The Quest for Bob Newhart's Apartment

A couple of weeks ago, I was standing across the street from my apartment building waiting for the light to change. While standing there, I saw this guy pointing out my building to his two kids while telling them that this building was where Bob Newhart lived in The Bob Newhart Show.

I wanted to shout at him, "No! You uninformed cretin! Bob Newhart did NOT live in Marina Towers. Stop filling your kids' heads with lies!"
It's a common mistake, but the characters, Bob Newhart and his wife, Emily, did not live in Marina Towers.

I remember the series very well and enjoyed it as a teenager. I loved the opening sequence to the series where it showed Bob Newhart leaving work in downtown Chicago, walking past Marina Towers, hopping on the EL and then walking up to his high-rise apartment building (which was NOT Marina Towers).

I thought that all looked SO incredibly cosmopolitan and I really wanted to live like that someday.

I remember that his high-rise where he lived was just some sort of nondescript apartment building. I really wanted to find it. But how?

I'd like to say that it was quite a challenge to locate it; that I managed to do so after contacting an archivist at CBS who gave me the address to Bob's apartment building.

But I didn't.

I used Wikipedia.

So, today, after it snowed all morning, I decided to go on a pilgrimage to the building that was in the opening sequence of The Bob Newhart Show.

It was an easy train ride on the Red Line EL to the north side of Chicago. (The opening sequence to the Bob Newhart Show shows him riding the Brown Line from downtown - - hrumph!)

As I walked from the train, there it was.

I smiled.

I have to say that this quest began simply as something fun to do on a Sunday afternoon. But as I walked up to that building that I'd seen over and over back in the early 70s, I instantly connected to the 13-year-old back in South Texas who longed, someday, to live in Bob Newhart's city.

I'll have to admit, it was pretty special.

Anyway, here is the opening sequence to The Bob Newhart Show. And yes, you'll see Marina Towers in a couple of shots, but you'll also notice Bob walking up to his apartment building later on.

Click here.

And here's a photo of that building that I took today. Isn't that cool?
I hope this might clear up some of the confusion. Maybe the tourist who told his kids that Bob Newhart lived in Marina Towers will see this and stop filling his childrens' head with such horrible untruths.

Oh, and if any of you want to visit this site when you're in Chicago, it's located at 5901 N. Sheridan Rd. Just take the Red Line north to the Thorndale station and walk three blocks east.

Just like Bob Newhart did every day after work.