-of-the-best-shows-in-tv-history-and-the-bob-newhart-show/984756/36 "2023-05-30T06:15:50Z")
I remember watching that with my mother. Three hours of solid entertainment on one channel. There was also the British series _UFO_ on Channel 9 at 7:00 PM, but that’s neither here nor there. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-once-a-tv-lineup-that-included-4-of-the-best-shows-in-tv-history-and-the-bob-newhart-show/984756/37 "2023-05-30T06:17:56Z")
_Cosby Show_ and _Family Ties_ – could do without, but were all right. Could not stand _Cheers_ Like _Night Court_ quite a bit. _Hill Street Blues_ is still one of the best shows in television history. ---
**Author:** ![gnarator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gnarator/32/8266_2.png) [@gnarator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarator)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-once-a-tv-lineup-that-included-4-of-the-best-shows-in-tv-history-and-the-bob-newhart-show/984756/38 "2023-05-30T06:43:37Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > My night’s viewing always ended when dad came into the den. He took control of the remote. You had a remote? _I_ was the remote: “Change it to channel 4 and turn it up a bit.” ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-once-a-tv-lineup-that-included-4-of-the-best-shows-in-tv-history-and-the-bob-newhart-show/984756/39 "2023-05-30T10:32:43Z")
We had a remote in the 1970s which only came out of its original Styrofoam case in the original box if a kid was home sick. Other than that, it was “get up and change it” ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-once-a-tv-lineup-that-included-4-of-the-best-shows-in-tv-history-and-the-bob-newhart-show/984756/40 "2023-05-30T10:51:23Z")
> [@Jaycat.again](#): > > Whatever night Sanford and Son was on was the best Just stumbled upon Sanford & Son on FreeVee. Hasn’t held up too well. Insanely politically incorrect! The laugh-track was so loud it’s nearly unbearable. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-once-a-tv-lineup-that-included-4-of-the-best-shows-in-tv-history-and-the-bob-newhart-show/984756.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-once-a-tv-lineup-that-included-4-of-the-best-shows-in-tv-history-and-the-bob-newhart-show/984756.md?page=3)