A Late-Started Look at Newhart’s “Off the Record” Comedy Cosmic Spikes: Memory of a GREAT COMEDICAL FUNDAMENT
The best way to understand how a “button-down” office drone became so popular on TV is to watch this comedy special, in which Newhart revisits some of his earliest stand-up routines. At the time, these bits were over 30 years old, but they still — even today — get laughs. “Off the Record” shows one of the best-ever comics doing his thing: delivering one side of ludicrous phone calls and chats while giving the audience just enough information to imagine what is happening on the other end. Newhart is known for doing his bits about ordinary schmoes in special situations such as working with Abe Lincoln or crossing paths with King Kong. Rent or buy it on Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu or YouTube.
In the early 1960s, Newhart used his understanding of the comedy clubs to make his career as a variety show guest and host. He then played variations on his stand-up character in two hit sitcoms: “The Bob Newhart Show” through much of the ’70s and “Newhart,” which ran from 1982 to 1990.
That story is exaggerated. Newhart was a long-time employee of advertising and worked in accounting as long as he was. It is true, though, that Newhart rocketed to the top because he innately understood a certain midcentury Middle American type: the meek and anxious Everyman, overwhelmed by a world that sometimes seems deeply weird.
His comedy routines were back in concert by the 21st century, and he was doing his beloved shtick in the movies. Here are six of Newhart’s most memorable performances, all available to stream:
He did not show anger or curse on stage. His style was not threatening or aggressive. He was a cheerful sloth-paced delivery and paused, gradually, meticulously working his way through a sentence, his defining trait as compared to motormouth peers like Lenny Bruce. He was not part of the great branch of American humor, the legacies of Jewish or Black comedy. A Roman Catholic from the west side of Chicago, Newhart came off as an entirely respectable example of Midwestern nice.