OFF-TOPIC: Did the 'Hi, Bob!' Drinking Game Begin at SMU?

[MrMustang1965]

Stand-up comic Bob Newhart himself says so!

One of the odder cultural phenomena of the late 20th century was the "Hi, Bob" drinking game. "I think it started at SMU [Southern Methodist University]," Newhart once said. "I would hate to go down in history as the cause of more college hangovers than any other comic in the United States."

Reruns of "The Bob Newhart Show" gave birth to the game on college campuses. The gang in "The Broom of the System," the 1987 David Foster Wallace novel set in Cleveland, famously played "Hi, Bob." It grew exponentially at frat houses when Newhart reruns landed in prime time on Nick at Nite in the 1990s.

The rules: Participants must down a shot, or sip of beer, every time a character says, "Hi, Bob." In some versions, everyone also would have to stand and exclaim, "Hi, Bob!"

http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/ ... 196770.xml

[gostangs]

I played it myself on many occasions, pretty sure it originated in Dallas. Many dead braincells to attribute to this game.

[gostangs]

I played it myself on many occasions, pretty sure it originated in Dallas. Many dead braincells to attribute to this game.

[Dooby]

Proud to say I started the game myself. Well, only if you take out the whole Newhart stuff. In other words, I just drank a lot. Actually, I guess I wasn't the first to do that at SMU. Nevermind.

[Diamond Girl]

I'm not sure if it did or not, but I certainly remember playing it as an undergrad ('79 - '83).