Series cast summary: | |||
Bob Newhart | ... |
Dick Loudon
/ ...
(184 episodes, 1982-1990)
|
|
Mary Frann | ... |
Joanna Loudon
(184 episodes, 1982-1990)
|
|
Tom Poston | ... |
George Utley
(184 episodes, 1982-1990)
|
|
Julia Duffy | ... |
Stephanie Vanderkellen
(163 episodes, 1983-1990)
|
|
Peter Scolari | ... |
Michael Harris
(142 episodes, 1984-1990)
|
|
William Sanderson | ... |
Larry
(91 episodes, 1982-1990)
|
|
Tony Papenfuss | ... |
First Darryl
/ ...
(91 episodes, 1982-1990)
|
|
John Voldstad | ... |
Second Darryl
/ ...
(91 episodes, 1982-1990)
|
Dick Loudon and his wife Joanna decide to leave life in New York City and buy a little inn in Vermont. Dick is a how-to book writer, who eventually becomes a local TV celebrity as host of "Vermont Today." George Utley is the handyman at the inn and Leslie Vanderkellen is the maid, with ambitions of being an Olympic Ski champion; she is later replaced by her cousin Stephanie, an heiress who hates her job. Her boyfriend is Dick's yuppie TV producer, Michael Harris. There are many other quirky characters in this fictional little town, including Dick's neighbors Larry, Darryl, and Darryl...three brothers who buy the Minuteman Cafe from Kirk Devane. Besides sharing a name, Darryl and Darryl never speak (until the final episode). Written by Jim Wiley <jgwiley@wayoutwest.org>
After the success of his other sitcom from the 1970's, the character of Robert Hartley changed from the streets of Chicago to the scenary setting of rural Vermont. It also changed his title from a psychologist in a high rise building in Chicago to his status as the owner of a innkeeper as well as a novelist.
It also gave him a new leading lady as well, leaving his other TV wife Emily (Suzanne Pleshette) on the cutting room floor. "Newhart" did just that too. Newhart played Dick Loudon, a well known novelist with his wife Joanna (Mary Frann) who owned an inn in the majestic grounds of Vermont. It had that brilliant brand of humor that kept the show going, along with some of the characters that made it happen. The show itself was in the top ten ratings during the eight years it ran on CBS, making Bob Newhart one of the funniest comedians of the 1980's.