TV/American TV-G Running time: 10:45
IMDB rating: 8.2 Aspect: 4:3; Languages: English, Spanish; Subtitles: English, Spanish; Audio: Mono
In its sophomore season, The Bob Newhart Show became an integral part of CBS's phenomenal Stay Home Saturday lineup of now-immortal shows that included All in the Family, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Carol Burnett Show. Audiences were initially slow to pick up on Bob, but by its second season, the show was on a roll, and enjoyed the highest ratings of its six-year run. The season-opening episode, "Last TV Show," in which Chicago psychologist Bob reluctantly, and regretfully, allows one of his group-therapy sessions to be filmed for television, is a series classic that showcases Newhart's gifts as a great reactive comic actor. The Bob Newhart Show mined brilliant character-based comedy from Bob's interactions with his patients (including the supremely neurotic Mr. Carlin, indelibly portrayed by Jack Riley), his best friend, womanizing dentist Jerry (Peter Bonerz), his wisecracking receptionist Carol (Macia Wallace), his intrusive neighbor Howard, a divorced airline pilot (Bill Daily), and, of course, his usually level-headed schoolteacher wife of five years, Emily (Suzanne Pleschette). Among her finest half-hours are "Mister Emily Hartley," in which Bob discovers that Emily's I.Q. is higher than his, and "The Modernization of Emily," in which Emily embarks on a disastrous youth kick after she meets a former student who is now in college. Through it all, the pitch-perfect writing keeps it real and in perfect sync with Newhart's understated style. In addition to the wonderful ensemble, this second season is brightened by several "before they were famous" appearances, by, among others, Teri Garr ("Confessions of an Orthodontist"), a pre-Fonzie Henry Winkler ("Clink Shrink"), Howard Hesseman ("The Jobless Corps"), and Raul Julia ("Oh, Brother"). Incredibly, The Bob Newhart Show never won an Emmy, but it endures as one of TV's class acts.
