Best Endings
Cidu Bill on May 24th 2010
I am still in shock over how mind-bogglingly awful last night’s Lost finale was — especially since for a show that’s essentially a multi-year puzzle, the final episode makes or breaks the entire run. Still, this is where to discuss that.
Just to get the ashen taste out of my mouth, I’m reposting the 2008 discussion about best endings…
(Warning: Even though this is the wrong thread for discussions of the Lost finale, there are in fact spoilers below)
September 10, 2008: One thing most of the best finales have in common is that they took place when the comic strip or television show was still going strong, and the writers hadn’t begun to hate their own characters.
Calvin and Hobbes and Far Side are obvious choices:
Click all three of these to see larger versions. Thanks to Terry Simmich for providing the Far Side panels
I also thought Preteena’s recent finale was perfect in a sweet sort of way, with Teena, a girl on the cusp of adolescence, telling her friend about last night’s dream, in which she saw what the various characters’ adult lives might be like. Many of the “predictions” were a bit over the top, but the final strip was nice…
Click these thumbnails to see larger versions
An unexpected renewal was more problematic for Magnum P.I., which had a great series finale (Magnum dies, but not before doing one last favor for each of his friends) — and then it came back for a dreadful season in which the writers clearly wanted to be elsewhere and demonstrated how much they hated the characters.But okay, we’re supposed to be accentuating the positive this time around; and I’ll stand by my opinion that The Fugitive had the best ending any television program ever. The final scene between Kimble and Gerard outside of the courthouse was as good as anything I’ve ever seen on television, and William Conrad’s final line of narration — “Tuesday, August 29: The day the running stopped” — was perfect.
Filed in Bill Bickel, Bob Newhart, Calvin and Hobbes, Far Side, Frumpy the Clown, Fugitive, Judd Winick, Lost, Magnum P.I., Preteena, Sledge Hammer, St. Elsewhere, comic strips, comics, humor, television | 73 responses so far
Tami Sep 10th 2008 at 12:10 pm 1
What about the ending for La Femme Nikita? I’m still not sure whether I favor the Season 4 ending that was to be the series ending, or the ending of the short Season 5 that the fans won through sheer pressure on the studio, network, and writers.
I think the ending for Start Trek: The Next Generation was a good one. As was the ending for Star Trek: Voyager.
The ending for ER should’ve come years ago … or at least when the helicopter crashed.
HM Sep 10th 2008 at 12:50 pm 2
…and how about the current ending in process for the Opus comic strip? Clearly it’s happening, and even though I’m sad about it, he’s doing a great job with it (so much better than that whole “Outland” thing).
TV Series finales, the best, hands down, is Newhart (”you should wear more sweaters”)love it!
Fett101 Sep 10th 2008 at 01:01 pm 3
‘Home Movies’ had a fantastic ending.
Craig Sep 10th 2008 at 02:13 pm 4
Babylon 5 had a great Finale. Granted the last season had issues…. But the final ep… Wow!
Cidu Bill Sep 10th 2008 at 02:23 pm 5
I personally would have preferred the Season 4 finale as a series finale. I didn’t think either one was GREAT, but they were both very good.
J-L Sep 10th 2008 at 03:28 pm 6
“Everybody Loves Raymond” had a nice series finale. The producers had said that they didn’t want to go out with an over-hyped hour-long show (like so many other series did), so they focused making a pleasant normal-length final episode.
And in my opinion, they succeeded. The last episode was better-than-average and was fun to watch.
Daily Comics Reviewer Sep 10th 2008 at 04:16 pm 7
The Calvin and Hobbes final strip still gives me a strong feeling in my stomach until this day. The best TV finale I’ve seen was for the HBO series Six Feet Under
LD Sep 10th 2008 at 06:41 pm 8
yeah, I second “Home Movies,” great ending to a show with a lot of heart.
ISRW Sep 10th 2008 at 08:51 pm 9
“Six Feet Under” belongs in one of our basic categories: the finale that thinks it needs to tell us how everything worked out for each and every character. This is a flagrant violation of good writing, which doesn’t tend to spell every last thing out, right? As an avid fan of the series, I think the thing had jumped that ol’ shark along about the time of Lisa’s death, and the final episode is one I’d really rather not have watched.
An old series no one has mentioned: The Paper Chase, in its Showtime incarnation. The great thing about that show was that it never pandered, never gave us quite what we wanted — and the final show lived up to that in spades. Hart, the central character, was presented with a chance to stay on in some sort of teaching capacity at the school — but turned it down. His longstanding semi-crush on a fellow student almost, but not quite, came to fruition. That was a melancholy last time around for a good program.
Calvin and Hobbes was a decent ending to a strip that had lost its touch over the last year of its life.
Richard Sep 11th 2008 at 12:03 am 10
I only had one problme with the ending of the original David Jansen version of “The Fugitive” - the scene atop the water tower where the one armed man was beating the crap out of Richard Kimble, and Gerard had to shoot the one-armed man to save Kimble. They tried their best to stage it so it would be believeable, but it just was NOT believable that a fat, unhealthy looking one armed man could beat up a fit looking two armed man. It reminds me of a time many years ago when I was in a bar and a drunken James Stacy (who had only one arm and one leg) got abusive and started threatening me. I’m a physical coward and I don’t get in fights, but believe me, I wasn’t remotely afraid. I just smiled at him and he stopped threatening me.
On the other hand, the last episode of the Tim Daly version of “The Fugitive” was one of the worst endings on television.
Will Sep 11th 2008 at 12:06 am 11
While it certainly falls under the category of being a huge potentially overblown ending, I really enjoyed the ending to M*A*S*H. Though I’d have to say that Cowboy Bebop had the best ending of any TV show I’ve seen.
Cidu Bill Sep 11th 2008 at 12:16 am 12
Richard, it had been previously established that the One-Armed Man was unusually strong
Richard Sep 11th 2008 at 12:58 am 13
Granted they estab;osjed that the one-armed man was unusually strong, he was still a ONE ARMED man. And on the series Richard Kimble regularly got in fist fights and against strong-looking men and won. That scene of the one armed man beating up Richard Kimble just did not look convincing to me.
Incidentally, in 1968, I got a job as a clerk at Mirisch studios. I kept seeing a guy around the set who looked just like Bill Raisch, the actor who played the one armed man on “The Fugitive” - but I didn’t think it could be Raisch because the man on the Mirisch lot had two arms. Then one day I saw him on a film set under the bright lights and it suddenly became apparent that one of his arms was plastic. You couldn’t tell under sunlight or under natural room lighting, but under the lighting on a film set, it was suddenly obvious.
Rob Sep 11th 2008 at 05:41 am 14
my vote is for calvin & hobbes, hands down. It ended the strip after a phenomenal decade plus run while everyone still loved the characters and the strip was still strong and healthy. The final strip was so perfect to the character of calvin and hobbes, it was such a natural and heartwarming way to say goodbye. I have the final strip framed in my parents house, a treasured belonging.
SatchelFan Sep 11th 2008 at 07:20 am 15
I agree that the endings of St. Elsewhere and Newhart were among the best ever. Another series finale I thought was impressive for its time was the last episode of the Mary Tyler Moore Show. “It’s a long way to Tipperary…”
Powers Sep 11th 2008 at 09:02 am 16
The concept of the PreTeena ending was nice, but adult Teena creeps me out. She looks so … Stepford compared to her 11-year-old self.
Then again, I don’t see how the PreTeena ending was that much different from FBoFWs.
David Sep 11th 2008 at 11:27 am 17
Along the lines of Everybody Loves Raymond, The Cosby Show finale was pretty understated, some things change, some things don’t, but everyone is going on with their life, not unlike reality.
The Cheers finale (which I really liked) was in the same vein. There were changes for a bunch of the characters, but they had been gradually set up, and tomorrow would be another day, etc. I was 19 at the time, and found out that people my age were much more satisfied with the ending than people my parents’ age. My theory is that I (and those like me) were sick of change and uncertainty, and were happy to have a story end by saying “everyone is OK, and tomorrow won’t be that different from today”.
Unlike the finale of MTM, which was great, but everything was destroyed, and it was incredibly depressing. Or the finale of Newhart, where everything changed, but then it turned out that nothing changed.
Michèle Sep 11th 2008 at 12:20 pm 18
I can’t believe nobody’s pointed this out yet:
http://avalondire.multiply.com/photos/photo/7/2
(Safe For Work)
John DiFool Sep 11th 2008 at 12:25 pm 19
Whaaaa? When was Preteena canceled/ended? I am in the middle of a computer upgrade (forced by the video card getting fried on my old machine) and haven’t been faithfully visiting my comics sites like I used to.
[Checking] May 18th??! I am getting senile if I didn’t notice something like that.
Patrick Sep 12th 2008 at 01:05 pm 20
I just wanted to point out one of my favorite TV series finales ever. It was a sit-com called “I Married Dora” that aired for only one season (1987). Here’s how it ended (quoting from http://www.tvacres.com/signoffs_finales_dora.htm):
>>On the final telecast, architect Peter Farrell gets an offer to move to Bahrain for two years. Packing his bags against the wishes of his family members, Peter goes to the airport and then enters the plane. Suddenly, he exits and says “It’s been canceled.” “The Flight?” questions his wife Dora. “No, our series.” The camera then pulled back to reveal all the show’s actors and stage crew as they waved a final goodbye to their viewers. <<
I had never watched the show at all but happened to have it on that night and thought the ending was brilliant.
Pinny Sep 12th 2008 at 01:28 pm 21
Reminds me a little of the last scene on the last episode of The Cosby Show where Dr. & Mrs. Huxtable start slow dancing in the living room, continuing off to one side, with the camera following them as they danced off the set and out the door of the studio.
Karen May 24th 2010 at 02:49 pm 22
When I read about the ending of Lost, I was so glad I had never bothered to watch it. I would have been genuinely irritated to have spent six years watching a show about an X Files type island, only to find out it was the afterlife. Kind of like in Carl Sagan’s “Contact”, when the aliens looked like the would-be astronaut’s dead dad. WTF?
I had completely forgotten about “Frumpy the Clown” until reading this post. I LOVED that strip. Frumpy the Clown. Heh.
Kedamono May 24th 2010 at 03:12 pm 23
Actually, I liked the Numbers finale. It was true to life. Everyone moves on in their careers and while not perfect, it was entirely satisfactory in it’s feeling.
Detcord May 24th 2010 at 03:37 pm 24
Cidu Bill,
I haven’t been commenting on these TV nostalgia threads because I haven’t had steady access to television for about 30 years - and am therefore well out of it. The 2 reasons I am commenting now is:
1: your stated opinion of the finale of “Lost” (Ugh!, or something in that vein) and
2. MSN tv has done it’s own reprise of the best and worst TV endings, which I thought might interest you.
Fair warning: their opinion of the “Lost” finale is diametrically opposed to yours - though I think they quibble a bit in the justification.
http://tv.uk.msn.com/photos/photos.aspx?cp-documentid=153470058&page=3
I’ve never seen the show, so I can’t say who’s right - though it’s all a matter of opinion.
Tom May 24th 2010 at 03:47 pm 25
If anyone’s reading from the bottom up, be warned #22 Karen reveals the “secret” in the LOST finale. I don’t care, as I never watched the show, but some folks might resent the spoiler.
Dave Van Domelen May 24th 2010 at 03:56 pm 26
Actually, while I didn’t watch Lost, from the discussion I’ve been following (in a schadenfreudey way) indicates that “it’s the afterlife” may not be the correct interpretation of things. Despite the ads hyping answers, there were no actual answers and they apparently tried to be even less clear than the final episode of the original Prisoner.
Kate C May 24th 2010 at 04:00 pm 27
I also liked the ending to PreTeena, especially since the strip as a whole didn’t have a lot of “OMG! Teena and Gordo are soulmates 4eva!” stuff like Liz and Anthony, Edda and whathisname in 9CWL; they were just good friends who cared about each other.
I second Six Feet Under. I can’t even hear that song “Breathe” without tearing up a little bit. And by the end of that show’s run, I kinda hated all the characters, so getting that worked up over them was feat indeed.
Although I know a lot of people complained about it at the time, I thought the ending for Carnivale was outstanding–yes, it obviously was setting up the next season (which never came), but I still found it satisfying in a spooky, unsettling way. In a similar vein–Twin Peaks.
Little on the obscure side, but the ending of Paranoia Agent, a Japanese TV anime series, was so freaking good. What I especially liked about it is that the “secret” that unlocks the whole mystery of the show is so subtle, so sad, so relatable (at least to me)–I honestly couldn’t imagine a US program taking that route.
paperboy May 24th 2010 at 04:06 pm 28
Karen#22 & Tom#25- Actually, the WHOLE show wasn’t the “after-life”, just the “side-ways flash” life that was begun last season.
That’s what pisses fans off: they explained a mystery they introduced only last years, not anything else.
Cidu Bill May 24th 2010 at 04:12 pm 29
MSN’s criteria is certainly different from mine: they pretty much say right up front that they didn’t mind the fact that it didn’t make any sense, but liked it because it “felt like a proper farewell.” Well, yes, all the characters was there and they were hugging one another and they were all paired up with the significant others the fans wanted them to be with (though I think the Incest Twins should have been together), and everybody was happy. Okay, they were also all dead, or maybe they weren’t, or maybe they were all along or maybe they weren’t, but it looked like a lovely final-wrap cast party.
None of it made a bit of freakin’ sense, but I can understand people liking warm-and-fuzzy.
See, the thing is, there’s nothing wrong with a work of great literature, or a well-thought-out movie, ending without all the answers resolved, leaving the audience the opportunity to draw their own interpretations — but this wasn’t Great Art: it was several seasons of the writers throwing sh-t against the wall and seeing what would stick. There is zero indication that they ever had any idea themselves what was really going on, and rather than attempt some coherence at the end, they decided to just throw some more sh-t.
I haven’t seen a single defense of the the ending that didn’t fall into one of two extremes: “The writers are continuing to challenge us and anybody who expects answers is just not intellectual enough to appreciate this” and “Ooh, look, they’re all sitting together and hugging, isn’t that sweet”
Cidu Bill May 24th 2010 at 04:18 pm 30
Dave, I was okay with the ending of the Prisoner because the whole series was clearly metaphorical. And it ran for about a dozen episodes rather than spending six years promising the answers to an ongoing mystery.
And, you know, it made perfect sense for the 1960s.
George P May 24th 2010 at 05:08 pm 31
I really disliked the silliness of the end of the Prisoner.
Kate, I disliked the entire second season of Carnivale. I adored the first season. Each episode was its own story, with a little bit that both fit that story and advanced the big Story. It fit perfectly with the setting of a show that moved from town to town at a slow pace.
For the second season it was as if someone holding the purse strings told them to get things going. The individual stories were lost in a sprint to the finish line. Way too much happened in too little time.
mkilby May 24th 2010 at 05:14 pm 32
Berke Breathed did an excellent job the first time he retired (from “Bloom County”), sending his characters job hunting to a whole series of other strips. It was perfectly in character with the anarchistic spirit of the strip, and it was also hilarious. Alas, it would be unfair to expect any artist to repeat both of those qualities for a second (”Outland”) and third (”Opus”) attempt to get out of the cartooning business. The ending to Opus was “heartwarming”, but not all that “funny”.
P.S.: The Washington Post has frozen Opus in perpetual limbo, still offering a “current” link to the final strip over 18 months after it was published: http://wpcomics.washingtonpost.com/client/wpc/wpopu/ (follow the link given in the comic to see Opus’s final resting place).
mkilby May 24th 2010 at 05:51 pm 33
P.P.S. Alas, the Humane Society has terminated the page that showed Opus’s final resting place (sleeping inside the book “Goodnight Moon”). I have not been able to find it anywhere else.
mister obvious May 24th 2010 at 06:17 pm 34
For those curious, the Opus inside the book can be found in a small version here:
http://community.tasteofhome.com/forums/t/680220.aspx
Not a big version but you can see what’s going on, at least.
Elyrest May 24th 2010 at 06:21 pm 35
Here’s the final Opus mkilby.
http://digitalrightsmanifesto.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/opus_final_1995×1384.jpg
paperboy May 24th 2010 at 06:25 pm 36
Cidu Bill#29- “it looked like a lovely final-wrap cast party.” is now my favorite description of the Lost finale.
Jim in Phx May 24th 2010 at 08:33 pm 37
The Monk finale, 2 episodes, were great. Everything came together. Loved it.
'BoT May 24th 2010 at 09:12 pm 38
I really enjoyed “The Simpsons” finale.
(Don’t lie, you’ve wanted to see that sentence for a long time)
Steffen May 24th 2010 at 10:52 pm 39
Karen #22, OMG SPOILERS, AGH! …fortunately I stopped watching like 4 seasons ago. What a terrible ending! That can’t have been the original intention, for it all to be meaningless?
BoT #37, damn right we’ve wanted to see that.
Esteban May 24th 2010 at 11:24 pm 40
I really liked the “Lost” finale.
Heather D May 24th 2010 at 11:26 pm 41
“Lost” itself (with the help of Jimmy Kimmel) getting into the whole best/worst endings discussion, with this very funny video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyKyjeRodd4
Esteban May 24th 2010 at 11:29 pm 42
Also, people are mistaken about the island being purgatory. The island was real, and so was everything and everyone on it. The flashsideways, however, was a purgatory-like fantasy, a meeting point for our main group of Losties. That does NOT mean that everyone died on the island. Jack did, so did Sayid and Jin and Sun and everyone who died over the last six seasons. Other characters, like Hurley and Ben on-island and Kate and Sawyer off-island, survived beyond Season Six, but being mortals, they died too, years later. Then everyone met up in the flashsideways timeline, ready to “let go” together.
chuckers May 25th 2010 at 05:40 am 43
Must remember to return to this thread AFTER I have worked through this entire season which has been sitting, waiting patiently for me to have the time to actually watch it. Still going to be next week before I can get to it because I want to concentrate on it and have other things that have been waiting as well.
Andrew McGrae May 25th 2010 at 07:16 am 44
I thought the recent remake of The Prisoner did an extremely good job of having a final episode that ties up every mystery established throughout the show. The Village, the balloon monster thing, the holes, why 6 can remember life on the outside, there’s even a throwaway line explaining why food is always served in wraps. Of course, the fact that it only lasted six episodes probably helped with planning the whole thing out.
As for Lost, there were answers to some long-standing questions in season six, it’s just that they were spread throughout the season with the final episode being more about tying up plotlines than answering anything. I wouldn’t say it was a great ending by any means, and some of the answers were underwhelming (the energy is magic, and Smokey is what happens when you screw around with magic), but I enjoyed it as a whole. Also, I found it amusing that the writers apparently decided to throw a nod to one of the oldest fan theories, with a side plot taking place in Purgatory.
Nicole May 25th 2010 at 08:01 am 45
I lost (heh heh — get it lost?) interest about halfway through the second season. It seemed to me that the writers were just sitting around making up weird events with no real direction. I have seen a few other episodes since, and with my limited knowledge of the series I was underwhelmed to say the least. Whether the island was puratory or not (purgatory is real for those who believe in such things) is moot, whether they were all dead or not was moot. The ending is: “we will all live happily ever after with the ones we love in the afterlife” …. if you ask me … a pretty lame conculsion to six years of mystery.
and before anyone accuses me of not liking weird and complex plot lines .. one of my all time favorite movies is “Being John Malkovich” — you want weird THAT was weird
Jeff S. May 25th 2010 at 11:31 am 46
I have to agree with Jim in Phx @36. The Monk finale might be one of the most satisfying TV endings I’ve seen.
paperboy May 25th 2010 at 01:06 pm 47
Nicole#44- “one of my all time favorite movies is ‘Being John Malkovich’ — you want weird THAT was weird”. Seen “Synecdoche, New York”? You might like that one, too.
Keera May 25th 2010 at 01:20 pm 48
Well, one thing is abundantly clear: There are only two TV-series I have stuck with for so long that I saw them end: M*A*S*H and Numb3rs. This lack of finale experience is partly due to some series showing up out of nowhere in Norway, only to disappear again before they’ve run their course, and partly due to my lack of interest with most modern TV programming. With any luck, I’ll get to see the Monk finale.
Nicole May 25th 2010 at 01:42 pm 49
paperboy @46 .. no I haven’t … but I will definitely check it out.
paperboy May 25th 2010 at 03:45 pm 50
Nicole#48- It’s written & directed by Charlie Kaufman, who wrote “Being John Malkovich”, but, be warned: it’s quite melancholy.
And speaking of melancholy, although it wasn’t the exact ending strip of “Peanuts”, the January 2, 2000 strip seemed to be one. Peppermint Patty is on a muddy field in the rain, calling to “Chuck”, obviously unseen in the downpour. In the 7th panel Marcie enters behind her, saying “Everybody’s gone home, Sir.. You should go home, too.. It’s getting dark…” Without turning to look at her, Patty says “We had fun, didn’t we, Marcie?”. “Yes, Sir.. we had fun..”, Marcie says, as she walks away. Last panel is Patty kneeling, alone in the rain: “Nobody shook hands and said ‘good game’ “.
In an interview in 1997, Schulz was told he made use of childhood loneliness in his art, and he answered “Yeah, yeah. What a waste of time.” Interviewer: “How do you mean?” Schulz:”To spend all your life drawing your comic.” Interviewer: “You don’t really mean that, do you?”. Schulz: “Sure”.
Mary in Ohio May 25th 2010 at 05:00 pm 51
I am not a fan of Lost, so I was boggled to read in yesterday’s paper that the local CLEVELAND ABC affiliate had had a complete equipment clusterf— that assured NO ONE in the viewing area could see the episode. Yes - CLEVELAND These are the Cleveland Inept White Guys.) And now WEWS, the station who lost “Lost>” At least the river hasn’t caught fire lately. (At least I live Waaaaay out of town, too - but WEWS is the onl ABC affiliate outside of Youngstown. Which is a whole nother story.
Mary in Ohio May 25th 2010 at 05:03 pm 52
Sorry - half my (above) post got lost. The part missing is my rant about Cleveland being the home of the Indians, who are insultingly bad NOW - hence the “Inept White Guys” line. Also the home - so far - of LeBron and the Cavs, the hapless Browns and now WEWS…etc. CIDU Bill, please forgive me!
Michael May 26th 2010 at 01:09 pm 53
Bill, your post #29 sums up my impression of Lost perfectly. In addition, late in Season 1 was getting so frustrated with them introducing more mysteries without explaining any of them that I vowed I wasn’t going to care about any new mysteries until they started explaining the old ones — starting with the polar bear. Needless to say, they never explained the polar bear.
Patrick May 26th 2010 at 02:44 pm 54
Michael, It is needless to say that they never explained the polar bear because they did, in fact, explain the polar bear. The polar bears were brought to the island, along with other animals, to take part in various experiments. The cages where Kate and Sawyer were kept for a time had formerly been the home of the polar bears.
Cidu Bill May 26th 2010 at 02:49 pm 55
Patrick, I think that was where we started to see the writers realize they’d dug themselves into a hole, and began to come up with quick, mundane answers. “How do we explain the mysterious polar bear?” “Dharma brought it to the island for experiments.” Yawn.
Nicole May 26th 2010 at 02:56 pm 56
CIDU Bill @ 55 — Wow … I couldn’t have said it better myself. That happened to be an episode I caught and I thought … That’s it ?? … Dharma brought them to the island ???? And they escaped ???? What a clever twist
Nicole May 26th 2010 at 02:56 pm 57
darn — it deleted my scarasm tag
Cidu Bill May 26th 2010 at 03:06 pm 58
Nicole, I think your intent came through.
Patrick May 26th 2010 at 03:16 pm 59
Certainly saying, “Their explanation for the polar bears was not very much fun for me,” is different than saying “There was never any explanation for the polar bears.” Just trying to keep things accurate here.
Mary in Ohio May 26th 2010 at 03:31 pm 60
Dharma - as in Dharma and Greg? Another show I never watched?
paperboy May 26th 2010 at 03:34 pm 61
To make the ending of LOST really “warm-and-fuzzy”, they should’ve ended with a shot of a bunch of puppies; that never fails. (Just having Vincent show up wasn’t enough)
Michael May 26th 2010 at 03:36 pm 62
Here’s a great summary of the unanswered questions in Lost.
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1936291
Keera May 26th 2010 at 03:45 pm 63
Michael @62, that college humor clip was awesome! Just like the actual series, I gave up before it was over.
Nicole May 26th 2010 at 09:34 pm 64
Patrick @59 … some might say that explanation was the same as no explanation. Still I have to admit they did explain the polar bear.
Bill @29 .. I didn’t realize our opinion of the show was so similar. It is really nice to find out that someone else thinks that at least the first few seasons were just random crap that didn’t really mean anything. I wonder if the writers thought the show would never last so they felt they could do anything because they would never have to explain it.
Cidu Bill May 26th 2010 at 09:43 pm 65
The problem is, they were still adding “random crap” this season. I figured at least once they had the endgame in sight, they’d jettison the meaningless stuff and focus on what was going to matter.
Nicole May 26th 2010 at 09:51 pm 66
Bill @65 … Well all they had to go with is “You didn’t expect to have EVERYTHING explained, did you ?” BWAAAAA HAAAAA HAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAA
Cidu Bill May 26th 2010 at 10:09 pm 67
Craig, remember that Babylon 5’s fifth season finale was actually written to be the fourth season finale; so if you mercifully eliminate the fifth season and plug in the finale where it should have been, all’s good.
Matthew May 27th 2010 at 11:34 am 68
BOT @38: I loved the Simpsons Series finale where professor frink discovers cold fusion and is forced to sell it to Mr. Burns for a huge pile of money. Then Homer somehow triggers a meltdown at the nuclear power plant destroying the town and everybody in it.
DPWally May 27th 2010 at 03:12 pm 69
The “Rosanne” series finale was very well done and impressively counter-formula. Unfortunately I, and probably the rest of the planet, didn’t see it in first run because the last season was so awful after the family won the lottery. The finale makes the entire series Rosanne Conner’s memoirs of her family, then reveals which things she changed. Some were amusing, like swapping her daughters’ husbands because she liked it better that way. The last (awful) season is her fantasy replacement for tragedy.
DPWally May 27th 2010 at 03:23 pm 70
David #17: The Cheers finale didn’t work for me. They brought back Diane, which seemed like a good idea, but apparently didn’t bring back writers who knew how to write for the character. Shelley Long’s acting skills had declined in her non-Cheers years. So the personal feuds and tension and snappy dialog was missing, all they had was a Diane-shaped space.
Maybe younger viewers were less familiar with the show’s Diane period, that would explain David’s observation.
I like the idea of a finale that says most things will continue as usual tomorrow, the characters don’t have to change just because we’re not watching them. But I was very annoyed that the characters sat down in front of the camera and said basically “Most things will continue as usual tomorrow, we don’t have to change just because the audience isn’t watching”. Even a voiceover “and they lived happily ever after” would have been less insulting to the viewers’ intelligence.
Cidu Bill May 27th 2010 at 03:30 pm 71
Well of course, DPWally, there are two types of shows: for episodic shows like Cheers, it’s appropriate for their world to go on without us. I think the Cheers finale worked well in that regard: there were some changes; but if we looked in on them a year later, we’d still know the place.
If a series is conceived as a single storyline, like Lost, then the finale should be the end of the story. If you can’t wrap things up in the finale, then you did it wrong. Simple as that, it’s just plain bad writing.
Cidu Bill May 27th 2010 at 03:35 pm 72
Tami, as far as I was concerned, E.R. did end with the episode where the helicopter crashed.
Powers, keep in mind that Adult Teena (PostTeena?) seems to be shown in a family photo. It’s my experience that looking Stepfordish in a family photo is a best-case scenario.
paperboy May 27th 2010 at 03:38 pm 73
DPWally#70- I got to “Cheers” late, so I think of Kirstie more than Shelley, but Sam’s “We’re closed now” last line ranks with Chloe O’Brien’s “Shut it down” for “24″. (by which I mean “high”)