Monday, January 21, 2008
THE SUPPORTING CAST
So I survived missing the Patriots game to see “Young Frankenstein.” (Though I did call my brother at intermission to get the score.)
The show was fun, the principal stars (Roger Bart, Megan Mullally) were in fine form, though an understudy did assume one of the key roles.
Her name, according to the program, is Christina Marie Norrup (left). She played “Inga,” Freddie Frankenstein’s “able” assistant. I googled her (which felt like stalking), and discovered that while she’s been around a while, she hasn’t done all that much we’d know about. Judging by her credits, I may never see her in anything ever again.
But she was a terrific singer and dancer, and I didn’t feel that I had missed anything by having her assume the role. She, as a supporting actress, certainly enhanced the show.
An hour later, I learned that another supporting actress who certainly enhanced the show she was most famous for had died.
What would “The Bob Newhart Show” have been without Suzanne Pleshette?
For that matter, what kind of actor would the stand-up comedian have been without Suzanne Pleshette to play off of?
The answer to both questions, I suspect, would be, “not much.”
That original Newhart show was part of a fabulous Saturday night lineup of CBS sitcoms in the early-to-mid ‘70’s. Yes, people used to watch television on Saturday nights. And those sitcoms, which included, at various times, “All In The Family,” “M*A*S*H,” and “Mary Tyler Moore,” were good enough, radical enough, and funny enough to even keep college kids from starting their partying until 10 o’clock (with apologies to Carol Burnett.)
One of the things that set Newhart’s show apart was that we had never really seen a sitcom wife like Suzanne Pleshette/Emily Hartley before.
She actually slept in the same bed as her husband…she was on the same (if not higher) intellectual plane…she would pour a cocktail.
If Mary Richards captured your heart, Emily Hartley gave an impression she might go for another part of the anatomy.
Mary would wail, “Ohhhh, Mr. Grant.” Emily would put Newhart in his place with a simple, straightfaced, husky-voiced “Oh, Bob.”
She was the “Mrs. Robinson” of sitcoms.
She also gave college kids everywhere one of the great drinking games of all time. Every time Emily uttered “Oh, Bob,” it was time to knock one back.
Based on everything I’ve read about Suzanne Pleshette in the last couple of days, I’ll bet she was very, very pleased with that.
So let’s have one for her.
The show was fun, the principal stars (Roger Bart, Megan Mullally) were in fine form, though an understudy did assume one of the key roles.
Her name, according to the program, is Christina Marie Norrup (left). She played “Inga,” Freddie Frankenstein’s “able” assistant. I googled her (which felt like stalking), and discovered that while she’s been around a while, she hasn’t done all that much we’d know about. Judging by her credits, I may never see her in anything ever again.
But she was a terrific singer and dancer, and I didn’t feel that I had missed anything by having her assume the role. She, as a supporting actress, certainly enhanced the show.
An hour later, I learned that another supporting actress who certainly enhanced the show she was most famous for had died.
What would “The Bob Newhart Show” have been without Suzanne Pleshette?
For that matter, what kind of actor would the stand-up comedian have been without Suzanne Pleshette to play off of?
The answer to both questions, I suspect, would be, “not much.”
That original Newhart show was part of a fabulous Saturday night lineup of CBS sitcoms in the early-to-mid ‘70’s. Yes, people used to watch television on Saturday nights. And those sitcoms, which included, at various times, “All In The Family,” “M*A*S*H,” and “Mary Tyler Moore,” were good enough, radical enough, and funny enough to even keep college kids from starting their partying until 10 o’clock (with apologies to Carol Burnett.)
One of the things that set Newhart’s show apart was that we had never really seen a sitcom wife like Suzanne Pleshette/Emily Hartley before.
She actually slept in the same bed as her husband…she was on the same (if not higher) intellectual plane…she would pour a cocktail.
If Mary Richards captured your heart, Emily Hartley gave an impression she might go for another part of the anatomy.
Mary would wail, “Ohhhh, Mr. Grant.” Emily would put Newhart in his place with a simple, straightfaced, husky-voiced “Oh, Bob.”
She was the “Mrs. Robinson” of sitcoms.
She also gave college kids everywhere one of the great drinking games of all time. Every time Emily uttered “Oh, Bob,” it was time to knock one back.
Based on everything I’ve read about Suzanne Pleshette in the last couple of days, I’ll bet she was very, very pleased with that.
So let’s have one for her.
Posted at 8:08 PM by Gerry
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