Waybury Inn
The Waybury Inn is an inn at 457 East Main Street in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. The inn was built in 1810, and is one of the oldest operating traveler's accommodations in the state. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. It is well known for its use in exterior shots of the "Newhart" television series.
Description.
The Waybury Inn is located on the north side of East Main Street (Vermont Route 125), near the eastern end of East Middlebury village. It is set near the westernmost end of one of the major routes across the Green Mountains in central Vermont. It consists of a <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />2+1⁄2-story gable-roofed main block, from which a two-story block extends to the rear. A single-story porch, covered by a hip roof, extends across the front and around to one side. The interior is arranged in a central hall plan, with large rooms, extending the full depth of the main block, on either side of the main staircase.
History.
The inn was built in 1810 by John Foot (or Foote). The pass to the east had opened as a toll road (turnpike) in 1808, and Foot sought to capitalize on the traffic it would bring. However, the turnpike never brought a high volume of traffic, and efforts to develop a glassworks in the village also cramped growth in the area. Moderate growth in the village by 1850 prompted its second proprietor, Royal Farr, to expand the premises in 1867 by adding the ell to the rear. This included a ballroom, and Farr added other amenities to make the inn a local site for social events. The inn was variously known as the Glen House and Green Mountain House before being given its present name in the 20th century. The only period of time in which the inn was closed was during World War II.
The inn maintains a tradition in which, in room 9, there is an antique desk with a secret drawer. Following the lead of a couple who found the drawer in 1987, guests often put notes in the drawer.
The Waybury Inn was also used as a location for exterior shots on the Bob Newhart television series, "Newhart", from 1982 to 1990. Featured as the Stratford Inn, the Waybury Inn was painted white for the show. After the show went off the air in 1990, the inn was repainted green to match the nearby Green Mountains.
References.
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Bob Newhart
American comedian and actor (1929–2024)
George Robert Newhart (September 5, 1929 – July 18, 2024) was an American comedian and actor. Newhart was known for his deadpan and stammering delivery style. Beginning his career as a stand-up comedian, he transitioned his career to acting in television. He received numerous accolades, including three Grammy Awards, an Emmy Award, and a Golden Globe Award. He received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2002.
Newhart came to prominence in 1960 when his record album of comedic monologues, "The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart", became a bestseller and reached number one on the "Billboard" pop album chart and won two Grammy Awards for Album of the Year, and Best New Artist. That same year he released his follow-up album, "The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back!" (1960), which was also a success, and the two albums held the "Billboard" number one and number two spots simultaneously. He later released several additional comedy albums.
Newhart hosted a short-lived NBC variety show, "The Bob Newhart Show" (1961), before starring as Chicago psychologist Robert Hartley on "The Bob Newhart Show" from 1972 to 1978. For the latter, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Male TV Star. He then starred as Vermont innkeeper Dick Loudon on the series "Newhart" from 1982 to 1990, where he received three nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. He also starred in two short-lived sitcoms, "Bob" (1992–1993) and "George and Leo" (1997–1998).
Newhart also acted in the films "Hell Is for Heroes" (1962), "Hot Millions" (1968), "Catch-22" (1970), "Cold Turkey" (1971), "In & Out" (1997), and "Elf" (2003), and voiced Bernard in the Disney animated film "The Rescuers" (1977) and its sequel (1990). Newhart played Professor Proton on the CBS sitcom "The Big Bang Theory" from 2013 to 2018, for which he received his first-ever career Emmy Award, for the Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. He also reprised his role in "The Big Bang Theory" prequel spin-off series "Young Sheldon" (2017–2020).
Early life and education.
George Robert Newhart was born on September 5, 1929, in Oak Park, Illinois. His parents were Julia Pauline ("née" Burns; 1901–1994), a housewife, and George David Newhart (1899–1987), a part-owner of a plumbing supply business. His mother was of Irish descent, while his father was of German and Irish descent. He went by his middle name, "Bob," to avoid confusion with his father. The family name Newhart is of German origin ("Neuhart").<ref name="imdb/title/5984620"></ref> One of his grandmothers was from St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. He had three sisters.
Newhart was educated at Catholic schools in the Chicago area, including St. Catherine of Siena Grammar School in Oak Park, and attended St. Ignatius College Prep (high school), graduating in 1947. He then enrolled at Loyola University Chicago, from which he graduated in 1952 with a bachelor's degree in business management. Newhart was drafted into the U.S. Army and, until his discharge, in 1954, served as a U.S.-based clerk during the Korean War. He briefly attended Loyola University Chicago School of Law, but did not complete a degree, in part, he said, because he had been asked to behave unethically during an internship.
Career.
1958–1971: Comedy albums and stardom.
After the war, Newhart worked for United States Gypsum as an accountant. He later said that his motto, "That's close enough," and his habit of adjusting petty cash imbalances with his own money showed that he lacked the temperament of an accountant. In 1958, Newhart became an advertising copywriter for Fred A. Niles, a major independent film and television producer in Chicago. There, he and a co-worker entertained each other with long telephone calls about absurd scenarios, which they later recorded and sent to radio stations as audition tapes. When the co-worker ended his participation by taking a job in New York, Newhart continued the recordings alone, developing routines.
Dan Sorkin, a radio station disc jockey, who later became the announcer-sidekick on Newhart's NBC series, introduced Newhart to the head of talent at Warner Bros. Records. Based solely on those recordings, the label signed him in 1959, only a year after it had come into existence. Newhart expanded his material into a stand-up routine that he began to perform at nightclubs. He became famous mostly on the strength of his audio releases, in which he played a solo "straight man". Newhart's routine was to portray one end of a conversation (usually a phone call), playing the comedic straight man while implying what the other person was saying. Newhart's 1960 comedy album "The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart" was the first comedy album to make number one on the "Billboard" charts and peaked at number two in the UK Albums Chart. It won two Grammy Awards, Album of the Year, and Best New Artist.
Newhart told a 2005 interviewer for PBS's "American Masters" that his favorite stand-up routine was "Abe Lincoln vs. Madison Avenue", which appears on this album. In the routine, a slick promoter has to deal with Lincoln's reluctance to agree to efforts to boost his image. Chicago TV director and future comedian Bill Daily, who was Newhart's castmate on "The Bob Newhart Show", suggested the routine to him. A follow-up album, "The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back!", was released six months later and won Best Comedy Performance – Spoken Word that year. His subsequent comedy albums include "Behind the Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart" (1961), "The Button-Down Mind on TV" (1962), "Bob Newhart Faces Bob Newhart" (1964), "The Windmills Are Weakening" (1965), "This Is It" (1967), "Best of Bob Newhart" (1971), and "Very Funny Bob Newhart" (1973). Years later, he released "Bob Newhart Off the Record" (1992), "The Button-Down Concert" (1997), and "Something Like This" (2001), an anthology of his 1960s Warner Bros. albums. On December 10, 2015, publicist and comedy album collector Jeff Abraham revealed that a "lost" Newhart track from 1965 about Paul Revere existed on a one-of-a-kind acetate, which he owns. The track made its world premiere on episode 163 of the "Comedy on Vinyl" podcast.
Newhart's success in stand-up led to his own short-lived NBC variety show in 1961, "The Bob Newhart Show". The show lasted only a single season, but it earned Newhart a Primetime Emmy Award nomination and a Peabody Award. The Peabody Board cited him as "a person whose gentle satire and wry and irreverent wit waft a breath of fresh and bracing air through the stale and stuffy electronic corridors. A merry marauder, who looks less like St. George than a choirboy, Newhart has wounded, if not slain, many of the dragons that stalk our society. In a troubled and apprehensive world, Newhart has proved once again that laughter is the best medicine." In the mid-1960s, Newhart was one of the initial three co-hosts of the variety show "The Entertainers" (1964), with Carol Burnett and Caterina Valente, appeared on "The Dean Martin Show" 24 times and on "The Ed Sullivan Show" eight times. He appeared in a 1963 episode of "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour", "How to Get Rid of Your Wife"; and on "The Judy Garland Show". He also appeared on series such as "Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre", "Captain Nice", and "Insight". Newhart guest-hosted "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" 87 times, and hosted "Saturday Night Live" twice, in 1980 and 1995. In 1964, he appeared at the Royal Variety Performance in London, before Queen Elizabeth II.
In 1962, Newhart filmed "An Evening with Bob Newhart", thought to be the first pay-per-view television special, for Canadian-based Telemeter.
1972–1978: "The Bob Newhart Show".
Newhart starred in two long-running sitcoms. In 1972, soon after he guest-starred on "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour", he was approached by his agent and his managers, producer Grant Tinker, and actress Mary Tyler Moore (the husband/wife team who founded MTM Enterprises), to work on a series called "The Bob Newhart Show", to be written by David Davis and Lorenzo Music. He was very interested in the starring role of psychologist Bob Hartley, with Suzanne Pleshette playing his wry, loving wife, Emily, and Bill Daily as neighbor and friend Howard Borden.
"The Bob Newhart Show" was a part of the CBS comedy lineup on Saturday Night consisting of "All in the Family", "M*A*S*H", "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", and "The Carol Burnett Show". The series was an immediate hit. The show eventually referenced what made Newhart's name in the first place; apart from the first few episodes, it used an opening-credits sequence featuring Newhart answering a telephone in his office. According to co-star Marcia Wallace, the entire cast got along well, and Newhart became close friends with both Wallace and co-star Suzanne Pleshette.
In addition to Wallace as Bob's wisecracking, man-chasing receptionist Carol Kester, the cast included Peter Bonerz as amiable orthodontist Jerry Robinson; Jack Riley as Elliot Carlin, the most misanthropic of Hartley's patients; character actor and voice artist John Fiedler as milquetoast Emil Petersen; and Pat Finley as Bob's sister, Ellen Hartley, a love interest for Howard Borden. Future "Newhart" regular Tom Poston had a briefly recurring role as Cliff "Peeper" Murdock, veteran stage actor Barnard Hughes appeared as Bob's father for three episodes spread over two seasons, and Martha Scott appeared in several episodes as Bob's mother.
By 1977, the show's ratings were declining and Newhart wanted to end it, but was under contract to do one more season. The show's writers tried to rework the sitcom by adding a pregnancy, but Newhart objected: "I told the creators I didn't want any children, because I didn't want it to be a show about 'How stupid Daddy is, but we love him so much, let's get him out of the trouble he's gotten himself into'." Nevertheless, the staff wrote an episode that they hoped would change Newhart's mind. Newhart read the script and he agreed it was very funny. He then asked, "Who are you going to get to play Bob?" Coincidentally, Newhart's wife gave birth to their daughter Jenny late in the year, which caused him to miss several episodes.
In the last episode of the fifth season, not only was Bob's wife, Emily, pregnant, but his receptionist, Carol, was, too. In the first show of the sixth season, Bob revealed his dream of the pregnancies and that neither Emily nor Carol was really pregnant. Marcia Wallace spoke of Newhart's amiable nature on set: "He's very low key, and he didn't want to cause trouble. I had a dog by the name of Maggie that I used to bring to the set. And whenever there was a line that Bob didn't like—he didn't want to complain too much—so, he'd go over, get down on his hands and knees, and repeat the line to the dog, which invariably yawned; and he'd say, "See, I told you it's not funny!". Wallace also commented on the show's lack of Emmy recognition: "People think we were nominated for many an Emmy, people presume we won Emmys, all of us, and certainly Bob, and certainly the show. Nope, never!" Newhart discontinued the series in 1978 after six seasons and 142 episodes. Wallace said of its ending, "It was much crying and sobbing. It was so sad. We really did get along. We really had great times together."
Of Newhart's other long-running sitcom, "Newhart", Wallace said: "But some of the other great comedic talents who had a brilliant show, when they tried to do it twice, it didn't always work. And that's what... but like Bob, as far as I'm concerned, Bob is like the Fred Astaire of comics. He just makes it look so easy, and he's not as in-your-face as some might be. And so, you just kind of take it for granted, how extraordinarily funny and how he wears well." She was later reunited with Newhart twice, once in a reprise of her role as Carol on "Murphy Brown" in 1994, and on an episode of Newhart's short-lived sitcom, "George & Leo", in 1997.
Although primarily a television star, Newhart appeared in a number of popular films, beginning with the 1959 war story "Hell Is for Heroes" (where he did his one-sided telephone act in a bunker). In 1968, Newhart played an annoying software specialist in the film "Hot Millions". His films include 1970's Alan Jay Lerner musical "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever", the 1971 Norman Lear comedy "Cold Turkey", Mike Nichols's war satire "Catch-22", the 1977 Disney animated feature "The Rescuers" and its 1990 sequel "The Rescuers Down Under" as the voice of Bernard, and he played the president of the United States in the comedy "First Family" (1980).
1982–1990: "Newhart".
By 1982, Newhart was interested in a new sitcom. After he had discussions with Barry Kemp and CBS, the show "Newhart" was created, in which Newhart played Vermont innkeeper and TV talk show host Dick Loudon. Mary Frann was cast as his wife, Joanna. Jennifer Holmes was originally cast as Leslie Vanderkellen, but left after former daytime soap star Julia Duffy joined the cast as Dick's inn maid and spoiled rich girl, Stephanie Vanderkellen. Peter Scolari (who had been a fan of Newhart's since he was 17) was also cast as Dick's manipulative TV producer, Michael Harris, in six of the eight seasons. Steven Kampmann, who was a neighbor for a while, was cast as Kirk Devane for two years, at a cafe he owned. Character actor Tom Poston played the role of handyman George Utley, earning three Primetime Emmy Award nominations as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 1984, 1986, and 1987. Like "The Bob Newhart Show", "Newhart" was an immediate hit, and again, like the show before it, it was also nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards but failed to win any. During the time Newhart was working on the show, in 1985, his smoking habit finally caught up to him, and he was taken to the emergency room for secondary polycythemia. The doctors ordered him to stop smoking.
In 1987, ratings began to drop. "Newhart" ended in 1990 after eight seasons and 182 episodes. The last episode ended with a scene in which Newhart wakes up in bed with Suzanne Pleshette, who played Emily, his wife from "The Bob Newhart Show". He realizes (in a satire of a famous plot element in the television series "Dallas" a few years earlier) that the entire eight-year "Newhart" series had been a single nightmare of Dr. Bob Hartley's, which Emily attributes to eating Japanese food before he went to bed. Recalling Mary Frann's buxom figure and proclivity for wearing sweaters, Bob closes the segment and the series by telling Emily, "You really should wear more sweaters" before the typical closing notes of the old "Bob Newhart Show" theme played over the fadeout. The twist ending was later chosen by "TV Guide" as the best finale in television history. With the exception of the series finale, Newhart simply said "meow" in the MTM Productions closing logo on all episodes. The finale's logo used a sound clip of the two brothers named Darryl shouting "QUIET!!!" in unison; prior to this, only their brother Larry ever spoke a word while they remained silent.
1991–2012: Established career.
In addition to stand-up comedy, Newhart became a dedicated character actor in film and television. Newhart played a beleaguered school principal in "In & Out" (1997), acted in the Will Ferrell Christmas comedy film "Elf" (2003), and made a cameo appearance as a sadistic but appreciative CEO at the end of the comedy "Horrible Bosses" (2011). He appeared on "It's Garry Shandling's Show" and "Committed", reprised his role as Dr. Bob Hartley on "Murphy Brown", and appeared as himself on "The Simpsons". Newhart had a role on "NCIS" as Ducky's mentor and predecessor, a retired forensic pathologist, who was discovered to have Alzheimer's disease.
In 1992, Newhart returned to television with a series about a cartoonist called "Bob". The ensemble cast included Lisa Kudrow, but the show did not develop a strong audience and was cancelled shortly after the start of its second season, despite good critical reviews. On "The Tonight Show" following the cancellation, Newhart joked he had now done shows called "The Bob Newhart Show", "Newhart", and "Bob" so that his next show was going to be called "The". In 1997, Newhart returned again with "George & Leo" on CBS with Judd Hirsch and Jason Bateman (Newhart's first name being George); the show was cancelled during its first season. In 1995, Newhart was approached by Showtime to make the first comedy special of his 35-year career, "Off the Record", which consisted of him performing material from his first and second albums in front of an audience in Pasadena, California.
In 2003, Newhart guest-starred on three episodes of "ER" in a rare dramatic role that earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination, his first in nearly 20 years. In 2005, he began a recurring role in "Desperate Housewives" as Morty, the on-again/off-again boyfriend of Sophie (Lesley Ann Warren), Susan Mayer's (Teri Hatcher) mother. In 2009, he received another Primetime Emmy nomination for reprising his role as Judson in "". On August 27, 2006, at the 58th Primetime Emmy Awards, hosted by Conan O'Brien, Newhart was placed in a supposedly airtight glass prison that contained three hours of air. If the Emmys went over the time of three hours, he would die. This gag was an acknowledgment of the common frustration that award shows usually run on past their allotted time (usually three hours). Newhart "survived" his containment to help O'Brien present the award for Outstanding Comedy Series (which went to "The Office"). During an episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!", Newhart made a comedic cameo with members of the ABC show "Lost" lampooning an alternate ending to the series finale. In 2011, he appeared in a small but pivotal role as a doctor in Lifetime's anthology film on breast cancer, "Five".
2013–2020: "The Big Bang Theory" and final roles.
In 2013, Newhart appeared in an episode of the sixth season of "The Big Bang Theory" playing the aged Professor Proton (Arthur Jeffries), a former science TV show host turned children's party entertainer, for which he was awarded a Primetime Emmy Award. It was Newhart's first Emmy. At that year's Emmy ceremony, Newhart appeared as a presenter with "The Big Bang Theory" star Jim Parsons and received a standing ovation. He continued to play the character periodically through the show's 12th and final season and on its spinoff "Young Sheldon". On December 19, 2014, the 85-year-old Newhart made a surprise appearance on the final episode of "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson", where he was revealed to be the person inside Secretariat, Ferguson's on-set pantomime horse. The show then ended with a scene parodying the "Newhart" series finale, with Ferguson and Drew Carey reprising their roles from "The Drew Carey Show". In June 2015, Newhart appeared on another series finale, that of "Hot in Cleveland", playing the father-in-law of Joy Scroggs (Jane Leeves). It marked a reunion with Betty White, who was a cast member during the second season of "Bob" 23 years earlier. The finale ends with their characters getting married.
Comedic style.
Newhart was known for his deadpan delivery and a slight stammer that he incorporated early on into the persona around which he built a successful career. The hesitant stammer was his natural speaking style – "Truly, that's ... the ... way I talk" – and he used it to build tension in the audience, "Tension is very important to comedy. And the release of the tension – "that's" the laugh."
On his TV shows, although he got his share of funny lines, he worked often in the Jack Benny tradition of being the "straight man" while the sometimes rather bizarre cast members surrounding him got the laughs. But Newhart said, "I was not influenced by Jack Benny", and cited George Gobel and Bob and Ray as his initial writing and performance inspirations.
Several of his routines involved hearing half of a conversation as he spoke to someone on the phone. In a bit called "King Kong", a rookie security guard at the Empire State Building seeks guidance as to how to deal with an ape that is "between 18 and 19 stories high, depending on whether there's a 13th floor or not." He assured his boss he has looked in the guards' manual "under 'ape' and 'ape's toes'." His other famous routines included "The Driving Instructor", "The Mrs. Grace L. Ferguson Airline (and Storm Door Company)", "Introducing Tobacco to Civilization", "Abe Lincoln vs. Madison Avenue", "Defusing a Bomb" (in which an uneasy police chief tries to walk a new and nervous patrolman through defusing a live shell discovered on a beach), "The Retirement Party", "Ledge Psychology", "The Khrushchev Landing Rehearsal", and "A Friend with a Dog."
In a 2012 podcast interview with Marc Maron, comedian Shelley Berman accused Newhart of plagiarizing his improvisational telephone routine style (although not any actual material of Berman's). However, in interviews both years before and after Berman's comments, Newhart never took credit for originating the telephone concept, which he noted was done earlier by Berman and — predating Berman — Nichols and May, George Jessel (in his well-known sketch "Hello Mama"), and in the 1913 recording "Cohen on the Telephone". Starting in the 1940s, Arlene Harris also built a long radio and TV career around her one-sided telephone conversations, and the technique was later also used by Lily Tomlin, Ellen DeGeneres, and others.
Personal life.
Family life.
On January 12, 1963, Newhart married Virginia Lillian "Ginnie" Quinn (December 9, 1940 – April 23, 2023). She was a daughter of character actor Bill Quinn, and met Newhart via an introduction by comedian Buddy Hackett. The couple had four children: Robert (born 1963), Timothy (born 1967), Jennifer (born 1971), and Courtney (born 1977), followed by 10 grandchildren. Both Catholics, the couple raised their children in that faith. Bob was a member of the Church of the Good Shepherd and the related Catholic Motion Picture Guild in Beverly Hills, California. Ginnie died at age 82 on April 23, 2023.
Newhart was the uncle of actor and comedian Paul Brittain.
The Newhart and Rickles families were close, often vacationing together. Don Rickles and Newhart appeared together on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" on January 24, 2005, the Monday following Johnny Carson's death, reminiscing about their many appearances on Carson's show. The two also appeared together on the television sitcom "Newhart" and for previous episodes of "The Tonight Show", where Newhart or Rickles were guest hosts. The friendship was memorialized in "Bob & Don: A Love Story," a 2023 short documentary film by Judd Apatow, released by "The New Yorker", featuring interviews, as well as home videos, with both families.
For over 25 years, Newhart's family lived in a mansion in Bel Air. The house was designed by Wallace Neff in a French Country style. The , five-bedroom home featured formal gardens, a lagoon-style pool with waterfall, and guest apartment. Newhart sold the property to developers in May 2016 for $14.5 million. The new property owners razed the mansion and sold the empty lot for $17.65 million in 2017.
Interests.
In 1995, Newhart was one of several investors in Rotijefco (a blend of his children's names), which bought radio station KKSB (AM 1290 kHz) in Santa Barbara, California. Its format was changed to adult standards and its call sign to KZBN (his initials). In 2005, Rotijefco sold the station to Santa Barbara Broadcasting, which changed its call sign to KZSB and format to news and talk radio.
Newhart was an early home-computer hobbyist, purchasing the Commodore PET after its 1977 introduction. In 2001, he wrote, "Later, I moved up to the 64 KB model and thought that was silly because it was more memory than I would ever possibly need."
Health and death.
In 1985, Newhart was hospitalized for secondary polycythemia, a condition attributed to his years of heavy smoking. He recovered after several weeks and eventually quit smoking.
Newhart died from complications of several short illnesses at his home in Los Angeles on July 18, 2024, at the age of 94. Upon his death, President Joe Biden released a statement which read, "Today, we mourn the loss of Bob Newhart, a comedy legend and beloved performer who kept Americans laughing for decades." Those who paid tributes to Newhart included Reese Witherspoon, James Woods, Julie Bowen, Carol Burnett, Conan O'Brien, Alec Baldwin, Judd Apatow, Kaley Cuoco, Mayim Bialik, Kunal Nayyar, Iain Armitage, Al Franken, Mark Hamill, and Jamie Lee Curtis.
He is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills).
Bibliography.
On September 20, 2006, Hyperion Books released Newhart's first book "I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This". The book is primarily a memoir but also features comic bits. Transcripts of many of Newhart's classic routines are woven into the text. Actor David Hyde Pierce said, "The only difference between Bob Newhart on stage and Bob Newhart offstage is that there is no stage".
References.
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Newhart
American television sitcom (1982–1990)
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.
Premise.
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. Brothers Larry, Darryl and Darryl take over the Minuteman Cafe when Kirk leaves after season two.
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. 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".
Cast.
Main.
<templatestyles src="Div col/styles.css"/>*Bob Newhart as Dick Loudon, owner of the Stratford Inn, author of do-it-yourself books, as well as the host of "Vermont Today"
Recurring.
<templatestyles src="Div col/styles.css"/>*William Lanteau as Chester Wanamaker, the town's fussbudget mayor (1982–90)
Reception.
"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.
Awards.
Nominations.
Emmy Awards.
The show was nominated for 25 Emmy Awards but never won.
Golden Globe Awards.
"Newhart" earned six nominations for Golden Globe Awards.
Other 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.
Home media.
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.
References.
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The Last Newhart
"The Last Newhart" is the 24th episode of the eighth season and the 184th overall episode and final episode of the CBS sitcom "Newhart". It first aired in the United States on 21 May 1990.
Considered one of the most memorable series finales in television history, the episode is ultimately revealed to be a dream by Dr Robert Hartley, the lead character from Bob Newhart's earlier sitcom "The Bob Newhart Show", which had ended four years before "Newhart" aired. The ending has been parodied frequently since it aired.
Plot.
The entire town is purchased by a visiting Japanese tycoon, who turns the hamlet into an enormous golf course and recreation resort. Dick and Joanna are the only townspeople who refuse to sell. The others accept million-dollar payoffs and leave in a farewell scene that parodies "Fiddler on the Roof".
Five years later, Dick and Joanna continue to run the Stratford Inn, which is now located in the middle of the golf course. The other townspeople, now richer and older, unexpectedly return for a reunion. The two Darryls also speak for the first time on screen, yelling "Quiet!" at their wives in unison. Dick gets frustrated with the increasingly chaotic scene and storms out, shouting "You're all crazy!", only to be knocked out by an errant golf ball.
The scene shifts to nighttime in the bedroom of Dr Bob Hartley (Newhart's character on "The Bob Newhart Show") and his wife Emily (Suzanne Pleshette). Bob awakens, upset, and he wakes Emily to tell her about the very strange dream he has just had: that he was an innkeeper in a small Vermont town filled with eccentric characters. Emily tells Bob "that settles it — no more Japanese food before you go to bed." Bob mentions his marriage to a "beautiful blonde," and that Emily should wear more sweaters (in reference to Mary Frann's form-fitting tops) before the credits roll.
Several references are made to Newhart's former show, including the use of its theme song and credits. Although the "Bob Newhart Show" theme was missing from the final closing credit shot in the series' initial syndication run, the theme has been reinstated in the current version syndicated by 20th Century Fox Television. The MTM cat logo normally closed the show end credits with Newhart voicing-over the "meow", but for the finale, the cat's voice was Darryl and Darryl yelling "Quiet!"
Development of the episode.
"Entertainment Weekly" stated in 1995 that Newhart's wife Ginny had conceived the idea for the finale, but the show's executive producers, Mark Egan, Mark Solomon, and Bob Bendetson, denied this in a letter to the editor, "[T]he final episode of "Newhart" was not 'dreamed up' by Bob's wife, Ginny. She had absolutely no connection with the show. ... We wrote and produced the Emmy-nominated script (with special thanks to Dan O'Shannon)."
In Newhart's 2006 book "I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This! And Other Things that Strike Me as Funny", he stated that his wife had indeed proposed the ending of "Newhart", which had been developed by the show's writers. He reiterated this in a 2013 interview, saying,
<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />That was Ginnie's idea. ... She said, 'You ought to end in a dream sequence because there was so much inexplicable about the show.' She said, 'You should wake up in bed with Susie and explain what's so—" and I said, 'What a great idea,' and I gave the idea to the writers and they fleshed it out with the Japanese buying the town and our not selling."
Suzanne Pleshette, in a Television Academy interview, also said that the idea was Ginny's, having heard it from her over dinner with the Newharts several years before the finale was shot.
Interviews with Newhart, Pleshette, and director Dick Martin reveal that the final scene was kept a secret from the cast and most of the crew. A fake ending was written to throw off the tabloids that involved Dick Loudon going to heaven after being hit with a golf ball and talking to God, played by George Burns or George C. Scott. Pleshette was kept hidden until her scene was shot. When the scene began, many people in the live audience recognized the bedroom set from "The Bob Newhart Show" and burst into spontaneous applause. Pleshette and Newhart performed the scene in one take.
Reception of the finale.
In November 2005, the series finale was named by "TV Guide" and TV Land as the most unexpected moment in TV history. The episode was watched by 29.5 million US viewers, bringing in an 18.7/29 rating/share, and ranking as the most-watched program that week.
In 2011, the finale was ranked number four on the TV Guide Network special, "TV's Most Unforgettable Finales", and in 2013 was ranked number 19 in Entertainment Weekly's "25 Best TV Series Finales Ever".
In popular culture.
In 1991, the cast of "The Bob Newhart Show" reunited in a . In one scene, Bob and Emily's neighbor Howard Borden (Bill Daily), quipped that he had dreamed about living for years as an astronaut, as scenes were shown of Daily in his earlier role as astronaut Roger Healey on "I Dream of Jeannie". At the end of the special, Bob Hartley gets on the elevator, where he encounters three workmen: Larry, Darryl, and Darryl.
On the February 11, 1995, episode of "Saturday Night Live", which was hosted by Bob Newhart, the closing sketch ended with a redux of "Newhart"'s final scene, in which Bob Hartley again wakes with his wife Emily (special guest Suzanne Pleshette) and tells her that he had just had a dream of hosting "Saturday Night Live". Emily responds, ""Saturday Night Live", is that show still on?"—this during a period when "SNL" was heavily criticized for its declining quality.
In 2010, "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" presented several parody alternate endings to the television show "Lost", one of which mirrored the finale of "Newhart", complete with a cameo appearance by Bob Newhart and with "Lost" star Evangeline Lilly in place of Emily/Pleshette.
The final scene with Newhart and Pleshette was later parodied in an alternate ending to the television series "Breaking Bad", where star Bryan Cranston wakes from a dream next to his "Malcolm in the Middle" co-star Jane Kaczmarek, and they assume their respective roles of Hal and Lois. Hal recounts the events of "Breaking Bad" in humorous fashion as though he is horrified that he could do those things, albeit as Walter White. Lois reassures him that everything is all right, and the final shot is of Walter's hat.
The final scene of "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" parodied this as well. After revealing that Bob Newhart had been playing the on-set pantomime horse Secretariat, Ferguson wakes up as his "The Drew Carey Show" character Nigel Wick, in bed with his sham civil partner, named and played by Drew Carey. The two then discuss the crazy possibility of Wick being a talk show host and Carey losing weight and becoming a game show host. (The shot continued with a parody of the twist ending of "St. Elsewhere" and then the closing song from "The Sopranos" finale.)
References.
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The Bob Newhart Show
American TV sitcom (1972–1978)
The Bob Newhart Show is an American sitcom television series produced by MTM Enterprises that aired on CBS from September 16, 1972, to April 1, 1978, with a total of 142 half-hour episodes over six seasons. Comedian Bob Newhart portrays a psychologist whose interactions with his wife, friends, patients, and colleagues lead to humorous situations and dialogue. The show was filmed before a live audience.
Premise.
The show centers on Robert "Bob" Hartley (Newhart), a Chicago psychologist, his work and home life, with his supportive, though occasionally sarcastic, wife Emily (Suzanne Pleshette), and their friendly but mildly pesky neighbor, airline navigator Howard Borden (Bill Daily). The medical building where Bob's practice is located also houses Jerry Robinson (Peter Bonerz), an orthodontist whose office is on the same floor, and their receptionist, Carol Kester (Marcia Wallace), as well as a number of other doctors who appear on the show occasionally.
Bob's three most frequently seen regular patients are cynical, mean-spirited and neurotic Elliot Carlin (Jack Riley), milquetoast former US Marine cook Emil Peterson (John Fiedler), and quiet, reserved Lillian Bakerman (Florida Friebus), an older woman who spends most of her sessions knitting. Carlin was ranked 49th in "TV Guide"'s List of the 50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time, and Riley reprised the character in guest appearances on both "St. Elsewhere" and "Newhart".
Most of the situations involve Newhart's character playing straight man to his wife, colleagues, friends, and patients. A frequent running gag on the show is an extension of Newhart's stand-up comedy routines, where he played one side of a telephone conversation, the other side of which is not heard. In a nod to this, for the first two seasons, the episodes opened with Bob answering the telephone by saying "Hello?"
Cast.
Bob's patients.
Seen on a recurring basis in group therapy sessions. Mr. Carlin, Mrs. Bakerman and Mr. Peterson were by far the most frequently seen patients.
Henry Winkler played patient Miles Lascoe in one season 2 episode.
Bob and Emily's relatives.
Seen very occasionally, except for Bob's sister in seasons 2–4.
Neighbors, friends and others.
Most of these were occasional or even one-shot characters.
Rimpau Medical Arts Center.
Doctors Tupperman and Newman were recurring characters; the others were mostly one-shots.
Episodes.
The first four seasons of "The Bob Newhart Show" aired on Saturday nights at 9:30p.m. Eastern Standard Time. During the winter of the 1976–77 season, the program moved to 8:30p.m. EST. For its final season during 1977–78, the program moved to 8:00p.m. EST.
The program typically aired following "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", which was also produced by MTM Enterprises.
The credits feature the Cooper Black typeface, after it was made famous in 1966 by its use in the artwork for the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" album.
Finale.
In the show's April Fools' Day final episode, "Happy Trails to You," Bob gives up his practice and accepts a teaching position at a small college in Oregon. In the closing scene, Bob, Emily, Jerry, Carol and Howard exchange tearful goodbyes and embrace; an emotional Emily bursts into an impromptu refrain of "Oklahoma," and the others join in (except for Howard, who does not know the words), a nod to "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" finale (also produced by MTM) from the previous year, in which the newsroom characters embraced and sang "It's a Long Way to Tipperary". The final credits show the cast of the episode in a curtain call.
Awards and honors.
In 1977, the show received two Emmy nominations – for "Outstanding Comedy Series" and for Pleshette for "Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Comedy Series". Newhart, himself, was nominated twice for a Golden Globe Award as "Best TV Actor—Musical/Comedy" in 1975 and 1976. In 1997, the episodes "Over the River and Through the Woods" and "Death Be My Destiny" were respectively ranked No. 9 and No. 50 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time listed it as No. 44. In 2007, "Time" placed the show on its unranked list of "100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME". Bravo ranked Bob Hartley 84th on its list of the 100 greatest TV characters.
In 2004, TV Land commemorated the show with a statue of Newhart in character as Dr. Hartley, seated and facing an empty couch, as if conducting a therapy session in his office. The statue was temporarily installed in front of 430 North Michigan Avenue, the building used for exterior establishing shots of Hartley's office. The statue is now permanently located in the sculpture park adjacent to Chicago's Navy Pier entertainment complex. In 2005, the TV Land Awards honored "The Bob Newhart Show" with its Icon Award, presented by Ray Romano.
In 2013, "TV Guide" ranked the series No. 49 on its list of the 60 Best Series of All Time.
Later appearances by series characters.
St. Elsewhere (1985)
Jack Riley reprised his Elliot Carlin role on a 1985 episode of "St. Elsewhere" and partnered with Oliver Clark as the amnesiac John Doe Number Six. Carlin and Doe have been committed to the hospital's mental ward, where Carlin treats Doe with the same verbal abuse he directed toward Clark's "Mr. Herd" on "The Bob Newhart Show". Carlin blames his insanity on an unnamed "quack in Chicago." While Oliver Clark's recurring portrayal of John Doe Number Six is essentially identical to Mr. Herd, the two are never stated to be the same individual. In a nod to the "Mary Tyler Moore Show", John Doe Number Six addresses a character played by Betty White as Sue Ann Nivens, which Betty White's character denies.
ALF (1987)
In the 1987 "ALF" episode entitled "Going Out of My Head Over You", Willie visits a psychologist, Dr. Lawrence "Larry" Dykstra, portrayed by Bill Daily. Jack Riley is in the waiting room, apparently portraying Elliot Carlin. Also in this episode, ALF mentions learning about psychology by watching episodes of "The Bob Newhart Show".
Newhart (1988 and 1990)
Riley appears in a 1988 episode of "Newhart", playing an unnamed character who acts very much like Mr. Carlin. This character is being treated by the same therapist in Vermont whom Dick Loudon (Bob Newhart) visits for marriage counseling. Dick feels he recognizes Riley's character, but cannot place his face; whereupon the unnamed patient insults him. Echoing Carlin's statement from the 1985 "St. Elsewhere", the therapist apologizes for her patient, explaining that it has taken her "years to undo the damage caused by some quack in Chicago."
Tom Poston, who played Cliff "The Peeper" Murdock, Bob's college friend from Vermont, played "George" the resident handyman from Vermont, throughout the Newhart series. Poston and Suzanne Pleshette married in 2001, with the marriage lasting until Poston's death in 2007. Pleshette died the following year.
Newhart and Pleshette reprised their roles from the show for the 1990 finale of "Newhart", in which it was revealed that the entire "Newhart" series had just been Bob Hartley's dream. Bob and Emily awake in a room identical in appearance to their Chicago bedroom from "The Bob Newhart Show". (This plot device had previously been used in the season five finale ("You're Having My Hartley") in which Emily is pregnant. At the end, the pregnancy is revealed to have been a dream.)
The Bob Newhart Show: The 19th Anniversary Special (1991)
The entire cast assembled for the one-hour clip show "" in 1991, which finds the show's characters in the present day. This show is set in Chicago, in the same apartment and office that Bob Hartley had in his 1970s show. During the course of the show, the characters analyzed Bob's dream from the "Newhart" finale. At one point Howard recalled, "I had a dream like that once. I dreamed I was an astronaut in Florida for five years," as scenes from "I Dream of Jeannie" featuring Bill Daily as Roger Healey were shown.
Murphy Brown (1994)
Newhart played Bob Hartley on "Murphy Brown", in the episode "Anything But Cured" (March 14, 1994) to beg Carol (Marcia Wallace reprising her role from "The Bob Newhart Show") to leave her job as Murphy's secretary and come back with him to Chicago.
Saturday Night Live (1995)
Newhart reprised Hartley twice in the February 11, 1995, episode of "Saturday Night Live". In one sketch, he appears on a satirical version of "Ricki Lake", befuddled by Ms. Lake's dysfunctional guests and her armchair pop psychology. The episode ended with a repeat of "Newhart"’s "just a dream" scene, in which Bob Hartley again wakes up with Emily (Pleshette), and tells her that he just dreamed he had hosted "SNL". Emily responds, "That show's not still on, is it?"
George and Leo (1997)
"George and Leo" was a sitcom starring Bob Newhart and Judd Hirsch, and a 1997 episode called "The Cameo Episode" featured a raft of cameo appearances by their co-stars of previous series. Although the actors were not necessarily playing the same characters as they played in the previous shows, there was certainly a suggestion with some of the unnamed characters that they "could" be. Amongst the "Bob Newhart Show" actors making cameos in the episode were Peter Bonerz (as "Dr. Robins"), Oliver Clark, Bill Daily (as a pilot), John Fiedler, Tom Poston (as a police officer), Jack Riley, and Marcia Wallace.
CBS at 75 (2002)
Newhart and Pleshette, as "The Hartleys," were the hosts of a segment of the "CBS at 75" broadcast.
Home media.
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released the first four seasons of "The Bob Newhart Show" on DVD in Region 1 in 2005/2006.
On February 3, 2014, Shout! Factory announced it had acquired the rights to the series. It subsequently released "The Bob Newhart Show: The Complete Series" on May 27, 2014. The fifth and sixth seasons were later released on DVD in individual sets on February 3, 2015.
In popular culture.
Season 1 episode 7 of the 2019 Sci-fi alternate history series, "For All Mankind", in which the USSR beats the United States to a crewed lunar landing, has the crew of Apollo 22 watching "The Bob Newhart Show" on the Jamestown lunar base and greeting each other with "Hi Bob."
References.
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The Bob Newhart Show (1961 TV series)
The Bob Newhart Show is an American comedy variety show starring comedian Bob Newhart. It originally ran from October 1961 through June 1962 on NBC, airing on Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. Eastern time, immediately following "Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall". The variety show was sponsored by Kraft Foods's Sealtest Dairy division.
The show was awarded the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Humor (now known as the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series) in 1962. It was also nominated for the Writing Achievement in Comedy Award for Roland Kibbee, Bob Newhart, Don Hinkley, Milt Rosen, Ernest Chambers, Dean Hargrove, Robert Kaufman, Norm Liebmann, Charles Sherman, Howard Snyder and Larry Siegel, but they lost to Carl Reiner for "The Dick Van Dyke Show". The show also won a Peabody Award in 1961.
References.
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List of Newhart episodes
The following is an episode list for the American television sitcom "Newhart", that ran on CBS for eight seasons and 184 episodes, from October 25, 1982, to May 21, 1990. The show starred Bob Newhart, Mary Frann, Tom Poston, Julia Duffy, Peter Scolari, Steven Kampmann, and Jennifer Holmes, as well as other recurring characters.
References.
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List of The Bob Newhart Show episodes
This is a list of episodes for "The Bob Newhart Show", which was originally broadcast on CBS from 1972 to 1978, spanning six seasons and 142 half-hour episodes.
Series overview.
The first four seasons were released on DVD by 20th Century Fox, while seasons 5 and 6, along with "The Bob Newhart Show: The Complete Series", have been released through Shout! Factory. Seasons 1–3 of the show were also made available for streaming and download in the digital format.
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References.
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Newark, Newark
British television series
Newark, Newark is a British television sitcom set in the Nottinghamshire town of Newark-on-Trent, England. The series aired on Gold on 28 March 2022, and revolves around the life of a recently divorced woman, her son and her ex-husband. It later aired on BBC2 from 2 March 2024.
Synopsis.
Recently divorced Maxine (Morgana Robinson) is trying to adapt to single life, after separating from Terry (Mathew Horne). Meanwhile, their 16-year-old son Leslie, is dealing with the confusion of coming out, while his grandmother (Beverley Callard), sticks her nose into every situation.
Production.
The show was written by Nathan Foad, himself from the Nottinghamshire town of Newark-on-Trent, the setting for the sitcom, and where it was filmed. The series was directed by Amanda Blue, produced by Kenny Tanner and the production company was Balloon Entertainment.
References.
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Nuart Theatre
Move theatre in Los Angeles, California, USA
The Nuart Theatre is an art-house movie-theater in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the flagship location of the Landmark Theatres chain in the United States.
Location.
The Nuart is on Santa Monica Boulevard, one block from the 405 Freeway.
History.
The Nuart was built in 1929. The Nuart was bought by Landmark Theatres in 1974 and was the first Landmark theater, soon joined by others including the UC Theater in Berkeley. The theater was remodelled in 2006 and currently seats 303 people.
In February 2024, the Nuart celebrated its 50th anniversary.
Programming.
The Nuart is a single-screen theater known for its "eclectic" mix of arthouse, independent, and foreign film programming. It has debuted or shown many films that were less successful in their original runs but later became hailed as cult classics.
In popular culture.
The theater was used in the Chevy Chase–Goldie Hawn comedy film "Foul Play", although the film is set in San Francisco.
John Waters took the spotlight in a "No Smoking" theatrical trailer, initially showcased at the Nuart Theatre, in which he humorously advised patrons to 'smoke anyway'. Additionally, Waters featured in a Nuart-specific trailer expressing gratitude to the theater for its longstanding showcase of "Pink Flamingos" and its role in elevating DIVINE to the status of a 'Filth Goddess'. Waters continued his cinematic presence in a theatrical trailer dedicated to the Shock Value film festival. These distinctive trailers, directed by Douglas Brian Martin and produced by Douglas Brian Martin and Steven M. Martin, were not the sole cinematic additions at the Nuart. The theater showcased trailers by the Martin brothers, featuring luminaries such as David Lynch and Peter Ivers.
The Nuart was the location for the theatrical world premiere of "Beyond the Valley of the Ultra Vixens" directed by Russ Meyer. Edith Massey of "Pink Flamingos" fame performed on a makeshift stage with her punk rock band The "Incredible Edible Eggs" featuring Regina 'Gina' Schock on drums. Ms. Schock subsequently became a member of the all-girl rock band The Go-Go's. Director Michel Gondry filmed part of Beck's video for "Deadweight" at the Nuart. The Nuart is mentioned in "Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death".

Jim Neidhart
American professional wrestler (1955–2018)
James Henry Neidhart (February 8, 1955 – August 13, 2018) was an American professional wrestler known for his appearances in the 1980s and 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation as Jim "the Anvil" Neidhart, where he was a two-time WWF Tag Team Champion with his real-life brother-in-law Bret Hart in the Hart Foundation. He also won titles in Stampede Wrestling, Championship Wrestling from Florida, Mid-South Wrestling, Memphis Championship Wrestling and the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation. He was part of the Hart wrestling family through marriage to his wife Ellie Hart, teaming with various members throughout his career, and appearing with his daughter Natalya Neidhart on the reality television show "Total Divas".
Early life.
At Newport Harbor High School, Neidhart first gained athletic acclaim for his success in strength-oriented track and field events. He set a California high school record in shot put in 1973 which stood until 1985. After graduating from high school, Neidhart pursued a career in the National Football League (NFL), where he played for the Oakland Raiders and Dallas Cowboys in practices and preseason games.
Professional wrestling career.
Early career (1978–1985).
Following his release from the Dallas Cowboys, Neidhart traveled to Calgary to train with Stu Hart and pursue a career in professional wrestling. He worked for Hart's Stampede Wrestling from 1978 to 1983, and again in 1985, during which time he married Ellie Hart, one of Stu's daughters. He was a two-time Stampede International Tag Team Champion, with Hercules Ayala in 1980 and Mr. Hito in 1983. Stu Hart, seeking publicity for Neidhart, promised him $500 to enter and win an anvil toss at the Calgary Stampede. He did, throwing it 11 feet, 2 inches. This earned him the nickname "The Anvil", replacing his prior nickname, "The Animal".
In September 1981, Neidhart appeared in Germany with the Catch Wrestling Association, taking part in the World Catch Cup. From April to May 1982, Neidhart wrestled in Japan for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) on its Big Fight Series tour as part of Stampede Wrestling's working relationship with NJPW. In January 1983, he made a second tour with NJPW, competing in its New Year Golden Series.
Neidhart teamed twice with King Kong Bundy for Georgia Championship Wrestling in November 1983. From September 1983 to February 1984, he worked for Mid-South Wrestling, where he and Butch Reed held the Mid-South Tag Team Championship for two and a half months. In March 1984, he made a third tour of Japan with NJPW. From April to August 1984, Neidhart worked for the Continental Wrestling Association. In August 1984, he moved to Championship Wrestling from Florida, winning the NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship and NWA United States Tag Team Championship. In January 1985, he left Florida to join the World Wrestling Federation.
World Wrestling Federation (1985–1992).
Hart Foundation (1985–1991).
When Stu Hart sold Stampede Wrestling to Vince McMahon, owner of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Neidhart and Bret Hart were included in the deal. Initially a singles wrestler, managed by Mr. Fuji, Neidhart debuted on January 21, 1985, in Madison Square Garden, defeating Tony Garea. He wrestled Hart, who had a cowboy gimmick, to a draw twice. Bret, upset with his gimmick, suggested to McMahon that he form a tag team with Neidhart.
The new team was dubbed the Hart Foundation and was managed by Jimmy Hart (no relation to Bret). They made their pay-per-view debut at WrestleMania 2, where they were the last two eliminated from a 20-man battle royal by André the Giant. The Hart Foundation won their first WWF World Tag Team Championship on the February 7, 1987, episode of "WWF Superstars" (taped January 26) from The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and The Dynamite Kid), with the help of referee Danny Davis, who was continually "distracted" by checking on Dynamite (laid out of the match early by a megaphone shot from Jimmy), allowing the challengers to double-team Smith. Davis was subsequently fired as referee and began wrestling, aligned with The Hart Foundation. They lost the titles on the November 7 episode of "Prime Time Wrestling" (taped October 27), to Strike Force (Rick Martel and Tito Santana).
The Hart Foundation wrestled in another 20-man battle royal at WrestleMania IV. Bad News Brown attacked and eliminated Hart to win. Neidhart eventually joined Bret's side in the feud with Brown causing a rift between the team and manager Jimmy Hart. This led them to fire him and before starting a feud with The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers. In the fall of 1988, Jimmy Hart began managing the Rougeaus. The Hart Foundation unsuccessfully challenged Demolition (Ax and Smash) for the tag title at the 1988 SummerSlam, when Ax hit Hart with Jimmy Hart's megaphone for the pin (Hart accompanied Demolition's manager, Mr. Fuji, solely to further his feud with the challengers). The Hart Foundation continued feuding with Jimmy Hart's wrestlers for the next year, teaming with Jim Duggan to defeat Dino Bravo and The Rougeaus in a 2/3 falls match at the 1989 Royal Rumble, then defeating The Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine at WrestleMania V. In April 1989, both Hart Foundation members began wrestling singles matches at house shows. Neidhart also had a few shots at Ravishing Rick Rude's Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship in August.
The Hart Foundation reformed full-time in March 1990 in Las Vegas. At WrestleMania VI in Toronto, they defeated The Bolsheviks (Nikolai Volkoff and Boris Zhukov) in 19 seconds. They started a second feud with champions Demolition, who at this point added Crush. At SummerSlam 90 on August 27, The Hart Foundation won the title for a second time in a 2/3 falls match. On October 30, 1990, The Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty) defeated The Hart Foundation in a two out of three falls match in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to seemingly win the title. During the match, the top rope broke by accident, and the match did not air on television. The Rockers defended the WWF Tag Team title against Power and Glory (Paul Roma and Hercules) on November 3, 1990. Shortly after November 3, the WWF decided to not air the title change and that the title would revert to the Hart Foundation. In his book, Shawn Michaels claims that the Hart Foundation had politicked to keep the title. The WWF has never officially recognized The Rockers' reign. The Hart Foundation soon reignited their feud with Jimmy Hart via his team, Rhythm and Blues (Honky Tonk and Valentine). Jimmy Hart once again cost The Hart Foundation the tag titles at WrestleMania VII, in a match with his new team, The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobs and Jerry Sags), when he distracted the referee, allowing Sags to knock out Neidhart with his motorcycle helmet. Hart and Neidhart again split up, though they reunited for a title rematch with The Nasty Boys on the July 29 "Prime Time Wrestling", losing by disqualification when Bret hit both champions with a helmet, again introduced by Jimmy Hart. Neidhart also commentated on "Wrestling Challenge" alongside Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan from March until August 1991.
New Foundation (1991–1992).
Neidhart returned to WWF television on the November 9, 1991 episode of "Superstars of Wrestling", donning new parachute pants with checkerboard designs. He suffered a loss to Ric Flair, who continued to apply his figure-four leglock after winning the match. While hobbling away to the back, Neidhart was attacked and further injured by the Beverly Brothers. This resulted in him being replaced in the 1991 Survivor Series by Sgt. Slaughter.
Neidhart returned once more on the December 1, 1991 episode of "Wrestling Challenge", teaming with Owen Hart (Bret's younger brother) as the New Foundation, defeating the Executioners (Executioner #1 and Executioner #2). The New Foundation's highlight was a win over the Orient Express (Kato and Tanaka) at the January 1992 Royal Rumble. The team also had matches with the Beverly Brothers, the Nasty Boys, the Natural Disasters, and the Powers of Pain throughout late-1991 and early-1992, but had little success overall. The New Foundation wrestled their final match on February 15, 1992; Neidhart was fired the next day after refusing to take a drug test and throwing a television monitor backstage.
Various promotions (1992–1994).
After leaving the WWF in February 1992, Neidhart wrestled a handful of matches on the independent circuit, including two bouts for Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW). Beginning in August 1992, he made three tours with New Japan Pro-Wrestling: The G1 Climax in August (losing in the first round to Kensuke Sasaki), the Super Grade Tag League II in October (teaming with Tom Zenk and finishing with 0 points) and Battle Final in December.
In February and March 1993, Neidhart wrestled in Australia for the "Wrestling Down Under" promotion, working three matches with Jake Roberts.
In December 1993, Neidhart promoted several shows in Florida under the banner "Anvil Promotions".
Throughout early 1994, Neidhart wrestled for various independent promotions.
World Championship Wrestling (1993).
In April 1993, Neidhart began wrestling for World Championship Wrestling (WCW), making his debut on the May 15 episode of "WCW Worldwide", beating a jobber, Todd Zane. After defeating Mustapha Saed on the next episode, Neidhart teamed with Junkyard Dog for the next, again beating Chick Donovan and Rip Rogers. Neidhart and The Junkyard Dog beat Paul Orndorff and Dick Slater by disqualification on the June 5 "WCW Saturday Night". Eleven days later, he beat Shanghai Pierce in a dark match before Clash of the Champions XXIII. After losing to Maxx Payne at a house show in Kokomo, Indiana, on October 7, Neidhart left WCW.
Extreme Championship Wrestling (1993).
On November 13, 1993, Neidhart wrestled The Sandman to a no contest at ECW's November to Remember in the ECW Arena.
World Wrestling Federation (1994-1995).
Neidhart returned to the WWF at King of the Ring in June 1994 as Bret Hart's cornerman for his WWF Championship match defense against Intercontinental Champion Diesel. After Diesel hit Hart with his Jackknife finisher, Neidhart interfered to prevent the pin, and disqualifying Hart, but allowing him to retain the title. After the match, Diesel and Shawn Michaels beat down Hart, and Neidhart didn't intervene. Later that night, Neidhart reappeared at ringside again during Owen Hart's King of the Ring tournament final against Razor Ramon. He attacked Razor outside the ring, behind the referee's back, before Neidhart throwing Razor back for Hart to elbow drop and pin to become "The King of Harts", turning heel for the first time since 1988. Owen had been feuding with Bret since the Royal Rumble. Neidhart, believing Bret had held Owen back from his potential, sided with Owen, and usually cornering him in matches through the summer. Neidhart claimed he'd only helped Bret keep the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at King of the Ring so Owen could take it from him. This opportunity came in a steel cage match at SummerSlam. Neidhart sat in the third row during the match, behind other Hart family members. After Bret won the match, Neidhart entered the cage, locked it and helped Owen beat him down, while the Hart family members tried to climb over it and save him. Following SummerSlam, Neidhart teamed with Owen to face Bret and Randy