The 25 best episodes of 'The Bob Newhart Show'

Quite a few “Bob Newhart Show” episodes involve Bob’s advice to a patient going in a way he didn’t expect. Take, for example, this episode. A minister talks to Bob, and afterward decides to leave the church. This leaves Bob feeling awkward, but in a way that is more interesting and amusing than other instances.

Bob’s sister Ellen became part of the show for a stretch, including her being a romantic interest for Bob’s wacky neighbor Howard. Ellen was never super fleshed out, and she didn’t get to be as fun as other characters, but this is a good episode for her. However, even there she is playing the straight character, as he writes an article about the doctors on Bob’s floor and they all act weird about it.

Jerry Robinson is a dentist on Bob’s floor and something of a friend. As friends go, though, he’s not always great. He can be selfish and scheming, but all in all, he’s a good character. This episode is fun because Bob calls Jerry on something and is proven right. Jerry decides to quit his job and move to the South Seas to live the “island life” with a new girlfriend. Bob insists Jerry will be back sooner rather than later. Jerry is all huffy about it, but then Bob is the one who comes out ahead on that one.

Bob had a few recurring patients, but the most-seen one is Elliot Carlin, who is also most people’s favorite. Mr. Carlin – played indelibly by Jack Riley – is a loathsome guy. He’s mean to basically everybody, but he’s also mean to himself. In this episode, he somehow convinces Bob’s receptionist Carol to go out on a date with him, but the essence of his personality renders it a disaster.

Bob and Emily Hartley have one of the best TV marriages. They clearly love each other, but it’s not always perfect. There are arguments and fights, and “Don’t Go to Bed Mad” is dedicated to a particularly lengthy and spirited argument for the couple.

Vacations gone awry are also a thing that shows up often in sitcoms. “Let’s Get Away From it Almost” doesn’t reinvent the wheel. The Hartleys go to a ski lodge, so we get to see a change of scenery, which is fun on multi-cam sitcoms. Unfortunately, the trip is a total disaster for them.

Mr. Carlin is back at it again. This time, he’s trying to put the moves on his receptionist, which he does by constantly lying to her. Eventually, the lies have to catch up with him, and Mr. Carlin will go back to being miserable and misanthropic. Also, this episode was written by Gary Michael Goldberg, who would go on to create “Family Ties” and “Spin City.”

A client gives Bob a very nice gift. The only problem for Bob? The patient is an ex-convict, and Bob isn’t sure how he could have afforded a gift this nice. A big reason this episode made the list is the man who plays the ex-con: None other than the future Fonz, Henry Winkler.

Bob looks for some alone time, which is fair, even in a happy marriage. Don’t tell that to Howard, though. He immediately becomes worried the Hartleys (his best friends) are going to split up. Of course, the couple stayed together, but that didn’t stop Howard from having a few days of worrying.

The fifth-season finale was originally the series finale. Then, Newhart decided he’d be down for one more season. That changed the logistics of “You’re Having My Hartley.” Both Emily and Carol find out they are pregnant in this episode, but it all turns out to be a dream Bob is having. Newhart always refused to have his character become a father on the show. In fact, when it was broached to him one time the story goes he replied with, “That’s great. Who are you going to get to play Bob?”

During the time Howard and Emily are an item, Emily’s ex-fiance shows up to try and win her back. That man, the titular Tobin, happens to be played by none other than the legendary Fred Willard. Willard and Bill Daily, who played Howard, were both excellent at playing eccentric characters.

Newhart is a Chicagoan and a big Cubs fan, and the Hartleys live in Chicago as well. Bob is a big sports fan, and naturally at one point he gets to take on a Cub as a patient. In fact, he helps a Cubs pitcher break a losing streak. Of course, it would be another few decades before the Cubs would win a World Series.

The series finale of “The Bob Newhart Show” isn’t an all-time great one, but it is really good, and it’s worth a spot in the top 25 episodes of the show. At least there are some real stakes and the show doesn’t end with just another episode. The Hartleys bid adieu to their friends and the city of Chicago, as Bob takes a teaching job in Oregon to end the series.

Marcia Wallace may be most famous for voicing Mrs. Krabappel on “The Simpsons,” but she was a fine live-action actor as well (and a good “Match Game” panelist, too). She’s the only one of the regular cast members who gets a big wedding episode, and it happens to come to a guy she has known for less than a day. That made this stand out from other sitcom weddings.

We go from a wedding episode to a Christmas episode. However, this isn’t one that is holly or jolly. The Hartleys play host to Carol, but she spends most of the time talking about her disastrous family life and personal relationship problems. This, of course, came before Carol was married.

Mr. Gianelli was one of Bob’s regular patients, and a member of his group therapy sessions, along with Mr. Carlin. While a couple of different actors played Mr. Gianelli for whatever logistical reason, we don’t actually see him in “Death of a Fruitman.” In fact, Mr. Gianelli is the one who dies, crushed by a truckload of zucchini of course.

The premise of “Motel” is a nice, simple one. Bob and Jerry go to a motel in Peoria because the Bears game they want to watch is blacked out in the city. That’s a good starting point, and then of course things spiral out from there. Eventually some “women of the evening” show up due to Jerry’s doing, and Bob’s attempts to simply watch the Bears fall apart.

There is a big tennis tournament among the members of the floor Bob works on in his building. Bob really wants to win, but Emily really wants to be his doubles partner. The problem? She’s bad at tennis and doesn’t really care about winning. Does Bob set her aside to try and win, or does he stand by his wife and surely lose?

They note a few times on “The Bob Newhart Show” that Bob is particularly busy around the holidays. After all, Christmas can be a lonely, sad time for a lot of people. It’s right there in the title of this episode. Bob goes above and beyond for his patients this Christmas, as he invites them over for a Christmas party at his apartment.

The third season of “The Bob Newhart Show” ends with these three episodes: “Bob Hits the Ceiling,” “Emily Hits the Ceiling,” “The Ceiling Hits Bob.” That last one is both figurative and literal. Bob finds himself dealing with a lot of hassles, such as Carol announcing she is looking for a new job, and Howard and Ellen announcing they are moving to New York. Then the ceiling in his office literally falls on him.

The fifth season of the show began airing in 1976, which was the year of the Bicentennial. On the show, that Bicentennial is a memorable one for Bob and Emily, but not in a good way. Emily accidentally gets herself and Bob trapped in the storage locker in the basement during their party, and nobody knows what has become of them upstairs.

Three Christmas episodes? Apparently “The Bob Newhart Show” did those quite well. This is the best of the bunch. Bob would love to be home with his wife for the holiday, but instead, he’s stuck at the office on Christmas Eve. His frustration is our amusement. Newhart definitely did exasperation well.

Sure, the idea of a man going grocery shopping and a woman balancing the checkbook shouldn’t be the source for comedic fodder. However, it actually works quite well in “Change is Gonna Do Me Good.” Bob and Emily decide to swap chores. In the end, though, it turns into an inversion of the old “Battle of the Sexes” tropes that the show was never really interested in. Bob’s struggles with grocery shopping are especially funny.

Two episodes of “The Bob Newhart Show” are generally considered all-time classics. We agree with those assessments. The first of those episodes is “Death Be My Destiny,” where Bob has a near-death experience with the elevator and begins to think about his mortality. “TV Guide” called it the 50th-best TV episode of all time, and Nick at Nite once had it on the top of its own countdown.

This episode is so simple. Emily is out of town, so Bob has Howard, Jerry, and even Mr. Carlin over on Thanksgiving to watch football. In that, we got the best Thanksgiving episode ever. It’s just these four men hanging out, getting drunk, and venting frustrations. In the end, it turns out totally hilarious. You don’t need to do anything crazy to create memorable television. Sometimes you just need four drunk, lonely guys on Thanksgiving.