*Warning: I'll try to keep the spoilers to a minimum, but if you haven't seen the finales of any of the following, you might want to steer clear anyway, just in case: House; The Office; Scrubs; Ugly Betty; The Unusuals (series finale-ish); Pushing Daisies (series finale-ish); Sit Down, Shut Up (series finale-ish); Family Guy; and The Simpsons.
- House (FOX): Due to its captivating mystery element and irresistable characters, this is definitely one of my favorite shows on television. It's exciting, smart, and still somehow a guilty pleasure. This season has brought some weird and truly shocking developments (including the final [?] appearance of one of my favorite characters), but the season finale left me wondering what really happened and what was just a product of the title character's substance-enhanced imagination. It ended with Dr. House checking himself into a certain location--inevitably yet still surprisingly--and with lots of questions unanswered, so I await next season's premiere with bated breath.
- Scrubs (season 8, ABC; seasons 1-7, NBC): This season's finale wasn't officially the series finale, but it might as well be, since the main character (played by Zach Braff)--whom I (and most others) consider to be the lifeline of the show--will not be returning as a series regular. Braff's character, Dr. J.D. Dorian, narrated most episodes, and although the rest of the ensemble cast is excellent as a whole, I know that the show will not be the same without him. The send-off they gave him in the season finale was exceptionally heartfelt and hilarious, in keeping with the style of the series. Since I followed Scrubs from the beginning, my favorite scene from the finale was the final of hundreds of J.D.'s fantasies: many of the series' regular, recurring, and guest characters bidding him farewell as he left Sacred Heart Hospital for the last time.
If Scrubs gets renewed for next season (and that's a big "if"), I for one probably can't be counted on as a return watcher for any future seasons, since many of the series' storylines were resolved and its mysteries solved (well, sort of). There is also a spin-off in the works, to star the new generation of medical interns who came on board last season. I probably won't tune in for that either, even though it stars Sarah Chalke, because I wasn't really too excited by the interns' contributions to the original. I was glad that ABC saved the show by picking it up from NBC for this most recent season, but I agree with a lot of others that the show kind of went downhill as of late, so now that everything is neatly tied up, I'm content to let this one go.
For those looking for a silly and heartwarming show to watch from beginning to (pretty much) end, I definitely recommend Scrubs. For those who just want a little taste of the silliness and heartwarmth without committing to eight seasons, please enjoy these links to my favorite episode of all time, which you can mostly enjoy without knowing the characters' backgrounds ahead of time: Scrubs 6/6 Part 1, Scrubs 6/6 Part 2, and Scrubs 6/6 Part 3. - The Office (NBC): Here's what I think about The Office. This is another one I've been watching since its creation. In the beginning the humor was so out there that it was "in"; it expertly walked the thin line between uncomfortable and laughable. Now, five seasons later, that humor is still there, but sometimes it takes a major backseat to story development. I understand the importance of furthering the storyline, but the off-the-wall tomfoolery--the very element that made the show successful in the first place--should be the last thing to suffer when a story arc comes forward. This was a major issue mid-season in my opinion, but some rays of inappropriate sunshine started shining back through as the season came to an end, so I can only hope that next season will bring more awkward laughs.
That being said, I am totally wrapped up in the storyline that I just ragged on. In the season finale, they hinted on a huge happening but didn't come right out and say it. If that hint becomes a total Native American gift on next season's premiere, there will be lots of unhappy female Office watchers out there, this writer included. - Ugly Betty (ABC): Okay, this show really IS a guilty pleasure. It's basically a glorified soap opera, but funny. The storyline gets more and more outrageous by the minute; this element, along with a protagonist you can really root for and one excellent--and a few other good--supporting characters, makes this a series that I can really stick with. Like a lot of other series, Ugly Betty is big on cliffhangers. The two-part season finale had about six on its own, just about one for each series regular. Sometimes these plot devices seem to be compensating for weaknesses in the show, considering it definitely isn't as sprightly and fresh as it once was. Despite (or because of) this Scheherazadean unfinished business, I keep coming back for more. Like The Office, this series insinuated a major plot point without fully revealing all of the information. Unlike The Office, however, I and other Betty fans will no doubt be pleased (albeit tricked) if the finale didn't really end the way we thought it might have.
- The Unusuals (ABC): This show has been officially cancelled, which left some unanswered questions in the final episode. The Unusuals never really got the audience it deserved, and I'm not really sure why. I did notice that the kooky, off-the-wall nature of the tv and web spots did not really match the feel of the show. That element--the silliness and unexpectedness--is there, but it's not the focus of the series; the combination of that element and a serial mystery element, along with really interesting character stories, is what really drove the show.
It makes me wonder if the advertising misled viewers and when they found out it was a dramedy, they were no longer interested. I almost didn't keep watching after the first episode--probably because it wasn't at all like the show ABC led us to expect--but now I'm really glad I did. I got really involved in the exciting cases, mysterious characters, and twists and turns. It's a shame that now I'll never know if Delahoy and Banks survive (literally!) their separate battles. Or if a perpetual perp--a pretty dumb one at that--ever learns his lesson. Or if the victim in the last case, the image on which the final episode ended, was ever able to move on. I don't know if it was deliberate or not, but I'd like to think that that last image gave a little clue about the answer to my final question. - Pushing Daisies (ABC): Resumes May 30. Check back.
- Sit Down, Shut Up (FOX): Resumes June. Check back.
- Family Guy (FOX): This is one of those shows that really doesn't have a story arc from one episode to the next, so the season finale is usually just another episode. That was the case with Family Guy's finale this season: just another mildly funny episode dominated by pop culture rip-offs and offensive humor. Why I thought those things were funny before is beyond me--maybe before they were pushing the envelope, and now they're just being gross--but at any rate I probably won't be watching in the fall. EDIT: I found out that this wasn't actually the season finale, but it's the official Hulu subscription finale for this household.
- The Simpsons (FOX): I didn't really get it. I think after twenty years, they're running out of stuff to talk about. EDIT: This wasn't the finale either! There is a new episode waiting for me in my Hulu queue, so maybe Groening and friends will redeem themselves in this longtime Simpsons fan's mind.
1 comment:
Cool! I liked reading this!
Post a Comment