July 19, 2024
Bob Newhart - comedian reactions
A Tribute to the Legendary Bob Newhart
In this episode, we honor the life and career of comedian Bob Newhart, who passed away at the age of 94. Friend of the show, Jason Zinoman, highlights Newhart's enduring influence on comedy in the New York...
A Tribute to the Legendary Bob Newhart
In this episode, we honor the life and career of comedian Bob Newhart, who passed away at the age of 94. Friend of the show, Jason Zinoman, highlights Newhart's enduring influence on comedy in the New York Times. The episode includes clips from Newhart's performances, tributes from fellow comedians including Jay Leno, Carol Burnett, and Judd Apatow, and insights into his unique style. Additionally, details on where to catch Newhart's TV shows during this weekend's binge marathon on the Catchy Comedy Network.
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WEBVTT
1
00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:12.359
Callaroga Shark Media. Hello, Johnny
Mack. Bob Newhart has passed away at
2
00:00:12.359 --> 00:00:16.679
age ninety four. This episode is
about Bob. There's the normal episode in
3
00:00:16.719 --> 00:00:20.440
the feed right below this one from
this morning. A friend of the show,
4
00:00:20.760 --> 00:00:24.039
Jason Zinneman, writes in The New
York Times, Bob Newhart holds up
5
00:00:24.399 --> 00:00:27.280
great stuff from Jason as always.
Jason writes, It's hard to think of
6
00:00:27.320 --> 00:00:30.719
a stand up from that era.
Who's a better argument against the commonplace idea
7
00:00:30.760 --> 00:00:34.000
that comedy does not age well.
His work doesn't just live on and its
8
00:00:34.039 --> 00:00:37.320
influences. You can definitely hear his
pregnant pauses in the stand up of Fellain
9
00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:40.439
DeGeneres, who has cited him as
a key figure in her career. Put
10
00:00:40.439 --> 00:00:44.560
on his old comedy albums and you
will chuckle. The Bob Newhart shows half
11
00:00:44.600 --> 00:00:48.600
a century old and remains hilarious,
paving the way for shows like Seinfeld.
12
00:00:48.679 --> 00:00:53.079
He played a straight man surrounded by
eccentrics, giving him an opportunity to express
13
00:00:53.200 --> 00:00:57.880
endless kinds of exasperation. Later,
his friendship with John Rickles gave him another
14
00:00:57.960 --> 00:01:02.240
wonderful foil to playoff. Here's a
clip from the roast of Don Rickles.
15
00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:07.239
Bob Newhart here making some really funny
jokes about Don. Don is my best
16
00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:11.480
friend, which just give you some
idea of the difficulty I have in making
17
00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:21.000
friends. As some of you may
have already known, Don's hotel room was
18
00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:27.560
recently robbed. The only thing that
was taken was the music to Don's act.
19
00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:34.079
So by the Chicago police have picked
up thirty three thousand people who might
20
00:01:34.120 --> 00:01:41.439
have had a possible motive. So
Don has not done that well in television.
21
00:01:41.719 --> 00:01:45.000
He's had four series now. The
last one, a couple of Don's,
22
00:01:45.480 --> 00:01:51.719
received a minus four Nielsen rating.
This name's note but no one watching.
23
00:01:51.879 --> 00:01:55.359
But several people with our TV sets
had heard about the show and said
24
00:01:55.359 --> 00:02:07.439
if they got one, they wouldn't
watch it. Jason Zinneman writes, Newhart,
25
00:02:07.439 --> 00:02:09.879
who got started in comedy in the
nineteen fifties working on bitsy taped with
26
00:02:09.919 --> 00:02:14.879
a friend, understood that the real
partnership in comedy is with the audience and
27
00:02:14.919 --> 00:02:16.840
knew how to plant an id in
their heads and let them run with it.
28
00:02:17.159 --> 00:02:21.159
That's why the phone was such an
effective enduring tool for him. It
29
00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:24.599
allowed him to use pauses to tell
the story of what you don't hear most
30
00:02:24.639 --> 00:02:29.360
comedians are in a hurry filling the
room with quips. There's a wonderful tension
31
00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:31.560
to this brand of comedy. But
Newhart showed us there's another way you can
32
00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:37.919
find surprise and adjusting speeds. Not
everyone understood Newhart's stammer was an incredible tool,
33
00:02:37.960 --> 00:02:40.400
but network executives for his TV shows
told him to stop using it.
34
00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:46.120
His response was the stammer got him
a house in Beverly Hills. Jay Leno
35
00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:51.960
told people Bob was always very kind
to young comics. Jay said, never
36
00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:53.840
a mean spirited bone in his body, never had jokes that were based on
37
00:02:53.879 --> 00:02:57.240
anything uncind, you know what I
mean. And there were no gimmicks.
38
00:02:57.560 --> 00:02:59.879
A lot of comics they have an
ethnic cook or they have a catch for
39
00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:02.599
they have something they do when the
jokes aren't going that well that they go
40
00:03:02.680 --> 00:03:06.199
to it. It always works.
It's just the tool to trade. But
41
00:03:06.360 --> 00:03:08.479
he always relied on just clever jokes, I mean, his old gimmick.
42
00:03:08.520 --> 00:03:13.719
He was just an ordinary man in
extraordinary circumstances, which is my favorite thing.
43
00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:15.680
He always had these kind of really
clever jokes. He had to listen
44
00:03:15.719 --> 00:03:20.000
to, you had to pay attention. It was intellectual enough for intellectuals and
45
00:03:20.039 --> 00:03:23.520
easy enough to understand for regular people. He never talked over anybody's head,
46
00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:25.520
and he never used particularly big words
or anything like that. It was just
47
00:03:25.560 --> 00:03:29.879
a very clever way of doing things. He never had a shot joke.
48
00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:31.759
He always had a good, solid
joke. Sometimes it slipped in over the
49
00:03:31.800 --> 00:03:36.439
audience's head, but most of the
times it scored pretty good. Kara Burnett
50
00:03:36.479 --> 00:03:38.439
tweeted, I had the great pleasure
of working with Bob and being his friend.
51
00:03:38.520 --> 00:03:40.840
He was as kind of nice as
he was funny. He will be
52
00:03:40.919 --> 00:03:46.280
missed. Dean Cook tweeted, Bob
was and is one of the best comedians
53
00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:49.000
to ever deliver, and man he
delivered, always funny, always from the
54
00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:52.960
heart. Always a reminder to me
of why I started in stand up legend,
55
00:03:52.960 --> 00:03:58.000
Bob Newhart, you are forever funny. Jimmy Walker dinah Miight said his
56
00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:00.719
comedy albums were great. His TV
show Knew Heart was cerebral genius. I
57
00:04:00.759 --> 00:04:03.840
remember seeing him in twenty nineteen at
the Pale Honors, a special tribute to
58
00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:08.280
television's comedy Legends, where Bob was
supposed to get up and say a few
59
00:04:08.280 --> 00:04:11.080
words. He did like a half
hour and kill at age eighty nine.
60
00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:14.919
Judd Apatow said, Bob Newhart was
the kindest, most hilarious man. He
61
00:04:14.960 --> 00:04:17.160
asked me to make a documentary about
his friendship with Don Rickles. I was
62
00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:20.680
so lucky to get to spend time
with my hero. His brilliant comedy and
63
00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:26.160
gentle spirit made everyone he encountered so
happy. Bill Prady, co creator of
64
00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:30.279
The Big Bang Theory, where Bob
Newhart guest starred as Arthur Jeffries, said,
65
00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:32.839
heart explain how important Bob Newhart was
to every comedian and comedy writer who
66
00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:35.680
came after him. Working with him, ever so briefly was one of the
67
00:04:35.680 --> 00:04:40.879
greatest joys and honors of my life. Jamie Lee Curtis on Instagram. They'll
68
00:04:40.879 --> 00:04:43.639
be laughing wherever people go when they
leave us. God, he was funny.
69
00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:46.560
Bob Newhart, You will be missed. Jerny Gunderson is the executive director
70
00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:50.720
of the National Comedy Center. Until
the Hollywood Reporter, Bob Newhart's groundbreaking work
71
00:04:50.720 --> 00:04:56.279
in stand up and television and his
beloved deadpan delivery have lesst an indelible mark
72
00:04:56.319 --> 00:04:59.680
in the art form of comedy and
will be treasured by comedy fans for generations
73
00:04:59.720 --> 00:05:03.639
to we are proud to celebrate and
preserve his extraordinary work at the National Comedy
74
00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:09.240
Center. In a nineteen eighty six
Rollingstone interview, Bob Newhart said the secret
75
00:05:09.240 --> 00:05:13.160
sauce of his sitcom was brevity.
It's saying it in the fewest number of
76
00:05:13.240 --> 00:05:15.600
words and giving the audience some credit
for being intelligent being able to figure it
77
00:05:15.639 --> 00:05:21.079
out. One self description of Bob
Newhart's persona is the last sane man on
78
00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:26.000
Earth. If you're in the mood
for some Bob Newhart, the Catchy Comedy
79
00:05:26.040 --> 00:05:30.079
Network might have to deep dive on
your cable system there, but they're doing
80
00:05:30.120 --> 00:05:33.399
a weekend binge with the Bob Newhart
Show. Newhart and Bob, that third
81
00:05:33.480 --> 00:05:38.439
TV series that didn't last so well. The tribute begins tomorrow Saturday at noon
82
00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:43.240
Eastern on Catchy Comedy, and we'll
go all through Monday until six am.
83
00:05:43.279 --> 00:05:46.800
Go to Catchycomedy dot com for more
about that. In this feed, I
84
00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:49.879
shared an episode of TV in the
Basement that's in the feed A couple episodes
85
00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:55.720
down now. Joe Mitchell did a
really nice tribute to Bob's TV work other
86
00:05:55.879 --> 00:06:00.879
Bob stuff on The Hitmaker Chronicles.
A deep dive into the buttoned down mind
87
00:06:00.040 --> 00:06:03.959
of Bob Newhart. You'll find that
podcast. It's called The Hitmaker Chronicles and
88
00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:10.279
on five daily trivia questions. Today's
topic Bob Newhart. I'll see you guys
89
00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:10.800
in the morning.
1
00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:12.359
Callaroga Shark Media. Hello, Johnny
Mack. Bob Newhart has passed away at
2
00:00:12.359 --> 00:00:16.679
age ninety four. This episode is
about Bob. There's the normal episode in
3
00:00:16.719 --> 00:00:20.440
the feed right below this one from
this morning. A friend of the show,
4
00:00:20.760 --> 00:00:24.039
Jason Zinneman, writes in The New
York Times, Bob Newhart holds up
5
00:00:24.399 --> 00:00:27.280
great stuff from Jason as always.
Jason writes, It's hard to think of
6
00:00:27.320 --> 00:00:30.719
a stand up from that era.
Who's a better argument against the commonplace idea
7
00:00:30.760 --> 00:00:34.000
that comedy does not age well.
His work doesn't just live on and its
8
00:00:34.039 --> 00:00:37.320
influences. You can definitely hear his
pregnant pauses in the stand up of Fellain
9
00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:40.439
DeGeneres, who has cited him as
a key figure in her career. Put
10
00:00:40.439 --> 00:00:44.560
on his old comedy albums and you
will chuckle. The Bob Newhart shows half
11
00:00:44.600 --> 00:00:48.600
a century old and remains hilarious,
paving the way for shows like Seinfeld.
12
00:00:48.679 --> 00:00:53.079
He played a straight man surrounded by
eccentrics, giving him an opportunity to express
13
00:00:53.200 --> 00:00:57.880
endless kinds of exasperation. Later,
his friendship with John Rickles gave him another
14
00:00:57.960 --> 00:01:02.240
wonderful foil to playoff. Here's a
clip from the roast of Don Rickles.
15
00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:07.239
Bob Newhart here making some really funny
jokes about Don. Don is my best
16
00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:11.480
friend, which just give you some
idea of the difficulty I have in making
17
00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:21.000
friends. As some of you may
have already known, Don's hotel room was
18
00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:27.560
recently robbed. The only thing that
was taken was the music to Don's act.
19
00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:34.079
So by the Chicago police have picked
up thirty three thousand people who might
20
00:01:34.120 --> 00:01:41.439
have had a possible motive. So
Don has not done that well in television.
21
00:01:41.719 --> 00:01:45.000
He's had four series now. The
last one, a couple of Don's,
22
00:01:45.480 --> 00:01:51.719
received a minus four Nielsen rating.
This name's note but no one watching.
23
00:01:51.879 --> 00:01:55.359
But several people with our TV sets
had heard about the show and said
24
00:01:55.359 --> 00:02:07.439
if they got one, they wouldn't
watch it. Jason Zinneman writes, Newhart,
25
00:02:07.439 --> 00:02:09.879
who got started in comedy in the
nineteen fifties working on bitsy taped with
26
00:02:09.919 --> 00:02:14.879
a friend, understood that the real
partnership in comedy is with the audience and
27
00:02:14.919 --> 00:02:16.840
knew how to plant an id in
their heads and let them run with it.
28
00:02:17.159 --> 00:02:21.159
That's why the phone was such an
effective enduring tool for him. It
29
00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:24.599
allowed him to use pauses to tell
the story of what you don't hear most
30
00:02:24.639 --> 00:02:29.360
comedians are in a hurry filling the
room with quips. There's a wonderful tension
31
00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:31.560
to this brand of comedy. But
Newhart showed us there's another way you can
32
00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:37.919
find surprise and adjusting speeds. Not
everyone understood Newhart's stammer was an incredible tool,
33
00:02:37.960 --> 00:02:40.400
but network executives for his TV shows
told him to stop using it.
34
00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:46.120
His response was the stammer got him
a house in Beverly Hills. Jay Leno
35
00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:51.960
told people Bob was always very kind
to young comics. Jay said, never
36
00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:53.840
a mean spirited bone in his body, never had jokes that were based on
37
00:02:53.879 --> 00:02:57.240
anything uncind, you know what I
mean. And there were no gimmicks.
38
00:02:57.560 --> 00:02:59.879
A lot of comics they have an
ethnic cook or they have a catch for
39
00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:02.599
they have something they do when the
jokes aren't going that well that they go
40
00:03:02.680 --> 00:03:06.199
to it. It always works.
It's just the tool to trade. But
41
00:03:06.360 --> 00:03:08.479
he always relied on just clever jokes, I mean, his old gimmick.
42
00:03:08.520 --> 00:03:13.719
He was just an ordinary man in
extraordinary circumstances, which is my favorite thing.
43
00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:15.680
He always had these kind of really
clever jokes. He had to listen
44
00:03:15.719 --> 00:03:20.000
to, you had to pay attention. It was intellectual enough for intellectuals and
45
00:03:20.039 --> 00:03:23.520
easy enough to understand for regular people. He never talked over anybody's head,
46
00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:25.520
and he never used particularly big words
or anything like that. It was just
47
00:03:25.560 --> 00:03:29.879
a very clever way of doing things. He never had a shot joke.
48
00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:31.759
He always had a good, solid
joke. Sometimes it slipped in over the
49
00:03:31.800 --> 00:03:36.439
audience's head, but most of the
times it scored pretty good. Kara Burnett
50
00:03:36.479 --> 00:03:38.439
tweeted, I had the great pleasure
of working with Bob and being his friend.
51
00:03:38.520 --> 00:03:40.840
He was as kind of nice as
he was funny. He will be
52
00:03:40.919 --> 00:03:46.280
missed. Dean Cook tweeted, Bob
was and is one of the best comedians
53
00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:49.000
to ever deliver, and man he
delivered, always funny, always from the
54
00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:52.960
heart. Always a reminder to me
of why I started in stand up legend,
55
00:03:52.960 --> 00:03:58.000
Bob Newhart, you are forever funny. Jimmy Walker dinah Miight said his
56
00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:00.719
comedy albums were great. His TV
show Knew Heart was cerebral genius. I
57
00:04:00.759 --> 00:04:03.840
remember seeing him in twenty nineteen at
the Pale Honors, a special tribute to
58
00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:08.280
television's comedy Legends, where Bob was
supposed to get up and say a few
59
00:04:08.280 --> 00:04:11.080
words. He did like a half
hour and kill at age eighty nine.
60
00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:14.919
Judd Apatow said, Bob Newhart was
the kindest, most hilarious man. He
61
00:04:14.960 --> 00:04:17.160
asked me to make a documentary about
his friendship with Don Rickles. I was
62
00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:20.680
so lucky to get to spend time
with my hero. His brilliant comedy and
63
00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:26.160
gentle spirit made everyone he encountered so
happy. Bill Prady, co creator of
64
00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:30.279
The Big Bang Theory, where Bob
Newhart guest starred as Arthur Jeffries, said,
65
00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:32.839
heart explain how important Bob Newhart was
to every comedian and comedy writer who
66
00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:35.680
came after him. Working with him, ever so briefly was one of the
67
00:04:35.680 --> 00:04:40.879
greatest joys and honors of my life. Jamie Lee Curtis on Instagram. They'll
68
00:04:40.879 --> 00:04:43.639
be laughing wherever people go when they
leave us. God, he was funny.
69
00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:46.560
Bob Newhart, You will be missed. Jerny Gunderson is the executive director
70
00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:50.720
of the National Comedy Center. Until
the Hollywood Reporter, Bob Newhart's groundbreaking work
71
00:04:50.720 --> 00:04:56.279
in stand up and television and his
beloved deadpan delivery have lesst an indelible mark
72
00:04:56.319 --> 00:04:59.680
in the art form of comedy and
will be treasured by comedy fans for generations
73
00:04:59.720 --> 00:05:03.639
to we are proud to celebrate and
preserve his extraordinary work at the National Comedy
74
00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:09.240
Center. In a nineteen eighty six
Rollingstone interview, Bob Newhart said the secret
75
00:05:09.240 --> 00:05:13.160
sauce of his sitcom was brevity.
It's saying it in the fewest number of
76
00:05:13.240 --> 00:05:15.600
words and giving the audience some credit
for being intelligent being able to figure it
77
00:05:15.639 --> 00:05:21.079
out. One self description of Bob
Newhart's persona is the last sane man on
78
00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:26.000
Earth. If you're in the mood
for some Bob Newhart, the Catchy Comedy
79
00:05:26.040 --> 00:05:30.079
Network might have to deep dive on
your cable system there, but they're doing
80
00:05:30.120 --> 00:05:33.399
a weekend binge with the Bob Newhart
Show. Newhart and Bob, that third
81
00:05:33.480 --> 00:05:38.439
TV series that didn't last so well. The tribute begins tomorrow Saturday at noon
82
00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:43.240
Eastern on Catchy Comedy, and we'll
go all through Monday until six am.
83
00:05:43.279 --> 00:05:46.800
Go to Catchycomedy dot com for more
about that. In this feed, I
84
00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:49.879
shared an episode of TV in the
Basement that's in the feed A couple episodes
85
00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:55.720
down now. Joe Mitchell did a
really nice tribute to Bob's TV work other
86
00:05:55.879 --> 00:06:00.879
Bob stuff on The Hitmaker Chronicles.
A deep dive into the buttoned down mind
87
00:06:00.040 --> 00:06:03.959
of Bob Newhart. You'll find that
podcast. It's called The Hitmaker Chronicles and
88
00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:10.279
on five daily trivia questions. Today's
topic Bob Newhart. I'll see you guys
89
00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:10.800
in the morning.