About The Bob Newhart Show
The Bob Newhart Show is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from 1972 to 1978. It stars comedian Bob Newhart as Dr. Robert Hartley, a mild-mannered psychologist who runs a private practice in a Chicago medical office building. Much of the show's humor comes from Bob's understated, deadpan reactions to the eccentric people around him, from his quirky group-therapy patients to his neighbors and colleagues. The series was produced by MTM Enterprises and became one of the defining ensemble comedies of the 1970s.
At home, Bob is married to Emily Hartley, a schoolteacher and later vice principal whose warmth, wit, and patience balance his reserved temperament. The couple lives in a high-rise apartment, and their marriage is portrayed as affectionate and grounded, a relatively rare depiction of a contented, childless professional couple on television at the time. Their easy rapport and good-natured bickering anchored the show alongside its workplace storylines.
The supporting cast includes Howard Borden, the Hartleys' amiably dim airline-navigator neighbor who frequently wanders in unannounced; Jerry Robinson, an orthodontist who shares Bob's office floor; and Carol Kester, the building's sharp-tongued receptionist. Together with Bob's rotating roster of patients, these characters created a steady stream of low-key, character-driven comedy. Praised for its writing and performances, the series is widely regarded as a high point of the MTM era and a model of the modern workplace sitcom.