The Art of a TV Show Finale

Today as I was reading various articles, I came across an interview with David Shore who is the executive producer of House. I found this article to be very interesting because he talked about how difficult it was to bring the show to end.  It got me thinking. Show finales, if you think about it, must be the most difficult thing to pull off.  Everyone will be watching with critical mindsets.  It's no wonder finales are always such a big deal. They have to be.

Shore made a point about season finales that really stuck with me. The fact that they have been making one hundred and something quality episodes and yet a lot more people are going to analyzing their last.  This is not just him justifying the final episode, it's an honest point. A point showing that audiences should appreciate the long creative run the show had, and not so much on how it ends.

But it's so hard not to! Finales are always the shows that end with a big bang! I always look forward to the first and last episode of a season because it's then that the writers really try to give the audience an impression.  Take Dexter for example. Pretty much every season finale has ended with a cliffhanger. Something for the audience to look forward to in the next season. But when a show is coming to an end, that's a whole different story.

Not only does it have to have season finale type writing, but it also has to bring the story-line to a reasonable the end. An end that the viewers will be happy with (remember you can't please everyone). Any questions about the characters, plot, anything, has to be resolved or at least addressed in some way.  Take Lost's finale for example.  The writers actually did a really good job answering all the lingering questions in the audiences' minds while also keeping the Lost-esque (aka confusing) writing.

Ultimately, we have to remember that finales are very difficult. They might not end how you want them to. They may not be as good as previous finales. You just have to remember that the shows that are having major finales are the ones that already put out good content and have been working hard for years and years to please the viewers. Don't set out to just judge a show by the end. It's like judging how good an athlete is by seeing them score the last point in the game. It doesn't give you the whole picture.

Click here for the full article with David Shore.

Saturday Night Live: 1980-85

The years 1980 to 85 are known in SNL history as some of the worst years with horrible ratings.  Why did this occur? Well, we all know that Lorne Michaels has been the executive producer of the show, but did you know that he left for these 5 years, and was replaced by two different producers?

It's true, the first was a woman named Jean Doumainan who literally only lasted one year. Sadly she was very inexperienced in producing the show and the ratings dropped dramtically.  Many people think nothing good came out of that one year, but that is not completely true. In fact, one of the most well known comedy actors of our time came out of the Doumainan Era. This actor, the amazing Eddie Murphy, has gone down as one of the few people that legitamtely kept Saturday Night Live on air. With out him, who knows if it would still be on today.

After Jean's one year reign, a much more strict Dick Ebersol came to take over.  He helped create SNL and was much more experienced in producing than Jean. It's true that SNL did gain better ratings when Ebersol was producing, but it wasn't by much. The show was still hanging by a thread, and it had completely lost it's "coolness" it had gained in the "Golden Age." Also, many of the cast members did not like Ebersol. He did not have a very good sense of humor, and many of their sketches that they believed to be very funny were rejected.  Ebersol also replaced all the cast members except for Piscopo and Murphy who were doing very well on the show. 

Overall, these five years of plummeting ratings proved more than just the fact that it was possible SNL could end.  These years showed that SNL, even with conflict and turmoil, could survive. With hardworking writers, performers, and crew, this show could survive anything.  There may have been close calls, but Saturday Night Live still lives today.

Here's a favorite Murphy character named Buckwheat. So popular, they had to kill him off.

My Weekly Wonders: Parks & Recreation

I recently realized that I never completed an official Weekly Wonder post for one of my favorite shows called Parks and Recreation. This may be a little redundant because I talk about this show so frequently on my blog, but in all honesty I feel I must formally express my love. Sound cheesy yet? Just wait.

Parks and Recreation, as I mentioned in one my first ever blog posts The Emmy Awards, is growing in popularity but many people still don’t really know what it is. I’m here to inform those who don’t. Parks and Rec. is based around a government office that organizes the city Pawnee’s various events and creates parks and other city locations for the public.  How is this interesting? The characters.  The main character is Leslie Knope, played by Amy Poehler. She is one of leaders of the department and is, let’s face it, kind of crazy. But in a cute and funny way.  Knope is very addicted to her job, and is determined to one day be elected into city council and much later become the first woman president.   

The top leader and director of the department is Ron Swanson, a very funny and interesting character. It’s kind of hard to explain Swanson because he ultimately believes in little to no government and is way too manly for his own good, but deep down when he’s pretending to not care about the other employees, he really does.  He also secretly plays a mean saxophone. Just one of many hilarious secrets he hides from the others.

All the other characters are all unique and fun to see develop. The young married couple April and Andy. They both always act immature and goofy, also April is always acting kind mean and not-caring to everyone else except for Knope, with an oblivious attitude, and Swanson.  This may sound annoying, but it’s honestly just too hard to explain. 

Don’t worry there are many more characters to talk about.  Tom, who is always offending someone, but in a nice way. That doesn’t make sense does it… Tom doesn’t really ever make sense.  And there is Ann Perkins, who is Leslie’s best friend and helps out with various Parks activities.  Plus Jerry who is always viewed as the weakest link of the group and accepts it, Donna who is just funny and strange, Chris as an overly optimistic and healthy government official who addresses everyone by their first and last name and says “lit’rally” before every other sentence, and finally Ben who is Leslie’s love interest and campaign manager.

So many characters, how do you keep track of them all? Well, obviously it’s hard when you haven’t seen the show. Once you start watching it, it will all click. The parks department, although functioning more efficiently than you think, is crazy and fun at the same time.  Currently this season, Knope is running for city council and has the whole office working on her campaign. Of course, in every episode something new that hurts Leslie's campaign occurs. Whether its a drunken interview, love scandal with her campaign manager, or a wealthy running opponent who buys out votes, Leslie is constantly working hard for the election. Here's one of my favorite moments, an awkward campaign rally in an ice skating rink. Click here to see the video!


Parks and Recreation is one of my favorite shows for two reasons. One, because it has really awesome characters. In fact each one is so unique, they all make me laugh. And of course secondly the writing is so good.  The first season I was skeptical of the show, but as they gained momentum the writing has gotten better and better, making the show so good and so enjoyable.  Check out Parks and Rec. on NBC Thursdays at 8:30. Plus it's also on Netflix, so no excuses!

The Three Stooges: A True Classic

Today I saw a commercial for an upcoming movie called The Three Stooges and it reminded me of my eternal love for the show. Most people my age (teenagers or younger) have never even heard of the trio.  Luckily for me, The Three Stooges was an early television favorite of mine, and will always be an important element as I experience more and more television.  How has this show shaped the way I experience TV? More than I will ever know.

I began watching The Three Stooges when I was very young. Every Saturday morning instead of obsessing over the various morning cartoons, I would turn on this black and white show and feast my eyes on this classical comedy.  This was my first real exposure to real comedy.  It may have been mostly physical comedy, as viewers like me know, but the innovation was still there.

If you've never seen the show, it's based around the character Moe, Larry, and Curly.  Ever heard your old teacher call you one of those names? Yeah, that's where it comes from.  Moe is sort of the leader of the group, but they all go around and get themselves into various situations. They are all very strange, and hit each other constantly. That's where the physical comedy comes into play. The Three Stooges really introduced me to this. They were also getting hurt somehow, either from each other, or just from being stupid.

How has this timeless comedy changed how I view TV today? I'm not really sure. Looking back, I see a show that was so comically confident. I admire that so much. These actors weren't afraid to be weird, or unfunny, they just let their truly unique characters come out. From that I feel that I can see shows that do this, and others that don't. The ones that play it safe, use "cheap humor", by going for the easy laugh are just never as good as the ones that are smart and innovative. You may argue that The Three Stooges has cheap humor, but I don't think that's true. For that time, physical comedy was pretty new, and the stooges were very creative in the kind of comedy they were doing.

I'm obviously not a comedian or anything, and there's no doubt I won't be the Steve Martin or Louis C.K., so why does being exposed to this kind of comedy affect me so much? Why do I care so much about comedy? I have a simple answer for a complex idea, I love television and especially comedy. I love learning about it, watching it, analyzing it, and so much more. It will always be my favorite element of television and I can't wait to know more and more about it as I get older.  So why is The Three Stooges so important to me? This may be a little exaggerated and dramatic, but that would like asking why Micheal Phelps first swimming class was important to him, the first exposure is memorable. I'm probably never going to go into comedy, but as I watch it in the future and appreciate it, I will remember how it all began for me.

What's a Mockumentary?

Mockumentary may sound like another made up word for my blog, but the Oxford English Dictionary would beg to differ. The term is used to describe a film or television show that is shot in a documentary format but is fictional. Does this sound familiar? It may or may not. Today, although it's still not being used very often, more and more films and TV are using this. Kind of.

In terms of film, examples of mockumentaries include the Blair Witch Project and the more recent Paranormal Activity. Both did actually very well in the box office, the former more than the latter. What does this have to do with anything? Well, there are actually some very popular TV shows these days that have taken up with format. What shows are these you might ask? There are two that come to mind, The Office and Parks and Recreation. 

I don't know if you've noticed, but the famed office of Dunder Mifflin is shot in a mockumentary style. It's true. As we watch the comedic scenarios that the office experiences, we view it as if it was shot in a real office.  When Jim looks up at us with his face that questions someone's sanity, or we see Dwight's view of a situation through an "interview", mockumentary style made the show so much different from all the others. Can you imagine if The Office wasn't this kind of style? Would it have been as successful? In all honesty, I think it would've been. It has a great cast and great writers that probably would've enabled to be pretty successful. But being a mockumentary really pushed it over the edge. It was a new kind of TV that wasn't the typical situational comedy.

Of course when something is successful, everyone else wants to copy it.  After The Office became a big hit, there was a big rush to find the next one.  From this came one of my favorite shows, Parks and Recreation. I know what you're thinking.. how could you like something that was copied off of something else? And yes, I would usually think the same thing.  But the fact is, the creation of Parks and Rec. may have kind of copying, but the show itself is nothing like The Office.  It is totally different show. The comedy, atmosphere, characters, everything is different. Did I really just say the atmosphere? Anyway,  I feel like Parks and Rec. is a show that is less known for being a mockumentary. In fact, when I started watching the show, I didn't even realize it was until I was reading about the show on Wikipedia one day.

The style of mockumentary is opening up new and creative doors for shows.  It's something that can definitely be expected to continue be used in the future because of its current success. Whether it's scary movies, or innovative new comedies, I can't wait to see the next mockumentary.

Saturday Night Live: "The Golden Age"

I'm reading a book about the history of SNL, called Live from New York. Although it is the book I'm reading for my AP Lang. class, it's also very interesting and fun to read.  I'm learning so much about the historic start and journey that Saturday Night Live has traveled. Many people have different opinions about when the show died or if the show ever died, but I'm not going to get into that. We all have a right to an opinion, and because we all grew up with different casts and different view of comedy, we're all going to have different opinions.  I just wanted to start a small segment of my blog each week to dedicate to each generation of casts. I think it's important to look back and see how these talent actors, writers, and producers were able to bring the show to where it is today.

This week I begin with the first five years which is referred to by many as the "Golden Age" of SNL. Cast members included the unforgettable John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Chevy Chase, and many more.  These were the pioneers of SNL, and really gave it the popularity and "coolness" factor it received in the beginning. They brought such memorable skits such as "Land Shark", "Samurai __" (Hotel, Deli, etc.), and the reoccurring news bit "Weekend Update" that is still used today. It's hard to find a clip these days because of copyright, but here's one of the famed samurai sketches (sorry the sound is kind of off).

Watch John Belushi - Samurai Delicatessen in Comedy  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

"Special" Episodes

As I mentioned in my previous post, sitcoms are a very popular genre of television in America and all over the world.  Throughout the years, there is one element that they tend to share other than the obvious technical aspects.  Sitcoms have continued to address certain "special" topics, mostly to either inform the public, break social issues barriers, or simply to have a dramatic episode.  There are called the "special" episodes.  Here's a top 50 video I found that pretty much sums it up.

The History of Sitcoms

From I Love Lucy in the 50's, to the 60's Brady Bunch and the 80's Cosby Show, Full House, Seinfeld, sitcoms have been a prominent source of television.  Sitcom stands for situational comedy and (according to Wikipedia) is set in a common place where comedy, for the most part, ensues.  Many sitcoms have been placed in front of a studio audience and some use a laugh track.  Recently more and more modern sitcoms don't have either, but instead banks on the person at home watching laughs.  In fact there are a great deal of sitcoms these days that don't have an audience/laugh track including 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, and Modern Family to name a few. So what makes up a good sitcom? And how have they changed throughout the years? Let's take a look.

Sitcoms first began on the radio. It was before the era of television and had a large listeningship (yes, I did make that word up).  Because this is a blog about television, I'm just going to skip that part.  Television was invented in the late 40's and many people starting buying their own set to watch popular sitcoms such as The Honeymooners and The Trouble with Father. As I learned in AP U.S. just recently, many of these shows centered around the idea that men should be working and the wife should be at home with the kids.  The mothers in the shows were always at home making meals for the family and cleaning up after them.  They were the "ideal" wife and mother at the time.  This was a common idea at the time and women were looked down upon if they wanted to work instead of staying at home.

By the 60's, sitcoms were getting a lot more creative.  There were more interesting concepts that just the plain old nuclear family.  Shows like Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, The Addams Family, and many more took creative turns in television. This is a change that is definitely expected. As society was modernizing and changing their ideas of gender roles and what a "normal" family was, television was continuing to change with it.  Unfamiliar families with peculiar life styles became to be the norm, and became families we know and love. 

And the hypothetical ball kept rolling into the 70's when sitcoms took on more controversial topics. This included issues such as war in M*A*S*H, women's rights with female-led sitcoms like the Mary Tyler Moore Show, and many other social issues from racism to homosexuality in shows like the very popular All in the Family. The 80's also continued in breaking barriers both with more social topics incorporated in shows like Full House and Family Ties, but also began to stray away from the monotonous "perfect family" shows and came out with sitcoms starring working-class families such as Roseanne and Married with Children.

Even today, sitcoms continue to change.  Although many of them still are mostly set around a family such as Modern Family, Malcolm in the Middle, and According to Jim, there are many more that are not.  Shows such as 30 Rock, Parks and Rec., and The Office are in a workplace and other shows such as The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother star young adults as roommates living in an apartment together.

How have sitcoms persisted through all these years as one of the strongest sources for quality television? Well, first of all I must point out that many of them fail.  People are trying to make new sitcoms ALL the time.  If you have a good concept, decent actors, and an excellent writing staff, then the show has the recipe to be successful. Sadly, some sitcoms concepts, although may be creative or comical, will not catch on with the audience.  Many factors like writing, actors, or network can affect the quality, but concepts are really what drive sitcoms. If given a good idea to run with, writers are very innovative.  They can make a government run parks and recreation building or a paper making Dunder Mifflin office interesting and entertaining. That's how sitcoms have become some of America's most loved television shows of all time.

Mid-Season Premiere: GCB

GCB? Does that stand for "god can I barf?" Okay, so I do know that GCB stands for Good Christian B****es (thanks mom and dad for explaining... I feel hip). I also know that this show WILL be awful. So maybe I haven't seen, so I probably shouldn't judge. But just from seeing the commercials, I really don't want to see with show.  Here's why.

First of all, it stars Kristen Chenoweth, which really disappointing me. I love her! I mean come on, she's in Wicked, one of the best musicals ever. Plus she's won numerous award, so why would this be a bad thing? Because I know she could be doing something way better. She obviously has the talent, and yet she is in some crappy new ABC show. Does anyone else find it awkward to watch someone that is really talented in something that sucks? I do.

You many think I don't have the right to call it crappy considering I haven't seen the show yet, but watch this.

There is literally so much I can say from justs watching this promo. One element of this show that really bothers me is how Christianity is incorporated. It sets itself up for failure. Those who are not Christians probably don't want to watch a show that keeps emphasizing the religion, and those who are Christians would most likely be offended as to how this show makes fun of them.  I'm not saying that we can't make fun of Christians or any other religion once and awhile (within good reason), but the way GCB sets it up is not funny, it's rude.

I also get the feeling that GCB is meant to replace the long running show that died a while ago, Desperate Housewives. Although the shows have quite different characters and story lines, their premises are quite similar. Both shows are set around middle-aged women who get into way too much drama. Like, high school, but in obnoxiously wealthy neighborhood. ABC was probably thinking "Hey! We can't lose these viewers to the next Real Housewives, let's make a worse more offensive version!" And I mean, honestly, who's going to watch this? Men are obviously out of this equation. With Desperate Housewives, at least in the beginning, there was viewership from both genders, but GCB has no chance of gaining this popularity.

To end my rant I will just say, if a show about catty middle-aged women who claim to be "good Christians" interests you, go ahead and watch GCB.  There are so many shows that I would rather watch.