Cade Bryant

The Newhart reference is appropriate, given that his original show was set in the same locale as the puzzle's theme.

For 120 across (Dog with a star), I was ambivalent between SNOOPY and SCOOBY (as in Scooby-doo) before the crosses made it clear. Although this did give me an idea for a clue if I ever decide to write my own crossword puzzle: "Cartoon Dog that becomes another cartoon god when two letters are changed". (Of course this ignores the second part of Scooby-doo's name, but he is frequently referred to as just Scooby, so I guess that would make it legit :-).)

Regarding [Union gain?]: always keep an eye on those question marks since it means wordplay is involved. And sometimes crossword constructors get sneaky and slip in a wordplay/pun clue without a question mark. These are actually my favorites!