Many people assume that Bob Hope is the patron saint of DeathWatch, but he's not.

From 1982 to 1990, the airwaves were graced by a wonderful couple, the Loudons, who owned a Vermont inn and were regularly subjected to the antics of the wacky people that lived in the town.

We're talking, of course, about "Newhart." It starred Bob Newhart and actress Mary Frann, who was also graced by a wonderful couple...if you know what we mean.

Mary Frann single-handedly, we believe, kept the sweater industry alive and popular throughout the 1980s. To this day, no one looks as good in a sweater.

Eight years after Newhart went off the air, Mary Frann unexpectedly died in her sleep at age 55.

Although rumors speculated that Frann died of a drug overdose, it was later determined that she was suffering from undiagnosed scarring of the heart muscle tissue and died of heart failure.

News coverage of Frann's death was limited, since she had not been on TV for eight years. A full year passed before DeathWatch discovered she had died. "How did we miss HER?!" Jon and John asked one another.

Had we been paying attention, Frann would have counted for a point in the tally. But too much time had passed to count her, and to this day we wonder how we missed her.

For escaping our notice, and out of respect for looking so good in a sweater, Mary Frann is our patron saint of DeathWatch.