But not Bob Newhart. He makes no bones about his treasured bit — a fictional phone conversation between a political consultant and President Abraham Lincoln:

        “Abe! Abe! Please read the biography, will you? You were a rail-splitter, then an attorney. Abe, you wouldn't give up your law practice to become a rail-splitter.”

        “The best piece of writing I ever did was probably Abe Lincoln, because it's more true today ... 40 years later,” says Mr. Newhart, the subject of Biography Sunday (8-10 p.m., A&E).

        Titled “The Last Sane Man,” the film features Mr. Newhart's greatest hits — clips of his “Driving Instructor” and “Retirement Party” routines from his Grammy-winning 1960 debut album, and great scenes from The Bob Newhart Show (1972-78) and Newhart (1982-90).

        A&E also has some of his misses, such as video from his short-lived NBC variety show (1961-62).

        “We won a Peabody, an Emmy and a pink slip from NBC,” he says in an interview. “Monologues are hard to write, and to do one every week — and expect it to be good — is kind of silly. And I wasn't very good in sketches.”
       

"Indebted' to thief

        The Chicago native dabbled in writing for stand-up comics while working as an accountant in the 1950s. He began performing his own stuff after a comedian (who remains nameless) stole his routine about an inept submarine commander and did it on the Steve Allen Show.

        “I'm indebted to him, because he kind of pushed me into stand-up,” says Mr. Newhart, who also appears in a new Showtime movie, The Sports Pages, at 8 p.m. Sunday with Kelsey Grammer.

        For his TV fans, the real gem of Biography will be outtakes and interviews from Bob Newhart and Newhart.

        Viewers will see Bob and Emily Hartley (Mr. Newhart, Suzanne Pleshette) in the 1972 pilot; receptionist Carol Kester (Marcia Wallace) uttering a bleeped obscenity; and innkeeper Dick Loudon (Mr. Newhart) calling his wife (Mary Frann) “Emily” instead of “Joanna.”

        A&E also has rounded up his old co-stars for the tribute: Ms. Pleshette, Ms. Wallace, Bill Daily, Peter Bonerz, Tom Poston, Julia Duffy, Peter Scolari and the guys who played Larry, Darryl and Darryl.
       

Makes it look easy

        Ms. Wallace calls her old boss “the Fred Astaire of comedy. He just makes it look so easy.”

        Maybe that's why neither Newhart ever won an Emmy for the stars, or as best comedy.

        “It frustrates me because the people were so good, and they weren't being recognized. I said they almost made it look too easy,” Mr. Newhart says.

        The comedian says he worried that his first sitcom was being overshadowed on CBS' old Saturday lineup, TV's original “Must See TV.” Bob Newhart aired 9:30 p.m. behind All in the Family, M*A*S*H and Mary Tyler Moore.

        “We always felt we kind of lived in the shadow of Mary,” he says. “At one point I went to CBS — I may be the only person ever to have done this — and asked to be moved out of a hit time slot, because I felt what we were doing was pretty good and we weren't being recognized for it.”
       

Crazy dream bit

        Biography also replays the hilarious final scene from the second Newhart series in 1990. The comedian wakes up in bed with Emily from his first series and says, “You won't believe the dream I just had ... I was an innkeeper in this crazy little town in Vermont.”

        Mr. Newhart's wife, Ginny, had come up with the idea when they saw Ms. Pleshette at a Christmas party. When they taped the episode, the studio audience started applauding as soon as they saw the old bedroom setting from the old show, he says.

        No clips are shown of his subsequent sitcoms, Bob (1992-93) or George & Leo (1997-98)with Judd Hirsch, though they are mentioned in the film.

        At 71, the comedian says he would try a fifth situation comedy if he had good writing and a strong cast.

        “I love television,” he says. “I love being a part of it, and if I got a script tomorrow that I loved, I would do it.

        “But you need a great script and a great cast. You can't have one without the other, as we found out with George & Leo. We never solved that problem of the cast.”

        For now, he's spending time with his four children and two grandchildren and playing golf. He does about 25 concerts a year, “working about as much as I want to,” he says.

        The heart of his nightclub act remains those old telephone routines from 40 years ago about submarines, bus drivers and marketing Honest Abe.

        “You TYPED it? Abe, how many times have we told you: On the backs of envelopes! Well, it looks like you wrote it on the train coming down. I know it's harder to read, but couldn't you put it on the backs of envelopes and then memorize it? We're getting a lot of play in the press on that.”
       
       John Kiesewetter is TV/radio critic for The Enquirer. Write to him at 312 Elm St., Cincinnati 45202; fax: 768-8330; E-mail: Jkiesewetter@enquirer.com.

Tristate's 'Traffic' winning honors
Michael Douglas was a Tristate tourist
Meet the dieters
At 10, 'Rugrats' revised a bit
Best of Bob Newhart means lots of laughs
'Geographic' photographer tells underwater stories
Get to it