Favourite Ending

Big Brother....when it finally comes.

Chillkram,

Amen to that.

Loved the end of Six Feet Under (loved the whole series).

Also, the last episode of M.A.S.H. was very moving and powerful.

But the last episode of the most recent season of Curb Your Enthusiasm just might be the most satisfying end to a series I've ever seen ... when Larry and Loretta Black (Vivica A. Fox) fall in love at the bat mitzvah, and the ensuing montage of family man Larry with his new family, the Blacks. When Loretta tells off Susie Greene, Jeff's wife (played by Susie Essman), and slams the door in her face ... my wife and I watched that over and over, busting a gut with laughter. Larry has finally found his kindred spirits.

Best,
Fred

The next Ashes series when England win

Warriors.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=EvQYVXZC-_A

Blakes 7 when Avon follows a lead to find Blake again. Avon knows it's almost certainly a trap and when it is and he and the rest are surrounded by federation guards his knowing grin is just superbly played. A fitting climax to one of the great Sci-fi shows of all time.

Jonathan

Dear All,

BLACK ADDER 1st World War.

They are ordered to go over the top.

And a beautiful field of POPPIES is shown.

Absolutely Amazing.

Said more than anything else could do.

Makes the point about the sale of poppies for remembrance day.

Always brings a tear or two to my eyes.

The whole series was brilliant but this must be the most poignant few minutes of TV ever broadcast.

regards David

Agree with Fred and David, MASH and Black Adder come to mind.

Agree totally with Dave. It was very moving indeed and such a great way to conclude what had otherwise been one of the most uproariously funny series ever.

Agree re Blackadder - very moving, and a brilliantly unexpected change of tone.

As a Joss Whedon fanatic, I have to mention Buffy and Angel

Buffy - After seven years of being the chosen *one*, she shares her power with hundreds of potential slayers. A wonderful statement about female empowerment - perfectly logical, but I don't think anyone predicted it. Also, a nice sense of closure, while leaving many options to continue the story, should the stars ever realign.

Angel - The "Fang Gang" go out fighting, after each of them has "one good day". Thematically perfect - ultimate victory against evil is less important than the the continuing struggle. Again, open-ended enough to allow the story to continue.

Also, I'm hoping the final season of "The Wire" will bring this brilliant show to a fittingly great end.

Cheers
Nigel

David is absolutely right. The end to Blackadder ahd everything. It was so thoughtfully moving, sad and bitter. TV at its very best.
Ken

Yet another vote for Blackadder.

On a lighter note, the last episode of Cheers brings a manly lump to my throat - Cliff getting promoted, Sam's bald patch etc. Not profound, but I watched every episode I could and it was a wrench when it finished.

quote:

Originally posted by Chillkram:
Big Brother....when it finally comes.

Couldn't agree more, the sooner the better.

Perhaps the most moving final episode was the last episode of Chigley as it meant my childhood had effectively ended and I was off to secondary school for processing.

I can still remember Mr Antonio delivering the ice cream to the Winkstead Hall (home of Lord Belborough) tea room.

It was here that he met Mr Bilton, Lord Belborough's gardener, who had some wall flowers for him.

IIRC Mr Bilton was suffering from the rheumatics and Mr Antonio, being a kindly sort, helped him out by mowing the lawn.

On his way out Mr Antonio met Lord Belborough who told him he would like to give Bilton a motor-barrow but couldn't afford it since he had had to pay out for some new roofing

Later, Lord Belborough had to get a mystery crate from Treddles wharf, but was told he must not open it until the six o'clock dance. It was a model steam engine given by the people of Chigley in gratitude for the six o'clock dance.

Lord Belborough gave the steam engine and a small trailer to Mr Bilton to help him with the gardening.

Quite touching really - shame such things don't happen in real life.

ATB Rotf

" I've a feeling this could be the start of a beautiful friendship"

Or from another classic film "Nobody's perfect"
Ken

The book 'The Diving Bell and The Butterfly' ends with the phrase. 'Ill be off now'. In the context of the story that is heartrending. I was sad the otherwise excellent film did not use it.

Blackadder also gets a vote from me

Bruce

quote:

Originally posted by Howlinhounddog:
" I've a feeling this could be the start of a beautiful friendship"

It's been emotional from Big Chris in "lock, Stock.."

The end of the planet of the Apes with the statue.

Jono

I think Blackadder managed it superbly - as other have said it was incredibly powerful.

The ending of Babylon 5 was good too, largely because I would argue it still represents an achievement in television storytelling that hasn't been equalled (and despite the fact that much of the final season wasn't up to par).

I thought the Buffy ending was quite good, but I think Whedon himself has said that he wrote the final episode twice, once at the end and once in the season 5 finale, and that arguably he did a better job the first time round (though, it's true that that made it harder to do the ending).

I think the ending of the first radio (and TV) series of the Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy is pretty inspired, with Louis Armstrong singing It's a Wonderful World and Ford and Arthur are left stranded amongst the telephone sanitisers of prehistoric earth.

I think Due South also managed it pretty well.

But it's actually quite a tough question - ending is, in my view, very difficult. For example Fraiser's is marred by the fact that it might have been better coming a season or two sooner. Great though the end of Alias was (in particular the fate of Arvin Sloan), I would have liked the Rambaldi stuff to come to a little more, and it was a crying shame that JJ Abrams was too busy with Mission Impossible (which frankly wasn't a par on even a mediocre Alias episode) to direct and write the episode.

I do like the final episode of Band of Brothers (but then I like the whole thing, surely one of the finest war dramas ever made). It has a slightly odd feel in showing the winding down after major combat operations have ended. We finally get names put to the soldiers whose reminiscences have opened each episode. One of them says something along the lines of "My grandson asked me, 'were you a hero in the war' and I said 'No, but I served in a company of heroes'" I get the sense that they all would have said something similar despite what we've seen them do in the preceding episodes.


regards, Tam

quote:

The end of the planet of the Apes with the statue

I still remember watching that ending for the first time when I was 10. Classic.

Indeed the planet of the apes ending is a classic one, and with good reason. Unfortunately I now have trouble keeping a straight face as I can only think of the Simpson's spoof where they featured planet of the apes - the musical entitled Stop the Planet of the Apes, I want to get off. Actor Troy McClure (you may remember him from such musicals as, well...) stars as the human and sings "you'll never make a monkey out of me" whereupon a statue of liberty, rises from the stage, he turns, falls to his knees and sings "oh my god, I was wrong, it was earth all along, you finally made a monkey out of me..."


regards, Tam