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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Question: I just read your Dispatch on the Sopranos finale, as well as the reader comments afterward. You said you wouldn't rate this episode among the best of series finales, so which ones would you include on that list? Thanks for a great column. I always enjoy it!
Answer: I often try to avoid these "best ever" sort of overview questions, because I fear leaving out something obvious. But in this case, I asked for it, and now I regret writing that line in my recap. To be very honest, the first shows that come to mind when I think of great TV finales tend to be comedies, not dramas (so many of which end after their prime). My very favorite final episodes ever would have to be The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which ended with such tender and funny finality, and Newhart, with its incredible surprise gag at the end in which Bob was in bed with first TV wife Suzanne Pleshette. More recently I also loved the Everybody Loves Raymond finale, in which a momentary health scare for Raymon ...
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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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William Sanderson, Deadwood
On HBO's Deadwood, which premieres its third season this Sunday at 9 pm/ET, amid all the badasses and noblemen, weasely E.B. Farnum does his best to stay out of Swearengen's crosshairs while keeping watch over (and occasionally swindling folks at) the Grand Central hotel. William Sanderson, who plays Farnum, spoke with TVGuide.com about adding the daft Deadwooder to his résumé; and teased what's ahead in the new season.
TVGuide.com: I had to laugh at the pitch your publicist e-mailed over, talking about your career playing "simpleminded backwoods men and snide ne'er-do-wells."
William Sanderson: Well, there is a reason for that, a
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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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Patrick Duffy
He's lived the life aquatic, come back from the dead on Dallas and worked with Suzanne Somers without ever tripping over a ThighMaster. But can Patrick Duffy keep his TV-movie wife, Patty Duke, from throttling Shelley Long in Hallmark Channel's Falling in Love with the Girl Next Door (premiering Feb. 4 at 9 pm/ET)? TVGuide.com traded Qs and As with ol' Bobby Ewing. (Or was it all just a dream?)
TVGuide.com: I see that Patty Duke has been robbing the cradle a little bit....Patrick Duffy: With whom? [Laughs] With me? Nooooo.... we're sort of contemporaries.
TVGuide.com: Are you OK these days playing the father of the hot young chick instead of getting the hot young chick?Duffy: Well, it'd be ludicrous if I was getting the hot young chic
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Stephen Collins of 7th Heaven
After 10 years as the WB's unsung savior, 7th Heaven is being sent to, well, programming heaven. The network declared the show "too expensive" to keep running and announced that this season would be the family drama's last — though there is some talk of a spin-off. In a two-part interview, TVGuide.com spoke with Stephen Collins, who since Heaven's debut has played Rev. Eric Camden, the paterfamilias of seven kids — which some might call hell, but maybe that's just us — about the show's value, its abrupt cancellation and more.
TVGuide.com: When did you find out that Heaven was canceled?Stephen Collins: [Series creator] Brenda [Ham
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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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Days of our Lives hustler Brody Hutzler (Patrick) has begun filming the romantic comedy Be My Baby. He plays a divorce lawyer in the indie flick, whose colorful costars include Party of Five's Lacey Chabert, J.Lo's ex-hubby Cris Judd and Newhart alumna Julia Duffy, a recent guest star on Passions as the Mother Superior of Whitney's convent.
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Newhart and Designing Women star Julia Duffy will pop up on Passions for five episodes starting Aug. 22. And get this: She'll play the Mother Superior of a convent. Holy camp-o-rama! In other Passions news, the NBC sudser has won AFTRA's prestigious 2005 National American Scene Award for "its consistent level of diversity in casting for all roles, thereby portraying the American scene in a positive, balanced and realistic manner." While "realistic" isn't quite the word I'd use to describe it, this show is a standout for its multicultural casting. Speaking of showing all the colors of the rainbow flag, Internet chat rooms are currently abuzz with reliable word that one of Harmony's young misfits will soon come out as a lesbian. (Hint: It's not Endora.)
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