(This updates the obit/appreciation that I posted earlier)
There’s a logical question people ask: “What’s (so-and-so) really like?”
Often, there’s no good answer, but for Bob Newhart – who died Thursday (July 19), at 94 – it’s simple: He’s exactly like … well, Bob Newhart.
Few people have had so much success wrapping a stage personality around a real one. He kept playing a quiet Midwestern accountant, surrounded by a noisier world. Read more…
1) “D.I. Ray’ season-finale,, 10 p.m., PBS. Slowly and solemnly, this season has unfolded two stories. Ray (Parminder Nagra, shown here, best-known for “ER”) has probed a murder involving two crime families, plus an internal story, involving a police conspiracy. Now both end solidly. Read more…
1) Olympics begin, Saturday and Sunday. In a bold change, every event will be shown live (via NBC, USA, Peacock, etc.), despite a difference of six hours ET, nine PT. NBC also repackages the day, from 8-11 p.m. Track and field wait until Aug. 1, but others start now, including gymnastics, basketball and medals in swimming (shown here) and diving. Read more…
The Bob Newhart tributes are expanding now, sprawling through the weekend and into Monday evening.
Newhart died Thursday at 94 Newly added are:
— A three-hour burst at 8 p.m. Sunday on TBS, with six “Big Bang Theory” episodes that have Newhart as Professor Proton, Sheldon’s TV hero.
— A documentary hour at 8 p.m. Monday on CBS. “Bob Newhart: A Legacy of Laughter” includes clips, plus comments from Jim Parsons, Will Ferrell, Reese Witherspoon, Jason Bateman and Michael Weatherly. Read more…
