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The Worst Episodes of The Bob Newhart Show

Every episode of The Bob Newhart Show ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst 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 April 1, 1978. Comedian Bob Newhart portrays a psychologist having to deal with his patients and fellow office workers. The show was filmed before a live audience.

Genre:Comedy
Network:CBS

Lowest Rated Episodes Summary

The worst episode of "The Bob Newhart Show" is "Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time", rated 6.3/10 from 110 user votes. It was directed by N/A and written by Jay Tarses. "Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time" aired on 11/15/1975 and is rated 0.0 point(s) lower than the second lowest rated, "Crisis in Education".

  • Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time
    6.3/10 110 votes

    #1 - Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

    Season 4 Episode 10 - Aired 11/15/1975

    Bob moves up in the world from the seventh to the tenth floor when he joins the firm of a swinging psychiatrist.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: Jay Tarses

  • Crisis in Education
    6.3/10 87 votes

    #2 - Crisis in Education

    Season 6 Episode 21 - Aired 3/11/1978

    At the school where Emily works, low reading scores prompt indignant outbursts and threats from angry parents. Principal Phil Bannister flees their wrath by going on an extended fishing trip—but not before he tells Emily to handle the crisis.

    Director: Peter Bonerz

    Writer: N/A

  • Jerry's Retirement
    6.5/10 97 votes

    #3 - Jerry's Retirement

    Season 5 Episode 10 - Aired 11/27/1976

    Bob defends the work ethic when Jerry comes into a pile of money and promptly retires from the dental profession.

    Director: Alan Myerson

    Writer: Hugh Wilson

  • It Didn't Happen One Night
    6.5/10 97 votes

    #4 - It Didn't Happen One Night

    Season 6 Episode 19 - Aired 2/18/1978

    Bob's friends close ranks to ""protect"" Emily Hartley when a handsome old flame pays her a very warm visit.

    Director: Dick Martin

    Writer: N/A

  • Here's Looking at You, Kid
    6.6/10 102 votes

    #5 - Here's Looking at You, Kid

    Season 4 Episode 2 - Aired 9/20/1975

    Howard insists on joining Bob and Emily's anniversary dinner at a fashionable Chicago restaurant in order to enlist their aid in popping the question to Ellen. But he chokes up in the clutch, and Bob is forced to do the proposing for him.

    Director: Peter Bonerz

    Writer: N/A

  • My Boy Guillermo
    6.7/10 98 votes

    #6 - My Boy Guillermo

    Season 4 Episode 19 - Aired 1/24/1976

    Jerry Robinson's depression turns to instant joy when a globe-trotting ex-flame suddenly re-enters his life and proposes.

    Director: Alan Myerson

    Writer: N/A

  • Duke of Dunk
    6.7/10 101 votes

    #7 - Duke of Dunk

    Season 4 Episode 20 - Aired 1/31/1976

    A professional basketball team hires Bob to give a psychological assist to its superstar.

    Director: Peter Bonerz

    Writer: N/A

  • My Son the Comedian
    6.7/10 87 votes

    #8 - My Son the Comedian

    Season 6 Episode 7 - Aired 11/12/1977

    It's no laughing matter for Howard when his 12 year old son Howie announces he's leaving home to become a comedian.

    Director: Dick Martin

    Writer: David Lloyd

  • No Sale
    6.8/10 95 votes

    #9 - No Sale

    Season 4 Episode 16 - Aired 1/3/1976

    Bob becomes his patient's partner in a get-rich-quick real-estate venture.

    Director: Eddie Ryder

    Writer: Michael Zinberg

  • Carol at 6:01
    6.8/10 98 votes

    #10 - Carol at 6:01

    Season 4 Episode 17 - Aired 1/10/1976

    Bob contends with a patient's delusion that her bingo game is fixed, staggers through a series of wild poker parties, and watches in wonder as his secretary slowly smothers under an attack of love.

    Director: Peter Bonerz

    Writer: N/A

  • Guaranteed Not to Shrink
    6.8/10 96 votes

    #11 - Guaranteed Not to Shrink

    Season 4 Episode 21 - Aired 2/7/1976

    Bob develops a unique psychological problem when his receptionist, Carol, decides to resume her college career and become a psychologist.

    Director: James Burrows

    Writer: N/A

  • Here's to You, Mrs. Robinson
    6.8/10 86 votes

    #12 - Here's to You, Mrs. Robinson

    Season 5 Episode 11 - Aired 12/4/1976

    Jerry, retired orthodontist and orphan, takes off on a world tour to search for his long-lost parents.

    Director: James Burrows

    Writer: N/A

  • The Mentor
    6.8/10 91 votes

    #13 - The Mentor

    Season 5 Episode 22 - Aired 3/5/1977

    A despondent friend accepts Bob's suggestion and turns the psychologist's reception area into a mini-Polynesian village.

    Director: Michael Zinberg

    Writer: N/A

  • Son of an Ex-Con Job
    6.8/10 90 votes

    #14 - Son of an Ex-Con Job

    Season 6 Episode 15 - Aired 1/21/1978

    Bob counsels a quintet of jovial ex-convicts to help them find honest employment.

    Director: Michael Zinberg

    Writer: N/A

  • Easy for You to Say
    6.8/10 90 votes

    #15 - Easy for You to Say

    Season 6 Episode 18 - Aired 2/11/1978

    Paul Billingham—known to his radio fans as Ralph Alfalfa, the Happy Farmer—comes to Bob because of his stuttering problem. On radio, he practiced several unseen rhythmic devices to mask his problem, but a new television opportunity threatens to expose his problem with disastrous results.

    Director: Dick Martin

    Writer: N/A

  • Father Knows Worst
    6.9/10 190 votes

    #16 - Father Knows Worst

    Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 11/4/1972

    Bob's divorced neighbor, Howard Borden, is convinced that his son, Howie, doesn't really like him. Later, Howard's ex-wife convinces him that Howie thinks he is the greatest guy in the world.

    Director: Alan Rafkin

    Writer: Jay Tarses

  • P-I-L-O-T
    6.9/10 182 votes

    #17 - P-I-L-O-T

    Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 11/18/1972

    Bob and Emily have been trying for some time to have a child. When they attend a party where the conversation turns to the subject of children, they feel so left out that they decide to adopt a child. This is a retooled version of the original pilot. In order for this episode to fit into the series, the office scenes had to be re-shot. Originally Jerry Robinson(Peter Bonerz) was a swinging Psychologist and shared office space with Bob. The characters of receptionist Carol Kester(Marcia Wallace) and patient Elliot Carlin(Jack Riley) were absent. In fact, the part of Bob's patient was played by the Orthodontist who worked upstairs. Bob and Emily also lived in a condo and Bob was head of the building association.

    Director: Jay Sandrich

    Writer: Lorenzo Music

  • A Matter of Vice-Principal
    6.9/10 97 votes

    #18 - A Matter of Vice-Principal

    Season 4 Episode 14 - Aired 12/13/1975

    Emily must contend with irate teachers, hamsters, and an escaped snake when she's unexpectedly upped to the position of school vice principal.

    Director: Peter Bonerz

    Writer: N/A

  • Send This Boy to Camp
    6.9/10 85 votes

    #19 - Send This Boy to Camp

    Season 5 Episode 7 - Aired 11/6/1976

    Bob and his friends host an orphan contingent for a wildly improbable camping-out experience.

    Director: Michael Zinberg

    Writer: David Lloyd

  • Halls of Hartley
    6.9/10 84 votes

    #20 - Halls of Hartley

    Season 5 Episode 17 - Aired 1/29/1977

    Bob succumbs to the pressures of living in a big city and desperately seeks employment of a small rural college.

    Director: James Burrows

    Writer: Michael Zinberg

  • Shrinking Violence
    6.9/10 92 votes

    #21 - Shrinking Violence

    Season 5 Episode 23 - Aired 3/12/1977

    Bob offers sound psychological advice to his wife and his therapy group on how to handle anger. Then he proceeds to blow up himself.

    Director: Peter Bonerz

    Writer: N/A

  • Grizzly Emily
    6.9/10 90 votes

    #22 - Grizzly Emily

    Season 6 Episode 14 - Aired 1/14/1978

    Emily Hartley discovers a new low in male chauvinism when Bob's father arranges a fishing trip to his cabin and assigns her woman's work while the men brave the great out-of-doors.

    Director: Peter Bonerz

    Writer: N/A

  • Home is Where the Hurt Is
    7.0/10 123 votes

    #23 - 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

  • Emily Hits the Ceiling
    7.0/10 108 votes

    #24 - 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

  • Taxation Without Celebration
    7.0/10 88 votes

    #25 - Taxation Without Celebration

    Season 5 Episode 20 - Aired 2/19/1977

    Bob's memory is taxed to the limit when he forgets that April 15 is the Federal income tax deadline—and also the date of the Hartleys' seventh wedding anniversary.

    Director: Peter Bonerz

    Writer: N/A