“Top” Ten Losses of 2024: Bob Newhart (#6)

Tweet

Last year we lost a lot of certified legendary performers, in addition to all the no-names I’m throwing at you in the music half of this. Today’s entry is an excellent case in point of a true television and comedy genius who said goodbye to us in 2024. #6: Bob Newhart I don’t like country music, but I don’t denigrate it. And for you people who like country music, “denigrate” means “to put down.” He’d be a lot higher on the list if it weren’t for that joke! Bob Newhart had a very long career. As he started in stand-up, that was before my time so I only knew him, initially, as the psychologist on The Bob Newhart Show, one of the classic Saturday night shows on CBS (before Carol Burnett and after M*A*S*H and Mary Tyler Moore). As I got older, I got to see some of his deadpan routines that made him popular. Popular enough to make history: The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart was the first COMEDY album to ever win a Grammy award for “Best Album of the Year.” (Not the only, one though, as The First Family took home that coveted award two years later.) Newhart won three Grammy awards in 1961. A lot of actors are lucky to have one “big hit.” Newhart had TWO: the 1970s The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart in the 80s. Oddly, Newhart’s only Emmy came for his 1961-62 Bob Newhart Show, which was not a sitcom. (He also won an Emmy for a guest role on The Big Bang Theory.) Along the way, Newhart stayed married to the same woman and never had any scandals associated with him. Dang, how did that happen?? (He was a very religiously devout Christian.) His loss was monumental. He left us with some ingenious comedy, including the greatest series finale in TV history! Bob Newhart Born George Robert Newhart, September 5, 1929, Oak Park, Illinois Died July 18, 2024, Los Angeles, California (natural causes) (age 94) HALL OF FAME: Academy of Television Arts & Sciences The closing scene from Newhart: