The Bob Newhart Show
Last TV Show
TV Flash files “Last TV Show” as a desk essential hour — The Bob Newhart Show (1972–1978) on CBS, season 2, episode 1, aired 1973-09-15, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S02E01: listed hour 25 of 142 in the The Bob Newhart Show guide, first listed hour of season 2. It aired 1973-09-15 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Who's Been Sleeping on My Couch?” (S01E24). Next is “Motel” (S02E02).
Essential hour: “Last TV Show”. Last TV Show is the psychologist hour eating its own medium. Buttoned-up lead surrounded by lunatics, perfected: the series arguing with television without raising its voice.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
At the prodding of his patients, Bob reluctantly accepts an offer to allow TV cameras into a group therapy session.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Last TV Show sit in the The Bob Newhart Show guide?
S02E01 is listed hour 25 of 142 — first listed hour of season 2, season 2 episode 1.
When did The Bob Newhart Show S02E01 air?
Last TV Show aired 1973-09-15 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Is this the same show as 1980s Newhart?
No. This is the 1972–1978 CBS psychologist sitcom with Suzanne Pleshette. The later Newhart is a separate Vermont-inn series.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Bob Newhart's Chicago psychologist listens to everyone else's neuroses while Suzanne Pleshette's Emily keeps the marriage dryly off-kilter. MTM quiet comedy: group-therapy Greek chorus, phone-bit timing, no catchphrase panic. The buttoned-up lead surrounded by lunatics, perfected.
The opening beat is a pause. Chicago psychologist Bob Hartley listens to everyone else's neuroses while his own life stays dryly off-kilter, and CBS's The Bob Newhart Show (1972–1978) builds six seasons, 142 episodes, out of stammer-and-wait timing. David Davis and Lorenzo Music made it under the MTM banner associated with quality 1970s comedy: smart, warm, never frantic. Suzanne Pleshette's Emily keeps the marriage off-kilter on purpose. Bill Daily's Howard, Peter Bonerz's Jerry, and Marcia Wallace's Carol…
Filed against
- Bob Newhart as Dr. Bob Hartley
Bob Newhart’s Dr. Bob Hartley made The Bob Newhart Show a buttoned-up climate — 1970s catalog MTM quiet, phone-bit timing, lunatics around a psychologist. Newhart later moved the stammer to a Vermont inn and stole the finale. TV Flash…
- Suzanne Pleshette as Emily Hartley
Suzanne Pleshette dry-witted The Bob Newhart Show as Emily Hartley — Chicago psychologist's wife, MTM quiet comedy, group-therapy Greek chorus, phone-bit timing with no catchphrase panic. The marriage that kept the buttoned-up lead…
- Bill Daily as Howard Borden
Bill Daily’s Maj. Roger Healey kept I Dream of Jeannie’s NASA secret from being a two-person bottle — 1960s catalog Space Race sitcom, then The Bob Newhart Show recasting the pal as Howard Borden’s flight-weather. TV Flash files him as…
- Peter Bonerz as Jerry Robinson
Peter Bonerz played Jerry Robinson on The Bob Newhart Show, 1970s MTM quiet comedy — a Chicago psychologist listening to everyone else’s neuroses, Suzanne Pleshette’s Emily keeping the marriage dryly off-kilter, group-therapy Greek…
- Marcia Wallace as Carol Kester
Marcia Wallace ran the reception as Carol Kester on The Bob Newhart Show — Chicago psychologist, Suzanne Pleshette’s Emily, MTM quiet comedy, group-therapy Greek chorus, phone-bit timing, no catchphrase panic. The buttoned-up lead…