The Bob Newhart Show or Newhart?

[Amasov]

Vote!

I prefer the original Bob Newhart Show. I think the cast of that one is miles ahead of the Newhart cast. Suzanne Pleshette also had a much better chemistry with Bob which led to a far more believable marriage. I always felt that Dick was always kind of putting up with Joanna and never really bought into them loving each other like a husband and wife do. Newhart, while still a great comedy, to me, got a little trying at times.

The oddballs surrounding Bob in this show as opposed to the original seemed to be very frustrating at times. It was very surreal. The townsfolk were just plain, stupid people a lot of the time. Of course Newhart does have Larry, Darryl, and Darryl. The three guys who made the show. In a sense, they were almost that show's version of The Bob Newhart Show's, Howard. Whenever there seemed to be a dull moment, the trio would enter to applause and some great laughs.

But yes, overall, I prefer The Bob Newhart Show. A far better cast, each with their comedy that made for a truly funny show. I still watch this show once and a while on DVD. It keeps me in hysterics. The show is will over 30 years old, but the comedy isn't dated enough to the point where it's no longer funny.

Great, great show.

 

[Peacemaker]

It has to be The Bob Newhart show. After all, Newhart was just another episode.

 

[Velocity]

the Bob Newhart Show, because of Suzanne Pleshette. You could see what Bob saw in Emily, but Mary Frann was just a fluffy sweater. Newhart was sort of a bizarro world with the studio audience going nuts whenever Larry, Darryl, and Darryl entered, which always aggravated me.

 

[Amasov]

It has to be The Bob Newhart show. After all, Newhart was just another episode.

LOL Good call!

It's worth noting that when Bob was preparing to come back to TV in 1982 with Newhart, one of the original ideas he had was to pick up The Bob Newhart Show four years later and show what had happened in everyone's lives since the original show ended. Interesting to think about how the show would have been if that's the idea they went with.

 

[ancientone51]

The Bob Newhart Show was and is the best. No question.

And I agree, Newhart was just an extended episode. Good call Peacemaker!

 

[Nerdius Maximus]

I'm not really familiar with the Bob Newhart Show, but I love Newhart. Anyone remember "Bob?" Came on CBS sometime in the '90s. I wish they'd release it on dvd.

 

[Mistral]

The Bob Newhart Show. Hands down. Clever writing, a great theme song and (drumroll please) The King Of Snee. How could you go wrong? I mean, any show that could do an entire episode about being locked in a basement storage unit on the fourth of July and make it so funny it gets cited as one of the classic tv moments in the entire decade...

 

[SPOCKED]

The Bob Newhart Show gets my vote, too. It was a rock from beginning to end. Funny this came up; I just saw two very early Newhart episodes the other night. There was some "cringiness" in the first one, but the next episode (the golf/poker episode) was so funny I literally lost my breath with laughter. Bob kept unintentionally winning golf and poker games to the townies. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't lose to the point where he forced one of them to cut a deck of cards for high/low double or nothing so they could win their money back. He kept winning and one of them tallied up Bob's winnings to around $40,000. The terror in their voices about having kids in college and a mortgage to pay and Bob yelling "CUT!" was too much -- it was genious

 

[auntiehill]

The Bob Newhart Show gets my vote. Newhart fell flat pretty quickly. The wife was a generic blonde in tacky sweaters; she had no personality at all. And then they added the annoying yuppie couple, who were not believable and not funny. It got old pretty fast.

But on The Bob Newhart Show, you had Suzanne Pleshette. She was his equal, and gave as good as she got. She was a believable character and you loved to watch them together. The annoying neighbors and patients that came in and out where all there to give them something to bounce off of, not become the center of the show.

 

[John Picard]

Another vote for The Bob Newhart Show. Newhart is a drinking game almost no one can win

 

[RandyS]

I'm gonna go against the majority here and vote for Newhart. The first three reasons are Larry, his brother Daryl, and his other brother Daryl.

The fourth reason is I've seen all eight seasons of Newhart, and none of Bob Newhart.

 

[Michael Chris]

I dislike the Bob Newhart show. I havde greatly enjoyed Newhart on the other hand. So definitely Newhart.

 

[J.T.B.]

"Newhart" was good for a few seasons, but "The Bob Newhart Show" is one of the all-time greats. Besides Newhart and Pleshette, who were wonderful, Bill Daily, Marcia Wallace, Peter Bonerz and Jack Riley were each good enough to carry an average sitcom. Elliott Carlin is still one of the most cynical, mistrustful, mal-adjusted and hilarious characters ever on TV, 35-odd years later.

--Justin

 

[John Picard]

"Newhart" was good for a few seasons, but "The Bob Newhart Show" is one of the all-time greats. Besides Newhart and Pleshette, who were wonderful, Bill Daily, Marcia Wallace, Peter Bonerz and Jack Riley were each good enough to carry an average sitcom. Elliott Carlin is still one of the most cynical, mistrustful, mal-adjusted and hilarious characters ever on TV, 35-odd years later.

--Justin

QFT!!!

 

[Starbreaker]

Bob Newhart show. Grew up watching it on Nick at Nite. Never really got into Newhart.

 

[Amasov]

Aside from the final episode, Newhart didn't have as many memorable moments as The Bob Newhart Show did. My favorite segments were when Newhart would make those offbeat references to the Bob Newhart Show.

There was one scene where Dick and Joanna were going to a marriage counselor. As they are entering, who do they see exiting? None other than Jack Riley. Dick looks at him strangely and says, "You look very familiar..."

Strangely enough, the character of Elliott Carlen showed up on an episode of St. Elsewhere and told, I think it might have been the William Daniels character, that some "quack in Chicago" ruined his life.

There was also an episode where Michael is depressed over the current state of television. Dick assures him that television will get better because it runs in cycles. He then mentions the memorable CBS Saturday night lineup naming "All in the Family, M*A*S*H, Mary Tyler Moore, and the Carol Burnette Show," Michael kind of brushes it off, but then says, "Dick don't remind me and how about that show with the shrink who studdered?"
About a minute of audience laughter immediatly followed and so did Dick's response of, "Th-that's stammered."

But the best, aside from the finale, is a scene when Dick is very depressed over the Inn not being declared an historic landmark. He spends all day watching TV in his study. Joanna enters to try talking to Dick. Dick isn't paying much attention because he said he was watching his favorite show. Joanna removes the headphones from the TV and we hear the closing theme to The Bob Newhart Show playing. I couldn't stop laughing at that.

One of my favorite episodes of The Bob Newhart Show, and a very popular one among fans is when Bob is invited onto an early morning talk show, only to be ripped to pieces on the air. Moments later when Bob is leaving, a nun is coming on the show.

It's much later in the show when Carol is giving Bob his messages with one being from that same nun.

"Sister Mary Cathering called, Bob."
"What did sister Mary Catherine want?"
"She wants to know if you'll go fifty-fifty on a hitman."

 

[Kirby]

The Bob Newhart show is way better. Bob and Emily had such chemistry and the supporting characters were more than one dimensional, and all of the characters (well, except maybe Mr. Carlin) grew and changed throughout the series. In contrast, none of the characters on Newhart experienced any sembalance of growth. I'd still take Newhart over a lot of other sitcoms though. I wish they'd finally release the rest of TBNS on DVD.

 

[Apophis]

I saw Newhart first, so I'm biased towards that. But I have watched the other and it is equally as good overall. Two things make me vote Newhart, since I had to choose one.

1) The time period. I grew up mostly in the 1980's, so my level of nostalgia is greater for anything during that period.

2) The theme song and setting. Henry Mancini is amazing. I love that song. And to this day I want to live in Vermont because of Newhart.

 

[John Picard]

The theme from The Bob Newhart Show

 

[TGTheodore]

Loved them both. They were each representative of the best comedies of their decades.

Newhart really hit its stride after they switched from videotape to film and made the cast changes (replacing three of the supporting players).

--Ted