The Bob Newhart Show

Sometimes the best reaction is no reaction at all - just a pause, a blink and a perfectly timed stammer. Nobody mastered that art quite like Bob Newhart. Already famous for his button-down stand-up routines and one-sided telephone conversations, he brought that same gentle, bewildered persona to television. Created by David Davis and Lorenzo Music, "The Bob Newhart Show" ran for six seasons on CBS, and its producers clearly understood that if it ain't broke, you don't fix it. The show's quiet genius rested largely on Newhart himself, a brilliant reactor whose deadpan takes and understated timing are on full display as Chicago psychologist Dr. Bob Hartley. Bob is surrounded by a wonderful ensemble. There's his witty, grounded wife, Emily (Suzanne Pleshette), a schoolteacher later promoted to vice principal; his best friend, orthodontist Jerry Robinson (Peter Bonerz); his tactless airline navigator neighbor, Howard Borden (Bill Daily); and his wisecracking receptionist, Carol Kester (Marcia Wallace), who's always a riot. Then there are Bob's patients, led by the gloriously neurotic Mr. Carlin (Jack Riley), who manages to steal nearly every scene he's in. Bob's group therapy sessions are comic gold, and the endless parade of problems walking through his door keeps the laughs coming. Guest stars along the way include René Auberjonois, Tom Poston and Lawrence Pressman. Credit is also due to the writers, who kept the humor low-key and clever, without the crude innuendo and flamboyant silliness common in later sitcoms. The series takes on serious subjects - death, weight loss, professional ethics and workplace jealousy among them - without ever becoming preachy or heavy-handed. In "Heavyweights," Bob leads a workshop for "people of the hefty persuasion," and episodes like "The Longest Good-bye" and "Death of a Fruitman" gently explore loss. Carol gets married, Emily moves up at work and life keeps changing, yet the show's warm, reliable tone never wavers. Even when ratings dipped slightly in later seasons, it never resorted to cheap gimmicks. Yes, some things look dated today - especially the clothes. But decades later, "The Bob Newhart Show" remains one of the finest sitcoms to come out of the 1970s. It even inspired one of TV's most famous finales: when Newhart's next series, "Newhart," ended, Bob woke up next to Emily, suggesting the whole thing had been a dream. Some comedians shout to get a laugh. Newhart simply picked up the phone, listened and let the silence do the work.