Which did you prefer?
I loved The Bob Newhart Show. Better writing, better cast, and simply a better era for television. And it featured the incomparable Suzanne Pleshette.
The only thing I liked about Newhart was the theme song.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 29 | May 6, 2023 8:07 PM |
and here is the theme from Newhart.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 1 | May 5, 2023 11:52 PM |
The Bob Newhart Show was the better one. I'd rate it an overall A. Newhart was pretty good, but not necessarily great. I'd rate it an overall B.
| by Anonymous | reply 2 | May 5, 2023 11:54 PM |
I preferred The Bob Newhart Show also. I consider it to be probably one of the five best sitcoms of all time. Great writing, great cast. And it’s my favorite portrayal of a marriage in a comedy.
I enjoyed Newhart but it just wasn’t at the same level.
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | May 5, 2023 11:55 PM |
I loved Newhart and its cast of weirdos. Season 2 and on was better than season 1 when they replaced that drip Leslie with Stephanie, and then when Michael hit the scene he really completed out the cast.
I also enjoyed Julie Brown's appearances as Buffy Denver
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | May 5, 2023 11:55 PM |
Suzanne Pleshette was the bomb. I adored her.
| by Anonymous | reply 5 | May 5, 2023 11:59 PM |
The first was the best, but Newhart was entertaining, certainly one of the better sitcoms of the '80s. Especially from season two on, as somebody else noted.
| by Anonymous | reply 6 | May 6, 2023 12:07 AM |
The Bob Newhart Show. Newhart came on past my bedtime but I remember watching it here and there. I watched The Bob Newhart Show for the first time a year or two ago on either Hulu or Amazon Prime. After watching it I finally understood the last scene of the Newhart finale.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 7 | May 6, 2023 1:09 AM |
Both are great, I’d say. Like most above, if I had to pick one I’d choose The Bob Newhart Show.
| by Anonymous | reply 9 | May 6, 2023 1:31 AM |
Bob Newhart Show was better.
| by Anonymous | reply 10 | May 6, 2023 1:47 AM |
I much prefer The Bob Newhart Show. The season one theme song was one of the best of the 1970s, even if Bob took a train from the Loop to Evanston and back just to go to his apartment in Edgewater.
| by Anonymous | reply 11 | May 6, 2023 1:49 AM |
Bob was Bob. Do you prefer urban Bob or rural Bob? Of course Pleshette was miles beyond Frann.
| by Anonymous | reply 12 | May 6, 2023 1:50 AM |
He was a sardonic sarcastic clown for better or worse. Personally both shows were barely tolerable
| by Anonymous | reply 13 | May 6, 2023 2:02 AM |
The Bob Newhart Show was better IMO because Newhart's Julia Duffy and Peter Scolari's characters were SO annoying( a testament to how very good they were at presenting their characters) that it turned me off the show.
Having said that, I think Newhart will be better and fondly remembered for the incredible last episode. Whoever greenlighted Newhart being an entire dream, and Bob and Emily waking up in that all-too-familiar bed was a genius.
| by Anonymous | reply 14 | May 6, 2023 2:20 AM |
His humor was *not* sarcastic, r13.
| by Anonymous | reply 15 | May 6, 2023 2:21 AM |
I’m gay, but I’d fuck Suzanne Pleshette / Emily Hartley in a heartbeat.
| by Anonymous | reply 16 | May 6, 2023 2:21 AM |
Newhart was great for Bob (of course) and the combo of Scolari and Duffy. Mary Frann was a bit of a dud.
| by Anonymous | reply 17 | May 6, 2023 2:32 AM |
R14, yes, the two yuppies on Newhart really turned me off to the whole show.
But indeed that finale episode was golden.
| by Anonymous | reply 18 | May 6, 2023 2:32 AM |
The first was probably better but it could actually be a bit dull at times. I liked the slightly more absurdist Newhart. It worked at the time. Mary Frann did great sweater and was the straight women’s straight woman. Her era’s Margaret Dumont.
| by Anonymous | reply 19 | May 6, 2023 2:46 AM |
R19 — you beat me to the punch on Mary Frank’s sweater work.
The Newhart finale was genius — in a spiked-free era. I loved Bob’s line in that last scene where he references Frank’s sweaters.
| by Anonymous | reply 20 | May 6, 2023 2:48 AM |
I think one reason that the "Newhart" finale is so fondly remembered is that it was the ultimate wish fulfillment for all the fans of the first series who watched the second series but who always wished Bob was still married to Suzanne Pleshette and not to Mary Frann. It's not surprising that Mary Frann was, reportedly, not a fan of the "Newhart" ending.
| by Anonymous | reply 21 | May 6, 2023 2:51 AM |
Loved the first series: besides being hilarious, everything about it was a world away from the flyover suburb I grew up it and so it seemed like the apex of sophisticated urban life to me at the time. The second series was cornier, and I thought Larry, Daryl, and Daryl wore out their welcome after one episode...
| by Anonymous | reply 22 | May 6, 2023 2:57 AM |
R20, what is a “spiked-free” era?
Genuinely don’t know this term.
| by Anonymous | reply 23 | May 6, 2023 6:46 PM |
This should have been a poll! OG Bob Newhart Show FTW
| by Anonymous | reply 24 | May 6, 2023 6:54 PM |
Another vote for The Bob Newhart Show. No contest, IMO.
Pleshette, whom I love, always pinged for me, but I understand she was very straight. Anyone know differently?
| by Anonymous | reply 25 | May 6, 2023 7:18 PM |
Hmm, R25, I always wondered the sameabout Suzanne Pleshette, having been married to Troy Donahue. But I’m usually wrong about such things. Wishful thinking maybe.
But Suzanne really did ping to high heaven, didn’t she?
| by Anonymous | reply 26 | May 6, 2023 7:31 PM |
OP, thank you for letting me know she pinged for you, too. I always thought I must be odd to think so. She would have made a first-class lesbian. Such a no-nonsense beauty. Loved her in The Birds, too!
| by Anonymous | reply 27 | May 6, 2023 7:46 PM |
Yes, R27, she had great lesbian potential.
Especially in The Birds.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 28 | May 6, 2023 7:51 PM |
Neighborhood Playhouse, doncha know.
| by Anonymous | reply 29 | May 6, 2023 8:07 PM |
