Bob Newhart’s quiet revolution
His sitcom ended 40 years ago but it is still influential
“The Bob Newhart Show” concluded 40 years ago last month with neither a whimper nor a bang. In fact, there weren’t many whimpers or bangs during its six-year run. The show was reliable but never flashy, more welloiled Honda Accord than Pontiac Firebird. In its own way, it influenced decades of television comedy.
It ran from 1972 to 1978 Saturday nights on CBS, nestled among loudly progressive — and, in many ways, boldly political — shows: “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” which portrayed a single, working woman; “M.A.S.H.,” which aimed its biting satire at the horrors of war while Vietnam was still ongoing; and “All in the Family,” which took on divisive topics such as abortion, rape and race.
“The Bob Newhart Show” was different. Much like its lead actor, the show may have appeared, at first glance, to be unassuming and square. But a closer look revealed an almost silent subversion simmering beneath the surface, making it what Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University, called “quietly revolutionary.”
To wit: It was a workplace comedy that featured a childless married couple who, gasp, slept in the same bed. The show implied they had an active sex life, and they didn’t fall into the regular tropes of nagging wife or dumb husband. Mr. Newhart’s character, Dr. Bob Hartley, was a psychologist, and the show didn’t shy away from mental disorders such as manic depression. And it starred not an established actor but a stand-up comedian.
Still, “we kind of lived in the shadow of Mary, understandably,” Mr. Newhart told The Washington Post in a phone interview.
He asked CBS to move the show to a different night in hopes of gaining a larger viewership, but the network refused. Syndication became the show’s windfall, and one reason it’s endured for so long. (Mr. Newhart predicted as much — it’s why he was always so adamant about not including topical humor. “If we’re doing Gerald Ford jokes about him being clumsy, we’re going to look pretty silly when the show’s in syndication,” he said.)
The show is often cited by comics as an inspiration, and traces of its influence can be seen in contemporary sitcoms, particularly ones that aim for geniality, such as “Modern Family,” “How I Met Your Mother” and “The Big Bang Theory.”
“It was a show written for adults, but it wasn’t brash or cruel,” Steve O’Donnell, who served as head writer for both “Late Night With David Letterman” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” told The Post in a phone interview.
At the heart of the sitcom was Mr. Newhart, who stepped away from a burgeoning career in stand-up in search of better hours.
In today’s cultural landscape, earning a sitcom is one measure of success for a stand-up comic (see: “Seinfeld,” “Rosanne” “and “Mulaney” — the list goes on). But at the time, it was nearly unheard of. Translating a stand-up’s ethos into a situation comedy hadn’t been attempted.
Its uncommon tenderness wasn’t only in the show’s comedy, but baked into the relationships between its characters. Consider, for example, the marriage between Mr. Newhart’s character and Emily Hartley, played by Suzanne Pleshette.
“It showed two people, a husband and wife, who loved and respected and challenged each other,” comedian Bonnie Hunt told The Post. “Even when they disagreed, they supported each other. That’s harder to write, because you had to have well-defined, threedimensional characters for both the man and the wife.”
That comedic attitude informed the show. Mr. Newhart wasn’t flashy or loud. He played the straight man, subtly reacting to the craziness round him. And his phone call routines were regularly baked into the plot.
“The show was a perfect showcase for Bob’s skill set,” comedian Norm Macdonald said via text.