Bob Newhart and Football

I don’t care a lick about football. In fact, I found doing the least amount of research I could get away with for this blog post made me sleepy and lethargic. BUT… I can’t deny that it’s important and needed in our society. People need entertainment. And if they prefer their muscle bound men clad in skin-tight uniforms to be on the football field rather than in the pages of a comic book, so be it.

Football popped up in my cultural time machine recently. We were watching an episode of the Bob Newhart show from the early seventies. Bob and his buddy Jerry and his wife Emily were dealing with the 'new thing' that was plaguing marriages across the nation. Monday Night Football.

The episode originally aired in November of 1972. Wikipedia says that Monday night football started in fall of 1970. So perhaps it wasn't the most timely of topics for ol' Bob to tackle or maybe there were other factors in play that I'm not aware of. But the characters in the show were talking about the idea of football on Monday night to be a new and wondrous thing. It was even mentioned that Monday used to be the most depressing day of the week, but now there was something to look forward to.

Bob's wife Emily was none-too-pleased to find her husband and his pal littering her couch on a Monday night. She felt obligated to serve dinner and provide for the men. It's... interesting.


I find the culture of the show to be a strong time machine. The fashion's are a straight on disaster and the issues that Bob and Emily go through simply don't exist today. Emily frets about serving the men dinner. Emily frets about not spending time with her husband and being bored about football. Bob seems caught between two ideologies. There's the idea of being able to watch what he wants to watch when he'd like to watch it and with who while in his own home. And there's the idea of being sensitive to the needs of another human being who he's given his word to honor and cherish for the rest of his life. The two struggle for a middle ground and in true sitcom fashion, find a resolution.

One of the interesting elements of the episode is that Bob and Emily have a rule about their fights.... and it's that they won't go to bed angry. So, again in true sitcom fashion, they're up all night. It's a good thought in that it's based in the foundation of fostering communication.

I was too young in the early seventies to know anything about women's lib. And my own mother was devoutly against it because it didn't adhere to a 'Leave it to Beaver' acknowledgment of what the world should be like. But it's interesting to see Bob and Emily bring this to life for my entertainment and education with a culture historical milestone like the onset of Monday Night Football. At the time the show was trying to be timely. And in today's viewing it ends up being a time machine to another culture. Exactly the kind of thing I love.

My wife Lorie, however, is less than impressed with the show. She finds it boring and repetitive. So your mileage may vary.

Thanks,
DCD