TVSquad

If I were to pick 10 of my favorite TV people of all-time, my list would include people like Rod Serling, Dick Van Dyke and Carl Reiner, everyone behind The Simpsons, and, of course, American Idol judge Paula Abdul.

OK, I'm kidding about that last one.

But also on that list would be veteran comic Bob Newhart. Not only did he star in two great classic sitcoms (The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart), and a third underrated one (George & Leo), he's also a brilliant standup comic. He even had the #1 album and won a Grammy, beating out people like Frank Sinatra. He's funny, has a unique style, and just seems like a helluva decent guy.

That is confirmed in his new autobiography I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This (the title comes from the punch line of an old joke - emphasis on the word "this"). It's not an autobiography in the most strict sense. It doesn't start out when he was born and lead up to yesterday. It's more of a "here and there" sort of autobiography, and that actually makes it work a little better. Seems to go better with Newhart's standup style and his delivery.

There are a lot of great tales here. Did you know Newhart started off as an accountant? He quit when he couldn't understand why at the end of the day the numbers wouldn't add up and he wanted to put his own money in to even it all out. Did you know his best friend is Don Rickles? And remember the final, classic scene of Newhart, where he wakes up and finds himself back in the bedroom of his old Bob Newhart show, with Suzanne Pleshette? That was his wife's idea.

I'm not sure if this book is really for anyone under a certain age, unless they're really interested in either Newhart himself or the way standup and TV worked in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. But for the rest of us, it's like comfort food. A never boring piece of entertainment history from one of the greats.