Newhart was a funny series with it's strong cast of strange characters and the main characters of Dick Loudon (played by Bob Newhart) and his wife Joanna (played by Mary Frann). Where most of the time it was Dick trying to contend with oddness around him. The series ran on CBS from 1982 to 1990 .
So spoilers ahead.
How do you end Newhart?
The last episode starts with the people of this unnamed town in Vermont (we don't have enough sitcoms taking place in Vermont) having a unnamed town meeting. Talking about important issues like the town fish. The Stratford inn the place that the Loudons run is turning 200 years old. The episode starts like a normal "Newhart" episode. Then a Japanese Business man (because late 1980's early 1990's) says that he wants to buy the town and turn it into a golf course. (because of course?) So we are doing a save the town episode? Nope, he offers a million per home and they are all in , except one. Guess who? Yep Dick Loudon. So that's gonna stop it from happening? Ha ha ! No they are willing to build their course around the inn.
Everyone leaves the town but Dick and Joanna. But first we get the townspeople going fiddler on the roof on us. It cuts to five years later where it's a golf course now except the Stratford Inn. This finale has everything. Dick and Joanna have tried to make the best of it but, Dick does want to sell now. The business man refuses because of Dick's pride. Stephanie and Michael return with their older daughter. So does George the handyman. And some of the other old townspeople. Apparently, they all want to live in Sratford. They argue and not listen to Dick so he decides to leave and gets hit in the head with a golf ball and falls down.
Now the famous finale part. The show returns to a familiar set to that of the bedroom of the Bob Newhart show. With Bob Newhart being Dr. Bob Hartley, with and the his wife,Emily, in that series (played by Suzanne Pleshette ) saying he had a crazy dream.
The finale is famous for that ending. Kind of interesting way to end a series kind of like a fellow made MTM (Mary Tyler Moore studio) series that had a twist at the end. Does make it a remember able finale. I will start with everything before the famous scene. The whole episode goes all in with the strange like above the normal episodes. They were giving something special with this episode and yet it doesn't seem so out of place from the series. The last episode still has great comedy and even skipped anything that would make a dramatic finale to more serious they went straight for the comedy. It's a good trick when they started with wonder if this finale is going to be the characters trying stop the purchase , or maybe Dick changes their minds and they all gather saying how great the town they live is or something. It could have gone the way of Dick deciding to sell and either that's how it ends (many finales have ) or Dick plans to sell when everyone then changes their minds. Instead , it's just used as away to put Dick in another strange situation. The golf ball thing was great at foreshadowing and how eventually he gets hit in the head with a golf ball.
I think it's a good finale. It's a show that didn't take itself to seriously had well written comedy and was fun and knew how to go out.
That's it for now on our series finales ,we may return in the future. (This isn't our series finale)
Tune in next time when we wake up.
