Remembering Bob Newhart, Legendary Comedian - and Commodore PET Owner (latimes.com) 24
Long-time Slashdot reader theodp writes:
Bob Newhart, whose stammering, deadpan unflappability carried him to stardom as a standup comedian and later in television and movies, has died at age 94. He remains best known for the television shows, "The Bob Newhart Show" (1972-78) and "Newhart" (1982-90), both of which were built around his persona as a reasonable man put-upon by crazies. A younger crowd may remember Newhart from his roles in the movie "Elf" (2003) and TV's "The Big Bang Theory" (2013-18).
Less known about Newhart is that he was an early Commodore PET owner, recalling for the LA Times in 2001: "I remember leafing through a copy of Popular Science magazine and seeing an ad for a Commodore computer that had 8- or 16 kilobytes [in 1977]. It had an awful-looking screen, and it was $795. I thought I'd better get one because I had sons who were going to be in high school and might want to know about computers. Later, I moved up to the 64 KB model and thought that was silly because it was more memory than I would ever possibly need.
"I got them for the kids and then found I was fascinated by them. The first ones had tape drives. You would get a program like a word processor, put the tape in and then walk away for about a half an hour while the computer loaded it. But the first time I used a spell checker and it corrected a word, I thought, 'We are getting close to God here."
Less known about Newhart is that he was an early Commodore PET owner, recalling for the LA Times in 2001: "I remember leafing through a copy of Popular Science magazine and seeing an ad for a Commodore computer that had 8- or 16 kilobytes [in 1977]. It had an awful-looking screen, and it was $795. I thought I'd better get one because I had sons who were going to be in high school and might want to know about computers. Later, I moved up to the 64 KB model and thought that was silly because it was more memory than I would ever possibly need.
"I got them for the kids and then found I was fascinated by them. The first ones had tape drives. You would get a program like a word processor, put the tape in and then walk away for about a half an hour while the computer loaded it. But the first time I used a spell checker and it corrected a word, I thought, 'We are getting close to God here."
Can't wait for Larry to speak at his funeral (Score:5, Funny)
Underrated 1980 comedy film, "First Family." (Score:2)
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His comedy albums are still a great listen. He has one bit as a driving instructor and another talking about the European discovery of tobacco in the New World.
Find them, listen to them. If you ever enjoyed Bob Newhart's humour, you will enjoy those albums.
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I couldn't take him on The Bob Newhart Show back in the day. Never saw or thought much of him till his role as Professor Proton which flipped my opinion - but not enough to have another go at his old show :)
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The Bob Newhart Show was perhaps special for its day, but by today's standards it's not very funny and culture has changed enough that there's little to grab you as a modern viewer.
Newhart, on the other hand... It was always a dumb sitcom and more or less remains one today. It also has a pretty rough start until you get Michael and Stephanie on the cast and Larry, Darryl, and Darryl make regular appearances.
I think his comedy albums were great to start with and withstand the passage of time. But if you we
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Randomly, on a road trip, I was listening to some Newart albums last week with my two teenage boys. They loved the USS Codfish and the one about being a police "ledge jumper" negotiator in Chicago.
The tobacco one is great too. "Let me get this straight...you bought 50 tons...of leaves?! I hate to tell you this, but we are in England here, and fall's coming. In just a month or two we'll be up to our..."
The one about inventing baseball is good too.
Rickles's Pal (Score:4, Interesting)
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In Seinfeld's Comedians in Cars getting Coffee, he asked one of his comedian guests if they would rather be smart or funny. Both immediately agreed that they would rather be funny than smart. I suspect its both.
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I recall seeing Rickles and Newhart together on a talk show once - probably Carson's Tonight Show towards the end of its run. Rickles was so crazy over the top; yet somehow, in his dry understated way, Newhart gave as good as he got. But it always seemed like, with each Newhart zinger, it took a couple seconds before people would realize exactly what he'd actually said - Rickles would have already launched into his next spiel before suddenly pausing... although then he would immediately be able to turn it a
history repeats (Score:2)
> But the first time I used a spell checker and it corrected a word, I thought, 'We are getting close to God here."
Not so different than how people approach LLMs now.
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Honestly, I would have thought that as an accountant his first big reaction would be to a spreadsheet... But I don't recall if those came to the public anywhere near as quickly as word processing.
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We're talking Commodore Pet. The first spreadsheet came out on the Apple II somewhat later.
A true comedic genius (Score:3, Insightful)
Though he had a lifelong stammer, he used it to great effect in his shows and comedy routines. He didn't need to sound like a ghetto rat jonesing for his crack or some white trash who didn't finish middle school. He was one of those comedians who knew what to say and how to say it so everyone, of any age, could get a good chuckle.
His is a dying breed, and they will be missed.
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He didn't need to sound like a ghetto rat jonesing for his crack or some white trash who didn't finish middle school.
The -isms are strong in this one.
Please, don't hold back on our account. After all, we're all guests in your mom's basement!
Professor Proton Force Ghost. (Score:1)
IYKYK
End of the end (Score:3)
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Yeah. Where he woke up from a dream back in The Bob Newhart Show.
Now is not then (Score:2)
His comedy seen from the perspective of us today would probably be sort of funny, if you really slow down and give it a chance. Back when he was on TV his shows – the cadence, the topics, even the clothes and the music – fit the contemporary sensibilities to a masterful degree - to a degree that went beyond just being funny. Maybe not great viewed from our modern perspective but unsurpassed when viewed with eyes from the past. RIP.
Genius of comic timing and self deprecation (Score:3)
St. Peter: Someone tracked mud all over the pearly gates!
Bob: That ... that would be me.