Newhart Finds the Old New Again With 'The Bob Newhart Show;' 'The Client List's Alicia Lagano Prefers to Play Dirty

The Hallmark Channel is running a 12-hour "The Bob Newhart Show" marathon this Sunday (5/27) — in honor of the classic sitcom's 40th anniversary — and among those watching at least some of the episodes will be Newhart himself.

"I don't go out of my way to watch them, but if they're on, I'll watch them," says the comedy icon and master of deadpan delivery. "The weird thing about them is, I don't remember doing them. I see myself, and I'm in the set, obviously, and I'm watching like a regular viewer, thinking, 'I wonder how this turns out?'

"I'm so glad Hallmark is doing it, because it's such a classy channel, and they're doing it right," he adds.

Newhart tells us that he and his wife of 49 years, Ginnie, still stay in touch with former cast mate Bill Daily, who lives in New Mexico, and they socialize with Peter Bonerz, Marcia Wallace, and Jack Riley, all of whom live locally. He fondly recalls the times they spent with the late Suzanne Pleshette and Tom Poston — close friends who played his series wife and obnoxious college buddy, respectively. Their characters "couldn't stand each other. And then of course, in real life, they wound up getting married." He laughs. "The final years of their lives, they were so much in love, and we used to see them and, oh, they were so happy! It was just great that they found each other."

Newhart keeps a fairly full schedule at 82. He does standup dates around the country — "about 20 a year. I'll always do that, as long as the good Lord gives me the stamina to do it. I can't imagine not doing that." And other projects keep coming along for the legend who has been cited as an influence by funny people including Ray Romano, Ellen DeGeneres, Lewis Black, Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno.

Recently, there's been talk of a sequel to last year's hit black comedy "Horrible Bosses," in which Newhart briefly appears.

"Apparently they tested it, and people weren't happy with the ending, so they came up with this different ending involving me. I had a scene with Jason Bateman. We go back to 'George and Leo,'" Newhart recounts, referring to the short-lived CBS sitcom in which he and Bateman and Judd Hirsch starred 15 years ago. "The first day I saw Jason on the 'Horrible Bosses' set — it was a one-day shoot, for the ending — I said, 'I thought we had pretty much killed off your career with George and Leo,' you know? But apparently you survived it.' He went on to 'Arrested Development' and all kinds of wonderful things."

If a "Horrible" sequel did happen, Newhart muses, "I would imagine they would pick it up with Jason and myself and take it from there."

Meanwhile, this weekend, "I'll probably end up watching the Memorial Day Concert from D.C. on PBS. A friend of mine, (producer) Walter Miller, does it, with Joe Mantegna and Gary Sinise, who is very active with veterans." And, of course, says Newhart, "I'm going to look forward to watching the Hallmark Channel marathon and seeing some of the shows I don't even remember."

WORKING GIRL: "The Client List's" Alicia Lagano has no qualms about scenes that require her to be scantily clad for that Jennifer Love Hewitt Lifetime series about a group of call girls. "Talking about nudity — I don't judge my characters, basically," says the Brooklyn-born beauty, who plays Selena. "If it works for the storyline and the character, I'm open to it. Yes, we're prostitutes, and it's pushing the envelope for Lifetime, but this is probably one of the tamest roles I've played."

Well, tame in some ways. Not in others. "I get meaner and meaner, and do worse and worse things as it goes on," she lets us know. "I love it, love it. I think I was blessed with this role. I'm very drawn to the gritty roles that have depth to them — the tortured soul, the runaway." In fact, "The Client List" offers her the chance to doll up for a change. "Most roles I play don't require great wardrobe or makeup. With this, I get to wear my heels and get my makeup and hair done. It's fun."

Lagano first worked with producer-star Hewitt on an episode of her "The Ghost Whisperer," playing a fortune-teller. She's not sure whether there's a connection, but says, "I'd like to think so. She uses a lot of the same people, which is nice. Once she's comfortable with someone and likes their work, she'll use them again. I think that may have worked out in my favor."

Lagano appears in the full first season of the series. She tells us, "God willing, if I continue on for the next season, we go back to work in October."

WORTH REMEMBERING: With the June 3 episode of "The Big C" being entitled "Killjoy," it seems like a good time to bring up the fact Susan Sarandon has been outstandingly discomfiting in her guest role as pop psych guru Joy Kleinman. Sarandon has a tattoo above her wrist, ANDAND for A New Dawn, A New Day. She tells us that she found inspiration in Eugene Ionesco's "Exit the King," the play she did with Geoffrey Rush on Broadway in 2009 (which also happened to be the year she and Tim Robbins split). "That's all about dying, or the death of the ego, so it was really a huge change in my life to have that meditation every single day for hundreds of performances. He's really brilliant, and there are lines in there that talk about how, every day, you come into the world new again. I think that was very much in keeping with what I have around my wrist."

To find out more about Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith and read their past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.