wayne arthur (ussclaudejones) Bob Newhart, although most of the time played dead pan was surely the person the show couldn't function without. But of course I'm a little biased as he's my favorite stand-up, the greatest ever. I never saw the show when it was current but am catching it onreruns and of course the humor's still funny even in 2017! Stephanie is so out of this world cute, and it was pretty hard to believe she wasalready in her 30s when she started on the show. Absolutely hilariously funny show!

jarrodmcdonald-1 First, my rating of 10 out of 10 is for the seasons where I feel the show was strongest. If I had to give an overall rating, it would be a high 8 or low 9.I've written in other places that I feel vintage Newhart is seasons 3-6. The first two with Kirk and the previous maid seem like a different show sometimes; and the last two seasons contain a lot of jump-the-shark moments.I understand there will be people who really love the more outlandish plots of the final seasons, but recently after watching two season 7 episodes, my feelings were re-confirmed about how much I dislike the writing at that stage of the series.I think they really ruin Michael when they give him the nervous breakdown. In the episode called 'One and a Half Million Dollar Man, the scenes with him as the mime in the restaurant while Stephanie is on a date with an old friend were completely over the top. Even the subplot with Larry & the Darryls knowing Stephanie's friend intimately required too much suspension of disbelief. It's like the show was going for high camp jokes and sacrificing character development at this point. In earlier seasons, we certainly would not have had Larry and his brothers as people who went to New York to see Broadway shows on the down-low. It's funny, but this isn't true to their characters and their overall presentation as backwoods stereotypes.The next episode 'The Little Match Girl' brings Eileen Brennan back as Corinne, an illustrator that worked with Dick on an earlier book. There is no way someone like Dick would have been so dumb as to sign her out of a mental institution without checking out what caused her to be placed there in the first place. And it's completely painful watching Michael languish in the sanitarium. The scene where Stephanie visits him was dominated by a bald roommate trying to make a move on Stephanie, and there was hardly any exchange between Stephane and Michael about what put him there and where their relationship had gone wrong. Again, solid characterization sacrificed for campy scenes with nutty patients and over the top jokes. Of course, I am not saying all the episodes in the last two seasons do not work-- but many of them are off on such a weird tangent that it's difficult to watch. At its heart, in the glory seasons from the third until the sixth year (with better writers and producers) we have a Rockwell view of life in a small New England hamlet, full of charm and slightly eccentric characters. But all of that just gets carelessly thrown by the wayside in season 7 and they had no real way to explain the ridiculous story choices and direction of the characters without making it Dick's dream at the end. And that in itself was ridiculous because nobody would have a dream with 184 separate, consecutive stories in it-- unless he was in a coma and had been sleeping for a long time-- not to mention he covered years of hairstyle changes, clothing changes and changes in technology in a deep sleep? A sad way to watch this show go, when it was truly one of the best things on television for those four middle years.

LemonPuppy This is a good series with strong points and weak points.Dick and Joanna leave the hustle and bustle of the big city to operate an historic inn in rural Vermont so that he could write his how-to books in peace and quiet.Except for their employee Leslie, the Loudens do not fit in with the eccentric villagers. Their other employee, George, has to translate some of the culture shock of life in Vermont to a clueless Dick Louden.Character actors who comprise the townsfolk are very eccentric and nothing like real Vermonters. This is a weakness in the plot because it would be better suited for the shock of a civilized couple to relocate into a red-state.Chester the Mayor and Jim his sidekick are some of the annoying semi-regulars, who contradict Dick's wisdom and insight. Kirk, the neighbor, who chases after Leslie, operates the Minute Man Cafe and doesn't know much about the restaurant business.In season two, Leslie leaves town and invites her cousin Stephanie to take over the domestic responsibilities at Stratford Inn for the remainder. She is very much about herself and her unparalleled beauty, which works here to set the series in motion.When preppy TV station producer Michael comes to town to convince Dick to star in a weekly "Vermont Today" series, he and Stephanie hit it off, and the series launches into full steam.Marian and Arthur Vanderkellen, as the wealthy parents of Stephanie, make recurring appearances to pamper their daughter, without trying to understand this sort of village she has escaped into.Uncouth backwoods brothers Larry, Darryl and Darryl expand their roles to become regulars, as another bright spot in the series, in addition to Joanna and George, who bring plenty of charm.This then becomes a wonderful series, far above average, and worth the watch.

Moax429 (1) Take one star - whose time already came and went - who is disgruntled with the 80s' more sophisticated, smart, and better comedies (e.g. "Moonlighting," "The Love Boat," "The Cosby Show").(2) Star begs his old production company (MTM Enterprises) and old network (CBS) to do another "comedy" series, who decide to go through with the idea without any shred of sense.(3) Retain some of the same soporific and uninteresting elements that made star's first "comedy" a success, but this time fold in some of the "dumb" humor that was prevalent in such concurrent "kiddie comedy" series as "Full House" and "Family Matters" and gear it toward the older set.(4) Also, rip off some elements of those even worse "rural comedies" of the 1960's (e.g. "The Beverly Hillbillies," "Green Acres").(5) Mix well.(6) Arrange to have series win some undeserving Emmy awards so it will attract viewers.(7) When network moves show to a slot where it will get beaten in the ratings by a competing blockbuster, make sure production company still has connections at the network so they can sweet-talk and cajole the network's executives into keeping the show on.(8) When production company is purchased by a foreign concern (the British-based TVS Corporation) that can't manage the company effectively, budget to continue producing series will begin to dwindle after seven years. Therefore, concoct a quick, convenient, and unconvincing conclusion for the series' final episode so series will (mercifully) come to an end. (I suppose the people who, in one of the threads on the message board for this show, said this episode was a "well, thought-out finale" MUST HAVE been on crack!)Yield: 8 dumb, ridiculous, uninteresting, and superfluous seasons.(20th Century Fox, I feel VERY sorry for you that you're now stuck with the unfortunate honor of owning "Newhart," as well as his previous "comedy." So if you're smart, and I know you ARE, please - DON'T put this show on DVD, especially since you recently stated the sales of Newhart's first "comedy" series on DVD were below par - thank goodness - and that more contemporary and MUCH funnier comedy series of yours like "The Simpsons" and "My Name is Earl" on DVD ARE selling!)