Newhart

One of the most intelligent sitcoms of the 1980's. The brand of humor was and still is refreshing for the time and in many ways missed today.

I got to see this show in 1994 when Satellite TV arrived here in Pakistan and it was great. Simple clean humor and a cast that was all perfect I am surprised to learn that the show didn't get any awards just nominations ... it should have ... anyway a must see ...

I never saw the previous also MTM-produced, apparently very successful "The Bob Newhart Show" which I don't think ever played in the UK, but remember this particular series very well indeed.

I liked it very much then and still do today, now I've got the chance to re-watch them again. Of course rather like the flagship "Mary Tyler-Moore Show", it's built around a known star, the rather hangdog comedian Bob Newhart, who with his improbably young and pretty wife leaves the rat race behind to set up home in a run-down Vermont guest-house.

Being very much set-bound, it relies on the familiarity and like-ability of its quirky cast and the gentle humour in the writing. Of course almost every bit of dialogue is set up for Newhart to deadpan the punch-line but on the parameters there are some engagingly odd-ball supporting characters like the dimwitted repairman George, the ditzy chambermaid Lesley and especially the 80's answer to the Crazy Gang crossed with the Marx Brothers, the hilarious "Anything for a buck" brothers Larry, Daryl and Daryl. Less appealing however is their irritating, fabricating, restaurant-owning neighbour Kirk.

With a luxuriant, scene-setting theme by the celebrated Henry Mancini, the humour here is hardly revolutionary or cutting-edge, but for warm, cosy, feel-good comedy, this is a very enjoyable and comfortable place to check into.

When I think of this show, I often compare it to Green Acres. The two shows were very similar in the fact that it featured someone who wanted to leave the city to move to the country. In this case it was author Dick Loudon filling in for attorney Oliver Wendell Douglas. Also, Dick was surrounded by a strange assortment of people just like Oliver was. The main difference, however, was the fact that Joanna Loudon wasn't the somewhat dim bulb that Lisa Douglas was. Thankfully, Fred Silverman had long since left C.B.S. or else this show might not have seen the light of day.

That's how I describe "Newhart" in one word. I've always enjoyed Bob Newhart's dry humor and wit.

I liked almost all of the characters on the show. The only one I wished stayed for the entire run was Kirk Devane (Steven Kampmann). He was hilarious the way he lies and the one episode that sticks out with me was when he produced and stared in his own commercial with Dick's wife Joanna for his diner. He does the commercial like the old Ronco ads from the 70s ("How much would you pay for this hamburger? Well don't answer yet...."). Then he says Joanna paid this outrageous price and the look on her face was priceless.

The other episode that sticks out with me was when Dick goes to a Boston Celtics game and has courtside seats. He apparently gets kicked out of the seat I believe because it was someone else's seats and he had to stand outside in the aisle area. Then I believe it was Larry Bird goes hobbling out of the game to the Celtic's team clubhouse, which became the perfect set up for the parody of the "Mean" Joe Greene Coke commercial from 1980. That was a classic.

The final episode was the best and ultimate way to end the show. One of the biggest "curve balls" was thrown. This was one ending you could never see coming.

A bit of trivia: Larry and the 2 Darryls were originally planned by the writers to appear in about 2-4 episodes and were to be written off shortly thereafter. Since "Newhart" was taped in front of a studio audience, the audience would cheer, applaud and holler when the trio walked in the door, then the introduction would follow: "Hi, I'm Larry, this is my brother Darryl and this is my other brother Darryl". That would then follow with more cheers and applause or laughs. It was said, that the studio audience kept the trio from being written off the show.