Was Bob a good psychologist?

[Yong Fang]

I don’t think he was. I don’t think it was a lack of effort or empathy or he didn’t care on some level for his patients, but he was not a good psychologist. Even one of his long time patients, a Mr Carlson (played by Jack Riley) said on another series in the 1980’s that he was treated “by some quack in Chicago.”

I don’t think it was lack of effort or caring but on the end Bob quit the Psychology business to be a professor in Oregon (although this may not have happened because of him waking up with his gorgeous wife from the Newhart/Vermont nightmare still in Chicago.

But maybe because Dr Hartley wasn’t that good at his job he had regular patients for years because they didn’t know any better.

[Alan Brady's Hair]

He tells Mr. Peterson in Season 2 that Peterson doesn't have to see him any more, but then Peterson freaks out and he's still a patient as the show ends.

Bob's also a disaster with respect to patient confidentiality.