Newhart recap
The American Masters Bob Newhart special Wednesday night by and large delivered. I was already resigned to purchasing the eight seasons of Newhart as they become available on DVD, but now I'm tempted to buy the first season of The Bob Newhart Show as well. The Slate.com television critic has a nice tribute, and I'll add just two thoughts. One, Bob belongs on the Mount Rushmore of American Comedy, along with the other true originals-- Jack Benny, Richard Pryor, and Bob's buddy, Don Rickles.Two, the final episode of Newhart is even more brilliant than people ever say. In the series' final scene filmed in 1992, Bob's character famously awoke in bed next to actress Suzanne Pleshette, or Emily, his wife from the earlier series, as if the entire second series had been a dream. It was a tasty dessert at the end of a great eight-year meal-- big yucks all around. But I never hear people acknowledge how much the scene effectively transforms the entire series. All of a sudden, everything that's happened in this quaint little inn in Vermont is the fevered rambling of a professional psychologist.
Bob's real-life wife apparently thought of the final gag only weeks before the last taping, but it could have been scripted from the beginning-- the series started off relatively sedate, and than gradually (during Bob's feverish REM cycle, of course) became more and more surreal-- with more fantastic plots and characters, including a man who talked in alliteration. The two beautiful blonds can now be interpreted as objects of Bob's sexual desire, and the on-air hijinks on the set of WPIV's "Vermont Today" reveal Bob's professional insecurity. We'll never again be able to watch the series the way we did the first time through. Utter genius.
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In Esquire's August issue, Dan Rather offers a couple interesting chestnuts on the role of journalism...
"The press is a watchdog. Not an attack dog. Not a lapdog. A watchdog. Now, a watchdog can't be right all the time. He doesn't bark only when he sees or smells something that's dangerous. A good watchdog barks at things that are suspicious."
Quoting another: "News is what somebody somewhere doesn't want you to know. All the rest is advertising."
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ESPN.com is copying reports Wednesday that sports "super-agent" Drew Rosenhaus, who represents NFL contract hold-out Terrell Owens, among others, rescued a drowning child and performed life-saving CPR at a hotel swimming pool on Tuesday. The problem, as I see it, of being a guy like Rosenhaus, is that even when the police confirm accounts of a story like this, guys like me still don't believe them.
posted by CM @ 9:36 PM
2 Comments:
He doesn't watch The Sopranos, I guess.
Joisey women? Man, I liked that hair don't in 1982.
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