I have never had these thoughts about a show, but....I just cannot see Bob and Suzanne as a married couple...ahem...in bed. She was such a gorgeous woman, so sexy and Bob kind of a nerdy little guy (I love Bob Newhart). He has virtually no sex appeal, so it just seems off to me.
shareShe loved him for his mind, lol.
shareBNS certainly isn't anything new in this regard. The whole male/female physically "mismatched couple" situation has been a TV comedy staple for decades: back to Jackie Gleason/Audrey Meadows, through Jim Belushi/Courtney Thorne Smith among countless others---and it continues into the present.
Because of the rigidity of our gender roles and double standards of physical attractiveness (obviously both perceived and preferred by the viewing public) we will probably never see the opposite---a handsome, well built husband paired with an overweight and/or homely wife as the central characters.
Although Emily was certainly prettier than Bob was handsome, my own observation is that they were actually more realistically compatible than many other TV sitcom couples.
Until recent viewings, I didn't recall how insulting/condescending Bob could be toward Emily (this was also mentioned by a poster in a different thread). This is a personality flaw in Bob--but again, that adds to the realism, and Newhart probably played it that way. To a certain extent, Bob's arrogance probably served as an inspiration for Kelsey Grammar's character in Frasier.
glenn, I think the same thing. On the episode where Emily wanted to work full-time, all Bob could see was how it would affect HIM. I'm used to you being here, I'm used to dinner being on time, etc. And when she brought home groceries and some easy-to-prepare, canned or boxed items, his reaction was horrible. Very selfish, didn't care what Emily wanted at all. Women's careers mean as much to them as men's. But, times have changed.
shareWhy is it that you are only considering Emily. Doesn't Bob have a say in his marriage?
If Bob does have a say, what points do you think he would bring up?
Having an opinion that is different from another person does not mean that you are biased against that person's sex, color, race, religion.
Equal means equal to both sides, pal.
I know that some women go for a guy who is "cute" (in his own way) but not necessarily handsome.
Not all women want a man for his looks,they want someone of substance as well. I know when I was seeking my mate (a woman,I'm a man by the way)I like them cute and/pretty and with a brain in their head and a great personality too.
I cannot stand bubble brains or girls who "try" and appear overtly sexual.
She did love his mind .
happipuppi13 *arf,man!*!
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Could ya BE any more patronizing? and you're not my pal.
suzycreamcheese RIP Heath Ledger 1979-2008
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Emily also laughs quite a bit at Bob's jokes, which makes her kind of unusual as a character (Newhart's humor is largely built on the other characters not getting the joke). I think this quality (laughing at Bob) makes her warmer as a character (she could be kind of annoying otherwise) and also gives us a glimpse into what she finds attractive in Bob.
shareI just saw "It Didn't Happen One Night" in the last season where Emily's old beau, a very handsome David Hedison, shows up in Chicago while Bob is away on his book tour. Carol, Jerry, and Howard are upset that Emily will cheat on Bob and at the end of the episode Emily gives a little speech in which she tells everyone that Bob may not be Don Juan to everyone else, but he is to her. I thought it was touching and very believable. Emily was beautiful, but Bob was not an unattractive man.
sharethis is true, I have been happily single (divorced for many years), and have never wanted to marry again. But, one of the few men who proposed (and I nearly accepted) was not attractive at all, in the conventional sense, but he was sweet and considerate and a wonderful lover. He drank quite a bit (I drink, too - not a teetotaler at all) but after about a year, it finally hit me that he was an alcoholic, so I had to cut it off. Point is, you are right, looks are not that important, are they? If it had not been for his drinking I would have accepted marriage proposal.
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If you can picture Anne Bancroft with Mel Brooks, then an image of Bob and Emily isn't difficult.
shareOr picture George Costanza and Jerry Seinfeld with ANY of the women they dated on "Seinfeld."
share'If you can picture Anne Bancroft with Mel Brooks, then an image of Bob and Emily isn't difficult'.
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You're visualizing Brooks as his older-self, he wasn't a bad looking man when he was younger. And Bancroft,while very attractive, was never known for being a great beauty.
Also, looks and sexiness are 2 diff.things.
'The King of Queens" '
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Kevin James is actually very goodlooking; his weight clouds the fact
I believe Emily explains it in season one, episode#3
shareI never thought of Tom Poston as an overly handsome man/actor ... and look who he ended up with.
shareI never thought of Tom Poston as an overly handsome man/actor ... and look who he ended up with.
At Tom Poston's memorial service Suzanne said in her eulogy that he was a great "schtup" with sizeable proportions. Which probably explains a lot. She said they met in 1959 when she was cast as a replacement for his leading lady who was fired. He called her hotel room and asked her to run lines and she said she was just out of the bath and was in her robe and he said 'okay with me' and they had an on/off romance for a long time until she married Troy Donahue.
She also told a story of how although Bob and Tom were longtime friends, Bob didn't know they had dated. When he was cast on the show Suzanne, her then husband, Bob and Ginny were going to lunch and Bob invited Tom along. There was a little tension in the air and Suzanne leaned into Bob and whispered "I f@@ked him Bob". Bob looked every bit as embarrassed hearing her recount this in 07 as he likely did on first hearing it. Bob is the ultimate gentleman.
montrossboc-1: "I believe Emily explains it in season one, episode#3"
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I remember that bit. She did it very well.
You have no idea how amusing this is for me! LOL!
My mother's name is Emily and in her youth, she was dark-haired and let's say quite a catch, and she was very outspoken. She was no shrinking violet.
When I started watching Newhart (his second show) and found it funny, she wasn't impressed. I just took it this wasn't her kind of show.
Then The Bob Newhart Show began airing in reruns and once again, she wasn't thrilled by it. She said she never cared for it.
There weren't a lot of characters or people named Emily on tv back then (she watched General Hospital when it first came on because she saw the actress' name was Emily McLaughlin), but she was NOT at all interested in Bob Newhart.
Newhart, by the way, looks NOTHING like my father, and she did eventually dance around and reveal she did not care to see the very beautiful, outspoken, intelligent, dark-haired Emily being romantic to the plain, unattractive Bob Newhart.
I have always enjoyed Bob Newhart in so many programs, and it is just funny to me my mother would reach this conclusion in this matter. I guess had Lyle Waggoner or even Bill Daily played Dr. Bob Hartley, she may have watched it.
Interestingly enough, we went thru the SAME thing with the old man named Jack.
My siblings and I would watch the sitcoms on Tuesday night with Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, then Three's Company, but OH, the old man hit the roof when he saw JACK Tripper acting gay in front of Stanley Roper. "We ain't watchin' that!"
It got to the point if he heard the intro music, he'd make us change the channel, so we would turn it down if he was in the next room or something, so he didn't hear it.
My mother was subtle in her disapproval of Bob Newhart, so we didn't catch on and were just too young to bother with it anyway, but the old man and Three's Company, that's a big 'oh, yea, I remember that. He didn't like Jack Tripper being gay.'
I always thought they were quite well matched in that they were both very intelligent and mature . Emily seemed like a no nonsense type who because of her beauty was probably hit on by a lot of shallow men. Bob was not a game player. He was kind and dependable. His honesty must've been very refreshing to her.
Also in real life, Bob Newhart's wife Ginny is beautiful.
The funny guys always seem to attract the good looking women!
They were probably well matched professionally. Emily had an education, so Bob could talk to her. But Bob must have had a PHD, so Emily wasn't going to be an intellectual threat to him. I know they had an episode where Emily passed the MENSA test and Bob didn't and that was played for laughs, Bob was threatened, but normally he wasn't.
Bob's profession was talk therapy, which meant that his verbal abilities were probably a lot better than the average man. Despite the stammering. This usually helps with women.
Plus kids were obviously not a priority. Bob probably made a good deal of money. Bob was more normal than the other men on the show without seeming weak or too nice. As someone else said, there have been far more implausible pairings.
actors arent dumb they almost always pick beautiful actresses as their wives.just look at seinfeld , look at the beautiful girlfriends his charactor had on the show, do you think any of them would really go out with some that looked like him???
shareonly for his money, which is exactly what happened in real life...except "Jessica" is no where near what his girlfriends looked like on Seinfeld.....nor George's either.......
the hot wife/normal looking guy is the earmark of most situation comedies anyway...nothing new...
everyone deserves the chance to fly!