Bob Newhart dies aged 94 July 18, 2024
Bob Newhart, the American stand-up comedian and actor best known for his two eponymous sitcoms, has died at the age of 94.
Newhart’s long-time publicist, Jerry Digney, said the actor died Thursday after a series of short illnesses.
Newhart guest starred in 6 episodes of The Big Bang Theory as Arthur Jeffries, or Professor Proton, Sheldon’s childhood TV hero. Newhart won the only Emmy award of his career for his first appearance on the show. He received another two nominations for his work on the show.
When Newhart spoke to The Hollywood Reporter in 2013 ahead of his first appearance on The Big Bang Theory, he explained two things were important for him to agree to Chuck Lorre's invitation to appear on the show. First, that his scenes be shot in front of a live studio audience, as he was accustomed to. Second, that his character be a recurring part.
Newhart carried his role as Professor Proton over to The Big Bang Theory spin-off Young Sheldon, appearing in the pilot episode and lending his voice to a further three episodes. A 2020 episode of Young Sheldon was Bob Newhart's final credited role.
A former accountant, Bob Newhart rose to fame as a comedian in the '60s. Known for his deadpan style and stammering delivery, Newhart had hit comedy albums in 1960 with The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart and The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back! A comedy variety show on NBC followed the next year.
The first of Newhart’s two hit TV shows debuted in 1972 with The Bob Newhart Show, which aired for six seasons on CBS and was produced by Mary Tyler Moore’s company, MTM Enterprises. Newhart starred as Dr. Robert “Bob” Hartley, a Chicago psychologist married to Emily (Suzanne Pleshette).
His second hit sitcom was the simply titled Newhart, which ran for eight seasons on CBS from 1982 to 1990. Newhart and Mary Frann starred as an author and his wife who run the Stratford Inn in rural Vermont. The final scene, in which Newhart wakes up from a dream in bed with his first TV wife, Suzanne Pleshette, has made the finale one of the most memorable in TV history.
Newhart also had a third self-titled sitcom, Bob, which ran for two seasons on CBS from 1992 to 1993. Apart from The Big Bang Theory, Newhart’s TV appearances later in his career included multi-episode roles on ER, Desperate Housewives, and The Librarians. He also starred in a series of TV movies in The Librarian franchise.
Newhart’s most memorable film role is probably as Papa Elf in the 2003 Will Ferrell holiday comedy Elf, considered one of the few classic Christmas films released this century. His other film credits included In & Out, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, and Horrible Bosses.
Newhart’s wife of sixty years, Ginnie Newhart, died last year at the age of 82. Ginnie was reportedly the one who suggested ending Newhart by combining it with the earlier show.
Photos: Jim Parsons & Mayim Bialik in Young Sheldon finale May 10, 2024
Check out photos from the series finale of Young Sheldon, featuring Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik reprising their roles as Dr. Sheldon Cooper and Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler for the first time in five years.
This is the first time actors from The Big Bang Theory have physically appeared on Young Sheldon. Jim Parsons has been narrating the show since its inception, and Mayim Bialik and Simon Helberg have previously joined him in the narration booth.
Young Sheldon will conclude its seven-season run next Thursday, May 16 with two back-to-back episodes, “Funeral” and “Memoir”.
Young Sheldon premiered in 2017 and quickly became the top-rated new sitcom of the season. SinceThe Big Bang Theory ended in 2019, Young Sheldon has been the #1 sitcom on TV.
A new Young Sheldon spin-off, Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage, is set to take over the show’s time slot this fall. The series follows Sheldon’s older brother, Georgie (Montana Jordan), and his wife, Mandy (Emily Osment), as they raise their young daughter, CeeCee.
CBS unveils 2024/25 line-up, including Young Sheldon spin-off May 4, 2024
CBS has unveiled its schedule for the 2024/25 season, featuring a Young Sheldon spin-off centered on Georgie and Mandy, as Young Sheldon concludes its seven-season run.
Young Sheldon actors Montana Jordan and Emily Osment reprise their roles in Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage, which follows the titular couple as they raise their young family in Texas.
Jordan has portrayed Sheldon's older brother, Georgie, since Young Sheldon started in 2017. Osment initially guest-starred during the show's fifth season and later joined the cast for the subsequent two seasons. Additional cast members have not yet been announced.
The new spin-off is a multi-camera show filmed in front of an audience, like The Big Bang Theory. This is a departure from the single-camera format of Young Sheldon.
Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage will take over the Thursday 8/7c slot from Young Sheldon, and will be followed by the sitcom Ghosts at 8:30/7:30c. The new Kathy Bates drama series Matlock will air at 9/8c, with drama Elsbeth wrapping up the night at 10/9c.
Young Sheldon has occupied the Thursday 8/7c time slot since The Big Bang Theory ended in 2019. During this period, it also became the most-watched sitcom, a title previously held by The Big Bang Theory. The Big Bang Theory had aired in this slot since its fourth season in 2010.
CBS announced last year that Young Sheldon will conclude with its seventh season. The hour-long series finale will air Thursday, May 16, on CBS. The Big Bang Theory actors Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik will guest star in the two-part finale, marking the first physical appearances of TBBT actors on Young Sheldon.
Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik to appear in Young Sheldon finale March 6, 2024
Five years after The Big Bang Theory ended, Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik will reprise their roles as Sheldon and Amy in the series finale of Young Sheldon, the show's Instagram account revealed today.
Although Parsons is the regular narrator of Young Sheldon and Bialik has twice lent her voice to the show, no The Big Bang Theory actor has physically appeared on the show before.
CBS announced last year that Young Sheldon would be ending with its seventh season. The final season airs Thursdays at 8/7c on CBS, with an hour-long series finale set to air Thursday, May 16.
Following the lives of Sheldon and the Cooper family in Texas in the early '90s, Young Sheldon became the most-watched new sitcom when it launched in 2017. Since The Big Bang Theory ended its twelve-season run in 2019, Young Sheldon has ranked as the top-rated comedy on TV.
CBS has just announced a series order for a new spin-off of Young Sheldon, which will follow Sheldon's older brother Georgie (Montana Jordan) and his wife Mandy (Emily Osment) as they raise their family in Texas. The new show will be a multi-camera sitcom shot in front of an audience, like The Big Bang Theory.
Young Sheldon spin-off in development January 14, 2024
CBS is reportedly developing a spin-off from Young Sheldon which will follow Sheldon’s older brother Georgie and his fiancée Mandy, as Young Sheldon approaches its final season.
The new series is said to be a multi-camera show, filmed in front of a live audience like The Big Bang Theory, rather than the single-camera format of Young Sheldon. The new show is in development for the 2024/25 season, which begins in September. Meanwhile, Young Sheldon will conclude its seven-season run this May.
Launched in 2017 as a spin-off of The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon is set in East Texas during the early '90s. It follows the life of a young Sheldon Cooper as he starts high school and later college. After The Big Bang Theory ended its twelve-season run in 2019, Young Sheldon rose to the top, becoming the #1 network comedy and maintaining that position ever since.
The new show will star Montana Jordan as Georgie Cooper and Emily Osment as Mandy McAllister. Jordan has portrayed Sheldon's older brother since the show's inception in 2017, while Osment joined the cast in Season 6 after a recurring role in the fifth season. By the end of the sixth season, Georgie and Emily were engaged, following the birth of their daughter, Constance Cooper, affectionately referred to as CeeCee.
On The Big Bang Theory, Jerry O’Connell played Sheldon’s older brother Georgie in two episodes of Season 11. For the new spin-off, it's anticipated that any Cooper family members who make appearances would be portrayed by the Young Sheldon actors.
The new show is being developed by the executive producers of Young Sheldon, Chuck Lorre, Steve Molaro, and Steve Holland. Lorre and Molaro created Young Sheldon, and Holland serves as the current showrunner. The trio previously collaborated on The Big Bang Theory, which was co-created by Lorre.
The new project continues Chuck Lorre's long-standing collaboration with CBS. He's had at least one sitcom airing on the network every season since 2003/2004. The new project comes as both Young Sheldon and Bob Hearts Abishola are to conclude this year.
This new Georgie and Mandy spin-off is separate from the previously reported The Big Bang Theory spin-off which Chuck Lorre is developing for the streaming service Max. In November last year, Lorre told TV Line that this project was still in a "prenatal stage”.
Young Sheldon to end with its seventh season November 15, 2023
CBS has announced that Young Sheldon, a spin-off of The Big Bang Theory, will conclude with its upcoming seventh season.
The hour-long series finale of Young Sheldon is set to air Thursday, May 16 on CBS. Due to the recent actor and writer strikes, the seventh season will be shorter than usual, consisting of only 14 episodes. The seventh season premiere will air Thursday, February 15.
Young Sheldon is set in East Texas during the early ‘90s and chronicles the life of a young Sheldon Cooper as he begins high school and subsequently college.
Young Sheldon first aired in 2017 and ran concurrently with The Big Bang Theory for two seasons. After The Big Bang Theory concluded its twelve-season run in 2019, Young Sheldon rose to become the #1 network comedy, a position it has maintained ever since.
"Being able to tell the origin of Sheldon Cooper, and expanding the story to include the entire Cooper family has been a wonderful experience," said executive producers Steve Holland, Steven Molaro and Chuck Lorre. "We are grateful to our fans for embracing this chapter of the Coopers these past six seasons, and on behalf of the entire Young Sheldon family, we're excited to share this final season with you.”
Earlier this year, it was revealed by Warner Bros. that Chuck Lorre is developing a new spin-off of The Big Bang Theory for the streaming service Max. A recent update from Lorre indicates that the project is still in its early stages of development.
The Big Bang Theory spin-off in development April 12, 2023
A new The Big Bang Theory spin-off from producer Chuck Lorre is in the early stages of development for the streaming service Max, currently known as HBO Max.
No details were released about the plot or cast of the new series, which was teased as Warner Bros. Discovery unveiled its new combined streaming platform. Variety reports the show is believed to be an hour-long series with a predominantly new cast. The plot is said to be "derived from" The Big Bang Theory, which could potentially allow for guest appearances from the original series' cast.
This would be the second spin-off of The Big Bang Theory for Chuck Lorre after the launch of Young Sheldon in 2017. Now it in its sixth season on CBS, the sitcom follows the childhood of Sheldon Cooper as he starts high school and, later, college in East Texas. Reports earlier this year indicated the producers of Young Sheldon are considering whether the show will end with its seventh season in 2023/24, at the end of its current three-season deal.
Max is the name of the new combined streaming service of Warner Bros. Discovery, bringing together the studio content of Warner Bros. and unscripted content from Discovery, which launches on May 23. The Big Bang Theory has streamed exclusively on HBO Max in the United States since the service launched in May 2020.
The Big Bang Theory book released October 11, 2022
A new book providing the ultimate behind-the-scenes look at The Big Bang Theory's twelve-year run was released today. The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series is a 528-page oral history of the show based on over 120 hours of interviews with the cast, creators and producers of The Big Bang Theory.
Written by Jessica Radloff, a senior editor at Glamour who covered the show during its time on air and even made a cameo appearance in the series finale, the book was released to mark the fifteenth anniversary of The Big Bang Theory's premiere.
THE BIG BANG THEORY: THE DEFINITIVE, INSIDE STORY OF THE EPIC HIT SERIES is a riveting, entertaining look at the sitcom sensation, with the blessing and participation of co-creator Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, executive producer Steve Molaro and Steve Holland, as well as Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar, Melissa Rauch, Mayim Bialik, and more. Glamour senior editor Jessica Radloff, who has written over 150 articles on the series (and even had a cameo in the finale!), gives readers an all-access pass to its intrepid producing and writing team and beloved cast. It’s a story of on-and-off screen romance told in hilarious and emotional detail, of casting choices that nearly changed everything (which even some of the actors didn’t know until now), of cast members bravely powering through personal tragedies, and when it came time to announce the 12th season would be its last, the complicated reasons why it was more difficult than anyone ever led on. Through hundreds of hours of interviews with the sitcom’s major players, Radloff dives into all this and much more. The book is the ultimate celebration of this once-in-a-generation show and a must-have for all fans.
Check out excerpts from the book about Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco's real-life romance, the other actresses originally cast in the "Penny" role, and Kaley Cuoco's Season 8 hairstyle.
Buy The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series from Amazon.com
The Big Bang Theory book coming soon March 29, 2022
A definitive, behind-the-scenes book about The Big Bang Theory is set to be published in October. The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series is based on interviews with the entire cast, along with the creators, producers and executives behind the most popular sitcom of the last decade.
Written by Jessica Radloff, a Glamour writer who covered the show during its time on air and even had a cameo appearance in the series finale, the book is set to be released this fall to mark fifteen years since The Big Bang Theory premiered.
THE BIG BANG THEORY: THE DEFINITIVE, INSIDE STORY OF THE EPIC HIT SERIES is a riveting, entertaining look at the sitcom sensation, with the blessing and participation of co-creator Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, executive producer Steve Molaro and Steve Holland, as well as Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar, Melissa Rauch, Mayim Bialik, and more. Glamour senior editor Jessica Radloff, who has written over 150 articles on the series (and even had a cameo in the finale!), gives readers an all-access pass to its intrepid producing and writing team and beloved cast. It’s a story of on-and-off screen romance told in hilarious and emotional detail, of casting choices that nearly changed everything (which even some of the actors didn’t know until now), of cast members bravely powering through personal tragedies, and when it came time to announce the 12th season would be its last, the complicated reasons why it was more difficult than anyone ever led on. Through hundreds of hours of interviews with the sitcom’s major players, Radloff dives into all this and much more. The book is the ultimate celebration of this once-in-a-generation show and a must-have for all fans.
Pre-order The Big Bang Theory Book from Amazon
For more information about the writing of the book, check out Jessica Radloff's latest article for Glamour.
Simon Helberg to reprise role on Young Sheldon November 12, 2021
Simon Helberg will be reprising his role as Howard Wolowitz in the sound booth on Young Sheldon, reuniting with Jim Parsons who narrates the show as Adult Sheldon.
Helberg will lend his voice to the November 18 episode of Young Sheldon, An Introduction to Engineering and a Glob of Hair Gel, which will reveal the origin of Sheldon's long-held feelings of contempt for the field of engineering.
Previously, The Big Bang Theory's Mayim Bialik reprised her role as Amy Farrah Fowler in a fourth season narration, and Kaley Cuoco had an uncredited cameo as the voice of a swimming pool that was haunting Sheldon's dreams.