Newhart - The Complete First Season
by Jim Buck, John Tracy (II), Ellen Falcon, Peter Scolari, Lee Shallat Chemel
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Cliff Bemis, Linda Carlson, Rebecca York, Steven Kampmann, Todd SusmanDirector: Ellen Falcon, Jim Buck, John Tracy (II), Lee Shallat Chemel, Peter Scolari
Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Box set, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 546 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-02-26
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Movie Reviews of Newhart - The Complete First Season
Movie Review: Not as Good as It Will Get
Summary: 4 Stars
When you look back to a series you remember fondly from a few years ago, you remember mostly the last seasons. In the case of Newhart (and also of Barney Miller), the first season is not as good as the subsequent seasons. This is primarily because of the first season cast. Jennifer Holmes, as Leslie Vanderkellen, student/maid, is pretty & charming & sweet. And also forgettable. When Julia Duffy, as her sassy, conceited cousin Stephanie Vanderkellen, joins the cast, she brings a sparkle and a spice to the show that Jennifer just couldn't achieve.
Steven Kampmann is attractive but the character of Kirk is not well written. He does grow on me as the season progresses, and I will probably miss him when he leaves at the end of season 2, but he's not Peter Scolari.
And of course there's very little of Larry, his brother Daryl, and his other brother Daryl in season 1--only 2 appearances. As I watched these shows, I kept wondering where they were.
The writing has always been good, and the performances by Bob Newhart, Mary Frann, and Tom Poston were right on target. But season 1 is a work in progress. From then on, it just gets better. Please, please release the subsequent seasons.
Summary of Newhart - The Complete First Season
Bob Newhart returns to the TV as Dick Loudon as he and his wife Joanna decide to leave life in New York City and buy a little inn in Vermont. Dick is a how-to book writer who eventually becomes a local TV celebrity as host of "Vermont Today." System Requirements:TRT; 660 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre:?TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating:?NR UPC:?024543499091 Manufacturer No:?2249909Looking for the perfect getaway? Check in to Newhart, finally open for business on DVD. Let's consult the travel guide: "Nestled in a grove of majestic maples just a stone's throw from the ivy covered walls of Dartmouth University lies the authentic colonial comfort of the Stratford Inn. Your jolly and congenial hosts are well known author Dick Loudon and his wife, Joanna." It's the ideal setup for the understated Newhart who is right at home in this quaint and bucolic setting. Between the guests and the colorful town characters, he has ample opportunities to do what he did so expertly on The Bob Newhart Show; deal with the crazies (as he so elegantly puts it in one of this set's bonus featurettes). Newhart stars as Loudon, a successful New York writer of how-to books, who, with his more reluctant wife, Joanna (Mary Frann, who rises to the unenviable challenge of following Bob's first TV wife, Suzanne Pleschette), uproots their lives to buy and run the venerable Stratford. The place comes with some colorful history (in the pilot, it is revealed that the inn once served as a house of ill repute, and in another episode, Bob learns that a woman hung as a witch is buried in the basement). It also comes with George Utley (Tom Poston), the handyman, who may have more than one screw loose. Newhart's first season provided the series with a solid foundation. It just needed a little tinkering. Kirk (Second City veteran Steven Kampmann), owner of the neighboring caf?, is introduced as a habitual liar, a character trait that is thankfully phased out as the season unfolds (his character would exit the show after two seasons). Pam-pretty and sweet Leslie (Jennifer Holmes), the maid, an heiress who wants "to experience the real world," would be replaced in season two by Julia Duffy, who is introduced as her cousin in the episode, "What is This Thing Called Lust?" But the series' most welcome additions are backwoodsmen Larry (William Sanderson) and his silent brothers Darryl (John Voldstad) and Darryl (Tony Papenfuss), who make their auspicious debut in the second episode. An instant hit, they were brought back for another before becoming regulars in season two. Newhart is four-star character-based comedy. There is nary a cheap or easy laugh in these episodes. Lines such as "There go the dregs of society," "I haven't got $80," and "What would you say if you weren't a college graduate," aren't funny out of context, but spoken by these characters, they're boffo. The DVD box lists four extras, but there are only three. The best is "Getting to the Heart of Newhart," in which cast members Newhart, Duffy, Sanderson, and Voldstad reflect on the series and pay moving tribute to the late Poston and Frann. Considering how much fun they all say it was to work on the show, a gag reel (including the classic blooper in which Newhart accidentally calls Frann's character, "Emily") would have been a nice amenity. --Donald Liebenson
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