What made Bob Newhart so tough to mimic? Simon Helberg explains

During a last-minute scramble at a The Big Bang Theory table read, Simon Helberg was asked to cover lines for Bob Newhart when the comedy icon couldn’t make it. There was no warning, no rehearsal — just Helberg trying to channel Newhart’s unmistakable cadence on the fly. He’s done plenty of impressions on the show (from Stephen Hawking to Kevin Sussman), but he says this one was the toughest.

Helberg explained on the show’s YouTube channel that the challenge wasn’t the voice — it was the rhythm. Newhart’s comedy is built on strategic pauses and slow-burn setups, and trying to re-create that timing without prep was its own high-wire act.

“I sort of felt compelled to like get that timing which was fun.”

“That timing, that like, just going the long way around a joke and being like, is he ever going to come back? And he’s come and boom.”

As Helberg tells it, Newhart’s signature is stretching silence until the audience leans in, then snapping the punchline into place. Replicating that “long way around” approach in a cold read pushed Helberg into brand-new territory.

Offstage comfort

Helberg also shared a very different story from the same conversation: Billy Crystal once pulled him aside at a party to say the sitcom became a quiet refuge during a brutal day. Crystal was traveling when he learned of Robin Williams ’s death and, mid-flight, put on The Big Bang Theory to get through it.

Crystal wasn’t the only unexpected admirer Helberg mentioned. Others who found their way to the show included:

• Mark Hamill
• Selena Gomez

Helberg shared both the Newhart table-read story and the Crystal encounter on The Big Bang Theory YouTube channel.