| Runtime: | 24 minutes |
| Creator: | Barry Kemp |
| Developer: | Sheldon Bull |
| Starring: | Bob Newhart Mary Frann Jennifer Holmes Julia Duffy Tom Poston Steven Kampmann Peter Scolari William Sanderson Tony Papenfuss John Voldstad |
| Theme Music Composer: | Henry Mancini |
| Composer: | Nelson Riddle |
| Company: | MTM Enterprises |
| Language: | English |
| Country: | United States |
| Network: | CBS |
| Executive Producer: | Barry Kemp Mark Egan Mark Solomon Dan Wilcox Douglas Wyman David Mirkin |
| Producer: | Sheldon Bull |
| Num Seasons: | 8 |
| List Episodes: | List of Newhart episodes |
| Num Episodes: | 184 |
Newhart is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS from October 25, 1982, to May 21, 1990, with a total of 184 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons. The series stars Bob Newhart and Mary Frann as an author and his wife, respectively; who own and operate the Stratford Inn in rural Vermont. The small town is home to many eccentric characters. TV Guide, TV Land, and A&E named the Newhart series finale as one of the most memorable in television history. The theme music for Newhart was composed by Henry Mancini.
Bob Newhart plays Dick Loudon, an author of do-it-yourself and travel books. He and his wife Joanna move from New York City to a small town in rural Vermont to operate the 200-year-old Stratford Inn.
Dick and Joanna initially run the inn with the help of sweet-natured but simple handyman George Utley and Leslie Vanderkellen, a bright, cheerful Dartmouth College student and heiress who takes a job as a maid to find out what it is like to be "normal". Next door to the inn is the Minuteman Café, owned by Kirk Devane, a pathological liar. Leslie leaves before season two to continue her studies abroad, to be replaced by her cousin Stephanie, who, unlike Leslie, is vain, lazy, and spoiled.
Near the end of season two, Dick becomes the host of a local television show, Vermont Today, where he interviews an assortment of bizarre and colorful guests. His vapid, neurotic producer, Michael Harris, falls in love with Stephanie, their relationship providing a satire of 1980s excess.[1] The final episode of the series reveals that the entire series was a dream of Dr. Robert Hartley, Newhart's character in The Bob Newhart Show.
Newhart was a solid ratings winner, finishing its first six seasons in the Nielsen top 25. Despite not finishing in the top 30 for its last two seasons, Bob Newhart stated in an interview with the Archive of American Television that CBS was satisfied enough with the show's ratings to renew it for a ninth season in 1990. However, Newhart, who was anxious to move on to other projects, declined the offer, promising CBS that he would develop a new series for the network, which he was under contract to do. This resulted in the 1992 series Bob, which lasted two seasons.
| + Newhart season rankings in the U.S. television market | |||||||||
| Season | Episodes | Original air dates | TV season | Nielsen ratings | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season premiere | Season finale | Rank | Rating | Households / Viewers (in millions) | |||||
| 1 | 22 | October 25, 1982 | April 10, 1983 | 1982–1983 |
| 20.0 | 16.66 | ||
| 2 | 22 | October 17, 1983 | April 16, 1984 | 1983–1984 |
| 18.0 | 15.08 | ||
| 3 | 22 | October 15, 1984 | May 28, 1985 | 1984–1985 |
| 18.4 | |||
| 4 | 24 | September 30, 1985 | May 12, 1986 | 1985–1986 | 19.6 | 16.84 | |||
| 5 | 24 | September 29, 1986 | April 13, 1987 | 1986–1987 |
| 19.5 | 17.04 | ||
| 6 | 24 | September 14, 1987 | April 9, 1988 | 1987–1988 |
| 16.5 | rowspan="2" | ||
| 7 | 22 | October 24, 1988 | May 22, 1989 | 1988–1989 |
| 12.8 | |||
| 8 | 24 | September 18, 1989 | May 21, 1990 | 1989–1990 |
| 13.1 | 19.34 | ||
The show was nominated for 25 Emmy Awards but never won.
Newhart earned six nominations for Golden Globe Awards.
Newhart was nominated for one Casting Society of America award and four nominations for TV Land Awards. Newhart won a total of four Viewers for Quality Television Awards.
20th Century Fox released season one of Newhart on DVD in Region 1 on February 26, 2008.
In November 2013, Shout! Factory announced it had acquired the rights to the series. It has since released the remainder of the series in individual season sets.[2] [3] [4]
| DVD Name | Ep. No. | Release Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Complete First Season | 22 | February 26, 2008 | |
| The Complete Second Season | 22 | February 11, 2014 | |
| The Complete Third Season | 22 | April 22, 2014 | |
| The Complete Fourth Season | 24 | August 19, 2014 | |
| The Complete Fifth Season | 24 | May 10, 2016 | |
| The Complete Sixth Season | 24 | September 13, 2016 | |
| The Complete Seventh Season | 22 | December 13, 2016 | |
| The Complete Eighth Season | 24 | March 14, 2017 |