The Stratford Wives

 Newhart 2x04 The Stratford Wives

Newhart is an American sitcom television series 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 who own and operate an inn in a small, rural Vermont town that 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.

Premise[edit]

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. Although the town's name was never specified in the show, some media sources identified it as Norwich.^[1] The outside shot of the house is the Waybury Inn in East Middlebury.

Dick and Joanna run the inn with the help of sweet-natured but simple handyman George Utley and Leslie Vanderkellen, a Dartmouth College student and heiress who takes a job as a maid to find out what it's 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.^[2]

The town is populated by oddballs whose behavior never ceases to bemuse the sane, mild-mannered everyman Dick. Among them are Larry, Darryl and Darryl, three brothers who normally worked as woodsmen, but also supported themselves with various odd jobs throughout the first two seasons. When Kirk moved away in the third season, the three brothers bought the Minuteman Cafe from him and were seen running it for the remainder of the series. Larry would always make an entrance saying "Hi! I'm Larry, this is my brother Darryl, and that's my other brother Darryl". Neither of the Darryls talked (until the series finale), but Larry's descriptions of their misadventures often venture into the surreal.

As the series progresses, the world around Dick grows increasingly illogical. The final episode reveals that the entire series has been a dream of Dr. Robert Hartley, Newhart's character in The Bob Newhart Show.

Cast[edit]

Main[edit]

• Bob Newhart as Dick Loudon, owner of the Stratford Inn, author of how-to books and host of Vermont Today
• Mary Frann as Joanna Loudon, Dick's wife; the co-owner of the Stratford Inn who also works as a realtor
• Tom Poston as George Utley, the handyman/maintenance man at the Stratford Inn, a position that has been passed down in his family for generations
• Jennifer Holmes as Leslie Vanderkellen, an heiress and student at Dartmouth College who works as a maid at the Stratford Inn (1982–83)
• Steven Kampmann as Kirk Devane, a pathological liar and the owner of the neighboring Minuteman Café (1982–84)
• William Sanderson as Larry, Tony Papenfuss as his brother Darryl and John Voldstad as his other brother Darryl, backwoodsmen who live in the same town. The three take over the Minuteman Café following Kirk's departure. The two Darryls never speak until the final episode. (recurring 1982–84, main 1984–90)
• Julia Duffy as Stephanie Vanderkellen, Leslie's cousin, a vain, spoiled, and lazy heiress; replaces Leslie as the Stratford's maid after the first season (guest 1982, main 1983–90)
• Peter Scolari as Michael Harris, the vapid, neurotic producer of Vermont Today; Stephanie's boyfriend and later husband (recurring 1983–84, main 1984–90)

Recurring