Sitcoms That Knew When It Was Time To Quit (And The Ones That Didn’t) |

Newhart Stuck The Landing; Cracked.com   

 "The absolute mountaintop of sitcom finales was that of Newhart, the second hit sitcom starring TV Legend Bob Newhart, who, sadly, may only be known to millennials and zoomers as Buddy’s adopted father in Elf.

Bob’s first starring role in a sitcom was in The Bob Newhart Show, which ran for six seasons in the 1970’s. Bob played, well, Bob, a Chicago psychologist married to the sarcastic Emily, played by Suzanne Pleshette. Just four years after the finale of The Bob Newhart Show, Bob Newhart debuted a new sitcom on CBS called Newhart, starring Bob Newhart as Bob Newhart (actually his character was named Dick Loudon, but I wasn’t quite tired of typing Bob Newhart. Newhart Newhart Newhart Newhart Newhart).

Bob Newhart’s new series Newhart ran for eight seasons, with Newhart playing a rural Vermont innkeeper running the 200 year old Stratford Inn with his wife Joanna, played by Mary Frann. 

"The show enjoyed a little more recognition than its predecessor, including 25 Emmy nominations, and its first six seasons finished in the Nielsen top 25. Starting in its sixth season, however, its popularity started to dwindle, and Newhart saw its largest dropoff in ratings between seasons six and seven.

"While the network was happy to keep Newhart running despite its decline, Bob had other ideas. He felt that the show had run its course and that it was time for him to move onto other projects. So, it was decided that season eight would be Newhart’s last. After 23 episodes of middling ratings, Season Eight, Episode 24 of Newhart titled “The Last Newhart” aired on May 21, 1990 and made television history.

" 'In the episode, all the inhabitants of the small unnamed Vermont town with the exception of Dick and Joanna sell their land to a Japanese businessman who intends to turn it into a gigantic golf course. 

"Cut to five years later, the now-rich former denizens return for a reunion, and as chaos begins to erupt, Dick is struck by an errant golf ball and passes out, only for Bob Newhart to awaken in bed next to his first TV wife Suzanne Pleshette. He describes the events of Newhart as if they were all a dream, and his wife tells him “no more Japanese food before bed” as she turns off the light and they go back to sleep.

"Brilliant."