This week for my Top 10 Tuesday, I am counting down my Top 10 Newhart Characters!
There aren't a ton of Newhart characters to choose from as the show often stuck to its cast of regular characters but I put Kirk's girlfriend, the clown, on the list partly to make a point about how I couldn't put the much more prominent character of Kirk on the list. He was so irritating and his relationship with Cindy made him only slightly more bearable. She had a few funny moments in a much smaller sample size which is why she makes the list.
9. LESLIE VANDERKELLEN
Before there was Stephanie, there was Leslie. She didn't make as much of an impression but she had some funny moments in the show's uneven first season. It was almost like the writers had the right idea for a character but didn't know how to develop her. I don't put a ton of blame on her portrayer, Jennifer Holmes. I think the character was underwritten. Compared to the other character to exit the series early (Kirk), she was great.
I can't really separate Darryl & Darryl on this list even though they are separate people and there are some unique personality traits. But the entire joke was based on the two brothers with the same name who never talked. One thing that made Newhart a little bit different from the other MTM shows was a healthy dose of surrealism and the strange woodsmen were the strangest element. It was used sparingly enough to be effective and funny.
7. CHESTER WANAMAKER
The mayor of the small and sometimes strange Vermont town was never a series regular but was a presence throughout the series run right up through the famous final episode. He was goofy and embraced all of the town's crazy traditions and customs. He was a great foil for Bob Newhart's character who was far less enthusiastic about everything. I actually think there could have been more of Chester on the show.
6. LARRY
The only brother who talked, Larry had some funny deadpan deliveries and was a very unique character in part because of how he spoke on behalf of his brothers. William Sanderson was effective at making Larry more than just a one joke pony. It could have been pretty easy to just be a character with some catchphrases but this was an MTM show, not a Miller-Boyett one so even though he was a cartoonish character, it worked. That's due to the writing and due to Sanderson.
Joanna was sort of a vanilla character but I think she gets a bad rap because she gets compared to Suzanne Pleshette, who was the perfect foil as Bob's wife on The Bob Newhart Show. It doesn't help that Pleshette has the iconic cameo in the final episode that makes her seem like Bob's true TV wife. but Joanna was a calm and steadying presence amidst Dick's frustrations and the colorful cast of characters. She also had a couple goofy moments but I don't know that they ever developed her enough as a character.
4. MICHAEL HARRIS
The late, great Peter Scolari as Michael Harris was a very welcome addition to the Newhart cast when he ostensibly took the place of the horrible Kurt. Along with Stephanie, he was a scene stealer who had so many odd tendencies and a very unusual way with words. He was also a great foil for Dick and a different type of personality for Newhart to play off of. He was different in so many ways and yet they were forced to work together and the show found a lot of comedy there.
George is one of the most consistent presences on Newhart throughout its run. It was a character who could have been a one-trick pony and sometimes veered dangerously close to that. But Tom Poston's portrayal made him a much more sympathetic character than he might have been. Yeah we got that George could be frustrating but we also rooted for him because he had the kindest heart and purest intentions of anyone on the show.
2. DICK LOUDON
Bob Newhart's style of comedy is so famously deadpan that he sometimes can fade to the background of his own shows. But the reality is that neither this show or The Bob Newhart Show would work without Newhart. He grounds all the characters as the straight man but also has some expert comedic delivery. I never thought the innkeeper role suited Newhart as well as a psychologist but I think they found more ways to use Newhart's talents when Dick became involved with the TV studio. Bob Newhart's comedy genius is very unique I still think a bit underrated.
Julia Duffy's Stephanie Vanderkellen is easily Newhart's MVP. She didn't appear until the second season and made the show better from the jump but she only got better too. She was perfect as the stuck-up and snobby maid who was just hilarious with her many examples of self absorption. Duffy was perfect casting for this role because she has such a way with her line deliveries. Her complete (and often unwarranted) exasperation with Dick and Joanna was a regular source of comedy for seven seasons. Newhart would not have made the improvements it did in its run without Stephanie.
Tomorrow: A One Season Wonder look at The Royal Family!
Next Tuesday: Top 10 Everybody Loves Raymond Characters!
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