The first episode made me roll my eyes: was it the evil career woman or useless husband stereotypes? yes both. But as soon as the annoying husband and sister left the show, it really took off. I loved the town characters. This isn't about city folks and country yokels. All of the characters, even Bob Jelly and his family, had shades of grey, their own struggles, and were humanized rather than fitting certain character slots. That includes that none of them were perfect and they weren't put into positive and negative charcterizations. I love it! well done!
edit after season 4: i finally got to see the 4th season after 20 years. It took a couple of episodes to get used to the new characters but then it hit its stride and was excellent. I am so glad they got Bob and Heather Jelly and Kevin and Phrani back. They were the best characters. (apart from Diver Dan that is) Laura was newly mellow and that was good to see. Well as mellow as she can be. I will miss this show as I guess that is probably it!
edit after season 4: i finally got to see the 4th season after 20 years. It took a couple of episodes to get used to the new characters but then it hit its stride and was excellent. I am so glad they got Bob and Heather Jelly and Kevin and Phrani back. They were the best characters. (apart from Diver Dan that is) Laura was newly mellow and that was good to see. Well as mellow as she can be. I will miss this show as I guess that is probably it!