The BEST Episodes of The Bob Newhart Show
Every episode ever - ranked by fan votes!
Last Updated: Jul 7, 2020
Network: CBS
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.
#1 - It Didn't Happen One Night
Season 6 - Episode 19 - Aired Feb 18, 1978
Bob's friends close ranks to "protect" Emily Hartley when a handsome old flame pays her a very warm visit.
8.25 
#2 - Who is Mr. X?
Season 4 - Episode 9 - Aired Nov 8, 1975
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.
8.10 #3 - Breaking Up is Hard to Do
Season 5 - Episode 12 - Aired Dec 11, 1976
Bob undergoes a shock when his mother announces that she has separated from his father after 47 years of marriage.
8.00 #4 - Bob's Change of Life
Season 6 - Episode 1 - Aired Sep 24, 1977
Bob's well-ordered life turns topsy-turvy when he and Emily move to a new Chicago residence.
8.00 
#5 - Emily, I'm Home... Emily?
Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired Feb 17, 1973
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.
7.96 #6 - Freudian Ship
Season 6 - Episode 13 - Aired Jan 7, 1978
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.
7.94 
#7 - A Home is Not Necessarily a House
Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired Feb 10, 1973
Bob and Emily try to decide if they should give up their apartment and buy a house.
7.89 
#8 - Don't Go to Bed Mad
Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired Nov 11, 1972
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.
7.89 
#9 - The Man with the Golden Wrist
Season 1 - Episode 17 - Aired Jan 20, 1973
Bob refuses to wear the beautiful gold watch Emily gave him for his 40th birthday after he learns just how expensive it was.
7.88 #10 - Caged Fury
Season 5 - Episode 2 - Aired Oct 2, 1976
The Hartleys miss their friend's gala Fourth of July Bicentennial party celebration when they become trapped in a storage locker.
7.88 
#11 - I Want to Be Alone
Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired Dec 2, 1972
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.
7.87 
#12 - Over the River and Through the Woods
Season 4 - Episode 11 - Aired Nov 22, 1975
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.
7.83 #13 - A Crime Most Foul
Season 5 - Episode 8 - Aired Nov 13, 1976
Bob turns amateur detective when he believes that his expensive tape recorder has been stolen.
7.83 
#14 - You Can Win 'Em All
Season 1 - Episode 22 - Aired Feb 24, 1973
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.
7.81 #15 - Halls of Hartley
Season 5 - Episode 17 - Aired Jan 29, 1977
Bob succumbs to the pressures of living in a big city and desperately seeks employment of a small rural college.
7.80 #16 - A Day in the Life
Season 6 - Episode 6 - Aired Oct 29, 1977
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.
7.80 
#17 - My Business is Shrinking
Season 3 - Episode 20 - Aired Feb 1, 1975
With his confidence fading as fast as his list of patients, Bob decides to follow Emily's advice and see a psychiatrist about his problem.
7.78 
#18 - Fly the Unfriendly Skies
Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired Sep 16, 1972
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.
7.75 
#19 - Shrinks Across the Sea
Season 4 - Episode 7 - Aired Oct 25, 1975
Bob and Emily suffer international complications when they host a French psychologist in their home as part of a medical exchange program.
7.70 
#20 - Tennis, Emily?
Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired Sep 30, 1972
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.
7.66 
#21 - Bob Hits the Ceiling
Season 3 - Episode 22 - Aired Feb 15, 1975
Bob breaks a long-standing rule against treating friends when he agrees to counsel Emily's chum, whose marriage to a muscular gym teacher seems to be breaking up.
7.63 #22 - Still Crazy After All These Years
Season 5 - Episode 4 - Aired Oct 16, 1976
The Hartleys take a vacation. In their absence, Howard undergoes a crash psychological program that changes his entire personality.
7.62 #23 - Carlin's New Suit
Season 6 - Episode 5 - Aired Oct 22, 1977
Bob deals with the amusing problems of an improbable paternity suit and a phone paging service that never pages him.
7.60 
#24 - The Gray Flannel Shrink
Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired Oct 19, 1974
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.
7.59 
#25 - Mom, I L-L-Love You
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired Oct 7, 1972
Bob finds it extremely difficult to tell his mother that he loves her.
7.58