The Late Bob Newhart Shared His Thoughts on Memorable ‘Newhart’ Ending & His Comedic Timing
In 2019, ReMIND was on the red carpet at a Paley Center for Media gala that paid tribute to Bob Newhart, who died last week at the age of 94. The sitcom great, who was the master of deadpan comedy, was honored along with Lily Tomlin (Laugh-In), Carol Burnett (The Carol Burnett Show), Carl Reiner (The Dick Van Dyke Show) and Norman Lear (All in the Family, Maude, The Jeffersons, Good Times) at The Paley Honors: A Special Tribute to Television’s Comedy Legends in Beverly Hills, California, at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.
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On both The Bob Newhart Show, which ran on CBS from 1972 to 1978, and later on Newhart, which ran from 1982 to 1990, and in his many stand-up performances, the Grammy-winning Newhart slayed with his precise, unparalleled comic timing. Both Newhart and the characters he played would be presented with a situation, and audiences were already laughing as he and his characters processed what was going on. Before he’d even speak, viewers knew he was going to say something both spot-on and brilliant. The delay he’d take only enriched the payoff.
“It’s something you ‘hear’ in your head,” Newhart told ReMIND about the length of time he’d take before voicing his observations. “People have compared me over the years to Jack Benny. They say I have this timing, but you can’t teach timing.”
Why Bob Newhart joined The Big Bang Theory
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Newhart didn’t earn Emmys for his work on the sitcoms that bore his name, but he did take home overdue gold in the category of Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series in 2013 for his guest turn as Arthur Jeffries aka Professor Proton on The Big Bang Theory.
“When [series creator] Chuck Lorre asked me to do the show, he asked if I had any special requests,” Newhart shared. It turns out Lorre had already done what was needed as The Big Bang Theory was a multi-camera show. “I said it’s got to be done in front of a live audience. The single-camera shows [for me] don’t work” (though Newhart would later reprise Professor Proton for a few episodes of Young Sheldon).
Famous Newhart Ending Was Thought up by his Wife Ginny
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Bob Newhart will be remembered for his performances, his sitcoms, his albums and his guest appearances. Additionally, Newhart will go down in history as having one of the most memorable finales ever when Newhart’s “Dick Loudon” woke up as Dr. Bob Hartley in bed next to previous TV wife, Suzanne Pleshette, aka Emily, from The Bob Newhart Show.
The psychiatrist recapped the life he dreamed of having as an innkeeper in Vermont, which prompted Emily to remark there would be no more Japanese food late at night for her husband!
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In turn, Bob quipped to Emily that she might want to start wearing more sweaters — a trademark of TV wife Mary Frann’s Joanna on Newhart. The finale became an instant classic and was also unexpected and a tremendous acknowledgment of Newhart’s previous series — and Bob and Emily. Did the scene leave a bad taste in Frann’s mouth?
“Mary and I never really talked about it,” mused Newhart, noting that the idea to reunite Bob and Emily in the Newhart finale was his real-life wife Ginny’s idea. “CBS and I were having discussions [about when and how to end the show]. Ginny said, ‘You know …’” Newhart says that Pleshette was at a party when Ginny came up with the idea. “We told her about it, and she said, ‘I’ll fly in from Timbuctoo to do it!’”
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