The master of dead pan delivery, Bob Newhart, returned to television with his second sitcom, Newhart in 1982. His first showcase was The Bob Newhart Show which had aired from 1972 to 1978 with great success on CBS.

In the new show, Newhart played Dick Loudon, an author of do-it-yourself books, who moves from fast-paced New York City to a sleepy rural Vermont town to run a historic inn. Loudon was a mild-mannered, painfully average man who found himself in a place full of eccentric characters and odd happenings. Dick is accompanied by his wife Joanna--played by Mary Frann--who helps him run the Stratford Inn. As the seasons progressed, the Loudons spent less and less time at the Inn, producing and airing a local cable talk show instead.

The characters inhabiting the town were the epitome of quirkiness. They included Stephanie, a disowned rich girl forced to work as a maid at the Inn; George, a very dense handyman and Kirk, the biggest liar in the world. Unarguably the most famous and enduring characters of Newhart were Larry, Darryl and Darryl, a trio of backwoodsmen that were seen frequently after the show's second season. The latter two men never spoke (until the last episode) and Larry always introduced them with a drawling, "Hi, I'm Larry, this is my brother Darryl, and this is my other brother Darryl."

The series ended with the same trademark surreal tone set by preceding episodes. A few years into the future, the Loudons and their Inn are the last remnants of the town, after all the other residents sold their property to a golf course, which has the Stratford Inn surrounded. Dick is hit by a wayward golf ball and wakes up in bed next to his sleeping wife. When he wakes her up to tell her about the crazy dream he just had, it's not Mary Frann's Joanna, but Suzanne Pleshette, who had played his wife Emily in The Bob Newhart Show. The finale was watched by almost 30 million viewers and is widely regarded as one of the most unexpected TV moments.