Bob Newhart's First TV Show Failed Before He Became a Legend | Michael Seth Starr

Get Michael Seth Starr's Bob Newhart biography, Bob Newhart: The Life and Laughter of an American Treasure: https://link.amazon/B0377giB9

Before The Bob Newhart Show became a sitcom classic, Bob Newhart had another show with the same name, and it lasted only one season. Biographer Michael Seth Starr explains why the 1961 variety series struggled despite winning a Peabody Award, and why sketches were an uncomfortable fit for the comedian whose one-sided phone calls had made him a star.

Starr joins Tim Blane to discuss Bob Newhart: The Life and Laughter of an American Treasure, drawing on his research and past interviews with Newhart. They trace the former accountant's sudden record-album success, his creative battles, his friendship with Don Rickles, his marriage to Ginny, the secret behind the Newhart finale, and his late-career Emmy for The Big Bang Theory.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Bob Newhart's forgotten first TV show
00:44 Michael Seth Starr on his Bob Newhart biography
05:12 Johnny Carson and the talk-show path
06:02 Why the 1961 Bob Newhart Show lasted one season
14:48 From accountant to comedy-album star
20:02 The comedy style Bob Newhart refused to change
28:18 Creative battles behind the quiet persona
31:16 Bob and Emily Hartley broke sitcom rules
36:10 Bob Newhart and Don Rickles' lifelong friendship
39:32 Ginny Newhart, marriage, and family
42:12 Catch-22, Elf, and a new generation of fans
45:12 How the Newhart finale stayed a secret
49:29 The Emmy wait and The Big Bang Theory
53:20 Bob Newhart's influence on comedy
56:18 Can great comedy come from an ordinary childhood?

Facts Verse is currently accepting sponsorships. Contact partnerships@factsverse.com for more details.