Hi Bob

By Rachelle Bowden in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 21, 2004 2:30PM

Oak Park native Bob Newhart will be honored by TV Land and the City of Chicago with a life-sized sculpture commemorating his role as Dr. Robert Hartley from The Bob Newhart Show. The bronze sculpture will be located on the sidewalk at 430 N. Michigan (right next to Chicagoist's office!), the very building that is seen in the opening credits of the show, and will be unveiled next Tuesday. Newhart is expected to be on hand for the statue dedication event. In November, the statue will settle permanently at Navy Pier.

The Newhart sculpture is being provided and paid for by TV Land. It is the 4th TV Land sculpture in as many years. The other statues they've done are Andy Griffith in North Carolina, Ralph Kramden at NYC's Port Authority and Mary Tyler Moore in Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis.

Chicagoist is too young to remember The Bob Newhart Show, but we loved watching Newhart with our family. One thing we could never get enough of as a wee child was "Hi, my name's Larry, and this is my brother Darryl, and my other brother Darryl." We also remember loving George and really hating Michael and Stephanie.