| Bob | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Comedy |
| Created by | Bob Newhart |
| Written by | Mark Evanier Phoef Sutton |
| Directed by | Dick Martin Andrew D. Weyman |
| Starring | Bob Newhart Carlene Watkins Cynthia Stevenson John Cygan Michael Cumpsty Andrew Bilgore Timothy Fall Ruth Kobart Lisa Kudrow Tom Poston Dorothy Lyman Christine Dunford Dick Martin Betty White Jere Burns Megan Cavanaugh Eric Allan Kramer |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 33 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBS |
| Original run | 18 September 1992 – 27 December 1993 |
Bob is an American television situation comedy starring Bob Newhart. It was the actor's third series for CBS and proved to be far less successful than The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart, his previous outings with the network. It lasted a season and a half, running from September 18, 1992 until December 27, 1993, for a total of 33 episodes. Bill Steinkellner, Cheri Steinkellner and Phoef Sutton comprised the creative writing team behind the show. The series was produced by Paramount Television.
Contents |
Newhart portrayed Bob McKay, the creator of the 1950s comic book superhero "Mad-Dog". When a Senate sub-committee decided such reading material could corrupt young readers, Mad-Dog faded into oblivion. 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 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.
Perhaps the most irksome character in the whole ensemble was the one who was heard but not seen—Mr. Terhorst (voice of Michael Cumpsty), the president of AmCanTranConComCo who communicated with all his employees anywhere that fiber-optics could be installed. Harlan even provided Bob will a cellular phone in which Mr. Terhorst would randomly tap into it and begin talking to Bob in his most private, intimate hours. Cryptic yet resourceful, Terhorst was a master mediator in all creative differences in the office, and was determined to make Mad-Dog a cultural phenomenon.
During the series' first year, Trisha collected her neuroses and pushed herself harder into the dating scene, with Bob offering her a position on the Mad-Dog staff along the way. When Trisha joined, Chad instantly developed a crush on her. Later in the season, she and Kathy moved into their own apartment, where Albie, in need of a place, joined them temporarily. Harlan and Shayla, who had quite the love/hate relationship, became serious and talked about marriage.
In the final episode of the first season, AmCanTranConComCo was sold to a millionaire who hated comic books, and the entire Mad-Dog staff, including Bob, was fired. When Bob returned in late October 1993, the show was revamped completely. All of Bob's co-workers from the previous season disappeared and the show's premise had changed. Sylvia Schmitt (Betty White), the wife of his former boss (who had run off with his dental hygienist), hired Bob as President of Schmitt Greetings. Her obnoxious son Pete (Jere Burns), the Vice-President of Sales who had expected to take over the company and now had to work for Bob, was irate. Others working at the company were the sarcastic bookkeeper Chris Szelinski (Megan Cavanagh) and dumb but lovable Whitey van der Bunt (Eric Allan Kramer), a member of the production team who adored Bob. Trisha and Kathy remained friends and housemates on a quest for true love, and at one point, Sylvia even set Pete up with Trisha, much to Bob's dismay. Sylvia herself had never lost her following of men, with none other than Buzz moving in on her.
Although it was hailed by the critics and heavily promoted by TV Guide, which featured it on the cover twice during its freshman season, Bob failed to catch on with the viewing public in its Friday night time slot (which had been shifted to 9:30pm). When it was switched to Monday nights in April 1993, ratings improved, and the network renewed it for a second season.
In the fall of 1993, the show was back on the Friday night schedule and its ratings suffered. A switch to Monday nights in December was too late to do much good, and the series was canceled after the December 27th broadcast. Three remaining episodes finally aired during TV Land reruns in the late 1990s.
As part of the promotion of this series, Marvel Comics published a six issue "Mad Dog" limited series.
The series' theme music was originally a full orchestral piece featuring a heavy horns and woodwinds sound, an arrangement very much in style of the Superman and Batman movies (obviously to represent the Mad-Dog character and comic books). The opening sequence that accompanied it featured Bob McKay at his artist's desk drawing, inking, then coloring a Mad-Dog comic as the credits appeared. The show's titled appeared in a thin, 3-D rendition of Helvetica font in the pilot episode; after, it was redesigned to be a bolder capital font, but with the same yellow base and red shadowing color. The opening credits appeared in a bold comic-style font.
In the second season, as part of the show's revamping, a short opening credits sequence, just featuring the title, was used. The theme music also changed to a soft classical tune, featuring a flute, which was reminiscent of Henry Mancini's instrumental theme to Newhart.
In addition to the change in Bob's career setting in the second season, the set of Bob and Kaye's house significantly changed as well. There were no references in the scripts to suggest that the McKays had moved, however.
Cynthia Stevenson would later be hired by Bob producers The Steinkellners as one of the leads for their NBC sitcom Hope & Gloria (1995–96).