Tuesday, September 26, 2006
The REAL King of All Media
So guess who has a new book out? Hint: He had solid career as a stand-up comedian. He's been in movies. He was wildly successful on television, not once but twice. No? OK...he was responsible for the greatest final episode in the history of series television.
Bob Newhart was once described by someone (me, actually) as the only comedian who is his own straight man. His new book is called I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This, a memoir that also contains comic bits and observations on various subjects. I haven't read it yet, so I don't know how well it works without, uh, well, his very...distinctive way...of delivering lines.
A couple of things about Newhart:
Bob Newhart was once described by someone (me, actually) as the only comedian who is his own straight man. His new book is called I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This, a memoir that also contains comic bits and observations on various subjects. I haven't read it yet, so I don't know how well it works without, uh, well, his very...distinctive way...of delivering lines.
A couple of things about Newhart:
- He is the only person to have had his own different television series in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.
- His best friend is Don Rickles, who is surely the most opposite person to Newhart imaginable. The two of them, along with their wives, often vacation together.
- In 2002, Newhart was honored with the Mark Twain Prize for Humor. Other recipients of the award are Richard Pryor, Carl Reiner, Jonathan Winters, Whoopi Goldberg, Lily Tomlin, Lorne Michaels, and Steve Martin. Neil Simon will receive this year's Mark Twain Prize on October 15.
- Aside from his television shows, Newhart is best known for his stand-up routines in which he would have a telephone conversation with another unseen, unheard person. This act started as an actual two-person act with a another employee at the ad agency where the two worked. When the co-worker dropped out, Newhart continued the act alone. Among these bits, I most highly recommend the one where Sir Walter Raleigh ("Crazy Wally," as Newhart calls him) calls Newhart at the British East India Company explaining tobacco, and the one where he is a political advisor to Abraham Lincoln, making suggestions to the President on his upcoming Gettysburg Address.
- Newhart won an Emmy for a guest appearance on "ER," making him one of a small number of actors to win an Emmy for both comedy and drama. Offhand, the only other performer I can think of to pull off the feat is Carroll O'Connor, for "All in the Family" and "In the Heat of the Night." (I'm sure actual research would enable me to find a few more.)
