CNN and MSNBC have pieces on the brillance of Bob Newhart, the white-collar standup comic, on the occasion of his receiving an award. My mom had the old records with Newhart's standup routines, and as good as his sitcoms were, if you never heard his standup act, you missed a lot. What was really revolutionary about Newhart's act was his ability to create an act with no funnyman, just a straight man.