The Bob Newhart Show
The Battle of the Groups
TV Flash files “The Battle of the Groups” as hour 50 of 142 in the TV Flash guide — The Bob Newhart Show (1972–1978) on CBS, season 3, episode 2, aired 1974-09-21, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S03E02: listed hour 50 of 142 in the The Bob Newhart Show guide, hour 2 of 24 in season 3. It aired 1974-09-21 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Big Brother is Watching” (S03E01). Next is “The Great Rimpau Medical Arts Co-Op Experiment” (S03E03).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Bob takes two of his therapy groups to a rustic retreat for a marathon session that never progresses further than everyone's complaints about the primitive conditions of their accommodations.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Battle of the Groups sit in the The Bob Newhart Show guide?
S03E02 is listed hour 50 of 142 — hour 2 of 24 in season 3, season 3 episode 2.
When did The Bob Newhart Show S03E02 air?
The Battle of the Groups aired 1974-09-21 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…