Sorry Dave, I beg to differ. The 717 is a joy to fly in, but a new aircraft it certainly is not. The only reason it exists is because it is a continuation of the DC9/MD80/MD90 line and so used it's heritage. It's a mix of DC9 and MD80 with some other bits and pieces thrown in.
The true new rear engined aircraft are the Embraer 135/145 and (to a lesser extent because of their lineage) the CRJs. Interesting that as soon as it became practical to do so, Embraer moved the engines under the wings in pods a la 170/175/190/195. It seems Boeing got it right first time 50 years ago!