The Bob Newhart Show: A Jackie Story

The Bob Newhart Show: A Jackie Story
CBS
October 8, 1977
Sitcom
DVD
B-

In this Davis & Music story about a woman named Jackie, a friend of Carol's who dates Jerry, we get a sense of Jerry's insecurity, especially about women.  The episode takes awhile to get going and doesn't live up to its potential, but I do like that it ends on a happy-ish note.

The Bob Newhart Show: A Home Is Not Necessarily a House

The Bob Newhart Show: A Home Is Not Necessarily a House
CBS
February 10, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Bob and Emily consider buying a house but don't.  It's revealed that Mr. Carlin wears not only a toupee but elevator shoes.  Jenna McMahon and Dick Clair, who'd written a different episode for this show, play the rival realtors.

The Bob Newhart Show: His Busiest Season

The Bob Newhart Show: His Busiest Season
CBS
December 23, 1972
Sitcom
DVD
C+


This episode never quite gets going but it's not bad.  The "his" in the title is presumably Santa rather than Bob, although that does look like an overpopulated group session.  (Couldn't they have at least found cushions or folding chairs for the people sitting on the floor?)  Probably the first sitcom examination of seasonal depression, but not exactly a cure for it.  And we never find out what Bob and Emily got each other.

King Moody was the Fireman earlier and is Ken Willett here.  Harvey J. Goldenberg, who plays the very Woody-Allen-like Barry Gorman, would be on M*A*S*H twice.  Twenty-six-year-old Renee Lippin debuts as Michelle Nardo.

The Bob Newhart Show: P-I-L-O-T

The Bob Newhart Show: P-I-L-O-T
CBS
November 18, 1972
Sitcom
DVD
B-

I decided not to do a separate entry for the original pilot, which was shot in Sept. of  '71, but instead talk about it here.  The show had potential but test audiences did not like the idea of Jerry being a psychologist, too, any more than they liked Donald Blue Sky as both Ann's boyfriend and manager.  So the scenes at "the office" were reshot, adding in Marcia Wallace's character of Carol and Jack Riley's of Mr. Carlin as well.  Still, the changes here are less dramatic than with That Girl, or particularly Gilligan's Island.

It's interesting that CBS decided to show the revised pilot a couple months into the first season, when the home audience had gotten used to Emily's hair, the apartment, and some other aspects being a certain way.  Bob's character is different in that he's both more amorous and more interested in having a baby than he is for the most part in the series.  As I recall, Bob Newhart didn't want the Hartleys to be parents, and it wouldn't come up very often again.  As far the amorousness, he's much more demonstrative (including in bed) than we usually see him.  Another notable difference is that Howard is absent, and instead we get a whole bunch of boring neighbors, besides Margaret I mean.  Oh, and we find out that Jerry was adopted when he was three weeks old, which will later be contradicted.

Louise Lasser plays the lady from the adoption agency, a few years before Mary Hartman.  Helen Page Camp, who plays Myrna Hoover, would later be Mrs. Prince.  William Redfield, who plays Margaret's husband Arthur, would have a more prominent role, as Gordon Borden.

The Bob Newhart Show: Fly the Unfriendly Skies

The Bob Newhart Show: Fly the Unfriendly Skies
CBS
September 16, 1972
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Creators David Davis and Lorenzo Music co-wrote this pilot, which establishes the basic show for the next six years.  Not that there wouldn't be changes of course, if less dramatic ones than on the five years of The Brady Bunch, but the core settings and characters are here.  We even see three of Bob's regular patients at the Fear of Flying workshop:  Florida Friebus as Mrs. Lillian Bakerman, Noam Pitlik as Mr. Victor Gianelli, and of course Jack Riley as Elliot Carlin.  Since this is one of my favorite shows, it's tempting to give the first episode a higher grade, but things haven't jelled yet.  For one thing, Emily's toughness and humor have yet to emerge, to say nothing of the full daffiness of Howard.  Also, it's hard to forgive Bob for laughing at her when she cries.  But it's a good place to start.  And notice that this was still the era when you could smoke on planes.

Penny Marshall, still a few years away from sitcom fame of her own, plays the Stewardess.  Patricia Smith plays forgettable neighbor Margaret Hoover.  (I guess they figured Emily needed a sounding board friend, like Ann had on That Girl.)  To keep the tags simple, this show will be referred to as "BNS."