Hi, Bob

I watched the pilot of The Bob Newhart Show. Don't think I'd ever seen it before. It's always fun to look back at first episodes and see how things changed, and what fell away.

The show was created by David Davis and Lorenzo Music. (The latter would provide the voice of Carlton the Doorman on Rhoda.) The situation and characters are mostly in place. Bob Hartley is a Chicago psychologist, married to Emily. At the office there's receptionist Carol Kester and Bob's best friend Jerry, an orthodontist. We even see one patient, Mr. Carlin, whom we'd be seeing a lot more.

But someone's missing--next-door neighbor Howard Borden, who'd arguably become the most popular character on the show. Instead, Bob is the chairman of the condo, and goes to a party where he meets plenty of neighbors not named Howard. They'd disappear.

The show starts with Bob and Emily waking up in the same bed. That was unusual in 1972 television. (And in Hollywood movies up to the 60s, for that matter.)

The oddest thing is the plot. Bob and Emily have been married for three years. They hope to have a kid, and they consider adopting. An adoption agent (played by Louise Lasser) visits their home. The upshot is they're suitable parents, but no kids are available at present. The show ends with the implication they might still adopt, or perhaps have one of their own.

What's amazing is for the rest of the series there's not a hint they're interested in children. In fact, behind the scenes, Newhart famously refused to bring kids into the show. The producers wrote an episode where Emily has a baby and Newhart told them "great script, now who are you gonna get to play Bob?"