Search - The Bob Newhart Show - The Complete Fourth Season on DVD

Perhaps The Best

Dave_42 | Australia | 10/12/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The fourth season (1975-1976) of "The Bob Newhart Show" is right up there with the second season, and perhaps even a bit better. Some of the funniest episodes from the fan polls are from this season, and while there are perhaps a few fewer recognizable faces as guest stars, you will still see a few. The writers and cast by this point have both hit their stride, and the chemistry is phenomenal.

The Season is book-ended by appearances by Tom Poston as The Peeper, Bob's college buddy whom Emily can't stand. Of course, Tom would go on to be a regular in Bob's next sitcom "Newhart", and then there is the irony that Tom and Suzanne Pleshette would eventually get married. In-between, there are many events, including the death of Mr. Gianelli ("Death of a Fruitman"), Carol gets married ("Carol's Wedding"), Bob hosts an arrogant French psychologist ("Shrinks Across The Sea"), Bob forms a short-lived partnership with another psychiatrist ("Seemed Like a Good Idea At the Time") and many more.

Two of the funniest episodes ever are in this season with "Who Is Mr. X?", where Bob is ambushed by a morning talk-show host and is so flustered he reveals that one of his patients is a public servant. The other classic is "Over the River and Through the Woods", in which Bob gets out of a trip to Seattle over Thanksgiving by claiming that his patients need him. He ends up hosting a party with Jerry, Howard, and Mr. Carlin in which they all drink too much watching William and Mary's worst college football defeat, and make the funniest call for Chinese food ever recorded. I also very much like "Bob Has To Have His Tonsils Out, So He Spends Christmas Eve In The Hospital", and the title explains the plot to that one.

All in all, there are 24 episodes on three 2-sided DVDs, just the same as the first three seasons. Also like seasons 2 and 3, there are five episodes with commentary, but I have to say that the commentary has improved this season; perhaps because they have more people participating in them. I would still not call them great commentaries, but they are significantly better than the prior seasons. There is a short season 4 feature, and there is also a gag reel. In all, this is probably the best set of features they have included, but more importantly this is the season with the funniest episodes.
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One of the best

Wilcy Moore | 07/14/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Season 4 contains 24 classic episodes that never fail to deliver. From classicsitcoms.com, here are the episode summaries:

1. The Longest Good-Bye - Emily is less than impressed by Bob's legendary college chum, the Peeper--an inveterate jokester who arrives to spend a day and then stays a week.

2. Here's Looking at You, Kid - Howard looks to Bob for moral support when he proposes to Ellen at a crowded restaurant.

3. Death of a Fruitman - The group is angry at Mr. Gianelli for missing their fourth anniversary party.

4. Change Is Gonna Do Me Good - In an effort to shake Bob out of his domestic rut, Emily suggests that they exchange household duties.

5. The Heavyweights - Carol gets roped into a date with an obnoxious tubbo from Bob's overweight workshop.

6. Carol's Wedding - Bob is skeptical when Carol announces that she's getting married to Larry Bondurant, a travel agent she met less than twelve hours earlier.

7. Shrinks Across the Sea - Bob and Emily host a visiting French psychologist, who arrives in the company of another man's wife.

8. What's It All About, Albert? - Convinced that his psychological counseling has done none of his patients a bit of good, Bob seeks inspiration from his old college professor.

9. Who Is Mr. X? - A seemingly innocuous talk-show host uses Bob as bait when she decides to do a hatchet job on the entire field of psychology.

10. Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time - Bob forms an unlikely alliance when he goes into partnership with a well-heeled playboy psychologist.

11. Over the River and Through the Woods - When Emily flies home for Thanksgiving, Bob joins Jerry, Howard, and Mr. Carlin for a bachelor's feast of Chinese food and beer.

12. Fathers and Sons and Mothers - Bob's mother drops by for an extended visit and begins to drive her son crazy within moments of her arrival.

13. The Article - Bob and Jerry have second thoughts after they agree to let Ellen do a newspaper feature on the drama of life in a big-city medical building.

14. A Matter of Vice-Principal - Emily suddenly finds herself embroiled in grammar school politics when she gets promoted to vice-principal ahead of a teacher with greater seniority.

15. Bob Has to Have His Tonsils Out, So He Spends Christmas Eve in the Hospital - Bob faces another depressing holiday when he's forced to undergo an emergency tonsillectomy on Christmas Eve.

16. No Sale - Bob and Jerry are investment partners in one of Carlin's shady real-estate deals. This one hinges on evicting an old man from a slum tenement.

17. Carol at 6:01 - Carol turns to Bob for help when she begins to feel smothered by her new husband's overly lavish attentions.

18. Warden Gordon Borden - Howard is upset by the arrival of his sibling rival, Gordon--his brother has always taken things from him, and now he's got his eye on Ellen.

19. My Boy Guillermo - Jerry's globe-hopping girlfriend returns to tempt him out of his rut with an offer of marriage and an instant family.

20. Duke of Dunk - Bob counsels an egocentric basketball superstar in the fine art of team playing.

21. Guaranteed Not to Shrink - Carol becomes an overnight psychoanalyst when she enrolls in a night school psychology course.

22. Birth of a Salesman - After Bob counsels Mr. Herd to be more assertive, the milquetoast takes the advice to heart and slaps the therapist with a lawsuit.

23. The Boy Next Door - Howard's ex-wife grants him custody of their son, but Bob and Emily end up spending more time with Howie than his dad does.

24. Peeper - Two - When the Peeper returns in sullen spirits after his wife leaves him, Jerry decides to reacquaint Bob's old chum with the swinging singles' scene."

ALERT No plans for Season 5 and 6!!!!!!!

J. Reeves | WA USA | 05/06/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Bob Newhart Show is so far better than any of the nearly worthless shows on TV currently. To make it even worse Fox has NO PLANS for releasing season 5 and 6. They say it is due to low sales. If you have any comments please call or write:

New and Upcoming Release Information

For more information on new and upcoming DVD or VHS releases, please email foxdrop@4icc.com or call 1-888-223-2FOX.
"

An underrated classic

mrliteral | 03/09/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's hard to not lump the Mary Tyler Moore Show and Bob Newhart Show together. For years, they ran together in prime time, they both ended while still good (and before the ratings really dropped) and even in syndication (like when I was first exposed to these shows), they tended to run one right after the other. The Mary Tyler Moore Show won all the awards and has always been regarded as one of the best TV comedies ever. As much as I enjoy it, however, I have always enjoyed the Bob Newhart Show even more.

The centerpiece of the show is, of course, Bob Newhart, playing psychologist Bob Hartley. Newhart is a gifted comedian and is a master of timing and delivery. Even though he is often the straight man compared to others, he still gets in his share of jokes. Suzanne Pleshette plays his wife Emily, a school teacher who is just as smart as Bob; in fact, in an earlier season, he had to deal with her higher IQ. Bill Daily is the daffy neighbor Howard Borden (he's probably perpetually dazed from jet lag from his job as a navigator). Finally, there are Bob's workplace friends: the dentist Jerry Robinson (Peter Bonerz) and receptionist Carol Kester (Marcia Wallace, probably better known nowadays as the voice of Mrs. Krabappel in the Simpsons).

The strength of the show is that it is so character-driven. No one fits completely into a stereotypical mold. Jerry's façade as a free-wheeling bachelor actually conceals a rather lonely life. Howard, for all his oddness, still is concerned about his son who he rarely sees. In the fourth season, however, it is Carol who undergoes the most change, as she tries to pursue other career options and becomes married after a whirlwind romance.

The 24 episodes of this season are bookended by appearances by Bob's old college buddy, the Peeper (Tom Poston). In the show, Emily is not fond of the Peeper's prankish humor, but in real life, Pleshette and Poston would eventually marry (as discussed in the commentary for the first episode). In between are a number of other great episodes, probably highlighted by Over the River and Through the Woods, where Bob gets really drunk when left alone for Thanksgiving. In Who is Mr. X?, Bob winds up being ambushed during a TV interview; according to the commentary, this episode wound up being shown at various businesses as a cautionary tale.

These episodes ran in the 1975-6 season. It is interesting to see how programming worked thirty years ago. New episodes ran every week from September through February with only a single break for Christmas. It's quite a contrast to the current strategy of stretching a season over eight months and rarely showing more than four new episodes in a row. Of course, even better is owning the whole season on DVD; you don't even have to wait a week between shows. While the fashions may be a bit out-of-date, the show itself isn't and it remains better than most sitcoms are nowadays. If you have never seen the Bob Newhart Show, you are in for a treat.
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