Vitals

Bob Newhart as Robert Hartley, PhD, deadpan psychologist

Chicago, Thanksgiving 1975

Series: The Bob Newhart Show
Episode: “Over the River and Through the Woods” (Episode 4.11)
Air Date: November 22, 1975
Director: James Burrows
Created by: David Davis & Lorenzo Music
Men’s Costumes: Ralph T. Schlain
Clothes by: Botany 500

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

One of the most iconic Thanksgiving-themed TV episodes of all time aired fifty years ago this week: “Over the River and Through the Woods”, from the fourth season of The Bob Newhart Show, the 1970s sitcom starring Bob Newhart and Suzanne Pleshette as Chicago couple Robert and Emily Hartley.

The demands of a psychologist’s patients during the holidays keep Bob home in Chicago for Turkey Day, though he’s hardly remiss to be missing Emily’s family’s annual gala in Seattle that includes square dancing and skipping stones across Puget Sound. Come Thursday, Bob hosts his fellow “Thanksgiving orphans”: orthodontist and office-mate Dr. Jerry Robinson (Peter Bonerz) his airheaded next-door neighbor Howard Borden (Bill Daily), and his chronic patient Elliot F. Carlin (Jack Riley), who declares “you know you’re at a bad party when Elliot Carlin is the happiest man in the room.”

This wasn’t the show’s first Thanksgiving episode but it’s arguably the most memorable, as the four men get increasingly drunk on Jerry’s nostalgic concoction of vodka and cider while watching college football, eventually resulting in the four inebriated guys singing the title song. After Howard realizes they better eat as drinking too much on an empty stomach could make them drunk (“I don’t believe that’s true,” Bob coos in response), they attempt to cook Bob’s frozen turkey.

Bob: Howard, how long will this take to cook?
Jerry: Three days?
Howard: Don’t be ridiculous, we can cook that in a half hour, we just turn it up to 2,000 degrees.
Jerry: (looking at the thermometer) It only goes up to 500.
Bob: Then we’ll use four ovens.

While Bob’s math is impressive given how much vodka, cider, and grocery-store Scotch is swirling around inside him, the logic doesn’t hold and they resort to calling a local Chinese restaurant to deliver $93.80 worth of Moo Goo Goo Goo Gai Pan. (Which would be approximately $566 today!)

A standout moment from one of the best sitcoms of the ’70s, the episode has since been included among many lists of all-time great TV episodes, ranked #37 when TV Guide revised its list of the 100 Greatest Episodes in 2009.

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What’d He Wear?

I’m inclined to agree with Brett White—the curator of @thenattynewhart Tumblr and author of this 2018 Decider article—that “Bob Newhart Is a Sitcom Style Icon and It’s Time We Recognized It”. Even for a laidback Thanksgiving in, Dr. Hartley demonstrates his knack for snappy yet smart sartorialism, embracing some jaunty holiday festivity in his red leisure jacket, open-neck shirt, and plaid slacks. (I’m validated to see that, in his post about this particular episode, Mr. White describes this as “one of Bob’s best casual looks!”) Typical of many other ’70s TV shows, Newhart’s wardrobe was furnished by Botany 500.

Leisure suits are among the most criticized fashions of the ’70s, but at least Bob deploys his for just that: if watching football and getting plastered with the boys doesn’t count as leisure, I don’t know what does. Bob rotates through a variety of leisure suits and jackets over the course of the series, with some more safari-influenced than others, though this bright red jacket—which also reappears in “A Matter of Vice-Principal” (Episode 4.14) and “Carol at 6:01” (Episode 4.17)—and similar ones in yellow, navy, and slate are simpler in their design, featuring a large shirt-style collar and reinforced shoulders (rather than full epaulet straps).

It has five large burgundy plastic 4-hole buttons up the front, though he only wears the second-to-lowest button fastened for most of the day. Both inverted box-pleated chest pockets are covered with a single-button pointed flap. He keeps the single-button cuffs unfastened and rolled back over his wrists.

Bob counters his boldly colored jacket and patterned pants with a plain cream poplin shirt, worn open at the neck with the long-pointed collar flat over his jacket’s collar. The shirt has a breast pocket, a wide front placket, and wide button-fastened barrel cuffs.

These dark tartan trousers are a frequent item from Bob’s closet, especially through the third and fourth seasons. Similar to a Clan MacDonald of the Isles hunting tartan, the pattern consists of a multi-checked navy plaid against a darker green ground, overchecked in a white and red—the latter particularly effective in coordinating with his scarlet jacket. These darted-front trousers have a beltless waistband that closes through a hidden hook on the extended waistband front, adjusted through buckle-tabs on each side of the waist. They also have frogmouth front pockets and plain-hemmed bottoms with a slight yet fashionable flare.

Whether he’s dressed in suits or sportswear in this episode, Bob wears the same well-shined black patent leather loafers, each detailed with a gold-toned bar over the vamp. His black socks maintain continuity from the dark, low-contrasting plaid trousers into his shoes.

Bob continues to wear his usual yellow-gold jewelry, including a chain-link bracelet on his right wrist, his wedding band on his left ring finger, and a chunky gold ring with a black-filled rectangular center against the gold squared surface on his right pinky.

Newhart also wears his own wristwatch: a yellow-gold 18-karat Piaget 9131 C4 with a squared black dial detailed with gold-applied Roman numeral hour indices. The luxury watch’s Clous de Paris hobnail texture continues from the front and sides of the 23mm case along the integrated 7.25″-long bracelet, arranged in nine rows of 4×6-square bricks with a locking clasp. Produced through the 1960s into the ’80s, this watch is powered by Piaget’s 18-jewel manual-winding cal. 9P movement.

Auctioned in October 2025 from Newhart’s estate, the comedian evidently received an identical watch—albeit with a brown gradating tiger’s-eye dial—as a 42nd birthday gift, considering the inscription: “Thank you for being you. 9.5.’71.”

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What to Imbibe

“In the jug here, Bob, is cider and vodka. Actually, it’s vodka and cider. See, at William & Mary, we take a slug of this every time the opposition scores. A jug like this will get us through a 62-to-nothin’ drubbing,” Jerry explains of the straw-covered jug he brings over on Thanksgiving.

Jerry: What’s the score now?
Bob: 38-6.
Jerry: Who’s winning?
Bob: Here’s a glass.

Jerry doesn’t specify if it’s hard cider or non-alcoholic, but even if it’s the latter, he likely prepared it in a strong enough ratio to the vodka that it gets our four revelers decently sauced by the time Howard remembers that they should probably eat.

Jerry isn’t the only one to show up with booze, as Elliot strolls in with a bottle of whisky that he hands to Bob: “Here, I brought you a present. You owe me $9.95.”

“I’ve never heard of this Scotch—Von Kruger’s?” Bob asks, to which Elliot responds: “Yeah, it’s the real stuff, I got it at Von Kruger’s Market.” Bob looks closer to read the label: “Von Kruger’s—the Scotch aged in styrofoam kegs.”

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How to Get the Look

The Bob Newhart Show aired during a decade when being the snazziest psychologist in Chicago meant a colorful parade of leisure jackets, plaid slacks, and razor-sharp shirt collars, paired with gold jewelry across both hands and mirror-shined loafers. A half-century later, fashions have changed but that doesn’t mean you can’t still channel some of Dr. Hartley’s sartorial philosophy when home for the holidays.

• Red leisure jacket with large shirt-style collar, five-button plain front, two inverted box-pleated chest pockets (with single-button pointed flaps), single-button cuffs, and ventless back
• Cream poplin shirt with long-pointed collar, wide front placket, breast pocket, and single-button barrel cuffs
• Green, navy, red, and white checked Clan MacDonald of the Isles hunting tartan plaid darted-front trousers with buckle-tab side adjusters, frogmouth front pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Black patent leather loafers with gold-bar vamp detail
• Black socks
• Gold chain-link bracelet
• Gold pinky ring with black-filled rectangle on square face
• Gold wedding band
• Gold hobnail-textured automatic dress watch (Piaget 9131 C4) with squared black dial and integrated gold brick-link bracelet

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Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the series.

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The Quote

I knew it was gonna be bad, but I didn’t know it was gonna be this bad this early.