Newhart Performs Intro Written Exclusively for Film Includes Rare Tape of Newhart's Earliest Comedy Routines Features Interviews With Tim Conway, Bill Daily, Julia Duffy, Larry Gelbart, Dick Martin, David Hyde Pierce, Suzanne Pleshette, Tom Poston, Tommy Smothers, David Steinberg, Marcia Wallace and Other Comic Greats Shy and unassuming, Bob Newhart nonetheless exploded on the comedy scene in 1960 with a breakthrough album peppered with nervous, stammering characters whose humble personas stood in stark contrast to the hipsters of the late 1950s. The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart - with soon-to-be-classics like "The Driving Instructor," "Merchandising the Wright Brothers" and "Abe Lincoln vs. Madison Avenue" - became the first comedy album to hit number one on the charts. Newhart began selling out venues from coast to coast, spearheading an explosion in American comedy - a giant leap for a 30-year-old Chicago accountant still living at home with his parents. The "dean of deadpan" went on to sell millions of albums, appear in 16 movies, and create and star in critically acclaimed sitcom staples of the 70s and 80s. Credited with influencing generations of comics, Newhart remains as sought-after as ever. He followed his 2004 Emmy nomination for his first dramatic role on "ER" with a comic turn on "Desperate Housewives." Now, AMERICAN MASTERS presents "Bob Newhart: Unbuttoned," premiering on PBS Wednesday, July 20, 2005. Check local listings. "Bob Newhart is so understated it's easy to overlook the impact he's had on the field of comedy," says Susan Lacy, creator and executive producer of AMERICAN MASTERS, which has won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Primetime Non-Fiction Series for five of the last six years. "His everyman personality and observational monologues set him instantly apart from the joke tellers of the day. Lucky for fans, he continues to surprise us with performances in film and television while selling out comedy clubs everywhere. And he's done it all so quietly we almost didn't notice. Almost." The program is written, directed and produced by Kyra Thompson, who describes Newhart as "the kindest, most personable icon you can imagine. As a documentarian, you're always looking for an untold story. And as public a figure as Bob is, the significance of his story has never really been given its due. It's been an honor and a pleasure to be able to pay tribute to this giant of the comedy landscape." AMERICAN MASTERS "Bob Newhart: Unbuttoned" features numerous interviews with comics and co-stars who offer telling insight into the long-married father of four (Buddy Hackett introduced Newhart to his wife, Virginia, on a blind date). Stars like Ray Romano, Ellen DeGeneres and David Hyde Pierce have credited Newhart for paving the way for comics to slide effortlessly from stand-up to sitcom. "There was something about what he does, about the stillness, about the not asking for attention, about this simple craft of acting that I immediately identified with," says Pierce in the film. "I think it allowed me to stand out in my own career as someone who tended to do less, hang back more, use things like silence more. And that I can directly credit him with." AMERICAN MASTERS "Bob Newhart: Unbuttoned" examines the quiet comic's astounding, decades-long hold on comedy. Over the years, Newhart's cool, calculated routines became part of Americana, with Newhart eliciting huge laughs for historical "what ifs" (what if a PR man coached Abraham Lincoln for the Gettysburg Address?), one-way telephone conversations and the nervous monologue sketch. In a few words or sentences, Newhart conjures up deliciously funny situations. When an unexploded bomb appears on the beach, an official says to a frantic telephone caller, "You think that's unusual, finding a shell on the beach?" Newhart's TV career dates to 1961, with the debut of "The Bob Newhart Variety Show." The show earned broadcasting's highest honor, a Peabody Award, as well as an Emmy. In his self-titled sitcoms of the 70s and 80s, which centered on the quintessential sane man caught in a world of zany characters gone mad, Newhart pushed the boundaries of the sitcom genre while winning raves from critics and fans alike. "The Bob Newhart Show" (1972-78) depicted a very modern marriage, with "Bob" and "Emily" (Suzanne Pleshette) as equal partners. Unlike Ozzie and Harriet, the Chicago couple was also amorous - and childless. And while the sitcom was built around the comedic persona and sensibility of a stand-up star, Newhart was one of the first comics to create an entirely different character, "Dr. Bob Hartley," for his show. In doing so, he created a gold standard for moving from stand-up to series. In 1982, Newhart's dryer-than-dry delivery proved it could work in a rural environment. In "Newhart," which ran until 1990, he played Dick Loudon, a "how-to" book writer from New York who decided to practice what he preached by moving into and renovating a Vermont inn built in 1774. Entertainment Weekly magazine chose the final episode of "Newhart" for the top of its "Best All-Time Episodes" list. In that episode, Newhart "wakes" in his old bedroom from "The Bob Newhart Show" with Pleshette next to him, and says he had "the strangest dream." The dream, of course, was the entire "Newhart" show. In 2005, the sitcom that made Newhart a household name received an Icon Award for Classic Comedy from TV Land. Newhart's longevity is matched only by his continuing popularity. When Johnny Carson died in January, Jay Leno turned to Newhart and Don Rickles for a tribute show watched by millions. In the 60s and 70s, Newhart and Carson, close friends and later neighbors, often closed out the night at Newhart's house with an impromptu jazz session. Over the years, Newhart appeared on Carson's show 87 times, often filling in as guest host. Newhart continues to pick up new fans every day, thanks to nightly runs on "Nick at Nite" and his many sell-out stand-up dates a year. Fans ultimately always demand one of his time-honored bits, like "The Driving Instructor." Now that was a wonderful turn ... one little thing. Uh, this is a one-way street. Well, now, now, it was partially my fault. You were in the left-hand lane, and you were signaling left, and I more or less assumed you were going to turn left ... oh, now we hit someone, Mrs. Webb. Remember you were going to watch the rear view mirror? The red light blinded you? The flashing red light blinded you? The flashing red light - on the car you hit blinded you? Yes officer, she was just telling me about it ...
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