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 petty opportunist and compulsive 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. Awkward, uncultured backwoodsman brothers Larry, Darryl and Darryl are seen with increasing frequency as work-for-hire odd-job men in the first two seasons, and take over the Minuteman Cafe when Kirk leaves at the start of season 3. 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==