The Bob Newhart Show: Father Knows WorstCBS
November 4, 1972
Sitcom
DVD
C+
I was trying to figure out why this episode, the first of twenty for the show written by Tom Patchett and Jay Tarses, doesn't quite work. I have no problem with either Howard's son Howie (Moosie Drier) or his ex-wife Lois (the coincidentally named Alice Borden, who was one of the actresses to play Ruth Bauman on That Girl). They both have a relaxed, believable delivery. I'm afraid the problem is with Howard. It's a combination of the audience not yet getting the humor of this character, and his behaving in an annoying way. I wasn't too thrilled with Bob and Jerry either, who do little to help, not even loan him a jacket to cover the water stain on his shirt. Although BNS starts out more itself than M*A*S*H, it's still not quite there yet early in the first season.
The Lady Patient (the pregnant one) is played by Kit Smythe, who was Ginger on the original Gilligan's Island pilot, although viewers of course wouldn't know that yet.
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