One of the best Bob Newhart stories...
He had always steadfastly refused to play a character who was a dad, mainly because TV dads are always treated like idiots (the kids are actually smarter than he is, the family has to continually come to the rescue of the klutz, etc.)
Late in the run of The Bob Newhart Show, the ratings were starting to sag. The producers wanted to add a story line where Emily became pregnant. They wrote a script introducing this concept.
Newhart reportedly read it and responded, “This is great! You should be proud of yourselves! Absolutely one of the funniest scripts I have ever read!”
“Just one question though. Who are you gonna get to play Bob?”
He is one of the funniest guys I’ve seen on TV. A genious.
One of the few that can say nothing and be funny.