Bob (TV series)

Bob
Genre	Comedy
Created by	Bill Steinkellner Cherie Steinkellner Phoef Sutton
Written by	Mark Evanier Phoef Sutton
Directed by	Dick Martin Andrew D. Weyman
Starring	Bob Newhart Carlene Watkins Cynthia Stevenson John Cygan Michael Cumpsty Andrew Bilgore Timothy Fall Ruth Kobart Lisa Kudrow Tom Poston Dorothy Lyman Christine Dunford Dick Martin Betty White Jere Burns Megan Cavanaugh Eric Allan Kramer
Country of origin	USA
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	33
Production
Executive producer(s)	Bill Steinkellner Cherie Steinkellner Phoef Sutton
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	Steinkellners & Sutton Paramount Television
Distributor	CBS Television Distribution
Release
Original network	CBS
Original release	September 18, 1992 – December 27, 1993
Chronology
Preceded by	Newhart

Bob is an American short-lived sitcom which aired on CBS from September 18, 1992 to December 27, 1993 with a total of 33 half-hour episodes spanning over two seasons. It was the third starring vehicle sitcom for Bob Newhart, and proved to be far less successful than The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart, his previous outings with the network. Bill Steinkellner, Cheri Steinkellner, and Phoef Sutton comprised the creative writing team behind the show. The series was produced by Paramount Television.

Newhart portrayed Bob McKay, the creator of the 1950s comic book superhero "Mad-Dog". Mad-Dog was a casualty of the Comics Code Authority, a real-life self-regulation authority formed to assuage concerns over violence and gore in comics in the 1950s. In the wake of the CCA, Bob became a greeting card artist, and years later Mad-Dog is revived when the American-Canadian Trans-Continental Communications Company buys the rights to the series. Complications ensued when Ace Comics head Harlan Stone (John Cygan) insisted Mad-Dog should be a bloodthirsty vigilante rather than the hero Bob originally created. Bob initially turned down Harlan's offer to revive the series with the publisher, but after his wife, Kaye (Carlene Watkins), reminded Bob that Mad-Dog would never give up dreams in the face of defeat, he decided to compromise with Harlan on creative direction, and the two became a team.

On the personal side, Bob and Kaye had been married for over 25 years; Kaye was loyal and sensible, and a busy career woman herself (although she nearly quit her job in the pilot, especially after seeing the estimated figure Bob would pull in yearly from the revival of Mad-Dog). Also creating havoc in Bob's life was his grown daughter Trisha (Cynthia Stevenson), who bemoaned her perpetually single state. Other members of the comics staff included Albie Lutz (Andrew Bilgore), a klutzy gofer with low self-esteem; Chad Pfefferle (Timothy Fall), a spaced-out cartoon inker; and curmudgeonly Iris Frankel (Ruth Kobart), an old-timer artist at the office who worked with Bob in his early days (she still called him "Bobby McKay"). Seen occasionally in the beginning, but receiving increased screen time as the series progressed were Trisha's best friend, Kathy Fleisher (Lisa Kudrow); Kathy's parents Patty (Dorothy Lyman) and Jerry (Tom Poston), a fellow comic book writer alumnus who created "The Silencer"; Shayla (Christine Dunford), Harlan's on-and-off girlfriend; and Buzz Loudermilk, as played by legendary Dick Martin (a regular director on the series), a friend of Bob's, creator of "Katie Carter, Army Nurse," and a mature ladies' man. Other Ace Comics titles included Blue Streak, Heat the She-Wolf, Lady Minerva, Mazza the She-Devil, Oyster Boy, Sex Cats, Tiny Silver Hands, Z-Man and Boing-Boing, and The New Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Ace's best-selling title, much to Harlan's chagrin.

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