05-26-2010, 08:03 PM
With the recent finales of LOST and 24, and the attendant discussions of great series finales through the years, I got to thinking about a few things:
1.) When folks recall the great series finales, they always seem to value the finale by the last 5 to 10 minutes. The Sopranos finale is characterized by Journey and the cut to black. Newhart is characterized by the dream. Six Feet Under is characterized by Claire's drive away and "Breathe Me."
But what about the rest of the episode? I don't think finales like Seinfeld's get enough credit for the fact that the entire episode was truly a thoughtful finale for the show. The Newhart ending was brilliant, but was the rest of the episode truly the greatest finale of all time? I honestly don't know. I do know that the Sopranos finale, other than the great diner scene, was relatively nondescript.
2.) Not all series are free to end with an out-of-left-field twist. Again, I come back to Newhart, which is often heralded as the greatest finale of all time. The writers of the show were free to come up with a huge (and yes, very clever) twist like that, because the show didn't have a build-up of important plot points to resolve and the very fine contours of a thematically heavy show to stay within. To me, that takes a little some away from that kind of an ending.
3.) Why is the Roseanne finale never mentioned in great series finales? It was brilliant. If you're not a fan of the show, that's fine. But if you were, and you stuck through the bizarre, over-the-top final season, you were richly, RICHLY rewarded in the finale.
I guess I'm just trying to cope with the ending of LOST. Still quite sad.
1.) When folks recall the great series finales, they always seem to value the finale by the last 5 to 10 minutes. The Sopranos finale is characterized by Journey and the cut to black. Newhart is characterized by the dream. Six Feet Under is characterized by Claire's drive away and "Breathe Me."
But what about the rest of the episode? I don't think finales like Seinfeld's get enough credit for the fact that the entire episode was truly a thoughtful finale for the show. The Newhart ending was brilliant, but was the rest of the episode truly the greatest finale of all time? I honestly don't know. I do know that the Sopranos finale, other than the great diner scene, was relatively nondescript.
2.) Not all series are free to end with an out-of-left-field twist. Again, I come back to Newhart, which is often heralded as the greatest finale of all time. The writers of the show were free to come up with a huge (and yes, very clever) twist like that, because the show didn't have a build-up of important plot points to resolve and the very fine contours of a thematically heavy show to stay within. To me, that takes a little some away from that kind of an ending.
3.) Why is the Roseanne finale never mentioned in great series finales? It was brilliant. If you're not a fan of the show, that's fine. But if you were, and you stuck through the bizarre, over-the-top final season, you were richly, RICHLY rewarded in the finale.
I guess I'm just trying to cope with the ending of LOST. Still quite sad.
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