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shaggydan wins! shaggydan beat OzzieAlThor 12 to 10
"Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen" is the best series finale ever. (That'd be the show "M*A*S*H" for some of you)
OzzieAlThor said
From the Sidney Freeman slowly peeling away at Hawkeye's memory of a horrific and traumatic incident, to Father Mulcahy's issues with hearing and to the tear inducing farewell secenes at the end, no other show has ended on such an emotional note.
Sure other series had fitting endings. Newhart (still classic for anyone who has watched those shows) and both Buffy and Angel (even if it was abrupt) come to mind for me. Neither had me in tears for over 30 minutes.
Few shows remain relvelant as long as this one did and even fewer have any real sense of closure.
This is the standard bearer. This is what other finales should strive to do.
shaggydan said
I agree with you that "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" has long been the barometer for all series finales, and I concede the viewership issue as it remains the highest watched episode of television ever, but I've got you beat.
"Everyone's Waiting" from Six Feet Under is a masterpiece. I think I spent a good 60 minutes of that 90 minute finale in tears, and am currently going through the entire series again with my girlfriend, trying desperately not to reveal the upcoming plot points that would ruin the feeling I had when I first watched it.
I promise to be particularly sensitive not to reveal any spoilers in this throwdown...
It was beautiful, emotional, and extremely affecting.
OzzieAlThor said
I understand this is one of those things where a particular show really gets to you and it can become your personal favorite.
Really though, this episode raised and set the bar for how a series is supposed to end. Reolution, bittersweet farewells. Perfect.
shaggydan said
I gotta tell ya Ozzie, this is a difficult challenge you've laid down. I too am a believer that Goodbye Farewell Amen is really, and I mean 'really' really, in the hall of fame of all of television. It was incredible, it was poetic, sad, meaningful. It has been, truly, the bar against which series finales are set, but Everyone's Waiting clears it.
Watching it during its first airing, I remember feeling like I'd just endured a heavyweight bout of body blows to the heart. First there was an amazing moment between Brenda and Ruth, then another with Brenda, Keith and David, then Claire, then Claire and Ruth, and then, and then, and then.
I won't even talk about the last ten minutes yet. I'll save that for my last argument.
Bottom of the page. 90 minutes of eye duct intensity, and I really- and I mean 'really' really- don't think there will ever be a finale like that again.
OzzieAlThor said
Forfeited Turn
shaggydan said
I've heard time and time again how difficult it is to end things. Successful television series, I would think is even harder as the level of expectation is so, so high. Think of how long it took David Chase to figure out how to end The Sopranos, and how even ending the 'anti-show' with an intentional 'anti-ending' didn't meet viewers expectations.
With M.A.S.H., that writing staff had a obvious vehicle to put an end to the show. The war ends, everyone goes home. It was bound to happen eventually.
The Six Feet Under finale is complete with the kind of deeper complexity that we had come to expect of each character. Some storylines are ending, others are beginning, but it feels like- finally- each of the principle characters have become the type of people we always wanted them to be. Lord knows each of them spent their share of time in their own horrible state of mind.
And then there's those last six minutes, closing the show with the same vehicle that had remained an important part of the entire series. The careful marriage of the music and the visuals was hopeful, sad, sweet and poetic.
I don't want to give anything away, but I've got goosebumps even writing this.
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Comments
The Counteragent 03/18/08
I have to go the route of senseless, emotional voting and put in a good word for Alias' two-parter finale, "Reprisal" and "All the Time in the World". I started crying around the time when Jack died and I was sobbing for more than an hour after it finished. While Alias may have taken a turn for the worse towards the end of its run (if you ask me, the rough patch began in season 3 with "Full Disclosure" and didn't right itself until season 5 with "Maternal Instinct"), it picked up the pieces and put together a graceful, logical, appropriate, moving finale that couldn't have possibly been better than it was.
OzzieAlThor 03/18/08
I lawl at your senseless, emotional voting.
If any of you say St. Elsewhere then I am personally taking your computer away from you. :)
charinator 03/18/08
The most disappointing series finale, in terms of epic and legendary shows, is Seinfeld's last. Such a letdown in my opinion
jkcampbell 03/18/08
What about Arrested Development? Come on!
The Counteragent 03/18/08
Awesome but a little rushed. Still don't want a movie, of course.
rmiriam12 03/18/08
It's interesting how many comedies seem to end on better notes overall than dramas. I'd agree with the MASH, Newhart & Arrested Development selections as some of the top finales ever, and add Cheers, the Mary Tyler Moore show, The Office UK, and Extras to the list.
shaggydan 03/19/08
rmiriam12- do you mean the Office UK finale, or the Christmas episode?
OzzieAlThor 03/19/08
Cheers finale was very average at best, the rest I agree with (except Extras which I never saw).
Melissalane 03/20/08
People may laugh at this, but I can take it. I think one of the greatest series finales is Dawson's Creek, and here's why: That show had lost everything that was great about it in its last two years. The characters' actions no longer made sense or reflected who we'd learned them to be--I didn't even understand why they were friends at that point. I stuck with the show out of loyalty, but halfheartedly so. I was so happy when Kevin Williamson returned to write the two-hour finale, set five years in the future. It gave every character a satisfying ending, and the acting was terrific.
outlatrbdr 03/20/08
how odd and quick those shaggydan supporters jump in. i wonder how many actual shaggy dan supporters there are in the world. seems odd he would take back the lead in just a few quick minutes.
shaggydan 03/20/08
Ask my girlfriend, there aren't that many shaggydan supporters at all. :)
Lovers of Six Feet Under, though...
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