鈥淎merican Idol鈥� is getting ready to dim the lights for the last time, we will be saying goodbye to 鈥淭he Good Wife鈥� in a few weeks and 鈥淒ownton Abbey鈥� has just bid us all cheerio.
A pop culture expert who literally wrote the book on TV endings says 鈥淒ownton Abbey鈥� went out with neither a whimper nor a bang, but with its typical charm.
鈥淭he two-hour finale of 鈥楧ownton Abbey鈥� is an excellent example of how a television series can reach a satisfying conclusion,鈥� says Stephen Tropiano, coauthor of 鈥淭V Finales FAQ: All That鈥檚 Left to Know About the Endings of Your Favorite TV Shows.鈥�
鈥淭here are no major plot twists and no major surprises. The show鈥檚 creator, Julian Fellowes, keeps faithful to the spirit of the series, and I imagine its fans are very satisfied with the show鈥檚 final chapter.鈥�
An associate professor of television-radio in the Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College, Tropiano serves as director of the college鈥檚 Los Angeles Program.
His other books include 鈥淭V Towns,鈥� 鈥淪aturday Night Live FAQ: Everything Left to Know About Television鈥檚 Longest Running Comedy,鈥� 鈥淭he Prime Time Closet: A History of Gays and Lesbians on Television鈥� and 鈥淩ebels and Chicks: A History of the Hollywood Teen Movie.鈥�
鈥淓ven though a lot of people who never watched a show may tune into the last episode 鈥� because they feel it is 鈥榓ppointment television鈥� 鈥� the best finales are those in which the writers are loyal to their fans, so what happens at the end is not out of step with everything that happened before,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he ones that are the most problematic are the ones that try to do too much, that are a bit overstuffed and not faithful to the spirit of the show.鈥�
From the heartfelt WJM-TV newsroom goodbye of 鈥淭he Mary Tyler Moore Show鈥� to the puzzling conclusion of 鈥淟ost鈥� to the tumultuous final hours in the life of Walter White in 鈥淏reaking Bad,鈥� Tropiano and his 鈥淭V Finales FAQ鈥� coauthor Holly Van Buren take an insightful and entertaining look at the memorable final episodes of television鈥檚 most popular prime time, daytime and late night series.
Tropiano says the first appointment television was probably the August 1967 final episode of 鈥淭he Fugitive,鈥� in which the mystery of the one-armed man and who killed Dr. Richard Kimble鈥檚 wife was resolved. When 鈥淢ASH鈥� aired its series finale on February 28, 1983, over 100 million people tuned in (60 percent of all households in the U.S.), and it still stands as the most-watched non鈥揝uper Bowl television broadcast ever.
Gearing up for a three-night farewell in early April, 鈥淎merican Idol鈥� has pulled out all the stops in recent weeks by bringing back former contestants and other music superstars. Though its ratings have been on a steady decline after being television鈥檚 top-rated show for an unprecedented eight consecutive years, Tropiano says it could probably have limped along for a while longer.
鈥淚t kind of lost its way. They made so many changes with the judges and maybe the format has worn out as well. Everyone鈥檚 probably watching 鈥楾he Voice鈥� now more than they鈥檙e watching American Idol.鈥�
While never a ratings juggernaut, 鈥淭he Good Wife鈥� has been a favorite of critics. We鈥檒l have to wait and see how the writers pull together the show鈥檚 many legal, political and romantic threads leading up to the May 8 finale.
鈥淒ramas tend to be a lot more complex because they have more characters and there鈥檚 more things that have to be tied up,鈥� Tropiano notes. 鈥淚f it鈥檚 planned ahead of time, they will tend to actually end storylines over the course of the last two or three episodes.鈥�
STEPHEN TROPIANO鈥橲 TV FINALE QUICK TAKESSome HitsCheers: 鈥淭hey brought back his original romantic interest, Shelley Long as Diane Chambers, which worked well. But in the end he goes back to his real number one love, which is his bar.鈥�
The Mary Tyler Moore Show: 鈥淭he perfect sitcom ending. Emotionally satisfying, but also just very funny.鈥�
Six Feet Under: 鈥淭he entire series dealt with death, and the finale was well written and well-constructed as we saw what happens in the literal end to all of the characters.鈥�
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: 鈥淎n underrated ending but very classy, with Johnny just sitting on a stool talking with his audience.鈥�
Some MissesThe Sopranos: 鈥淧eople were quite hostile about it because they wanted to know what was going to happen to Tony Soprano. So they started to read all sorts of interpretations into what was symbolically going on as the screen faded to black, despite creator David Chase repeatedly saying 鈥榠t is what it is.鈥欌��
St. Elsewhere: 鈥淪uggesting that the entire series was just in the mind of an autistic child came out of nowhere and angered a lot of people, including the actors, who felt it was cheating the audience.鈥�
A Bit of BothSeinfeld: 鈥淭here would probably be no satisfying ending, mostly because people just didn鈥檛 want it to end. It was existential, if anything. 鈥楽einfeld鈥� was always a show about nothing, and the ending just confirmed it.鈥�
To hear more of Stephen Tropiano鈥檚 takes on TV finales, contact him at [email protected].
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