She was so nice to come home to. In many ways, Suzanne Pleshette’s wonderful (and twice Emmy-nominated) performance as Emily Hartley on CBS’s ’70s classic The Bob Newhart Show was an important evolution of the dream sitcom wife. With her husky voice and dark good looks, Pleshette embodied an elegant, sophisticated, sardonic yet warm soulmate for the endearingly mild-mannered Newhart. If Rob and Laura Petrie (Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore) were TV’s first convincingly sexy modern sitcom couple, despite adhering to ’60s TV conventions dictating they be shown sleeping in separate beds—as if!—Bob and Emily took it a step further. They actually went to bed together. (One terrific episode chronicled a sleepless night as they tried to live up to their policy of not going to bed mad.) This bed, not so coincidentally, took its place in TV history when it was recreated for the finale of Bob Newhart’s second hit sitcom, Newhart—where it was rev...
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Suzanne Pleshette by Jim Spellman/WireImage.com
Truly a sad weekend for classic television. Suzanne Pleshette, who was best known for her role as Bob Newhart's wife on television's long-running The Bob Newhart Show, died on Saturday of respiratory failure. She was 70.Pleshette began her career as a stage actress and met her future husband, Tom Poston, when they appeared on Broadway in the 1959 comedy The Golden Fleecing — though they wouldn't marry until 40 years (and some previous marriages) later. Poston himself passed away in April 2007, not long after his wife Pleshette underwent chemotherapy for lung cancer.Pleshette's film career included Jerry Lewis' The Geisha Boy, The Birds and The Ugly Daschund, while her TV appearances included Have Gun, Will Travel, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and, most recently, 8 Simple Rules and Will & Grace. Pleshette famously reprised her role of Newhart's on-screen wife for the finale of Newhart, in which the entire country inn-set series was revealed to have been a crazy dream.
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This just in from Variety:Tom Poston, who won an Emmy on The Steve Allen Show and was Emmy-nominated for Newhart, Mork and Mindy and Coach, died on Monday after a brief illness. He was 85. While best known for playing George Utley on Newhart and for making guest appearances on The Bob Newhart Show, Poston also had roles in a number of Broadway productions and touring companies (e.g., A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Bye, Bye Birdie), and his film credits included Princess Diaries II and Soldier in the Rain.Poston is survived by his wife of six years, Suzanne Pleshette (also of Newhart fame), and two grown children from his second marriage. Donations may be made to the Motion Picture and Television Fund.Matt here. For my money, Poston was one of television comedy's great go-to guys, always at the ready with the beleaguered, sheepish or hangdog look/line delivery. He will be missed.
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Question: Hey, Matt. I just wanted to get your opinion on the series finale of Alias. I have been a faithful fan from Season 1 and have written in to your column asking about Alias all the time. However, I felt the writers wrote a rather depressing ending. I mean, Renee, Nadia, Tom, Irina and Sloane all were killed, not to mention my favorite, Jack! I thought that Jack's death was totally unnecessary and mean-spirited toward the fans who have loved him from the first season on. And Irina, what's the deal? Why did they make her so evil? I mean, she saved the world at the end of Season 4 and then turned into her evil sister, Elena! It did not sync up and felt rather like a betrayal. Yes, I understand Rambaldi "changes you," but c'mon. I mean, I was happy with Sydney and Vaughn ending up together and Dixon as director, etc. But it was the finale. Make the fans happy all around; what can it hurt? I was waiting for Isabelle to run in and say, "Grandpa Jack!"
Answer: For my own analysis (one
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King of the Hill and creator Mike Judge
This Sunday (at 7:30 pm/ET) will mark the 200th episode and 10th season finale of Fox's King of the Hill. The achievement is yet another feather in the cap of series creator Mike Judge, who turned Beavis and Butt-head into household names and directed the oft-quoted cult hit Office Space. Known as
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Question: It seems a given, in the many questions about network scheduling that you receive, that Saturday night is where TV shows go to die, so no one schedules a potential keeper on Saturday. Yet within living memory (mine, at least), CBS had a killer Saturday lineup that would put any recent "must-see" night to shame (All in the Family, M*A*S*H, Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart, Carol Burnett). I know we went out on Saturday night in the '70s (and with no TiVo, or even VCRs). It can't just be due to the fracturing of cable — if the audience is really too small on Saturday, then it's too small whether your share is 15 percent or 35 percent. I've been looking back trying to find the tipping point, but I can't see when the landscape changed. What in the business has caused this change in perception? On a completely unrelated note: I have fallen in love with Slings & Arrows. Has there been, or is there going to be, a third season? I need more of New Burbage!
Answer: First off, I'm thrilled
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Are you a wealthy fan of Days of our Lives? Well, first of all, call me! Secondly, you should know that Deidre Hall's luxe Bel-Air pad is currently for sale, listed at just under $8.5 million. Per the Los Angeles Times, the amenities of Marlena's walled and gated half-acre compound include six bedrooms, a playroom and 11 bathrooms. Oh, there's also a pool, a detached guest house and a sports court. Hall and her husband, writer-producer Steve Sohmer, purchased the 6,800-square-foot estate in 1992 from Bob Newhart for around $3 million. In other news, this reporter can't even afford a lousy one-bedroom condo in the Valley. But I'm not bitter, I swear.
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Question: Last Monday you had a letter in which the writer decried the quality of today's comedies. He noted that the networks are at a disadvantage compared to HBO because of censorship. Here's my problem. The writer noted great comedies from the past 20 years, like Seinfeld, Cheers, Frasier, Friends, The Cosby Show. I can add other great comedies: The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart, M*A*S*H, Taxi, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Honeymooners, I Love Lucy and many more. None of these great comedies needed a lack of censorship in order to be funny. Why do so many people think there has to be foul language and sex in order for a show to be good? All that's needed is quality writing, truly funny situations that people can relate to and some good acting, and you know what? You have a classic sitcom. What do you think?
Answer: I think you're right, of course. But try convincing today's generation of tone-deaf program executives to go with class over crass. You'd think
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WB has benched for the time being both Living with Fran and Blue Collar TV, although both shows will remain in production. Melanie Griffith's Twins (the show, people) will take over Fran's slot, while an encore airing of Supernatural will be offered up to the 17 people who were choosing Blue Collar over the Housewives on Sunday at 9.
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