Old Television

I'm working my way through the first season of The Bob Newhart Show. I borrowed it from the library partly because of this American Masters episode I saw on PBS last month, and partly because of a New York Times article I'd read a couple years ago.

The writing felt a little clunky in the first few episodes but after a dozen or so it's really humming along. I know I'd probably seen it a time or two on Nick at Nite back when they were doing the seventies, but I'd forgotten how good the cast is, particularly Marcia Wallace as Carol, the receptionist, who also does Edna Krabappel on The Simpsons.

What struck me initially was the the height of the set and the camera movement, both of which are quite a bit grander than sitcoms even from the eighties. However, I'm more pleased with how relatively natural-seeming yet sophisticated the characters are. They're not buffoons, nor are they melodramatic or witheringly ironic; they just seem smart, sure of themselves, and dryly humorous, but not in a larger than life manner.

I'll probably watch a season or two of Taxi next, which is right up there near the very top of the pile with Fawlty Towers in my opinion, Seinfeld and Cheers just a hair lower.