Newhart (TV Series) It Happened One Afternoon: Part 1 (1983) User Reviews

A Turning Point

[aramis-112-804880 · 6/10 · 10 September 2016]

"It Happened One Afternoon" ("Newhart" two-part second season opener) has on display some of the worst elements of the first season.

The first season had very few high points other than two episodes featuring Larry, Darryl and Darryl and one with Julia Duffy playing spoiled Stephanie Vanderkellen.

In the first season the dreadful Minuiteman cafe was owned by Kirk, a habitual liar of Clintonian proportions. And the Louden's maid was an heiress named Leslie Vanderkellen who was perfect--and perfectly unfunny. It took them a year to figure out a woman who is perfect (Leslie) is not nearly so hilarious as a woman who thinks she is (Stephanie).

The show also made the change from video to film, which is fine as it made Bob Newhart look younger.

But the woes of the first season are still here. Joke lines occasionally have only one person in the audience chuckling at them. They are the lucky ones. Some obvious joke lines go by without a titter from anyone.

But the show is retooling in the right direction.

Stephanie Is Back

[Hitchcoc · 4/10 · 8 October 2019]

This is about as dull as an episode can get. We meet Stephanie VanderKellen. She is boring at this point. Dick goes to New York to meet some actress whose book he plans on writing. Nothing happens. Nothing is funny. Maybe Part 2 will offer something.

I can't believe this is the same show I've been watching

[AlanD · 2/10 · 15 July 2023]

I started watching the first season of "Newhart" and really enjoyed the humor and the comic timing of the various characters.

This opening episode of the 2nd season was dreadful. The jokes fell flat and the timing was off. Even Bob Newhart who made his career out of his perfect timing, seemed to be just reciting his lines. Many of the jokes had no audience reaction. The creativity from the first season was missing. If this was the first "Newhart" episode I'd have seen, I'd never have watched another.

The most ironic fact is that this episode was written by Barry Kemp who created all these characters.

One of the worst

[sosmgy610 · 2/10 · 17 July 2018]

This episode is simply not funny. It's amazing how many jokes fall completely flat even to the studio audience. It's a total waste of time and talent

A remarkably unfunny and poorly written episode

[eric-356-790727 · 1/10 · 4 April 2023]

For a season premiere in which the producers obviously wanted to re-tool things-the set has changed with new furniture and wall hangings, Julia Duffy replaces Jennifer Holmes, the lighting is much brighter-the episode is remarkably unfunny.

The studio audience had such low energy you forget they're there much of the time. Did they not have a warmup comic? One wonders why they didn't cut and re-write on the day of the shoot when the jokes fell so flat there was absolutely zero laughter.

Stephanie is annoying. Dick's agent is as well, but he's at least amusing. Bob Newhart even seems to struggle with timing (a true rarity) because he seems to be holding for laughter that wasn't there.

It's the worst episode of the show thus far. All uphill from here.

Beginning of the end

[stdean-12332 · 1/10 · 19 March 2024]

A perfectly funny and charming show begins its decent into the toilet which culminated with the addition of the uber annoying Michael in later episodes. Show became unwatchable at this point. Expected so much more from a truly funny and classic legend as Bob Newhart. While George and Larry, Daryl, and Daryl did provide great comedic opportunities, any decent plots containing the Stephanie and Michael characters were just patently silly, moronic, and frankly stupid. Understand if the writers wanted/needed to move on from Kirk and Leslie for whatever reason, but they could have done much better than Micheal and Stephanie.