'Newhart' still stands as the best series finale ever

[Zomby Woof]

Children of the 70's and 80's will understand. :-)

[Oeditpus Rex]

1. Always will

I can't imagine anyone ever topping it.



"Emily... you really should wear more sweaters."

:D

[EFerrari]

2. Without a doubt.

:)

[SeattleGirl]

3. I'll give an Amen to that, ZW.

Definitely one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

[enigmatic]

4. Gotta go w/ St. Elsewhere, man

To me, that was perfect.

Happy Birthday, btw!:toast:

[SeattleGirl]

6. Hey e! I loved St. Elsewhere, but for the life of me, I can't recall the

finale! Can you help a girl out here? :hi: :hug:

[enigmatic]

7. Hey SG!

:hug:

I never watched The Sopranos, but it's finale was controversial for it's time for the ending as well:

http://www.tvacres.com/signoffs_finales_elsewhere.htm

I loved it; to me it was perfectly in tune w/ the often surrealistic tone of the show..

[SeattleGirl]

8. Thank you! Nice to see you!

Check your PM in a few.

:hug:

[qdemn7]

9. Oh god!!

I HATED the end of St. Elsewhere. I wanted to smack the writers SO hard. I felt so cheated.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Elsewhere

The final episode of St. Elsewhere, known as The Last One, ended in a context very different from every other episode of the series. As the viewer pans away from snow beginning to fall at St. Eligius hospital, the scene changes to Donald Westphall's autistic son Tommy, and Daniel Auschlander in an apartment building. Westphall arrives home from a day of work, and it is clear that he works in construction from the uniform he wears and from a conversation in this scene. "Auschlander" is revealed to be Donald's father, and thus Tommy's grandfather. Donald laments to his father, "I don't understand this autism. I talk to my boy, but...I'm not even sure if he ever hears me...Tommy's locked inside his own world. Staring at that toy all day long. What does he think about?" The toy is revealed to be a snow globe with a replica of St. Eligius hospital inside. Tommy shakes the snow globe, and is told by his father to come and wash his hands, after having left the snow globe on the family's television set.

One of the more common interpretations of this scene is that the total series of events in the series St. Elsewhere had been a product of Tommy Westphall's imagination, with elements of the above scene used as its own evidence.

[enigmatic]

12. Oh, I know it's a love/hate thing

I'm just one of the people who loved it:D

[LoZoccolo]

27. Actually, a huge chunk of network television is all Tommy Westphall's imagination.

http://home.vicnet.net.au/~kwgow/crossovers.html

[nini]

29. I agree.. Little Tommy sure had the ability to imagine all the sex

etc.. that went on in the show :eyes:

Stupid ending to a show I loved.

[Zomby Woof]

15. Thanks enigmatic!

:toast:

[slay]

5. The one where he ran the Inn - yeah that was killer

I also like the finale of Angel, MASH, and The Sopranos. :)

[qdemn7]

10. I really

Liked the finale of Star Trek: Voyager. It's nice to see a series actually tied up with a definite ending, instead of being left hanging.

[SeattleGirl]

11. I loved the ending to Star Trek: TNG.

Loved how Q kept moving Picard around in time.

[Mojambo]

13. Yeah, that one really worked

We got just enough closure, but the particular mythos continued on in a very familiar way.

They closed on that poker game that had been a fixture throughout the series, with Picard actually sitting in for the first time. We got a fundamental change in his character there, without the general dynamic of the show changing. We could almost imagine them dealing the next hand only to be interrupted by that red alert sound and a call for senior crew to the bridge. Just another day at the office.

Very deft final scene from a VERY good series finale. I'd like to watch it again now that I think about it.

[dysfunctional press]

17. star trek: voyager had a very satisying finale as well.

nt

[Cannikin]

45. I agree. I was a big Voyager fan. I thought the finale was great.

[Orrex]

31. I agree, with one caveat

Everyone I know, and I do mean everyone, when faced with the concept of "anti-time" instantly concluded that it would flow backwards relative to "normal" time. To hang so much of the episode's drama on something so immediately obvious is a little weak.

But otherwise it was fantastic, down to Q's aborted whisper in Picard's ear. Fantastic.

[hellbound-liberal]

14. For those of you who haven't seen it here it is..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voL34bfqXTM

[dembotoz]

48. thank you for posting that.

there have been some good last episodes, some lousy last episodes, and a few truly great last episode.
Those last couple minutes of Newhart. Can't think of anything that can top it.
wow.

[hellbound-liberal]

50. Glad you enjoyed it. Welcome to DU,dembotoz!

:hi:

[MissMillie]

16. the finale was awesome,... the show was very funny too

Bob Newhart will always be one of my favorite funny men.

[Connie_Corleone]

18. I used to watch the show, but I don't remember watching the finale.

For some reason I don't watch finale shows of sitcoms.

So, I'll have to go with Six Feet Under as the best series finale.

[Midlodemocrat]

22. It was genius, *Spoiler* if you want to know what it was.

Bob wakes up in bed with Suzanne Pleshette next to him. It seems that his time in the inn was all a dream.

Very, very cool.

[Connie_Corleone]

25. Okay. I remember now. Yeah, I did see it.

I don't know how I forgot that.

[dysfunctional press]

56. they were one-upping "dallas"

on dallas, one entire season was a dream...for newhart- it was the entire series.

[LynneSin]

19. My vote will always be a tie between "Sex and the City" and "Six Feet Under"

:D

[Iris]

49. Sex and the City did have a good ending. Good enough that it doesn't need a movie sequel, yet open-

ended enough that a sequel would be welcome.

[pagerbear]

20. My parents had an LP recording of Bob Newhart's comedy act

And my sister and I listened to that many times before ever seeing any of Bob Newhart's TV shows. Always loved him--so droll, so deadpan. Anyone who has ever suffered the dreaded Pagerglare^tm will see how I try to emulate him.

[Orrex]

33. I dunno

I've heard a few dozen of his "phone" skits, and each one makes me want to dig up the corpse of Alexander Graham Bell stomp on it.

Maybe it was funny in first run, but it hasn't aged well. And it's not as though I'm only into current comic style, either...

[Midlodemocrat]

21. Without a doubt, although St. Elsewhere's was pretty awesome, too.

[ScreamingMeemie]

35. St. Elsewhere's made me really, really mad. It angered me as

much as the "lost" Dallas season.

[Coventina]

23. Meh. It ruined the whole series for me.

Clever? I suppose so, but it felt like a cheap shot to me.

On edit: My personal favorite series finale has to be the one for "Arrested Development."
In general, I don't think "episodic" series should even have a "series finale". Unless there has been a ongoing story arc, the final episode should be just like all the others.

But if the overall show has been a continuing story, the audience needs closure, that is why I think the Sopranos ending was a cop-out. There was an ongoing story there, but it ended like there wasn't.

[Courtesy Flush]

24. I had to work late that day

I had been looking forward to seeing it, but was up against a deadline. When I got home, my wife told me all about it, and I laughed my butt off. I don't think it ever showed in reruns. I still haven't seen it.

[Mad_Dem_X]

26. I'm inclined to agree. n/t

[Downtown Hound]

28. I thought The X-Files had a pretty good series finale

But then again, I never saw Newhart.

[mzteris]

42. waaahhhhh - don't remind me.

I saw every single X-File - most of them multiple times - and

I MISSED THE FRICKIN' FINALE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I kept waiting to see it on rerun tv - but noooooooooo - they never show *that* episode - so I haven't a gd clue.

:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

I still miss that show. Even the bad episodes were fun to watch.

[Downtown Hound]

57. They do have the seasons available on DVD now

for $50. They used to be $99 per season, which was a total ripoff. Anyway, something to consider, because it really was a good ending to the show, and Mulder does return for the send off. It basically recaps everything in the show, and tells you what the future has in store for humanity if its not stopped.

[Rob H.]

30. I thought Arrested Development's was handled very well

Of course I might be biased, having watched all three seasons (for the first time ever) over the course of the last couple of weeks. I had heard the series was funny, but when I watched all the episodes back to back I just thought, "Why didn't I watch this when it aired the first time? What's wrong with me?!"

[Orrex]

32. You're the reason it was cancelled!

I blame you personally. If just one more person had watched, it would have been saved.

But I agree. And never has a series been so smartly wrapped up. The tone was perfect and a perfect cap to the show, thereby eliminating any need for a Showtime series, however strongly we might wish for one.

[Rob H.]

36. I know. I suck!

:cry:

;)

One great thing about watching the DVDs was being able to pause and go back to look at some things it was possible to miss otherwise. Little things like seeing Franklin (Gob's puppet) wearing a tiny t-shirt that read, "George Bush doesn't care about black puppets" were hilarious. David Cross and he obliviousness to his unintentional (or were they?) innuedoes was great, too ("Even if it means me taking a chubby, I will suck it up!" "You can stick an arrow in my buttocks any time.")

[Mojambo]

37. See I thought the brilliance was that it was wrapped up, but also could have done another season.

Given the way they closed, Season 4 could have easily seen Lucille in prison. Which is ripe with ALL sorts of possibilities.

Great show, great finale, and it would have been a GREAT season 4. No doubt about it.

[Wetzelbill]

51. That show is so funny, words could never do it justice

A person just has to sit down and mow through the whole series. Unbelievable stuff!!!

[ScreamingMeemie]

34. I loved that one, but "Mad About You" was my favorite finale...

Explaining what happened with Paul and Jamie in the ensuing years... with Janine Garafalo as the daughter. Priceless. :)

[Va Lefty]

38. "Newhart" was the best but...

I loved the way they ended "Angel"
Spike: "In terms of a plan?"
Angel: "We fight."
Spike: "Bit more specific"
Angel: "Well, personally, I kind of want to slay the dragon. Let's go to work."

[cwydro]

39. I loved that show

but don't remember the finale.

[AndreaCG]

40. No one mentioned Buffy?

The Hellmouth destroyed, taking out the entire town of Sunnydale? Spike being the one to take the Hellmouth down, literally in flames? Buffy liberating the Slayer tradition from the misogynistic Watcher philosophy? The dialogue and interplay of the characters, not a false note at all?

And the revelation by Giles that there were numerous other Hellmouths, including Pittsburgh. Buffy saying she just wanted to chill and shop for shoes, and Giles replying "the Earth is doomed." Brilliant, brilliant TV.

[NewJeffCT]

41. I loved the show

But, that entire last season kind of left me cold - it was like Whedon tried to cram two seasons of ideas into the confines of one season to wrap-up the show. At least, that is what I remember.

the season end the first 5 years were better, I thought. I mean, at the end of Season 5, Buffy sacrifices her own life to save the world & defeat the dark goddess Glory. If they had killed the series right there, it would have been great.

[DrDan]

43. I don't remember it

But to beat M*A*S*H would be very good.

Describe

[Zomby Woof]

55. I loved M*A*S*H*

It is my favorite show of all time, and the tears flowed when Hawkeye saw how BJ said goodbye. :-)

But what was great about 'Newhart' was how he parodied the idiotic 'Dallas' subplot concerning Bobby emerging from the shower with his death being explained as a 'dream'.

Newhart layered his parody of 'Dallas' with self-parody by waking up at the end of the show with his 'wife' from his classic 70's sitcom, explaining the entire 80's series away as a dream.

Oeditpus Rex quoted the line which just floored everyone... his 80's 'wife' wore sweaters which accented her features. :D

[Cannikin]

44. Star Trek: The Next Generation!

[Random_Australian]

46. Nah, the time this guy got death threats for ending the series wrong,

then had a breakdown, checked himself into an asylum, checked himself out, made an alternate ending, checked himself in - now THAT was the greatest series finale, because he just wanted to fuck with their heads as much as they had with his.

The series itself wasn't much good, but that's cool. (Neon Genesis Evangelion - an anime series)

[Deja Q]

47. Nonsense. "Blake's 7" had the best ending.

:P

[Wetzelbill]

52. The last minute or two of "Seinfeld" was classic work

Great stuff. The finale was solid, but those last few minutes with Jerry doing stand-up in the prison and then the friends ending the series with the same conversation it was started on. Great work.

[LibraLiz1973]

53. Your totally right

It was GREAT!!!

[liontamer]

54. only if you ignore the brilliance of Star Trek: TNG

:)