Mama {Still} Loves Her Shows is a monthly column, named after my short-lived television blog. My favorite part of this new feature is answering YOUR questions about TV, so make sure you leave all your burning questions in the comments!
This month I’ll answer a question from Kristin, but first let’s check in about summer TV. (First things first, right?)
So far this summer I’ve only watched two new shows: Stitchers on ABC Family and UnREAL on Lifetime. I’m also a couple episodes behind on So You Think You Can Dance. I still love the dance show, but this new panel of judges isn’t my favorite thing. Other than that, I’ve become very close to my Netflix subscription.
The two new shows I’m watching are very different and probably not everyone’s cup of tea. Stitchers is a sci-fi show about a secret government agency (or branch of a government agency? I’m not clear on this part…) that “hacks” into the consciousness of homicide victims to solve their murders. The main characters are all young adults (hence the ABC Family) and snarky. Just how I like them.
UnREAL is definitely not material for a family channel (although, much of what plays on ABC Family isn’t either). It’s dark and at least a couple scenes each episode are definitely PG-13. But it’s also funny and interesting and highly addictive. It’s about a Bachelor-type show, and I’ve read that one of the writers of show briefly worked on the Bachelor. So while I’d like to think this show is complete fiction, it’s probably a little closer to reality than that.
Suits and the new Mr. Robot both start next week on USA, which I’m looking forward to. Other than that, it’s binge-watching sessions of Chuck and Heroes. Um. Because apparently I wasn’t nerdy enough…
ANYWAY.
What are YOU watching this summer?
Last month, Kristin asked me to name my favorite series finale. In light of all the big endings this past year (Mad Men, Parenthood, Justified, Glee, The David Letterman Show), this is timely! I briefly wrote about finales several years ago, but – for better or worse – so many shows have ended since then. So many.
As I thought through all the show endings I’ve watched over the years (and the “best and worst finales” I read about online), I realized I needed some criteria for answering this question.
First – it has to be a show I watched. I’ve heard great things about the last episode of Six Feet Under, but since I never watched that show, it’s not really a contender.
Second – it has to be a finale I remember. Makes sense, right? (Sorry, Cheers fans.)
Third – it has to be planned. In other words, I didn’t consider the last episodes of shows that were unexpectedly canceled. Although I’ll agree with the article I read that said the final episode of the prematurely canceled Freaks & Geeks served as a decent finale.
Fourth – it had to actually be the show’s last episode. For example, The Office had a couple psuedo-endings (Jim and Pam’s wedding and Michael’s goodbye) that I LOVED. But they weren’t the actual finale (which I did like a lot, but didn’t love).
So with all that said, I had to think about what types of endings I like. It wasn’t a real hard thought process. I like happy endings and I don’t really like loose ends. So if I’d watched Sopranos (which I did not), it’s likely I would not have been happy at all with that ending. And don’t even get me started on Seinfeld. What a stupid downer that finale was!
However, as I thought about various shows and their goodbyes, I realized that I also don’t necessarily like everything to be tied up TOO neatly. Warehouse 13 wrapped up every person’s storyline with a bow in its finale, and it was all a little too pat for me. I liked it, but I didn’t love it. And then…THEN! The Hart of Dixie finale was TOO, TOO MUCH. I mean, you guys. The whole town singing and dancing? I really cannot handle that. I mean, normally I love musical episodes of TV shows. But this? This was…not good.
So what finales WERE good, then? Well, I liked the way Burn Notice, White Collar, Chuck and even Gilmore Girls had the right combination of answers and questions, happy and bittersweet. And, of course, after loving everything about the entire series, of course I loved the way Friday Night Lights was wrapped up.
I loved the way the actors on Will & Grace came back on stage in front of their live studio audience for one final bow. I totally cried at that – just like I did at the final scene in the Friends apartment. (Oh my gosh, actual sobbing at that one!)
We can’t discuss TV show endings without mentioning Veronica Mars, of course. But not in the way you might be thinking. I don’t rank the last episode of VMars as a good or bad finale, because I refuse to consider it a finale. How can I, when we have the fourth season trailer and the movie?!?
And then we’ve already had a few conversations about the finale of How I Met Your Mother…
But which one was the best? Is the suspense killing you? What finale could I possibly choose as my favorite?!
Parks & Recreation is the winner for me. It was happy, it was creative, it gave us answers – and some questions. It was just the best. (Don’t ask me why I used this crazy photo. It just seemed appropriate for my “big reveal” of my opinion you just possibly might not have been wondering about.)
I bet some of you disagree about the Best Finale Ever, though, so tell me…
I agree with you on so many of these shows! We hated the HIMYM finale but LOVED the Parks & Rec, Friday Night Lights, and Gilmore Girls finales. I hate when my favorite shows end but survive the loss a little better when they end it well!
YES. It’s a little bit easier to say goodbye when that goodbye is well done!
I love this. (And, hey, thanks for answering my question! I feel honored!) Friday Night Light and Gilmore Girls are up on my favorite finales. I didn’t like the LOST finale. Not at all.
I’m still going with Dawson’s Creek as my favorite finale. I liked the skipping ahead to the future – kind of a where-are-they-now approach – and I liked that Joey ended up with Pacey and how the whole series was still clearly part of her story, like how life shapes us as we go through it.
And I liked the Hart of Dixie finale, which is ironic because I don’t usually like singing and dancing in the middle of shows. I loved the song they used and I thought it fit the quirkiness of the town.
I like the structure of a flash to the future finale, too. And now I feel sadder than ever about not watching those last seasons of Dawson’s Creek!
Favorite shows are Magnum, P.I. and JAG, so also my favorite finales. MASH was good and of course, a Friends. Hated HIMYM, but we already discussed that.
Oh JAG! I’d forgotten about that one. Not the show (one of my all-time favorites, too), but its finale. I did like the way they ended it!
I am intrigued by how Elementary ended last season and looking forward to it and Person of Interest returning soon! I like Allegiance – I just binge watched 13 episodes upon finding it a few days ago. I look forward to the next season. I love Big Bang Theory but had fallen behind and just watched the finale (so-so) but I am starting to get bored with that show, sadly. And we have discussed my guilty pleasure with iZombie. LOL! I tried to watch UNreal but I couldn’t get past how obnoxious that main character is. I don’t watch any reality shows though either. It is a good premise. Favorite new show? Has to be Grace and Frankie on Netflix – OMGoodness! Being 50 might bring me closer to their reality but that show has me rolling with laughter and only a few grimaces. =)
I’ve heard good things about Grace and Frankie, but haven’t watched yet. And I have to admit that while I really like Big Bang Theory when I see it in reruns, I have never watched it live. I never even know when it’s on, so I’m always behind and at the whims of the stations deciding which episodes to show over and over!
When I was going through your list of series finales, I kept thinking, “Parks and Recreation was the best.” LOL So, I was very pleased that you thought so too. I loved it so much!
Oh man – HIMYM. Augh. We watched every season, every episode, and after the series finale, I regretted having watched any of it. I can’t even bring myself to watch re-runs of it now.
That’s a downer of a way to finish my comment. So, let’s instead end with: I love the Parks and Recreation cast picture that you picked. That made me burst out laughing. :)
We are great minds thinking alike, eh? :) Except on HIMYM. I didn’t love the way they ended it (who did?!), but I still love the show and watch reruns sometimes. I just pretend like those last few minutes in the finale DID NOT HAPPEN. :)
Full House!! I still remember watching that finale. I did like Gilmore Girls (although I didn’t watch it live, was that a factor?). I remember watching the Friends and Office finales, but I don’t really remember what happened in them, strangely. I didn’t watch Friends all the way through at the time, but I did with The Office!
Huh. I don’t think I remember the Full House finale, although I probably watched. I’ll have to look that up!