7.1/10132 votes#1 - Big Brother is Watching
Season 3 Episode 1 - Aired 9/14/1974
Bob is faced with the possibility that his younger sister, Ellen, may move in with Howard, her boyfriend.
Director: Robert Moore
Writer: N/A
- 7.6/10129 votes
#2 - The Battle of the Groups
Season 3 Episode 2 - Aired 9/21/1974
Bob takes two of his therapy groups to a rustic retreat for a marathon session that never progresses further than everyone's complaints about the primitive conditions of their accommodations.
Director: Alan Rafkin
Writer: Jay Tarses
- 7.6/10126 votes
#3 - The Great Rimpau Medical Arts Co-Op Experiment
Season 3 Episode 3 - Aired 9/28/1974
Dr Newman removed a wart from Bob's neck and charged him. Bob tells Jerry he should have done it for free since Bob had helped him with his marriage. Jerry agrees and sets up a plan where all the doctors treat each other for free.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.7/10113 votes
#4 - The Separation Story
Season 3 Episode 4 - Aired 10/5/1974
For the sake of their marriage—as well as Emily's Master's Degree and Bob's heavy work schedule—the Hartleys decide that it would be best if they took up separate residences.
Director: Peter Bonerz
Writer: Jay Tarses
- 7.1/10123 votes
#5 - Sorry, Wrong Mother
Season 3 Episode 5 - Aired 10/12/1974
As Howard prepares to introduce Howie to Ellen, he tries to remold Ellen into an image the boy will like.
Director: Jay Sandrich
Writer: N/A
- 7.5/10123 votes
#6 - The Gray Flannel Shrink
Season 3 Episode 6 - Aired 10/19/1974
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.
Director: Peter Bonerz
Writer: Jerry Mayer
- 7.7/10121 votes
#7 - Dr. Ryan's Express
Season 3 Episode 7 - Aired 10/26/1974
Bob's office routine becomes a wreck when Jerry hires a temporary receptionist. She's a very nice but very vague woman who can't even get Bob's name straight.
Director: Alan Rafkin
Writer: Jay Tarses
- 7.7/10111 votes
#8 - Brutally Yours, Bob Hartley
Season 3 Episode 8 - Aired 11/2/1974
Having preached honesty in relationships to his patients, Bob decides to follow his own advice. Immediately he offends two dinner guests and starts an argument with Emily.
Director: Alan Rafkin
Writer: John Rappaport
- 7.6/10111 votes
#9 - Ship of Shrinks
Season 3 Episode 9 - Aired 11/9/1974
Bob's first literary venture turns out to be less than triumphant. His embarrassment makes him reluctant to join a convention of psychologists on a flight to Hawaii, especially when he finds out that Howard is the navigator.
Director: Alan Rafkin
Writer: Geoffrey Neigher
- 7.2/10110 votes
#10 - Life is a Hamburger
Season 3 Episode 10 - Aired 11/16/1974
Carol's announcement that she's going to marry Don Fesler—an unpublished poet with bad feet—brings negative reactions from her friends.
Director: George Tyne
Writer: Jerry Mayer
- 8.0/10137 votes
#11 - 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
- 7.4/10119 votes
#12 - We Love You... Good-Bye
Season 3 Episode 12 - Aired 11/30/1974
Bob forms an all-women consciousness-raising group. He gets kicked out after Emily joins and inadvertently points out some of the unliberated areas in their own marriage.
Director: Peter Bonerz
Writer: N/A
- 7.2/10113 votes
#13 - Jerry Robinson Crusoe
Season 3 Episode 13 - Aired 12/7/1974
After renewing an acquaintance with the beautiful and free-spirited Courtney Simpson, Jerry decides to give up his dental practice: he wants to follow his dreams of romance and adventure by taking Miss Simpson to Tahiti.
Director: Alan Rafkin
Writer: Erik Tarloff
- 7.4/10116 votes
#14 - Serve for Daylight
Season 3 Episode 14 - Aired 12/14/1974
Bob thinks his chances of winning a doctor's tennis tournament are pretty good until he learns that his doubles partner will be Emily.
Director: Alan Rafkin
Writer: Jerry Mayer
- 7.0/10127 votes
#15 - Home is Where the Hurt Is
Season 3 Episode 15 - Aired 12/21/1974
Facing the depressing prospect of returning home to Iowa to spend the holidays with her domineering parents, Carol brings her troubles to Bob's apartment. There she spends Christmas Eve pouring out the disasters of her childhood.
Director: Alan Rafkin
Writer: Jay Tarses
- 7.5/10117 votes
#16 - Tobin's Back in Town
Season 3 Episode 16 - Aired 1/4/1975
Ellen's ex-fiancee, John Tobin—a tall, handsome egomaniac in suede and leather—arrives in Chicago to win Ellen back. The situation plays havoc with Howard's basic insecurities.
Director: Peter Bonerz
Writer: Michael Zinberg
- 7.1/10113 votes
#17 - Think Smartly--Vote Hartley
Season 3 Episode 17 - Aired 1/11/1975
Before he has a chance to say no, Bob finds himself running for the chairman of the local school board against an incumbent who hasn't attended a board meeting for six months.
Director: N/A
Writer: Geoffrey Neigher
- 7.5/10113 votes
#18 - The Way We Weren't
Season 3 Episode 18 - Aired 1/18/1975
Emily is more than a little curious about Bob's reluctance to talk about a girl he used to date. Then Howard inadvertently spills the beans.
Director: James Burrows
Writer: N/A
- 7.4/10110 votes
#19 - A Pound of Flesh
Season 3 Episode 19 - Aired 1/25/1975
Bob and Jerry have a falling-out when Jerry demands that Bob lend him money for a new motorcycle.
Director: Alan Rafkin
Writer: Jerry Mayer
- 7.9/10114 votes
#20 - 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
- 7.7/10112 votes
#21 - The New Look
Season 3 Episode 21 - Aired 2/8/1975
Emily redecorates the apartment in antiques. Bob finds her choice of furniture uncomfortable, unappealing, and hazardous to his health.
Director: Peter Bonerz
Writer: N/A
- 7.5/10113 votes
#22 - Bob Hits the Ceiling
Season 3 Episode 22 - Aired 2/15/1975
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.
Director: Jay Sandrich
Writer: N/A
- 7.0/10110 votes
#23 - Emily Hits the Ceiling
Season 3 Episode 23 - Aired 2/22/1975
Emily agrees to help operate a children's summer camp and tries to persuade Bob to be one of the counselors.
Director: James Burrows
Writer: Jerry Mayer
- 8.0/10115 votes
#24 - 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
The Best Episodes of The Bob Newhart Show Season 3
Every episode of The Bob Newhart Show Season 3 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The Bob Newhart Show Season 3!
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
Season 3 Ratings Summary
"Big Brother is Watching" is the best rated episode of "The Bob Newhart Show" season 3. It scored 7.1/10 based on 132 votes. Directed by Robert Moore and written by N/A, it aired on 9/14/1974. This episode is rated 0.5 points higher than the second-best, "The Battle of the Groups".