Bob Newhart Statue - On Tuesday, July 27, 2004, Larry W. Jones, the President of the nostalgia cable channel TV Land and Nick at Nite, unveiled to the City of Chicago, a life-sized sculpture of fictional psychologist Bob Hartley (played by comedian Bob Newhart) who appeared on the now classic sitcom THE BOB NEWHART SHOW/CBS/1972-78.

The statue depicts Dr. Robert Hartley in a traditional pose as he sat in his office and listened to the problems of his patients who sat on the sofa to his right.

Initially, the statue was unveiled at The Plaza of the Americas at 420 North Michigan Avenue, and then immediately was moved outside of the building at 430 N. Michigan Avenue which was seen during the show's opening credits.

This intimate sidewalk location, gave passer-byers the chance to greet the statue with the catchphrase "Hi Bob!" and take a few moments to share their problems with Bob's button-down mind. Three months later on November 1st, the statue was moved to its permanent location at Chicago's Navy Pier.

"TV Land is honored to salute Bob Newhart, a television legend and one of Chicago's favorite sons...By placing a statue in the city where this series was based and the very location where the image of Bob in the opening credits was captured, TV Land hopes to remind passers-by of the show's enduring impact." -- Larry W. Jones

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Impressed with the statue, the fourth such TV Land statue since 2001, comedian Bob Newhart reminisced "The statue rests on a spot that I had passed hundreds of times, if not thousands of times, before I was a comedian." The Newhart sculpture was provided and paid for by TV Land.

The other commemorative statues to immortalize TV characters as part of the on-going "TV Land Landmark" project included bus driver, Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason) at NYC's Port Authority; Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore) in Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis; Sheriff Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith) walking with his son, Opie in Raleigh, North Carolina; and (as of 2005) good witch, Samantha Stephens (Elizabeth Montgomery) in Salem, Massachusetts.

Like previous statues dedicated by TV LAND, the Bob Hartley bronze was created by Studio EIS, a three-dimensional design and sculpture studio in New York founded by brothers Ivan and Elliot Schwartz.