🏆 Recognizing #StoriesThatMatter. Never miss a newsletter! Sign up and have #PeabodyFinds delivered to your inbox.
Bob Newhart was not a typical sitcom star. In his 40s by the time his first hit TV show, The Bob Newhart Show, premiered in 1972, he wasn’t Hollywood-handsome or the kind of guy to deploy a catchphrase. Instead, he drew viewers to him with a quiet, stammering delivery and the greatest deadpan in the business, his face never twitching even the slightest to betray the presence of a joke, not a drop of sarcasm in the mix. Despite his stammer, this combination gave him a calmness, the groundedness of a Zen monk, a cool that only made the audience’s laugh bigger and inch to the edge of their seats as they wondered when the joke might come. There’s a story that a producer on The Bob Newhart Show once asked him to talk faster in a scene that was running long so that they could get it all in, and Newhart said no: “Look, that stammer got me a home in Beverly Hills and I’m not about to screw with it now.”
Newhart, who died July 18, had a long career in television and film, but is best remembered for his two eponymous sitcoms: The Bob Newhart Show, on which he played a therapist named Bob Hartley from 1972 to 1978, and Newhart, on which he played a Vermont innkeeper named Dick Loudon from 1982 to 1990. He worked as an accountant before turning to standup in the 1960s, harnessing that accountant energy for laughs on his Grammy-winning albums The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart and The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back! In the days when comedy albums ruled, these two recordings held the No. 1 and No. 2 spots on the Billboard chart simultaneously.
He was a Peabody, Grammy, Emmy, and Golden Globe winner. He won his Peabody for, of all things, his 1961-62 variety show (also called The Bob Newhart Show), which lasted only seven months but eventually led to his legendary sitcom career. He achieved the rare feat of having two eponymous TV hits, both of which made equally great use of his persona without feeling repetitive. As Dr. Hartley, he served as a foil to his quirky patients’ problems and became one of the first shows to foreground therapy; as innkeeper Dick, he was confronted with a constant parade of small-town Vermont locals (who were, of course, also quite quirky). He continued to work throughout the decades in films such as 1997’s In & Out and 2003’s Elf, and in a recurring role on the biggest hit sitcom in recent years, as Professor Proton on The Big Bang Theory, until 2018, when he was 88. His influence is apparent in the comedy of Aubrey Plaza, Ellen DeGeneres, and John Mulaney, and in shows like Parks and Recreation, Schitt’s Creek, and Shrinking.
Here, a few ways to appreciate Newhart’s lengthy career and his legacy.
‘The Bob Newhart Show’ (1972-78)
Though this isn’t the show that got Newhart a Peabody, it is the show that made him a star. It also turned MTM Enterprises, which was formed to produce The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1969, into more than a one-hit wonder, and the company would go on to become a powerhouse independent production house known for its taste, with well-regarded hits such as WKRP in Cincinnati, Hill Street Blues, and St. Elsewhere. The series felt thoroughly modern, centering a middle-aged, equal, and child-free couple (with the powerful Suzanne Pleshette playing his wife, Emily), and normalizing mental health care at a time when therapy was a still verboten topic—though surely some plotlines, like Dr. Hartley spending Thanksgiving getting drunk with some patients, raised what would be real-life ethical questions. It wasn’t as political as contemporaries such as All in the Family or The Mary Tyler Moore Show, but The Bob Newhart Show reflected its times in an understated and relatable way that would make it a model for future shows.
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
‘Newhart’ (1982-90)
We’ve talked here about the finale, one of the greatest of all time, not to mention one of the most meta moments in TV history. But besides that, Newhart, also produced by MTM, capitalized even more on everything that had gone so right about The Bob Newhart Show. Here, Newhart’s character, Dick, is a big-city New York novelist transplanted to Vermont to pursue his retirement dreams of running an inn—a classic fish-out-of-water story. Enter another strong wife (this time played by Mary Frann, in an endless display of resplendent sweaters) and a cadre of wacky small-town characters, including heiress-turned-working-stiff maid Stephanie (Julia Duffy), the uptight TV producer Michael (Peter Scolari), the aw-shucks handyman George (Tom Poston), and the human catchphrases Larry, Darryl, and his other brother Darryl. If you liked Schitt’s Creek, you will fall hopelessly in love with Newhart‘s analogous charms.
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
‘The Big Bang Theory’ (2013-18)
On one of the biggest network sitcom hits of the last decade, Newhart made an impression as Professor Proton, a washed up TV host who has become a children’s party entertainer. He also serves as main character Sheldon’s Jedi-like spirit guide—and, accordingly, appeared on the spinoff Young Sheldon. The role serves as a testament to Newhart’s persona, reputation, and staying power, a literal handing off of sitcom royalty from one generation to the next.
Where to Watch: Max
Peabody Winner ‘The Bob Newhart Show’ (1961)
This Bob Newhart Show isn’t available to watch, but here’s what the Peabody committee said about it when awarding it: “Bob Newhart of NBC’s The Bob Newhart Show is a person whose gentle satire and wry and irreverent wit waft a breath of fresh and bracing air through the stale and stuffy electronic corridors. A merry marauder who looks less like St. George than a choirboy, Newhart has wounded, if not slain, many of the dragons that stalk our society. In a troubled and apprehensive world, Newhart has proved once again that laughter is the best medicine. In recognition and appreciation, the Peabody Award for television entertainment.”