The Series Finale

Newhart is still the best series finale ever...

The series finale. There have been quite a few shows to hit it right on the mark. And there are so many more that just did not. In the case of some, it's simply because the show just went on longer than it should have. So by the the time the final episode came around, nobody really cared. Or even realized it was still on the air.

The recent final episode of HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER got me thinking about that. I admit, I never watched the show religiously. Or even semi-religiously. If it was on, I'd watch it. But mostly in reruns. But I guess the final episode really upset a great number of fans who felt it was a total cop-out. Which I can understand.

But I'm sure writing something like that cannot be easy. And I'm certain there is probably a great deal of second guessing and going overboard trying to please long-time fans.

However, some shows have done it. M.A.S.H and Cheers both had really fitting farewells. And I have to confess. I liked the series finale of Seinfeld. I know there were quite a few folks out there who disliked it. But I thought it worked really well. Sure, Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer amused and entertained us on a weekly basis. But none of the characters they portrayed were terribly likable. Or even nice people. They were all very shallow and self-involved. And when the series came to a screeching halt in 1999, they basically got put on trial and sent to jail for doing what they've done the entire series. Laughing at other people's misfortunes.

There was even a nice little jab at the stand-up comedy bits Seinfeld used to perform during the opening and closing credits of each episode with the convicts jeering him. I can remember a lot of people mentioning how unfunny his stand-up was before the episodes. So, I think that might be his little bit of self-parody.

But I enjoyed Seinfeld during its run and I had no problem with the series concluding episode.

Although, to this day, I think the best series finale goes to Newhart. Bob Newhart's television series in the mid 1980's. Many prominent series's had episodes end with everything you watched for how many ever episodes being "just a dream" around that time period. Newhart takes it to a whole new level with not only having it all be a dream. But having him wake up and being in bed with Suzanne Pleshette. Who portrayed his wife on his previous sitcome The Bob Newhart Show.

Sometimes sitcoms try to be too overtly emotional and meaningful wrapping up their series. To me, Newhart ended the best because it ended on a laugh. And isn't that what sitcoms were created to do in the first place?