LOS ANGELES (AP) – In his trademark low-key way, Bob Newhart says he’s pleased that his 1970s sitcom about a psychologist and his quirky patients and pals will mark its 45th anniversary with a TV marathon.
But Newhart, who turned 88 earlier this month and still does standup gigs, can’t resist cracking wise when asked if he’ll watch the 84 back-to-back episodes of “The Bob Newhart Show” airing on the Decades channel from 1 p.m. EDT Saturday and ending 6 a.m. EDT Monday.
“Well, I know the ending of most of them,” he said, drolly.
Decade’s airing of the sitcom counted among TV’s all-time best comedies falls on Emmy Awards weekend, which is ironic: The 142-episode “The Bob Newhart Show” received only four nominations and zero Emmys in its 1972-78 run on CBS.
Two of those nods went to Suzanne Pleshette, who played witty wife Emily Hartley to Newhart’s Dr. Robert “Bob” Hartley. But Newhart, a former accountant who became a comedy sensation with his 1960 album, “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart,” received none for his role.