MovieChat Forums > Newhart (1982) Discussion > What Always Annoyed Me About the Ending

What Always Annoyed Me About the Ending

posted 11 years ago by derekb27
18 replies | jump to latest

Don't get me wrong, I can totally appreciate the finale to "Newhart." It's inventive and funny and clever. I loved the way they tied the two series together. I thought it was amazing the first time I saw it. And I loved how "Breaking Bad" paid homage to the show with their "alternate ending." But I appreciated "Breaking Bad"'s ending as much as I did because it wasn't canon. In other words, "Breaking Bad" didn't present it as reality, but rather as a joke.

"Newhart" actually presented it as though that's what really happened. After watching eight seasons--after putting all that time in--I'm told that none of it ever actually happened? It was--somehow--an eight-year dream. It made me feel as though the rug had been pulled out from under me. I felt a little betrayed.

I know, I may be taking a sitcom a little too seriously. :) And I'm a huge Bob Newhart fan. I just wanted to see what other people thought.

[–] wbf200 11 years ago

They did the same thing on the finale of St.Elsewhere, where they revealed that all of the previous six seasons of the show were just in the mind of an autistic boy. Didn't ruin it for me. I just took it as the producers winking at the audience, since TV shows are all make-believe anyway.

[–] rebound4july 11 years ago

Improbable things happen in series finales. I just saw it as a very clever joke; didn't make the characters or stories any less memorable for me. Much like how Dorothy's adventure in The Wizard Of Oz being a dream didn't lessen the impact from it.

The thing that bothered me about it is that it seems to be the main thing the general public remembers from the series, overshadowing everything else. In my opinion, there were many Newhart episodes better than that one.

[–] doug65oh 11 years ago

I can see what you're saying I think. I know when the finale first aired I thought, “Well, that was great, but I wish they’d start airing the series over from the beginning next week. It was just too good, and who knows when we’ll see it again?” We did, of course, on the old (and now defunct) Nashville Network & then the Comedy Channel, but that took quite a while as I recall. That I think is the enduring quality of Newhart: It doesn’t matter how many times we might see a particular episode, we still look forward to it, like a visit from an old friend.

[–] MissMargoChanning 11 years ago

" After watching eight seasons--after putting all that time in--I'm told that none of it ever actually happened? It was--somehow--an eight-year dream. It made me feel as though the rug had been pulled out from under me. I felt a little betrayed"

I think that is how people felt when they saw Bobby in the shower on Dallas.
That's why people found the dream thing so funny on Newhart.
I thought it was clever and I never felt betrayed or jipped.

"Fasten your seat belts!
It's going to be a bumpy night!"

[–] dbrockskk1 10 years ago

gypped

suzycreamcheese RIP Heath Ledger 1979-2008

[–] dini0519 11 years ago

I'm not as big of a fan of the finale as many others were. I LOVE the show, but am real iffy about that last episode. I seldom re-watch it, but there are favorite episodes, such as The Bell tower episode, The Halloween episode, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, etc, that I'll watch repeatedly over the months and years.
Dini

[–] doug65oh 11 years ago

The show itself I think began on a weird and wonderful note which continued through the years pretty consistently. The finale, by contrast, was just too weird and not so wonderful!

[–] Stamp-3 11 years ago

I loved the show (I loved both shows) but I agree with this post.

Whilst the ending was very clever and got an immediate gasp and cheer (and I was no exception), the more I thought about it, the more I thought it actually demeaned the cast of Newhart. They were all so brilliant over so many seasons, and yet the ending somehow in a way said "you don't really count for much".

I'm probably being too sensitive and analytical but I've never really shrugged that thought off.

[–] doug65oh 11 years ago

No, I don’t think you’re being too sensitive or analytical at all. The passage of 22 years has merely made us more contemplative perhaps. Your contention that the finale twist somehow demeaned the Newhart cast is quite correct -although I do believe the “slap” was unintended.

[–] stevenackerman69 10 years ago

Yeah, I sort of understand the idea that if it was all a dream, then none of it really happened. But they just thought it would be a funny way to end the show. I actually stopped watching it after awhile because I got a little tired of not only the *beep* Stephanie, but the fact that the two Daryl's never talked.

[–] aluminum_foil 10 years ago

This didn't bother me at all, and I'll explain why:

Newhart's finale revealed the entire series to be a dream.

Dallas' big moment revealed only one season to be a dream. I think Roseanne did something similar (weren't the last few seasons a dream of hers?).

I don't lose anything I've invested by knowing Newhart's finale, but I'd be pretty frustrated if I were a Dallas or Roseanne fan, and had to disregard part of what I had watched.

[–] happipuppi13 10 years ago

No,in "Roseanne" ,only the final season was a work of fiction. That
being in her mind because she was writing a book about her family & life.

She actually lost Dan to that season 8 ending heart attack and they actually never won a lottery. (Among other things she made up for the book. Which she says at the end was to make a point about how we have to make our own lives work out (or something like that.)

The Newhart Finale.(By the way...how cool was it,
that Antenna TV kicked it off by showing the last episaode first?)

It aired when I was 21 (almost 22) and i simply was bowled over by it. NEver saw that coming. Now,coming up on 25 years later,I think of it this way. All comedies,dramas,westerns & such....they're "all" made up with fictional characters and (for sitcoms) situations.

Not only was the finale sort of making fun of Dallas's season long dreambut it also kind of makes a statement about how viewers (and maybe even critics) can take a TV series waaaay to personally.

To the point of forgetting that everyone's an actor and these peole they play a just characters for our amusement. The best sitcoms have that abitilty to draw us in and keep our intrest for years.

Maybe that's why some do feel "betrayed" when a series ends i nthis way or maybe the finale' is lackluster. Also when favorite characters leave the show too. ....but the important thing is,we loved the shows,enjoyed them and were sad to see this ansd any series come to an end.

Makes one glad there's re-runs and DVDs.

Go for it or just be a gopher!
(MR.) happipuppi13 🐕 *arf,man!*

[–] darkness_surroundz 10 years ago

well too bad LOST IN SPACE and GILLIGAN'S ISLAND couldn't use the same series wind-ip