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SCENIAC: Still laughing it up after all this time

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Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

There are several lessons to be learned after spending an evening at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills in honor of the 35th anniversary of “The Bob Newhart Show”:

(1) Television shows from the ‘70s are not necessarily irrelevant. (2) Humor, if it is excellent, can translate across generations. (3) Old people, at least those who used to work with Bob Newhart, are hilarious!

The event took place on a refreshingly cool Wednesday evening. Some famous old-timers mingled at the pre-panel rooftop cocktail reception. Army Archerd, looking frail but dutiful, procured a drink at the bar. The guests, nibbling on delicious hors d’oeuvres (more mini-cheeseburgers should be made of Kobe beef!), seemed most excited about Don Rickles. (The president of TV Land, which cosponsored the event, would later claim that meeting Rickles was the highlight of his night).

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A young woman (“young” in this crowd meant late 30s) swore not to leave until she had introduced herself to Tim Conway. She finally caught up with him as he headed into the panel, doing a little shuffle in time to the music.

Newhart, who was also celebrating his 78th birthday that night, was busy chatting with the press as guests headed down to the auditorium. Consequently, he wasn’t there when the Paley center director introduced “the comedy greats to my left.”

“Well, except for Bob,” said Marcia Wallace, who played the man-crazy receptionist on “Newhart.”

“He wasn’t that great,” joked Suzanne Pleshette, who played Newhart’s wife Emily, and who continued to supply the best one-liners of the night.

First up was a series of clips from the show, and if you haven’t watched it ever, or recently, or even yesterday, this reporter strongly suggests that you do so. (TV Land will be running a marathon in honor of the anniversary next week if you have cable, and you can find clips on YouTube).

The clips included John Ritter playing an ice cream store waiter (“You can’t do it, you can’t do it, you can’t eat a whale!”) and ended with one of the most famous scenes from the show: Newhart drunkenly ordering Chinese food. (“Moo goo goo goo. I feel like I’m ordering Chinese baby food.”)

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The panel members included Pleshette, who had recently finished chemo for lung cancer (“I’m cancer free, my [breasts] are great, and I’m extremely extremely rich,” she said when asked about her health); Dick Martin, the one-time host of “Laugh In,” who directed episodes of “The Bob Newhart Show;” Bill Daily, who played Newhart’s neighbor; Wallace (whose hair is shockingly red and spiky); and Jack Riley, who played a terminally morose patient of Newhart’s who looked -- even with a bright pink pocket square poking out of his striped suit -- terminally morose. And of course, Newhart himself, in a golden suit with just a hint of a comb-over.

They discussed the decision, edgy at the time, to make Newhart’s character a psychologist. “We knew that Bob was a listener so we wanted to think of a profession where he could do that,” Newhart said.

They talked about how the show was one of the first in television to depict a husband and wife sleeping in the same bed as well as one of the first to have a childless older couple.

“I remember thinking that Emily didn’t know how to make eggs. That was a big thing for me,” said the moderator.

“If she cooked, the show wouldn’t have lasted one season,” said Newhart.

Martin, who appeared to be having the time of his life, roared with laughter. “That’s great,” he said.

“When the star is a nice guy everyone better be nice,” said Daily, “and the thing about this show is that everyone had their own humor, there was no competing. Oh boy, this is emotional, every time I see the show I break up.”

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“I never felt the warmth actually,” Riley deadpanned.

And so it went. Stories about how Wallace and Daily were not originally in the first pilot, stories about Wallace’s nervous breakdown and how the whole cast visited her in the hospital (which sounds like it could have been an episode itself). “If I had had it now, I would be on ‘The View’ with the Olsen twins and I’d have a three-picture deal,” Wallace said.

“If we keep this going this is going to be 35 years tonight,” said Pleshette. “People need to eat. They’re hungry. I’m hungry.”

“We still have a little time left,” the moderator said patiently.

Toward the end of the night, Newhart said that years ago he had been asked who would be the next Bob Newhart. “I said Jerry Seinfeld. I should have purchased stock.”

“You can’t be any richer,” Pleshette said. “Come on.”

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