AN AMERICAN FAMILY

The Bob Newhart Show

Season 3 (1974)

When I was on the phone with my mom recently she asked, with genuine concern in her voice, “You are going to write about Bob Newhart for the blog, right?”  Clearly holiday TV mania springs from somewhere.  Along with the Catholic trinity in my childhood household there was the Classic TV Quartet: Lucy, Mary, Dick & Bob.  We were on a first name basis with all of them, especially around the holidays when we watched and re-watched episodes of I Love Lucy, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Bob Newhart Show.

When it came to Thanksgiving The Bob Newhart Show was definitely on top.  Bob Newhart brought us one of TV’s most famous Thanksgiving episodes “Over the River and Through the Woods,” aka “Moo-Goo-Gai-Pan.”  But rather than sing the praises of this already beloved episode I decided to feature my personal favorite of the show’s several Thanksgiving offerings, “An American Family.”

Beware in-laws bearing turkeys

In this lesser known but even more Thanksgiving-centric episode Bob’s parents are coming to spend the holiday with the Hartleys.  Bob’s mother Martha is a Type-A perfectionist who has Emily in a cleaning frenzy and everyone running around making sure all of the Hartley family Thanksgiving traditions are carried out (including coffee with eggshells?!).  When Emily’s boisterous father Junior and her mother show up announced, with a giant turkey with them, Martha wages passive-aggressive war.  It doesn’t help that Junior snatches an apple and thereby ruins her cornucopia.   Which in hindsight sounds sort of euphemistic but I’m really just talking an actual cornucopia.  

Photographic evidence of the cornucopia

On Thanksgiving Day both sets of parents are no-shows but end up colliding anyway when they stop by for dessert.  Bob’s father helps make peace by acknowledging both Martha and Junior’s faults and everyone sits down to a second meal.

Like her descendant Emily Gilmore, Martha is the type of tireless, bitchy, Miss Manners that I can really get behind.  Her not-so-subtle quips are a joy throughout the episode as are hearing about the Hartley family traditions, including Pilgrims made from “cranberries damp from the bog,” Indian corn on the door and an “H” carved from butter.  And I’ve always loved the tried-but-true sitcom trope of clashing traditions.  Which kind of stuffing your family prefers and when you open your Christmas presents are to me essential indicators of your truest nature.

We miss you, Marcia

I also have to swing the spotlight on Marcia Wallace, who of course played Carol, and passed away just last month.  She has only a small role in this episode: she brings a spinach soufflé that ends up spilled inside her car and also wears a really fabulous coat.  But even with a small role she manages to be warm and funny and this Thanksgiving I'm grateful for the years of television goodness she provided us with.

So never fear Mom; you raised me well!  It just wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without good ole’ Bob.

The Menu: Two Turkeys, Chestnut & Oyster Stuffing, Spinach Soufflé, Mincemeat Pie & Coffee with Eggshells

Thanksgiving Quotient: We’re ending on a high note with a solid 5!

See It, Skip It, Own It?

Run out and buy all of the available seasons of The Bob Newhart Show on DVD in the hopes that the boost in sales will get them to release the last few seasons!