Bob Newhart is Dr. Robert Hartley, a Chicago psychologist living with his schoolteacher wife Emily. Complicating life for the serene, stammering doc was his neighbor, Howard, a flighty navigator; and Bob's coworkers, dentist Jerry and flippant receptionist Carol. The humor was gentle, sophisticated and, at times, wonderfully surreal.
The Hartleys miss their friend's gala Fourth of July Bicentennial party celebration when they become trapped in a storage locker.
Bob's well-ordered life turns topsy-turvy when he and Emily move to a new Chicago residence.
Bob and Emily suffer international complications when they host a French psychologist in their home as part of a medical exchange program.
Bob is upset when Emily takes a full-time job with the Board of Education. Emily explains that working full-time makes her feel wonderful, while quitting would make her miserable. Bob decides to leave well enough alone.
Bob accepts a seemingly innocent invitation to appear as the guest on a TV discussion program. He winds up in the jaws of a dilemma when the show host turns out to have the disposition of a shark.
Bob undergoes a shock when his mother announces that she has separated from his father after 47 years of marriage.
Bob and Emily try to decide if they should give up their apartment and buy a house.
Bob refuses to wear the beautiful gold watch Emily gave him for his 40th birthday after he learns just how expensive it was.
The Hartleys are bombarded with legal hassles when Bob is sued by a shy patient and Emily decides to fight a parking ticket.
Bob wants to watch football every Monday night. Emily feels this is unfair: their other activities allow the couple only two nights each week to be together, and she thinks they should do something that they both enjoy. This leads to an unresolved, all-night argument that ends only when the two participants become exhausted.
Bob decides that for his own mental well-being, he needs some peace and quiet. He moves into a hotel room by himself, leaving a confused Howard Borden thinking that Bob and Emily have split up.
The Hartleys embark on a seagoing vacation to put work behind them. But Bob can't resist playing psychologist when he undertakes to counsel a married couple.
When a star pitcher for the Chicago Cubs credits Bob with saving his career, the endorsement brings Bob a new patient, Moose Washburn, a second-string player whose career is beyond a mere psychologist's help.
Bob's impulsive decision to leave town for a week is received with disastrous emotions by his patients, who seemingly can't make it without him.
Bob succumbs to the pressures of living in a big city and desperately seeks employment of a small rural college.
Bob invites Emily to join his fear of flying group on a trip to New York City. Much to Bob's surprise he finds that Emily also has a fear of flying and refuses to go. After a conversation with Howard she decides to go only to back out after boarding the plane.
It's a stag Thanksgiving for Bob when Emily flies off to join a family reunion, leaving Bob to share the holiday with his male buddies.
Bob's therapy group has an unexpected visitor when a friendly homosexual joins in the sessions.
Marilyn Dietz, a very attractive divorcee, creates a feud between Jerry and Howard when she starts dating both of them.
Bob turns amateur detective when he believes that his expensive tape recorder has been stolen.
Bob experiences pangs of jealousy when Emily's handsome new tennis instructor comes to see him with an emotional problem, namely, his inability to turn down the women who are all uncontrollably attracted to him.
The Hartleys take a vacation. In their absence, Howard undergoes a crash psychological program that changes his entire personality.
Bob gives up most of his private practice to become the staff psychologist with a major insurance company. He soon learns that it's possible for a man in the corporate world to do his job too well.
Bob deals with the amusing problems of an improbable paternity suit and a phone paging service that never pages him.
Howard "floats" into Bob's office on Cloud Nine after having a tooth pulled. He is so poetic that Carol tells Emily, "I want him." Emily agrees to help Carol get him, and the two have an up-and-down romance.
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