TV Intros follow up - What was the best "final episode" ever?
Lot's of great intros mentioned in my other post, now along the same lines...
What was the best final episode of a TV show that you remember?
Was it MASH, that I believe still holds the record for the most watched show ever? I don't think so, Hawkeye going nuts was a little too much for me.
I have two different favorites, the first one is the final of the Bob Newhart show (second of his series) where he was the Inn Keeper. He arranged, without the knowledge of anybody else on the show, to have an exact replica of the bedroom from his first series made. Suzanne Pleshette (his wife from the first series) was in bed with him, and he woke up and turned on the light to tell her that he had a strange dream, that he was an Inn Keeper. And he had a great looking blonde wife... then he just shut up at that point when she gave him a dirty look. It was great!
My second favorite was the ending of St Elsewhere. Donald Westphall and Daniel Auschlander were the two heads of the hospital, and Donald Westphall had a son with Autism. The scene switched from the hospital to an apartment and was in black and white. Donald came home from a blue collar job carrying a lunch pail, where Danial Auschlander was his father taking care of his son. He asked "grampa" how the day was with his son, and he said same as always, just playing with his toy. Then he asked, do you ever wonder what goes on inside his head all day? He answered we'll probably never know, and the camera zooms in tight to his toy, which is a snowglobe he keeps shaking. As the camera pulls in real tight, you see the the building inside the snowglobe is the hospital, St. Eligius, otherwise known as St Elsewhere. The idea being that the entire series had been made up in the mind of the young boy that had autism.
It was one of those "wow" moments for me...
So what else do all of you consider the best endings for TV shows?
What was the best final episode of a TV show that you remember?
Was it MASH, that I believe still holds the record for the most watched show ever? I don't think so, Hawkeye going nuts was a little too much for me.
I have two different favorites, the first one is the final of the Bob Newhart show (second of his series) where he was the Inn Keeper. He arranged, without the knowledge of anybody else on the show, to have an exact replica of the bedroom from his first series made. Suzanne Pleshette (his wife from the first series) was in bed with him, and he woke up and turned on the light to tell her that he had a strange dream, that he was an Inn Keeper. And he had a great looking blonde wife... then he just shut up at that point when she gave him a dirty look. It was great!
My second favorite was the ending of St Elsewhere. Donald Westphall and Daniel Auschlander were the two heads of the hospital, and Donald Westphall had a son with Autism. The scene switched from the hospital to an apartment and was in black and white. Donald came home from a blue collar job carrying a lunch pail, where Danial Auschlander was his father taking care of his son. He asked "grampa" how the day was with his son, and he said same as always, just playing with his toy. Then he asked, do you ever wonder what goes on inside his head all day? He answered we'll probably never know, and the camera zooms in tight to his toy, which is a snowglobe he keeps shaking. As the camera pulls in real tight, you see the the building inside the snowglobe is the hospital, St. Eligius, otherwise known as St Elsewhere. The idea being that the entire series had been made up in the mind of the young boy that had autism.
It was one of those "wow" moments for me...
So what else do all of you consider the best endings for TV shows?
Dude, I need to go back and read all this stuff, but I'm A) worn out and B) still have a mountain of skoolwork to do for tomorrow!! Happy Easter, have a good'un and I'll be catching up this week when I don't have to work so many 18+ hour days.
ReplyDeleteI loved the last Johnny Carson show. He was a class act.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite of recent is Sex & The City when Carrie (back from Paris) walks into the diner to meet up with her three friends who are surprised and they all do that "girl scream."
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you can relate.
I've had the exact same conversation with my best friend Jim, and he mentioned the Newhart and St. Elsewhere episodes.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite had to be the MASH one. I was a junior in college-- we had a big party. Lots of fun.
Six Feet Under. The montage under the Sia song, "Breathe," in which Claire imagines ahead to the deaths of all the characters, was absolutely breath-taking. I watched it four times in a row and cried every time like a little baby.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a favorite last episode, but even though I wasn't a rabid Cheers fan, I still quote Cliff Claven (the mailman) from the last episode:
ReplyDelete"The secret of life... (pregnanant pause) is comfortable shoes."
The point is brought home when my Telemark boots have tried to further flatten my arches, or my climbing shoes are trying to convince me to amputate toes. However, this point seems to be lost to several of my friends, but I'm not naming names.
I would guess "Get a Life" although I do not remember what happened in the final episode. But nearly every episode ended with the main character being killed anyway.
ReplyDeleteBO: Thanks for checking in, take some time for yourself.
ReplyDeleteAnon: I liked the show just before the last with Bette Midler.
GKL: Relate to the girl scream? Am I really that in touch with my female side?
JY: Great minds think alike!
Vikki: I heard about that, bummer I didn't get to see any of those shows. No premium channels... sigh...
SV: I can quote Normisms all day, we have to talk.
Grant: I don't remember the final episode either, maybe they didn't have one... ;^)
Besides the ones you mentioned I will always remember the last Arsinio Hall where the set was basically destroyed by a guest (Bobcat I think). I will also never forget the last episode of Quantum Leap cause it pissed me off so badly.
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