John O'Brien

Sick of suburbia, Natalie and Richard Newman move to rural Vermont, where they expect the unspoiled setting and intrinsic values to rejuvenate their marriage. Natalie wants to start a family; Richard, who has grown children from a first marriage, does not. As a compromise they build a trophy house. The construction of the dreamhouse inevitably leads to a visit from the local tax assessor (lister). Enter George Lyford, a lister and farmer, who over the course of two inspections, develops a flirtation with Natalie, which results in his becoming her handyman. Description above from the Wikipedia article Nosey Parker, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Vermont is for Lovers is an independently produced docudrama released in 1992, starring George Thrush and Marya Cohn and shot on location Tunbridge, Vermont. The film concerns a couple visiting Vermont in order to be married, and interviewing local residents on the subject of marriage. Largely improvised and using non-professional actors, the film was shown at various film festivals including the Melbourne International Film Festival and the Hawaii International Film Festival. The movie was not very well-received by the national press, with the New York Times calling it, “vaguely amiable.” While the Washington Post review commented that the film was an “all-too-easy target for ridicule,” it also mentioned one of the film’s high points: “In one scene, a typically droll Vermont resident (playing himself) sums up his state’s fabled coolness to strangers by suggesting that a sign be placed at the state line, reading ‘Welcome to Vermont. Now Leave.’”

Fred Tuttle, faced with his father's impending hip operation and his failing farm, needs to make a six-digit salary with a tenth-grade education. So he runs for U.S. Representative from Vermont with a markedly bizarre campaign. Will he triumph over incumbent Bill Blachly?