"How's Annie?"

Japanese investors show up at the Stratford and announce they are going to buy everything in town and build a huge golf course. One by one, everyone sells out except Dick, who stubbornly clings to his inn. There are some long goodbyes, but Dick as usual doesn't really care.

Time passes, and we see a future where the inn is in the middle of an elaborate golf course (people ducking at the call of "fore"), and the more things have changed, the more they've actually stayed the same. Everything has an Eastern feel to it, but the same "characters" are still there. Dick hates it, as always, and finally is ready to sell, but it's too late. One by one, the old townspeople show up for a reunion, and they realize how much they miss their old lives. They decide to all move in to the Stratford with Dick and spend the rest of their lives there but argue over who gets what room. At this point, Dick just can't take anymore, and he explodes in a rage, and storms out the door screaming at everyone. As he opens the door, he gets conked on the head with a golf ball. Fade out.

Everything gets fuzzy in "dream sequence" style, and he awakens in bed, and we realize it was all just a dream. How nice. And he nudges his wife and says, "you won't believe this crazy dream I just had." His wife sits up, but it's not Joanna - it's Emily from <I>The Bob Newhart Show</I>. She says, "what is it, Bob?" and he proceeds to tell her about his crazy dream ... he was an inn keeper in some strange Vermont town, and he details the crazy characters that made his life a living hell, and his beautiful wife. Emily is disinterested, tells Bob not to eat Japanese food before bed and goes back to sleep. She then realizes what he said and sits up and asks about the "beautiful wife." Bob dismisses it and tells her to go to sleep. Then he suggests she should try wearing more sweaters (like Joanna). Fade out ...

There were like 5 people in the world that knew this was happening, and most of the crew was shocked when Suzanne Pleshette sat up in bed. Among other things, it had been leaked to the press that Dick would "meet his maker" in this episode, and people expected a sad farewell and were completely caught off-guard. It's one of the truly great moments in television history, and I cannot imagine anything ever eclipsing it.