Between the oppressive 100-degree heat and making several fruitless trips to Best Buy in unsuccessful attempts to reconnect TiVo to the outside world (apparently standards mean nothing when it comes to USB network adapters), I can't say yesterday felt like being "on holiday."
The one thing that kept me from throwing something at the wall in a fit of pique was decompressing with a couple of Bob Newhart Show episodes when things got tense. I'm slowly working my way through season one on DVD. It's hard to imagine such wry, subtle humor surviving on American network TV today. People don't have time to wait 2 or 3 seconds for a joke to become funny anymore.
I think Suzanne Pleshette's Emily Hartley is the best TV wife of all time. She's smart, she's funny and that rasp in her voice is sexy as hell. The mellowing of Lorenzo and Henrietta Music's opening theme as Bob gets on the train to head home to Emily is another intoxicating aural cue that curries my favor. I can't think of a better advertisement for the "button-down" life.
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A very timely choice, as John "Mr. Peterson" Fiedler just died last week. My favorite character was either Carol, portrayed by Marcia "Mrs. Krabappel" Wallace, or Mr. Carlin, played by Jack Riley. What a great show.
I also loved the very last episode of the '80s "Newhart," in which Bob wakes up in his old apartment bedroom with Suzanne Pleshette. Brilliant!
His records are great, too. I have one recorded live at a "supper club" in Houston, and I can't imagine the sophisticated bygone era that once existed...Sigh.
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