And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. So pleased to welcome bob newhart back to this program. He has delighted us with his comedy for more than 50 years, and this month, the final season of his show newhart was released on dvd, including the finale. Here is the famous scene from the newhart series finale. Honey. [ laughter ] [cheers and applause] honey, wake up. You wont believe the dream i just had. Dont you want to hear about it . [cheers and applause] all right, bob. What is it . I was an inkeeper in this crazy little town in vermont. [ laughter ] that was one of the best endings ever. And my wifes idea. Your wifes idea. She came up with it. Yeah. Yeah. We were in the sixth year. The show went eight years, thats the eighth year. In the sixth year i was kind of unhappy with cbs. They were moving us around and putting in shows in front of us and behind us. And we were at a christmas party. And we were waiting, you had your picture taken with the guests, the peoples home we at. And i said, you know, honey, i said i think this is going to be the last year of the show. And she said, she said you ought to end it in a dream sequence, because everything was so crazy. It was so surreal. The maid was an heiress. And larry, daryl and daryl who i thought were straight out of deliv deliverance. What were they doing in vermont . So i said thats a great idea. So suzy. We told her. She says, if im in timbuktu, ill be back in a new york minute. Yeah. And the audience didnt know. You could tell by their reaction. It was a total surprise. They didnt even see suzy or myself. They saw the bedroom set, and they knew it was from the bob newhart show. And they started applauding the bedroom set. It was a great surprise if ever there was one. You remember talking before we came on camera here, and i was saying to you in some ways, speaking of suzanne pleshette, youre the last man standing, mary fran is gone. Tom poston is gone. Youre 88 this year . Ill be 88 in september. 88 in september. What still foolin them. [ laughter ] still makin them laugh. What do you make of the fact, youre so blessed, thats my word, not yours. No, i feel the same way. Ive been very blessed. We were talking during makeup. And we were talking about the first album. The very first album, a comedy record. Still in chicago then. I was in chicago. Still living in your parents home at the time. Thats right. We recorded in houston, texas. And we thought it might just go, you know, maybe 10,000 records. Yeah. And it went, it just went crazy, all over the country. And it went to number one and then the number two album, i had the number one and number two album. Then the number two album went to number one. So then i had the number one and number two album for like 20 weeks, but i didnt even know it. I didnt know i had the record. So my daughter, who her husband was in the music business. He, she called me up, and she said, dad, you know you just lost a record. And i said what was that . She said well, guns and roses has had the number one and number two album longer than you had it. And i said, well, at least it went to a friend. You know. [ laughter ] axel and i, we talk all the time. After all these years, you mentioned a moment ago, so youre still doing, what . You got a dozen shows a year . I do about ten. About ten shows a year . Ten, 12 shows a year. Standup. And what does that consistent of . Is it classic stuff, new stuff, a mixture . Its a mixture. Ill do one or two from the album. From the album, yes, sir. And then the rest is all just observations on this crazy world that we live in. And it is true, the only way to survive is to laugh. To laugh, yeah. Thats the only way. My wife and i, were married 50 years, in january, 54 years. And someone once asked me, whats reason . I said i think laughter. Yeah. Has a lot to do with how long our marriage lasts. And its true among comedians. Jack benny was married to mary for a long time. George burns, buddy hackett. I mean, theres something about laughter and the longevity of a marriage. Yeah. What do you make of the fact that stuff that you did on record 50 years ago still kills in front of an audience a half a century later . Luck. Yeah. I mean, i didnt plan it, you know. But the joke, i mean, you dont tell jokes, you tell stories, but the material. It says something about the material. Well, because its still true. I mean, the first, i had the driving instructor. The funny stuff. Then i had the submarine commander, which is about being in service. Mmhm. And that still exists. Yeah. And then i had abe lincoln. You know, talking to his press agent. And i mean, thats even more prevalent than it was 50 years ago. Yeah. Trying to imagine abe lincoln talking to sean spicer. What a conversation. Hed get mad at him. Which leads me to this. If you had done it, i have never seen you do it. You dont really, you dont really toil in political no. Stuff. In your standup. No. Why, why have you avoided that, number one, because it seems to me that nowadays, these trump jokes are writing themselves. Yeah. Hes, well, you lose half your audience. Thats one reason. [ laughter ] okay. I never got into that. Yeah. I didnt feel that was my role. Yeah. To convince people of the way i felt. Mmhm. I mean, because they like me or Television Series or they enjoy my albums, thats no reason to vote for a person im going to vote for. I just never felt that was my yeah. I want to circle back to this newhart series, and the series, of course, before that. Those series are still playing on tv somewhere it seems. I watch the bob newhart, i love that me tv channel. I watch it all the time. To what do you attribute the fact that again those shows, like the jokes on those records are still playing and people are still laughing at the material . Well, people tell me that. You know, they, they just, they go back to that time in their life, and it was very sfepecialo them. The world wasnt nearly as crazy as it is today. Politically, it wasnt nearly as crazy as it is today. And they just go back to those, to that time and a wonderful time in their life. Plus great actors. I mean, a great cast and great writing. Yeah. I mean, that was, my secret was to get a great cast and great writing and then take all the credit myself. [ laughter ] and it worked. Do you watch, do you watch anything today . Comedy stuff on tv . Modern family. Yeah. This is us. Of course big bang theory. Youre involved in that, yeah. And i kind of avoid watching the onecamera comedy shows. Theyre sterile. As you can tell on that, that was a live audience. And everybody, i mean, Mary Tyler Moore and all in the family and us, every show did a show in front of a live audience, because you got that feedback. And the writers had to write better. Today some of them walk through the door and say hi, and theres a huge laugh. Whats funny about hi . I dont know. I take your point. If you, just imagine with me for a second, how do you figure that you would fit in, how do you figure you would do, this may be an unfair question, if you were starting your comedy career now, versus 50 years ago . Id probably sell about 20,000 records, i think. Instead of 1. 5 million. Why do you say that . Theres a different, well, ive had to adjust to it on the big bang theory. It actually started with laughin. I was playing vegas, the desert inn and sands, and i was doing my record material. And i noticed when laughin came on, like the Attention Span of the audience became shorter and shorter and shorter. Mmhm. And so i had to compress the original down to, you know, where the audience was. And its even more true today. I mean, we would, suzy and i had a scene where we both took up an i. Q. Test. And it must have taken a minute and a half to set up, set up the joke. And the story was, it was a beautifullywritten joke. But, yeah. We took an i. Q. Test. And i, i said to suzy, i said, money, you never told me what, what, how i did on the i. Q. Test, and she said, well, bob, i dont think its that important that you know. I said, honey, i mean, you know, i have four more years of college than you. She said, well, yours was 119. I said thats good. She said thats gifted. I said, thats gifted. Well, what was yours . And she says i dont know. Honey, dont, i had four years of college. Dont, she said mine was 122. I said, well, mine was 119, and yours was 122, which is a difference, which and she said, three. [ laughter ] we love it. But that took us a minute. Yeah. You dont have that kind of time now. The audience, their Attention Span is just less. Its bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. Joke, bang. Jo joke, bang. How difficult was it to adjust to that style given the way of done youve done it all years. You have to. You just have to. Your style is to set it up, to massage it and lather it until you get it. In todays world, if you want to survive in it, you have to adjust to, you know, jack benny was one of the great adjustors to time. Yeah. Yeah. You feel it out. Youre still doing it. Its been a great conversation so far, but now we get to the fun stuff. All right. So when you were here last year what was this . As soon as that came out of my mouth, i said, im walking into that joke, chin up, booty out. Yeah, you cant talk to these comedians, man, especially legends like bob newhart. What i was trying to get at, mr. Newhart, when you last sat in that chair, the chicago cubs were not the World Champions that they are. And now they get to start a new season in just a few days. Thats right. With that distinction, you have been a lifelong cubs fan. Where were you, just take the time, sit it up. Where were you, how did you process it, how did you feel about it . Youve been living with this your whole life. I was 16 years old in chicago. Mmhm. And the cubs won 1945. The cubs won the National League pennant. And they had this big parade down lasalle street, and we were all riding in convertibles and waving. I was a 16yearold kid waving at bill cavaretta. And that was 70, 71 years ago. That was in 1945. Now 1945 was the end of world war ii. And most ablebodied men were off to war. Which was the last time the cubs won the National League pennant. [ laughter ] all the ablebodied men were off to war. [ laughter ] so i waited exactly one year, and then i got to see the cubs win the pennant. The tweeting started, i was at home, i was watching. It was a dodger game. Mmhm. And the cubs were down like bottom of the eighth. And the dodgers were ahead 53. 53. Mmhm. So the cubs are up. Now the guys got on base, you hit a home run, the cubs are ahead, 65. Now bottom of the ninth. And they bring in chapman, right, 105 Miles Per Hour he throws the ball. He strikes out the side. So i sent a tweet to one of the people i knew in the cub organization. I said, look, im 87 years old. I cant take this, you know. [ laughter ] will you please have them score more runs . [ laughter ] so they talked to the cub players, and they said, bob, would you mind [ laughter ] i do an impression, i say 105 Miles Per Hour, i do an impression of benny against chapman. Okay, come on, baby. Lets see what you got. Bang i mean, see what you got, baby. [ laughter ] he hasnt thrown it yet, what the [ laughter ] so how then did you process, so thats the dodgers series. Anwent and i went to two of those games, all right. How did you process the final round where these guys are in chicago, have a couple chances to close it out and they cant. How did you handle that . Not well. [ laughter ] no, i tweeted every time the ku cubs won. They sent me a w flag, and would wouwe would take a picture with the flag in the background. But i was sure when the cubs were down two games, i said its over, okay. And then they went to cleveland, and they won it. And there was, it was incredible. Remarkable fashion. Yeah, and they, im waiting for the day when they say, weve got to break up the cubs, you know . [ laughter ] like the yankees, break them up. Everybody knows theyre going to win. Yeah. That would be some day. That would be some day. Is it true, either i heard or read somewhere that you were quite an athlete in your day. Well, you wouldnt think so. Yeah. [ laughter ] i heard some laughter. Apparently they think so here. Football, played football. Yeah. Running back. And the, in high school and then college. I thought id get a scholarship, but i had, you know, on the fake handoff into the line, you know. Yeah. Id yell out i dont have it [ laughter ] i didnt want to get all right. Im sweatin, man, you got me laughin so hard. Im sweatin. We got the air conditioner on, fan blowing, im just sweatin. Youre killing me. [ laughter ] now i play in the celebrity sportswriters, at dodgers stadium. First time i played in, they put me in right field. Chuck connors, remember. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He was a first baseman for the cubs. And my fatherinlaw, bill quinn, he was a bartender on rifle men. So im playing right field. And i dont want to embarrass him in any way. So im playing right field. Nothings hit, and im very happy nothings hit toward me. [ laughter ] somebody, the ball starts tailing off, coming to right field. So im running like hell. And i see it. And i dive. And im like this on the grass. Im sliding along in the grass like this. And i stop. The ball landed about there. [ laughter ] and im on, im here. Looking at the ball. [ laughter ] so now [ laughter ] now im pitching. They let me pitch. Right. Which is a thrill. I never thought id be on a major league mound. Mmhm. And you know, 15,000 people, theres a cub, a dodger game afterwards. Right. But people would show up. So im there, and im on the mound. And you got to, its hardball. You got to, its not softball. So i figure, okay, im going to give them my heat. Give them the heat, bob, give them the heat. I start out with my heat, with my fastball. My fastballs around 46, 47 Miles Per Hour. [ laughter ] its gone as high as 48, but 46, 47. Now it started out, i started out, the only pitch i had was a changeup. Right. And they said, well, youve got to get another pitch, otherwise you cant have a changeup. [ laughter ] i said, okay. Ill have another pitch. So then i get the screwball. Thats my best pitch, throw it like that. Mmhm. Thats about 22, 23 Miles Per Hour. And my sinker, which i call it a sinker, but it just ran out of velocity. [ laughter ] just dropped, but i call it a sinker. [ laughter ] but sometimes it would sink four or five feet in front of the batter. So thats my, my career in sports. [ laughter ] youre a graeat audience. Im dying over here. Growing up in chicago, you could have fallen in love with the bulls or certainly, you know, the bears. Yeah. Why baseball for you . Well, my dad was a cubs fan. He was a white sox fan. And so i, being a rebel, i naturally gravitated toward the cubs, and i found the white sox were very dull. As a team. Compared to the cubs. Because theyd, theyd have nellie cox, you know, work or walk. And then al paricio. And nellie would score and theyd win 10, you know. Just boring team, you know. But with the cubs, you never knew, you know, well, like in the world series. You never know. You have no idea. All right, im done with this. My god, look at this, its embarrassing, gee, my makeup, its like stop the camera, this is horrible. Its over now, its okay. And i apologize for just sweatin like a pig in slop, but bob newhart, this is kind of what happens, thats why youre not comin back next week. All right, okay. Making me look bad on camera. The final season of newhart is on dvd. The new season, the World Champion chicago cubs, the team of bob newhart. You are welcome back anytime, sir, but not next week. Thats tavis tonight, thanks for watching. Ago alwa as always, keep the faith. For more information on todays show, visit tavis smiley at pbs. Org. Im tavis smiley. Join me next time for David Alan Grier next time, wll see you then. And by contributions to your pbs station by viewers like you. Thank you. Today on americas test kitchen, julia and bridget share the secrets to foolproof oatmeal cookies. Adam reviews prep bowls with bridget. Lisa reviews the best pie carriers, and elle makes julia outstanding ultranutty pecan bars. Its all coming up right here on americas test kitchen. 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