What About Bob Newhart?

We sadly said good-bye to one of the funniest shows of the 70's, as Bob, Emily, Jerry, and Howard rode off into the sunset of their futures on The Bob Newhart Show. What would we do now? Who would fill the vacuum. Who else but Bob Newhart. The 80's were treated to Bob's triumphal return in 1982 and we didn't have to say farewell until 1990. Starting off on videotape for a live look and switching to softer film, the show took us in and introduced us to the greatest set of characters to grace the sit-com.

We had Dick, the writer and local TV personality innkeeper, who along with his wife Joanna, operated The Strattford Inn. We got an exterior view of the Strattford, complete with catchy New Englandy music by Henry Mancini inviting us to come on inside, take off our plaid overcoats and boots, put our feet up and enjoy. It worked. We all wanted to experience this whimsical place, and the oddities that went with it.

We had the handyman, George Utley, played by Tom Poston. who was just as stoic and serious as Dick, almost as if in a competition. We had Julia Duffy, as Stephanie, the rich girl working as a maid. Peter Scolari, her boyfriend Michael gave us a glimpse of the yuppiedom to come, always trying to get ahead, forging a relationship with Stephanie, but always keeping his eye on the prize. We just didn't know what prize was more important.

The most unique stars of the show were those three woodsmen...."Hi I'm Larry, this my brother Daryl, and this is my other brother Daryl". They were the return of the Marx Brothers, and added a new twist, as both of the Daryls didn't talk. We met them on a show when Dick found a body in the basement of the Inn and hired a company called Anything for a Buck. The grizzlier the job, the more the boys loved it.

All good things had to come to an end, however. For nine years the show had done its job. We were healing from Vietnam. We were a happier nation. It was good to be an American again. We saw this warm, cozy, corny setting, filled with eccentric people and wanted more. It was OK to be "normal", traditional and a little nuts. The last show unleashed the biggest surprise ever in a final episode...better than Seinfeld, better than Mash. The Inn was sold to Japanese developers, who paid off everyone in the town to get the land for the golf course surrounding the Strattford. Bob can't take this selling out and steps outside, getting hit in the head by an errant golf ball. Knocked unconscious, he wakes up in a dark, if somewhat familiar, setting. And then....Emily tells him to wake up. He's been having a dream ....and he's now back in this warm bed in the Chicago high rise of Bob Hartley, psychologist to the strange. I've never heard people applaud and squeal at a sitcom ending before. It was just perfect

In the era of reality shows, with our lives and all the warts, troubles and heartaches that go with them, I really miss the Strattford Inn, especially Joanna's milk and cookies.