8.8/10243 votesLoading...#1 - Over the River and Through the Woods
Season 4 Episode 11 - Aired 11/22/1975
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.
Director: James Burrows
Writer: N/A
- 8.4/10118 votesLoading...
#2 - Death Be My Destiny
Season 5 Episode 19 - Aired 2/12/1977
Bob strikes out against a friend's fear of falling, but succumbs to the same phobia himself when he is subjected to a harrowing elevator experience.
Director: Michael Zinberg
Writer: N/A
- 8.3/10119 votesLoading...
#3 - Happy Trails to You
Season 6 Episode 22 - Aired 4/1/1978
Bob gives up his psychological practice in Chicago to become a professor at a small college in Oregon.
Director: Peter Bonerz, Michael Zinberg
Writer: Glen Charles, Les Charles, Lloyd Garver
- 8.1/1099 votesLoading...
#4 - 'Twas the Pie Before Christmas
Season 6 Episode 12 - Aired 12/24/1977
Bob finds himself with unhappy and hostile patients who refuse to attend his Christmas party when they are mistakenly informed of a rate increase at the height of the Yuletide season. One patient is moved to hire a pie-throwing service.
Director: Dick Martin
Writer: N/A
8.0/10290 votesLoading...#5 - Fly the Unfriendly Skies
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 9/16/1972
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.
Director: Jay Sandrich
Writer: Lorenzo Music
8.0/10147 votesLoading...#6 - Mister Emily Hartley
Season 2 Episode 8 - Aired 11/3/1973
Bob suffers an inferiority attack when a test reveals that Emily's IQ is higher than his.
Director: Jerry London
Writer: N/A
8.0/10125 votesLoading...#7 - T. S. Elliot
Season 2 Episode 14 - Aired 12/15/1973
Bob's patient Elliot Carlin parades all his phobias and insecurities as he prepares to ask Carol Kester for a date. He then finds it even harder to accept her answer—which is ""yes.""
Director: Peter Baldwin
Writer: Gerry Renert, Jeff Wilhelm
- 8.0/10117 votesLoading...
#8 - The Ceiling Hits Bob
Season 3 Episode 24 - Aired 3/8/1975
Bob becomes the ""oldest permanent psychologist in Chicago"" when the ceiling in his office collapses and he has to set up shop wherever he can find the space.
Director: Alan Rafkin
Writer: Jay Tarses
- 8.0/10108 votesLoading...
#9 - Caged Fury
Season 5 Episode 2 - Aired 10/2/1976
The Hartleys miss their friend's gala Fourth of July Bicentennial party celebration when they become trapped in a storage locker.
Director: Michael Zinberg
Writer: N/A
- 8.0/10102 votesLoading...
#10 - A Day in the Life
Season 6 Episode 6 - Aired 10/29/1977
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.
Director: Dick Martin
Writer: N/A
7.9/10128 votesLoading...#11 - Mutiny on the Hartley
Season 2 Episode 9 - Aired 11/10/1973
Bob decides to meet the rising cost of living by raising his rates. But the members of his therapy group revolt when he picks the most inappropriate moment to tell them.
Director: Peter Baldwin
Writer: Jay Tarses
- 7.9/10138 votesLoading...
#12 - An American Family
Season 3 Episode 11 - Aired 11/23/1974
Emily's plans for a wonderful turkey dinner go downhill when Bob's mother and Emily's father begin insulting one another the night before Thanksgiving.
Director: Peter Bonerz
Writer: N/A
- 7.9/10114 votesLoading...
#13 - My Business is Shrinking
Season 3 Episode 20 - Aired 2/1/1975
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.
Director: Alan Rafkin
Writer: Arnie Kogen
- 7.9/10121 votesLoading...
#14 - Death of a Fruitman
Season 4 Episode 3 - Aired 9/27/1975
Bob's patients observe tradition by planning a surprise party to honor the fourth year of the group's therapy sessions. When an unseen member, a Mr. Gianelli, threatens to turn the party into a disaster, Bob kicks him out of the group. His decision meets with instant group approval until Mr. Gianelli dies under a ton of zucchini.
Director: Peter Bonerz
Writer: Jay Tarses
- 7.9/10131 votesLoading...
#15 - Who is Mr. X?
Season 4 Episode 9 - Aired 11/8/1975
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.
Director: Peter Bonerz
Writer: N/A
- 7.9/10128 votesLoading...
#16 - Bob Has to Have His Tonsils Out, So He Spends Christmas Eve in the Hospital
Season 4 Episode 15 - Aired 12/20/1975
Christmas Eve finds Bob in the hospital with tonsillitis and an impending operation. Meanwhile, his friends are all suffering from an attack of Christmas-itis.
Director: James Burrows
Writer: Jay Tarses
- 7.9/10106 votesLoading...
#17 - Desperate Sessions
Season 5 Episode 21 - Aired 2/26/1977
Bob is held hostage in his office by a friendly bank robber.
Director: Dick Martin
Writer: Michael Zinberg
7.8/10173 votesLoading...#18 - Bob and Emily and Howard and Carol and Jerry
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 12/9/1972
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.
Director: Peter Baldwin
Writer: N/A
7.8/10180 votesLoading...#19 - His Busiest Season
Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 12/23/1972
Christmas becomes a sad memory for Bob's group therapy session, and it's evident that "'tis not the season"" for everyone to be jolly. Bob decides to invite the group over for Christmas Eve.
Director: Peter Baldwin
Writer: Lorenzo Music
7.8/10146 votesLoading...#20 - Somebody Down Here Likes Me
Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 10/6/1973
Rev. Dan Bradford seeks professional advice from Bob then makes a startling announcement in his Sunday sermon.
Director: Jerry London
Writer: Peter Meyerson
7.8/10130 votesLoading...#21 - The Modernization of Emily
Season 2 Episode 17 - Aired 1/12/1974
Emily decides to update her image with a kicky new wardrobe that she says is youthful and Bob says is childish.
Director: Peter Baldwin
Writer: N/A
7.8/10127 votesLoading...#22 - The Jobless Corps
Season 2 Episode 18 - Aired 1/19/1974
Depressed after losing his job with the airline, Howard accepts Bob's offer to join his ""out of workshop,"" a special therapy group for the unemployed. (Bob extends the invitation at Emily's insistence when Howard's attempts to help her around the apartment begin driving her up the wall.)
Director: Peter Baldwin
Writer: Jay Tarses
7.8/10133 votesLoading...#23 - Clink Shrink
Season 2 Episode 19 - Aired 1/26/1974
Hoping to make a contribution to society, Bob offers his psychological counseling services free to a parolee out on an armed-robbery conviction. But Bob seems to be more influenced by his patient's manner than the patient is by Bob's therapy.
Director: Peter Bonerz
Writer: Howard Storm
7.7/10227 votesLoading...#24 - Tracy Grammar School, I'll Lick You Yet
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 9/23/1972
It's Vocation Day in Emily's class, and Bob feels left out when he's not invited. At the last minute, he's asked to fill in, but Emily's worst fears are confirmed when Bob fails to excite the kids' interest.
Director: Jay Sandrich
Writer: Carl Gottlieb
7.7/10148 votesLoading...#25 - Last TV Show
Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 9/15/1973
Bob's therapy group insists that he accept an invitation for the group to conduct one of its weekly sessions on television.
Director: Jay Sandrich
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of The Bob Newhart Show
Every episode of The Bob Newhart Show ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of The Bob Newhart Show!
The Bob Newhart Show is an American situation comedy produced by MTM Enterprises, which aired 142 original episodes on CBS from September 16, 1972, to...
Genre:Comedy
Network:CBS
Best Episodes Summary
"Over the River and Through the Woods" is the best rated episode of "The Bob Newhart Show". It scored 8.8/10 based on 243 votes. Directed by James Burrows and written by N/A, it aired on 11/22/1975. This episode scored 0.4 points higher than the second highest rated, "Death Be My Destiny".