Actor: Bob Newhart

Okay, which Bob Newhart TV show did you prefer? Was it The Bob Newhart Show, with Bob as a Chicago psychologist, wife Emily (Suzanne Pleshette), neighbor Howard, and secretary Carol? Or Newhart, this time with Bob as a Vermont innkeeper, with wife Joanna (Mary Frann), and locals Larry, Darryl, and his other brother Darryl?

They were both outstanding, and both hugely popular. TBNS lasted six seasons, Newhart eight. It’s not often that a sitcom actor identified with one character has equal success as another (don’t say Lucy, she was always Lucy), but Bob Newhart was so well liked personally that people bought both of his identities.

Ironically, Bob Newhart has won more Grammy Awards (3) than Emmys (0). He’s received six Emmy nominations for writing and acting, but never won. His Grammys came for his smash comedy album created before his sitcom career, The Button Down Mind of Bob Newhart.

I can’t finish this tribute without including the concluding episode of Newhart, in which Bob wakes up with Suzanne Pleshette and we learn that the whole Newhart series was a dream. Probably the best concluding episode ever.