How about the end of Seinfeld? They were all in jail.
Edit: And most American TV shows don’t have “ends” because unlike British TV, they don’t have a fixed run. They just get canceled, so few can be “wrapped” up nicely. The exceptions are the Friends’ and Frasier’s of the world.
Well not really - they’re not so much cancelled as when an actor gets big enough and decides they don’t want to do it any more there’s little more to do about it other than make a spin-off.
So one has to guess Matt LeBlanc’s career isn’t really taking off and he’s hoping to pull a Fraisier.
Just to bud in and address Tom’s point about American shows not being as brutal…
Well, never having seen the Office (I’ll rent it or something after this thread) - I’d like to reference an HBO show.
Six Feet Under. Specifically, season 3, which I refer to as the “Symphony of Pain”
It ends on a possibly positive note (I sure thought it was positive) only after Nate hits complete rock-bottom and just barely manages to not kill himself.
Legendary ending to a great show. Seinfeld is about an insular group of friends (they epitomize the term ‘insular’) who are not engaged in the outside world. Whether it was out of fear, disdain, ennui, or more likely some combination, they built their own world out of each other. The outside world, when viewed at all, was treated as impenetrable, banal, hopeless, frustrating, and/or demeaning.
While this can easily be seen as an analogy for the Jewish experience in the world, the truly brilliant thing about Seinfeld is that it riffs on the sitcom model of television. The sitcom shows us the same characters in the same setting, interacting with each other, relating to each other with outsiders remaining outside. It offers viewers a friendship, a relationship, a secure setting with established characters that they once again visit. Seinfeld is the only series I am aware of to comment upon this model, and in the finale when it no longer needs to remain under its pretensions, it shatters them by opening their experience to the world. Normal TV shows don’t understand and certainly don’t comment on this dichotomy.
Seinfeld is an artistic triumph with maybe the best ending in TV history.
As I recall, most people weren’t really satisfied with the way Seinfeld ended, but I think that’s just because the expectation was set so high. As they also plan to do with Friends, NBC ran the series finale right after a special “best-of” clip show, and that kind of hamstrings you from the start by reminding everyone just how great the show was right before you then try to put a worthwhile cap on it all.
With that taken into consideration, I thought they did a pretty good job of topping one of the most untoppable shows in recent memory, in the way that the finale was a retrospective of sorts in which the characters are finally called to account for their solipsistic ways, and I liked the way the dialog of the final scene mirrored the first lines ever spoken on the show.
Interestingly, Seinfeld ended his show for the exact same reason that Gervais ended The Office – he never wanted to get to the point where people would say “Do you remember when this show used to be funny?”, as seems to be happening right now with The Simpsons.
But best TV ending ever? Surely that honor falls to Bob Newhart.
[quote=“Gary_Whitta”]
As I recall, most people weren’t really satisfied with the way Seinfeld ended, but I think that’s just because the expectation was set so high. As they also plan to do with Friends, NBC ran the series finale right after a special “best-of” clip show, and that kind of hamstrings you from the start by reminding everyone just how great the show was right before you then try to put a worthwhile cap on it all.
With that taken into consideration, I thought they did a pretty good job of topping one of the most untoppable shows in recent memory, in the way that the finale was a retrospective of sorts in which the characters are finally called to account for their solipsistic ways, and I liked the way the dialog of the final scene mirrored the first lines ever spoken on the show.
Interestingly, Seinfeld ended his show for the exact same reason that Gervais ended The Office – he never wanted to get to the point where people would say “Do you remember when this show used to be funny?”, as seems to be happening right now with The Simpsons.
But best TV ending ever? Surely that honor falls to Bob Newhart.[/quote]
Er, I didn’t find The Office Funny. I found it painful. Gervais clearly thought it was a riot, as he is laughing like a fool while introducing the extras clips on the DVD.
Well obviously it’s meant to be funny because it’s so painful. It’s interesting to see how people have different reactions to this kind of comedy. I love it, but I know people who can’t even watch Curb Your Enthusiasm because some of the awkward situations just make them cringe too much.
For me, the only point where The Office became so painful to watch that it ceased to be funny was the end of season 2, when Brent finally breaks down in tears and begs to keep his job. That moment played as so real and so tragic, it’s truly harrowing to watch.
I’m Alan Partridge is amazing.
“I’m going to have to say… The Best of the Beatles.”
Knowing Me, Knowing You is much, much less amazing.
That “Best of the Beatles” line was classic. Almost as good as his comments about the Irish famine:
“I mean, if it was just the potatoes that were affected, at the end of the day, you will pay the price if you’re a fussy eater. If they could afford to emigrate then they could afford to eat in a modest restaurant.”
Okay, I appear to be a thief. Tom stated almost the same thing I did, even mentioning Irreversible as a similarly hard-to-watch vid. I’d say great minds think alike, but since he posted about a month or two before I did, I’d have to be Mr. Fantastic to pull that stretch off. Apologies to the plagiarized Mr. Chick. Imitation, after all, is the sincerest form of plagiarism.
I do, though, think I did sum up Irreversible nicely, which wasn’t done in that way elsewhere. Save me the link, the unfairness part didn’t come up, I’m fairly sure.
Okay, I appear to be a thief. Tom stated almost the same thing I did, even mentioning Irreversible as a similarly hard-to-watch vid.
P’shaw. I’m just glad to know people are reading and remembering something I’ve written! :)
-Tom
Would that my memory was so good.