Bob Newhart Special to Celebrate Late Comedian’s Legacy of Laughter

Bye, Bob. On Monday, July 22nd, CBS will present Bob Newhart: A Legacy of Laughter, a one-hour special honoring the comedic legend and entertainment icon who died on July 18 at age 94. The Nischelle Turner-hosted Entertainment Tonight special airs from 8:00—9:00 p.m. ET/PT on the CBS Television Network and simulcast live on Paramount+ (for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers), and will be available to watch on-demand on the service starting July 23rd. The tribute honors the late comedian with a look back at his 70-year career and features never-before-seen interviews, including Newhart’s final interview from his home in Los Angeles.

Bob Newhart: A Legacy of Laughter takes an in-depth look at Newhart’s journey from accountant to comedian to Hollywood icon, with rarebehind-the-scenes footage of Bob on the set of his sitcoms and featurefilms from the ET vault.

New andarchival interviews with some of Newhart’s closest friends and co-stars include Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory), Will Ferrell (Elf), Reese Witherspoon (Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde), Jason Bateman (Horrible Bosses), and Michael Weatherly (NCIS). The show takes an intimate look inside Bob’spersonal life and hismarriage to the love of his life, Ginnie, withnewly revealed storiesabout how he changed American culture throughcomedy. 

The network aired The Ed Sullivan Show, which featured the stand-up comedian on his rise to stardom, and The Entertainers, the variety show Newhart hosted with Caterina Valente and Carol Burnett. CBS was home to The Bob Newhart Show, the long-running sitcom starring Newhart as Chicago-based psychiatrist Dr. Bob Hartley, and The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon, which featured Newhart as Arthur Jeffries and his alter ego, TV entertainer Professor Proton. 

Known for his deadpanand stammering delivery style, Newhart started his career as a stand-up comedian before transitioning his career to acting in television. He received numerousaccolades, including three Grammy Awards for his comedy albums The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart and The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back!, an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his fan-favorite role on The Big Bang Theory, and a GoldenGlobe Award for his self-titled sitcom. He received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in2002.

Newhart came to prominence in 1960 when his record album of comedicmonologues, The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart, became a bestseller andreached number one on the Billboard pop album chart; it remains the20th-best-selling comedy album in history. The follow-up album, TheButton-Down Mind Strikes Back! was also a success, and the two albumsheld the Billboard number one and number two spots simultaneously.A 2020 episode of the Big Bang Theory spinoff Young Sheldon marked Newhart’s last television credit.