Bob


The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents

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About

From Wikipedia:

Bob is an American television situation comedy which ran on CBS from September 18, 1992 until December 27, 1993. It was the third sitcom starring vehicle for Bob Newhart, and proved to be far less successful than The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart, his previous outings with the network. Bill Steinkellner, Cheri Steinkellner and Phoef Sutton comprised the creative writing team behind the show. The series was produced by Paramount Television. All 33 episodes became available on DVD April 3, 2012.

Newhart portrayed Bob McKay, the creator of the 1950s comic book superhero "Mad-Dog". Mad-Dog was a casualty of the Comics Code Authority, a real-life self-regulation authority formed to assuage concerns over violence and gore in comics in the 1950s. In the wake of the CCA, Bob became a greeting card artist, and years later Mad-Dog is revived when the American-Canadian Trans-Continental Communications Company buys the rights to the series. Complications ensued when AmCanTranConComCo head Harlan Stone (John Cygan) insisted Mad-Dog should be a bloodthirsty vigilante rather than the hero Bob originally created. Bob initially turned down Harlan's offer to revive the series with the publisher, but after his wife, Kaye (Carlene Watkins) reminded Bob that Mad-Dog would never give up dreams in the face of defeat, he decided to compromise with Harlan on creative direction, and the two became a team.

On the personal side, Bob and Kaye had been married for over 25 years; Kaye was loyal and sensible, and a busy career woman herself (although she nearly quit her job in the pilot, especially after seeing the estimate figure Bob would pull in yearly from the revival of Mad-Dog). Also creating havoc in Bob's life was his grown daughter Trisha (Cynthia Stevenson), who bemoaned her perpetually single state. Other members of the comics staff included Albie Lutz (Andrew Bilgore), a klutzy gofer with low self-esteem; Chad Pfefferle (Timothy Fall), a spaced-out cartoon inker; and curmudgeonly Iris Frankel (Ruth Kobart), an old-timer artist at the office who worked with Bob in his early days (she still called him "Bobby McKay"). Seen occasionally in the beginning, but receiving increased screen time as the series progressed were Trisha's best friend, Kathy Fleisher (Lisa Kudrow); Kathy's parents Patty (Dorothy Lyman) and Jerry (Tom Poston); Shayla (Christine Dunford), Harlan's on-and-off girlfriend; and Buzz Loudermilk, as played by legendary Dick Martin (a regular director on the series), a friend of Bob's and a mature ladies' man.

Original run 18 September 1992 – 27 December 1993

 

Highlights
Bob Newhart on the creation and cast of his short-lived series Bob
06:44
Lisa Kudrow on her "ditzy" character she played on Bob, with Bob Newhart
Bob Newhart on working with Lisa Kudrow on his short-lived series Bob
00:23
Hal Cooper on directing Bob
08:12
Bob Newhart on changes made to try to improve the ratings of Bob - bringing on Betty White
01:24
Who talked about this show

Hal Cooper

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Hal Cooper on directing Bob
08:12

Lisa Kudrow

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Lisa Kudrow on her "ditzy" character she played on Bob, with Bob Newhart

Bob Newhart

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Bob Newhart on the creation and cast of his short-lived series Bob
06:44
Bob Newhart on changes made to try to improve the ratings of Bob; on the show's end
02:05

Tom Poston

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Tom Poston on guest-starring on Bob
01:38

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