The Bob Newhart Show 19th Anniversary

The Bob Newhart Show 19th Anniversary
CBS
November 23, 1991
Sitcom
DVD
C+

Mark Egan and Mark Solomon, who co-wrote the final Newhart episode, are joined by Michael Mahler, who would write some other reunion shows.  This is better than that episode, although it lacks a strong finish.  (Bob sees Larry and his brothers Darryl [William Sanderson, Tony Papenfuss, and John Voldstad] as elevator repairmen.)  I wish some of the original writers had signed on, or maybe that the cast had written their own dialogue, since they seem eager to go back to their old characters, and the DVD commentaries on the episodes are much funnier than this.  Or maybe it's that Dick Martin directed and he belonged to the weaker later seasons of the original series.  Or maybe it's that this is just a clip show, and there's only so much you can do with that.  I wish there were more clever moments, like where Howard flashes back to I Dream of Jeannie, maybe with Bob wondering why his old college buddy the Peeper (Tom Poston) had showed up in his dream as his handyman in Vermont.  Still, it is nice to see everyone reunited and this is on a par with the final episode of BNS.

Fiedler and Libertini only appear in the flashbacks.  Note that Newhart explains in his introduction to the episode why it's the 19th rather than the 20th anniversary, which becomes a running joke throughout the hour, never mind that this contradicts information throughout the original run, like how long Bob was in practice before we met him.

Mork & Mindy: Twelve Angry Appliances

Mork & Mindy: Twelve Angry Appliances
ABC
February 5, 1981
Sitcom
DVD
C+

Ron Osborn and Jeff Reno's first of three Mork stories is mostly forgettable.  Mindy is fed up with the appliance repairman Mr. Strand (Richard Libertini, who among other things had recently appeared with Williams in Popeye).  So Mork teaches him a lesson.  Note that Mork makes two Watergate references this time, one in front of the daycare kids, who get it and laugh.

Jonathan Ian, Stephanie Kayano, and Amy Tenowich return as respectively Jonathan, Stephanie, and Lola.

The Bob Newhart Show: Shallow Throat

The Bob Newhart Show: Shallow Throat
CBS
November 26, 1977
Sitcom
DVD
B-

In this first of three BNS stories written by Earl Pomerantz, Richard Libertini plays Mr. Twillmer, a new patient of Bob's who claims to be an embezzler, causing an ethical dilemma for Bob.  And Howard learns that TV dinners must be cooked.

Frank Maxwell played a General on Gilligan's Island, William Samuels on That Girl, Lt. Col. Harold Becket on M*A*S*H; did a voice on Wait Till Your Father Gets Home; and is Sgt. O'Conner here.  Alan Haufrect, who plays the Felon, would be Mr. Miller on Bosom Buddies.

Soap: Episode 10

Soap: Episode 10
ABC
November 22, 1977
Dramedy
DVD
B+

There are relatively few cast members or scenes in this one.  First we have Mary and Jessica in the kitchen after their lunch where they spotted Chester and Claire, and Benson is in and out of the room.  (This is where we first hear that Mary and Jessica's brother Randolph had an illegitimate child with the Swedish maid and then disappeared to Ecuador.)  Then Corinne visits Father Tim, who afterwards prays to God, admitting that he's tempted by Corinne, although he loves being a priest.  Then Mary is home and talks with, in order, the Godfather, Danny (disguised as a rabbi), and Burt.  (We find out that Mary and Burt haven't had sex in six months.  My impression is that he could make love to her initially, and it was only later that the guilt about Johnny's death sunk in.)

And then in the long last scene, Jodie is visited by Dennis, who admits that he's going to marry his girlfriend Jill, because he's scared of being outed, and dating a MTF transsexual won't be any better for his career than dating a man.  Jodie is so upset that he takes a bunch of pills from an abandoned cart, feeling like he has no reason to live.  (He doesn't think of his family and I'm sure it would devastate Mary.)  Then Barney, who left the room so Jodie and Dennis could talk privately, comes back and tells Jodie a heart-breaking story about losing two beloved wives but still believing he can fall in love again.  It is one of the most moving sequences ever on television.  That Gould was already a beloved character actor, including as Rhoda's father, adds an extra layer.  And Crystal, who is silent throughout, reacts as if the story has reached him, but it may be too late because of his overdose.  I'd give the episode a B- or B otherwise, but this one scene is the "wow" moment I look for.

Brandy Carson, who plays the Nurse, was two different nameless Women on The Brady Bunch.  Michael Schwartz, who plays the Intern, would have roles on M*A*S*H and Mork & Mindy.  Lang co-wrote again. 

Soap: Episode 6

Soap: Episode 6
ABC
October 25, 1977
Dramedy
DVD
B

Billy has been in his room for a couple days because Molly dumped him, and the Godfather (whom we now find out reports to Mr. Lefkowitz) has been checking the obituaries for a few days to see if Burt Campbell shows up.  Still, I don't think much time has passed so far, especially since it's been a couple months since Chester gave Jessica a tennis racket.

The Godfather gives Danny a key to an isolated cabin, so that Danny can kill Burt there.  Meanwhile, Burt's other son, Chuck, is going to arrive from Hawaii with Bob, the dummy he's had since childhood and entertained the troops in Vietnam with.  And Corinne is still going to move in with Peter, even though she now knows he's had an affair with her mother.  (Well, adoptive mother, Jessica has mentioned a couple times that Corinne is "illegitimate," although she hasn't said who the parents are yet.)

Corinne is doing this because she can't have Father Tim, which is almost as stupid as Jodie's reason for getting a sex change.  When Eunice admits to having an affair with a married congressman, Corinne tops her with the news about Peter, but she doesn't mention Tim.  There's a good dramatic scene, both Jessica and Corinne in tears, where Jessica admits she made a mistake in having an affair, but Corinne isn't ready to forgive her.

Eighty-year-old Ian Wolfe makes his first of three Soap appearances, here as Monsignor, later as Father Juniper.

Soap: Episode 3

Soap: Episode 3
ABC
September 27, 1977
Dramedy
DVD
B

This goes from the dinner party to the following afternoon (although there are no time marks like on the first two episodes).  Jessica tries to confess to Chester about her affair with Peter, but he thinks she's accusing him of adultery.  At this point, Jessica refuses to believe that Chester would cheat on her, although later episodes would suggest she always had her suspicions.  Benson and Mary, who are two of the brighter characters, figured out that Peter is Jessica's lover almost immediately, and they both know about Chester.

Meanwhile, Burt makes an effort to befriend his stepsons, but he finds it easier with Danny than Jodie, because being gay is apparently more disturbing than being in the mob.  Danny is stunned when he finds out who his contract is on.  Libertini's Godfather character has some of the best lines in the episode.

Oddly enough, I don't remember Corinne having any lines in this episode, as if she's too stunned by Peter turning out to be her step-cousin to react.  Or maybe she suspects that her mother has been fooling around with him, too.  Meanwhile, Mary tries to get Burt to talk about his impotency, but he's very uncomfortable about it, and the reason for it of course doesn't help.

Soap: Episode 2

Soap: Episode 2
ABC
September 20, 1977
Dramedy
DVD
B

This episode covers the afternoon through early evening, from just after Jessica's tennis lesson to just after the arrival of Burt's son Peter.  He hasn't seen his kids in fifteen years, not since (as we learned on the previous episode) his wife took them with her to Hawaii.  And Jessica tells us that Peter is 28.  We also find out that Billy was born on October 28, 1962.  Since Mary claims that Chester hasn't looked at Jessica since she was 30, this would put Jessica at 45 at most, but over 40 since when Mary tries to guess Jessica's younger lover's age, she starts at 40 and goes downward.

Kathryn Reynolds makes her first of five appearances as Chester's secretary, whom he's been fooling around with from when he hired her at 18 through now, shortly after her 30th birthday.  She's blackmailing him because he refuses to leave Jessica, and he's had several side affairs, including with someone he nicknames Pigeon.  Meanwhile, Richard Libertini makes his first of four appearances as the Godfather, offering Danny a contract to kill the man who killed Danny's father, without yet telling him that man was Burt.

The other plot development is that Jodie tells his mother (and later the whole family except for Billy, who's on a date) that he's going to have a sex change.  Gay and trans images were sometimes blurred on television at this time (and for a long time afterward), so we'll return to this.

The Bob Newhart Show: Halls of Hartley

The Bob Newhart Show: Halls of Hartley
CBS
January 29, 1977
Sitcom
DVD
B

Michael Zinberg's witty script has Bob considering taking a job teaching at a college in a small Iowa town.  (As would Tony Micelli fifteen years later.)  Howard is upset about possibly losing the Hartleys and so he sets out to find a new best friend.

Richard Libertini, who'd appeared on That Girl, plays Dr. Franklin Pitt.  Director James Burrows is recognizable as the Maintenance Man, although he probably wouldn't have been at the time.

That Girl: There Sure a Lot of Cards in St. Louis, Part II

Later that same decade....

That Girl: There Sure a Lot of Cards in St. Louis, Part II
ABC
November 6, 1970
Sitcom
DVD
B

Well, this isn't as good as Part I but it's still fun to see how Ann copes with Don's family and how he deals with them.  This time, we learn more about the play she's doing and even see rehearsals.  After meeting Stan "the Man" Musial, Ann decides that her future in-laws would be impressed if she took the opportunity to play the lead role.  Then she realizes what's really important, and that wins over Donald's difficult mother.

Frank Faylen and Mabel Albertson are of course back, but it's mostly a different cast than in Part I.  Penny Kunard, who plays the Hostess, had been Katie on Gidget.  Richard Schaal had been the Lost & Found Man earlier and is Bill here.  Thirty-seven-year-old Richard Libertini has a small, early role as John.  And if Shari Summers, who plays Jeannie, looks familiar, you may remember her as Edith Phern in Harold and Maude.