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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. Newhart portrayed Bob McKay, the creator of the 1950s comic book superhero "MadDog". When a Senate subcommittee decided such reading material could corrupt young readers, MadDog faded into oblivion. Bob became a greeting card artist, and years later MadDog is revived when the American-Canadian TransContinental Communications Company buys the rights to the series. Complications ensued when AmCanTranConComCo head Harlan Stone insisted MadDog should be a bloodthirsty vigilante rather than the hero Bob originally created. Also creating havoc in Bob's life was constant conflict with his daughter Trisha, who bemoaned her perpetually single state. Other characters included Bob's wife Kaye; Albie, a klutzy gofer with low self-esteem; Chad, a spaced-out cartoon inker with a crush on Trisha; curmudgeonly Iris, an old-timer at the card company; Trisha's roommate Kathy; and Kathy's parents Patty and Jerry.

Season 2. I loved season one. It had a perfect cast and a great premise. Then CBS got involved and revamped it. I Love Betty White and Jere Burns but the show just wasn't the same afterwards. This should have been Bob's 3rd hit sitcom.

Season 2. I loved season one. It had a perfect cast and a great premise. Then CBS got involved and revamped it. I Love Betty White and Jere Burns but the show just wasn't the same afterwards. This should have been Bob's 3rd hit sitcom.

I hope I don't get in trouble for bumping this but I wanted to say I completely agree. Season 2 wasn't a matter of boned..it was a complete disaster of a train wreck. I loved season 1 as well! They really had laid down a great foundation with a fantastic group of characters. That whole first year was very very strong. The whole mystery of constantly wondering what Mr. TerHorst looked like since you always only heard him was a pretty neat idea. But then CBS got in the middle and severely screwed up the show. It was bad enough they had a HUGE gap of time between the end of season 1 and the beginning of 2. If that was all that had happened the show could still have survived. The worst if it was the complete and I mean total overhaul of the show. The comic book office and the phenomenal bunch of supporting characters were completely scrapped. That was all replaced by the greeting card company and to be honest the new supporting characters were AWFUL. I get Betty White's legacy but she was not a good fit for this show. They should never have completely rebuilt the show, I feel more than the huge amount of time between the two seasons that's what killed it. Watching that second year was very tough because as it went on even Bob himself seemed to have more and more of a "Yeah we should never have screwed with the great foundation we had." Look on his face. It showed big time at the very end. Even if there's a big gap between seasons, if you don't fix what's not broken the audience you've built up will return.

I was so upset at the massive changes..his 3rd show had so much potential starting out. If they hadn't screwed with it I truly feel it would have been on quite a few seasons-there were plenty of great directions to go in and things to explore-and would have been just as successful as his 2 shows before it.

This is what should have happened:

-season 1 ended on a cliffhanger, which should have been resolved at the beginning of season 2. They should have resolved that, and kept the show how it was-same premise, characters, supporting characters.

-the only thing they got right and I agreed with was the move to Friday nights by the end of its run. The show that was there in the beginning could have been a great anchor for the TGIF block CBS wanted of their own for so long. Timing wise it would have worked, too. When they finally did get their own version of that it was too late :( had they moved Family Matters and Step By Step to CBS in '93 instead of '98 they could have had Family Matters lead off the night, followed by Step By Step, then Bob and finally one other show. That way would have been hitting all the age demographics. First hour younger/families, second would be more Bob's fan base/age group. Coulda had a smash block there, Les.

Finally, I tell people to definitely watch Season 1. A legitimately funny season with so much potential at that point. Season 2 is just heart breakingly disappointing :(

https://web.archive.org/web/20070225141752/http://jumptheshark.com/


Other Thoughts:

I really wanted to say "never jumped," but they had to get the untalented Lisa Kudrow on here. Maybe she would have learned something about quality TV before she took a role on the so-called comedy Friends, but no.
Bob definitely jumped when they did the "midseason retooling" and added Betty White and that horrible sitcom kiss-of-death Jere Burns guy. Up until then it was a hilarious show with a really bad time slot! Cynthia Stevenson was the bomb and everytime she was on I about peed myself laughing. I know it was on barely a season, but I wish someone would show the first episodes (before Jere ruined it). The one where Bob invites the nerd girl over and forces his daughter (Cynthia Stevenson) to play board games (I think it was Mystery Date) with her might have been the flat-out funniest half-hour in sitcom history (Chuckle the Clown be damned!). But I guess it's lost forever. Shame, shame Betty White!
A rarity -- "BOB" made me laugh OUT LOUD... Cynthia Stevenson's funny as hell dorky daughter and Bob's deadpan Dad were a brilliant pairing. Revamping it w/ Betty White was awful !! There was no place for her in this...it did not need a witchy woman boss character. Sorry-Betty...we like you...but "BOB" died when they brought you on. He could've had another HIT series in 90's...but NOOOOOOOOO !!!!! Producers-- If it aint broke...don't revamp it.
Admittedly, this show wasn't as good as either of Newhart's earlier shows, both of which are classics. But it was still better than the usual TV sitcom dreck, simply because it had Bob Newhart in it. And Cynthia Stevenson was wonderful as his daughter. The other cast members were only so-so, though. And the writing wasn't that strong. Still, CBS should have given it more time to improve. Sometimes, it takes a while for a show to gel. All in all, it was a show with promise that was thrown off the air too soon. And it had a great theme song!
The show was jumped by the casting of Carlene Watkins as his wife. She is the kiss of death of every series she's been associated with, from BEST OF THE WEST to THE TORTELLIS to BOB. Also the format changed at the start of the second season not midseason of the first. It never made it through the second season. But the other voters were correct that the first season was classic, especially the surprise anniversary episode.
They never should have changed the premise and cast! The first season, set at the comic book company, gave Bob plenty of opportunities to interact with goofy supporting players (the hallmark of any Newhart sitcom). But, they just had to screw it up by changing the setting and cast! You'd think adding Betty White and Jere Burns would have been at least somewhat funny, but the writers obviously had no clue what they were doing. I think the new format only lasted about 3 or 4 shows before CBS pulled the plug. Too bad Newhart had this show and "George and Leo" to close out his TV career.
CBS ordered the show revamped for the second season fired all the original cast except Bob his Wife (Carlene Watkins) and Daughter (Cynthia Stevenson) and add Jere Burns & Betty White. They put Bob back writing greeting cards taking him away from his dream of writing a comic book.
This is the third show where Bob Newhart's name has to be in the title and he scores a third hot lookin' wife. We are to believe that this bald plain looking man can get hot women? I could accept that it he was funny and had a nice personality, but all his characters come off as dry, boring clods. We are also to believe that he's a comic book artist, but he does all the work on the book, including the story, inking, coloring, and lettering. Comic books are a team effort. If only a one person did everything, the issue would never make the monthly deadline.
Jumped when Betty White joined the cast. There was nothing wrong with the show the way it was and I wish Newhart hadn't been such a nice guy and gone along with the changes. And who was the "genius" who put Bob's show on a Friday night? Uh, hello...Newhart has always been especially popular with the college crowd, the majority of whom aren't home watching TV on Friday nights. I taped most of the episodes from the first season and watched them recently to put things into perspective, and most of the episodes (there were a few clunkers, but so what? That's usually the case with all sitcoms) hold up beautifully.
The first season it looked as if Bob Newhart had managed to star in three sitcoms that I liked. Watkins and Stevenson were great as his wife and daughter. I loved the premise of the Mad Dog Comic strip as well as the quirky staff who worked with Bob on creating it especially his partner whom he constantly argued with about how the story should go, and I loved it when his daughter got a job there which added even more humor to the mix. But unfortunately CBS didn't see the gem of a sitcom that they had, and didn't try to give it a better time slot then the dreaded Friday night. But they thought they were being charitable by renewing Bob for another season, but did they put it on another night? No, their idea of improving ratings was to order that the show be retooled by adding another big name star ( Betty White) and change the premise. BIG MISTAKE, this sitcom didn't need retooling, it was fine just the way it was, all it needed was another time slot, which by the way CBS didn't give it. The new premise regarding a greeting card company was boring beyond words, even Newhart and White couldn't save it, the show didn't even last the entire second season, infact I think it only had a handfull of episodes that year. With good reason, the show wasn't the same, here is some advice to any network, if it ain't broke don't fix it, just change its timeslot.

https://web.archive.org/web/20070225141752/http://jumptheshark.com/


Other Thoughts:

I really wanted to say "never jumped," but they had to get the untalented Lisa Kudrow on here. Maybe she would have learned something about quality TV before she took a role on the so-called comedy Friends, but no.
Bob definitely jumped when they did the "midseason retooling" and added Betty White and that horrible sitcom kiss-of-death Jere Burns guy. Up until then it was a hilarious show with a really bad time slot! Cynthia Stevenson was the bomb and everytime she was on I about peed myself laughing. I know it was on barely a season, but I wish someone would show the first episodes (before Jere ruined it). The one where Bob invites the nerd girl over and forces his daughter (Cynthia Stevenson) to play board games (I think it was Mystery Date) with her might have been the flat-out funniest half-hour in sitcom history (Chuckle the Clown be damned!). But I guess it's lost forever. Shame, shame Betty White!
A rarity -- "BOB" made me laugh OUT LOUD... Cynthia Stevenson's funny as hell dorky daughter and Bob's deadpan Dad were a brilliant pairing. Revamping it w/ Betty White was awful !! There was no place for her in this...it did not need a witchy woman boss character. Sorry-Betty...we like you...but "BOB" died when they brought you on. He could've had another HIT series in 90's...but NOOOOOOOOO !!!!! Producers-- If it aint broke...don't revamp it.
Admittedly, this show wasn't as good as either of Newhart's earlier shows, both of which are classics. But it was still better than the usual TV sitcom dreck, simply because it had Bob Newhart in it. And Cynthia Stevenson was wonderful as his daughter. The other cast members were only so-so, though. And the writing wasn't that strong. Still, CBS should have given it more time to improve. Sometimes, it takes a while for a show to gel. All in all, it was a show with promise that was thrown off the air too soon. And it had a great theme song!
The show was jumped by the casting of Carlene Watkins as his wife. She is the kiss of death of every series she's been associated with, from BEST OF THE WEST to THE TORTELLIS to BOB. Also the format changed at the start of the second season not midseason of the first. It never made it through the second season. But the other voters were correct that the first season was classic, especially the surprise anniversary episode.
They never should have changed the premise and cast! The first season, set at the comic book company, gave Bob plenty of opportunities to interact with goofy supporting players (the hallmark of any Newhart sitcom). But, they just had to screw it up by changing the setting and cast! You'd think adding Betty White and Jere Burns would have been at least somewhat funny, but the writers obviously had no clue what they were doing. I think the new format only lasted about 3 or 4 shows before CBS pulled the plug. Too bad Newhart had this show and "George and Leo" to close out his TV career.
CBS ordered the show revamped for the second season fired all the original cast except Bob his Wife (Carlene Watkins) and Daughter (Cynthia Stevenson) and add Jere Burns & Betty White. They put Bob back writing greeting cards taking him away from his dream of writing a comic book.
This is the third show where Bob Newhart's name has to be in the title and he scores a third hot lookin' wife. We are to believe that this bald plain looking man can get hot women? I could accept that it he was funny and had a nice personality, but all his characters come off as dry, boring clods. We are also to believe that he's a comic book artist, but he does all the work on the book, including the story, inking, coloring, and lettering. Comic books are a team effort. If only a one person did everything, the issue would never make the monthly deadline.
Jumped when Betty White joined the cast. There was nothing wrong with the show the way it was and I wish Newhart hadn't been such a nice guy and gone along with the changes. And who was the "genius" who put Bob's show on a Friday night? Uh, hello...Newhart has always been especially popular with the college crowd, the majority of whom aren't home watching TV on Friday nights. I taped most of the episodes from the first season and watched them recently to put things into perspective, and most of the episodes (there were a few clunkers, but so what? That's usually the case with all sitcoms) hold up beautifully.
The first season it looked as if Bob Newhart had managed to star in three sitcoms that I liked. Watkins and Stevenson were great as his wife and daughter. I loved the premise of the Mad Dog Comic strip as well as the quirky staff who worked with Bob on creating it especially his partner whom he constantly argued with about how the story should go, and I loved it when his daughter got a job there which added even more humor to the mix. But unfortunately CBS didn't see the gem of a sitcom that they had, and didn't try to give it a better time slot then the dreaded Friday night. But they thought they were being charitable by renewing Bob for another season, but did they put it on another night? No, their idea of improving ratings was to order that the show be retooled by adding another big name star ( Betty White) and change the premise. BIG MISTAKE, this sitcom didn't need retooling, it was fine just the way it was, all it needed was another time slot, which by the way CBS didn't give it. The new premise regarding a greeting card company was boring beyond words, even Newhart and White couldn't save it, the show didn't even last the entire second season, infact I think it only had a handfull of episodes that year. With good reason, the show wasn't the same, here is some advice to any network, if it ain't broke don't fix it, just change its timeslot.


Thanks for posting this, TMC!! This persons thoughts are dead on bulls eye how I feel about Bob's 3rd sitcom! They should never, ever have screwed with it. CBS should have stuck with the excellent foundation they had formed with season 1. If anything HAD to be changed it was just the time slot. Different day and time slot fine. But you don't screw with a great foundation like that. The one and only thing I disagreed with at all in this write-up is the author saying it takes time for a show-characters, cast and concept to gel. In this show, everything had gelled together almost right out of the gate-it took a couple episodes but happened very very fast and was almost immediate. My other thought is yes Betty White didn't belong on this show in any way, shape or form. Period.

This one still hurts..a sincere genuine ton of potential completely ruined. Please folks, if you're a fan of Bob's please DO watch season one. Save yourself the terrible heartache and DO NOT watch that awful 2nd season. This show died way way too soon. Way too early and it was all because CBS insisted on "operating" on it trying to fix what wasn't broken at all. The show died on the operating room table :(

The BEST episode was the one with that Barney the Dinosaur knock off wanna be. I laughed so hard I cried and peed my pants-not even kidding. The whole 1st year was brilliant and is totally worth watching, though.

You know, I used to think this to. I did hate CBS retooling the show and dumping it back onto Friday's.

I hated them for decades, until I bought the set recently on Amazon.

On second viewing, BOB still works and really Jere Burns was pretty dang funny in it and Betty White was pretty good.

I didn't care for "Whitey" (don't know the actor's name) but Newhart's secretary was pretty funny.

I think the 1st season of "BOB" was Bob Newhart's best season of any of his shows.

But even the 2nd season, while not as funny worked.

I think the second season was better than "George & Leo".