Elsewhere. I said at the time we were shooting, This is a cheat. For me, it was a cheat. Where things get complicated is that characters from St. Elsewhere production team are at work on Tattingers, a new NBC series from MTM slated for St. If it were just a solid hospital show, it would be a popular back catalog binge watch, but its a part of TV history for two reasons: its novel approach to the hospital drama, and, Nobody is too interested in that, though. Just some of the other series that have ended up connected as part of the Tommy Westphall universe include Community, Seinfeld, Person of Interest, Malcolm in the Middle, and Married with Children. Elsewhere was the designated comic relief for the first few episodes. What's the cheapest way to buy out a sibling's share of our parents house if I have no cash and want to pay less than the appraised value? I felt it wasnt serious. St. CYNTHIA SIKES (Dr. Annie Cavanero): Part of me likes that whole thing because its sort of an Orson Welles-ian Rosebud [ending]. The ending has become an infamous example of the "it was all a dream" conclusion that's appeared in dozens of movies and TV shows over the years. Yet, none of those universes compare to the sheer enormity of the Tommy Westphall world, which traces back to the series finale of popular 1980s medical drama St. Composition by Dave Grusin That is In the moments before hes expected to announce the fate of the hospital, Auschlander suffers a catastrophic stroke off-screen and is discovered dead, with the cast gathering for a mournful goodbye. One of the producers on St. Gow and Crowe, who still periodically update the grid, assert that episodes with real people playing themselveslike Trebek did on Cheersare exempt, as are cartoons and feature films. In an interview withPaley Matters in 2018, Fontana who co-wrote the finale expressed his ongoing surprise and weird sense of pride at how that final scene has, well, snowballed into the mother of all pop culture fan theories. If the universe of St. It couldve been 900 things, which is very clever because you were allowed to make up your minds so you could stay with your own fantasy so everybody could have an opinion. Elsewhere': About that snow-globe ending. Entertainment Weekly is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation All Rights Reserved. Elsewhere" finale was the first big "it was all just a dream" finale, ending with the revelation that St. Eligius hospital and its staff were all the creations of I think itll have another life, he said, smiling enigmatically. Elsewhere's final episode, "The Last One", one interpretation of which is that the entire St. Elsewhere. Sealed and locked. So far, the included shows span from "I Love Lucy" in 1951, to today, with 26 listed shows still on the air. As Begley added wistfully, Its never over till its over--but I think in this case, its over .. I saw it as a show about people struggling to answer lifes ridiculous questions--sometimes they would do it in a comic way, sometimes they would do it in a serious way, said Tom Fontana, one of the shows core group of writers and producers, who served as a creative consultant this season. And because I cant tell you I have a better idea of how it couldve ended, I can live with that one. Make Room For Daddy takes out I Love Lucy.. That is quite a choice. They did very unusual, bold things and did it regularly. Tommy runs to see the snow falling outside the window, and that's when everything changes. Elsewhere characters got the business from Carla while drinking at Cheers, the bar from, uh, Cheersand therefore, Frasier, a spinoff, must also exist somewhere in that snow globe. Elsewhere were dreamt by Tommy Westphall, and thus, products of his imagination. For instance, it may be the other way around, and the snow globe scene may itself be the dream. Syndication used to be the method by which we would see old scripted shows, and a shows rep needed to be good enough for you to stop flipping channels if you happened to land on an episode (. So you pick your horse and place your bet. Howie goes to the morgue, slides me out, says something to me and pushes me back in. would not look or feel the same without its influence and success. Elsewhere characters Dr. Roxanne Turner (Alfre Woodard) and Dr. Victor Ehrlich (Ed Begley Jr.) appeared on Homicide: Life on the Street. And in the end, Fiscus patient does finally sing. Therefore, the commercial also does homage to the Newhart finale, as Larry Culpepper's presence from a previous Dr Pepper ad campaign references Bob Newhart's psychiatrist from The Bob Newhart Show appearing in The Last Newhart. In 1988, though, St. Elsewhere characters on other shows are not sufficient to indicate that those shows exist only in Westphall's dream. Autism news, information and support. As far as I could tell, there was always controversy around St. The thing is, autism was - and still is - If you're viewing this list on a mobile device, use this link to the web that allows for zooming. One example: "Episodes where reality shows exist within a fictional sphere are not included (such as the 'X-Files'/'COPS' crossover and the 'Chicago Hope'/'Entertainment Tonight' crossover). Browse other questions tagged, Start here for a quick overview of the site, Detailed answers to any questions you might have, Discuss the workings and policies of this site. WebTommy Westphall, portrayed by Chad Allen, is a minor character from the drama television series St. St elsewhere ending theory. Elsewhere an autistic boy is shown to have imagined and created a vast and deeply human universe. When not writing, Michael enjoys going to concerts, taking in live professional wrestling, and debating pop culture. St. The commercial titled "Off Season" features the cast of the mock sitcom "Fansville" discussing their purpose after the conclusion of the college football season. "St. NBC Entertainment President Brandon Tartikoff is fond of defining quality television as something that starts with low ratings and ends with a cat meowing--a reference to programs produced by MTM Enterprises, which end with a kitten logo in a sly takeoff on MGMs roaring lion. The shows one truly lasting and iconic It was not right for us to say, You should lose more money. . Its just too big a leap. Fontana went on to create Homicide: Life on the Street and HBOs groundbreaking prison drama Oz. is not a great place to work or convalesce. Theyre more interested in the colossal mind-fuck that is the. Elsewhere to another series likely has additional connections of its own and for a sterling example of this, look no further thanHomicide. I had no ideas of their plans to do that. The notion that appearances by the same character in two or more series tie those series together in the same fictional universe is also problematic. ). He adds that, "while a controversial and maddening ending for some loyal viewers, the final episode of St. Another reason for the importance of this ending is the nature of what we were shown. After the "Fansville" characters exchange meta-humorous existential comments, the camera pans out to show that the characters in fact exist in a snowglobe sitting on Larry Culpepper's desk. Elsewhere" that the whole show had been in the character When NBCs hour-long hospital drama St. Elsewhere signed off after six seasons on May 25, 1988, more than a few viewers were saddened. Not necessarily because the serieswhich had earned 13 Emmy Awards during its runwas ending, but because producers opted for a highly unconventional finale. What world is Tommy imagining inside that snow globe, he wonders aloud. That kind of anguish you just cant transmit. So Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., Mayberry R.F.D., and Make Room for Daddy/The Danny Thomas Show are gone. Elsewhere was the father of the modern medical drama, establishing a format that's been followed by pretty much every serial fitting of that description to come after it. was a show that got by largely on the strength of its ensemble, running for six seasons from 1982-88. Quantum Leap is on!). WebThere are oodles of ways to end a TV series. It was certainly something no other network would put up with. I think a lot of the cast didnt care for it at all. If it were just a solid hospital show, it would be a popular back catalog binge watch, but its a part of TV history for two reasons: its novel approach to the hospital drama, and. When NBCs hour-long hospital drama St. The theory is called the "The Tommy Westphall Universe" and hinges on a reveal at the finale of "St. Marriage! World of his own. Despite its high standing among TV critics, St. The problem that I see with the ending is that they explained away the whole show as the daydreams of an autistic child's imagination. It is underfunded, understaffed, crowded, and running on fumes. Hour shows are just not selling into syndication; the market is saturated with them, Paltrow said in a telephone conversation from New York, where he and others from the St. The attitude was, Nothing can get us down, as bad as it is. And it was bad all the time.. And then I saw it and I thought, Its too much. It was highly unpredictable, just like every episode. BONNIE BARTLETT (Ellen Craig): [The writers] wanted to do an ending to the show in a way so that it could never be brought back again. Wolfram and Hart had another client, Weyland-Yutani, that made a weapons display screen for Firefly; Is it safe to publish research papers in cooperation with Russian academics. As Dr. Fiscus struggles with the anxiety of leaving the hospital, his last patient at St. Eligius is the actress portraying a valkyrie in a Wagner opera who has, get this, laryngitis. Paltrow noted that the shows bleak vision was deliberate. All Rights Reserved, In the age of streaming in particular, I feel as if this is even more true than its been in the past. Behind him stood his father, who was sporting a construction workers wardrobe. STEPHEN FURST (Dr. Elliot Axelrod): I thought it was kind of cool, actually. But I think now weve got the toe tag on, and were in the drawer, and its sealed and locked., St. . One TV writer wants to put a copy of the grid on her office wall and put 'YOU ARE HERE' on the show she writes for.". Elsewhere finale wasn't infamous enough with its twist ending, the closing bumper made for the finale showed Mimsie, the logo cat, unconscious and hooked up to an IV, Birth! Due to crossovers and shared universes between shows, almost every popular TV show exists within the dream of one character from the '80s. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. It was seen as a cheap shot and a quick fix, even though the mechanism and method was mimicked many times over afterwards. Characters from Homicide crossed over with multiple series, including The X-Files, Law & Order, The Wire and Arrested Development, with Richard Belzer's John Munch being the most frequent culprit. If the theory holds, then a large chunk of television is the direct result of one childs formidable imagination. Even if you go to Alice in Wonderland, and he has the wonderful poem Life is But a Dream in it, still it was serious. Elsewhere to end the way it did? 59K views 4 years ago. Kenneth Lowe is a regular contributor to Paste TV. St. I was pretty happy with it. For example, take thatCheers crossover. One prominent critic, Professor Brian Weatherson, argues that just because St. And Ed Flanders, who portrayed Dr. Donald Westphall, made his last appearance before leaving the regular cast early this season (he returns in the final episode) by mooning the camera. Fontana was being facetious (we think), but not everyone was as enthused with the premise. ED BEGLEY JR. (Dr. Victor Ehrlich): It was quite fitting for what they had done the previous six years. This is the final scene from "The Last One", the 22nd episode (137th overall) from the sixth and final season of NBC's 1982-88 medical drama Though MTM hasnt had much luck yet syndicating St. Here's my son, I talk to him, I don't even know if he can hear me. Elsewhere was known for its At one point, St. But I wasnt surprised that there were many people who didnt find it satisfying. Westphall sits down next to Tommy and says, "I don't understand this autism thing, Pop. For all the latest TV news, reviews, lists and features, follow. In another, Dr. Morrison, played by David Morse, lost his wife in a freak household accident, then listened with a mixture of anguish and reverence to her heart beating after being transplanted into someone elses chest. Elsewhere was never a huge ratings hit, but it had a loyal following, won awards, and remained well-regarded in the years following its final curtain call. This year, Ken Lowe is revisiting some of the most influential TV shows that made it to an officially planned final episode. Since Dr. Turner and Dr. Ehrlich are figments of Tommys imagination that means when they visit the Homicide universe, that it too is part of Tommys world. We cant take that jump from seeing these people, Norman, Ed [Flanders] and Bill [Daniels], and this young boy for six years, and suddenly were supposed to believe that theyre these other people. I think the final years story line reflected it, she said, referring to the takeover and makeover of St. Eligius by a wealthy corporation at the outset of the final season. And I was very upset. There is too much that is rich, that is still to be mined., Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Get ready for the 2023 Met Gala: Heres when, and how, to tune in live, Tucker Carlson, Don Lemon blasted at White House Correspondents dinner, Tom Jones review: PBS Masterpieces latest period drama is laid-back and enjoyable, Michael J. Thats really cool for a teenager. Elsewhere 's characters appear in Tommy's dream doesn't mean they don't also I thought I knew what it meant, but it was so weird, especially for my younger mind, so I went running down the hallway and grabbed my mom and I was like, You have to read this. It made me laugh actually because it just is so like those guys. Surely more shows have somehow become connected in the four years since, especially since the Crisis on Infinite Earths Arrowverse crossover included characters from nearly every DC movie and TV continuity ever. Elsewhere take place within Tommy's mind, but so do numerous other television series which are directly and indirectly connected to St. Not necessarily because the serieswhich had earned 13 Emmy Awards during its runwas ending, but because producers opted for a highly unconventional finale. (Quizzed by IndieWire in 2012 as to who exactly came up with the idea, neither Fontana nor co-writers Channing Gibson or John Tinker could remember. St. But because we set a bar, it was just hard to really top that I wish I could say that I loved it. 2023 Paste Media Group. The final scene of St. WebIf the St. Elsewhere" writer Tom Fontana began writing connections between his shows using fictional products and companies. We always said: Thats a tough question--well, good night! . The elder Westphall returns home, but he's not dressed in scrubs he's wearing a hard hat, and his conversation with Auschlander (whom he addresses as "Pop") implies that he's a construction worker. Elsewhere's finale, titled "The Last One," aired on May 25, 1988, and the bulk of its narrative was concerned with the requisite deaths, departures, transfers, and tying up of loose ends that one might expect. Elsewhere came to an end for creative as well as financial reasons. Mimsie the Cat has seen better days. When I read it, I thought it was amazing: Only these people could come up with this idea And I thought it was very touching. Airing for six seasons from 1982 to 1988 on NBC,St. Elsewhere" and "Oz," and, as Gow tells it, "It was that little connection that spawned a thousand other connections -- references to fictional airlines, companies, nods from one series to another.". Did the drapes in old theatres actually say "ASBESTOS" on them? Why is it shorter than a normal address? The most far-reaching regulation is that they "do not include any show that is not a narrative live-action program with a shared continuity from episode to episode. [1][6] This hypothesis was originally put forward by comic book and TV writer Dwayne McDuffie in a 2002 blog post,[8] as a reductio ad absurdum argument against making strong statements about fictional continuity based upon guest appearances. You can follow any one of these connective threads down a series of increasingly convoluted rabbit holes, and it probably won't surprise you to learn that a number of fans have done exactly that. Elsewhere team enjoyed life on the series even when times were tough, which was always. But the series managed to survive for six years on a powerful drug called demographics: The show attracted a relatively small but highly desirable audience of young, affluent viewers, and that in turn attracted plenty of advertising dollars to NBC. The episode marked the end of St. Not enough dollars, however, to keep the series alive for another year. this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. I tell you, the last episode, I never bought it. Embedded hyperlinks in a thesis or research paper. ", This means cartoons and late-night shows are notably excluded, but it gets far more specific than that. And Howie got so mad, because I got paid for a full episode, and all I had to do was lie on a slab for five seconds. Michael Kennedy is an avid movie and TV fan that's been working for Screen Rant in various capacities since 2014. In another episode, St. Eligius traveled 50 years into the past. rev2023.4.21.43403. Fiscus (Mandel), Morrison (Morse) and Ehrlich (Begley) are all dealing with their own issues around their impending exits. The full list includes 419 shows as of 2016, the last time the curators of the Westphall theory updated its website. WebSt Elsewhere (Theme) 12,793 views Feb 18, 2015 137 Dislike Share Save Studio QKLQ 77 subscribers Theme from the 80's TV Series St. Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. As one of the co-authors of the scene that ignited the entire premise, Fontana said he was stunned to discover the aftershocks and that the theory basically means that Tommy Westphall is the mind of God.. Can my creature spell be countered if I cast a split second spell after it? Specific to the Westphall Hypothesis, even if we accept that St. And what about the real people who have appeared on the included shows, like Alex Trebek on Cheers? The show also has connections to series that cameafter it, largely thanks to one of its writers and producers, Tom Fontana. The 50 greatest TV and movie detectives of all time. You can barely please half the people most of the time. Tommy's father, still being portrayed by Ed Flanders (aka "Donald Westphall") arrives at the apartment wearing a hard hat. Mandel, Morse, and Washington are among the core cast of younger doctors that stuck around for the entire show, wringing their hands over their critical patients, racing to respond to someone randomly coding in the hallway, or occasionally banging in the morgue. The kind of gallows humor that was in the show was a case of art imitating life, Paltrow continued. Elsewhere remains one of the most famous examples of the "all just a dream" plot. Tell me if you think it means what I think it means! My mom read it, and she looked at me sort of puzzled too and said, I think it means its all in your head? I said, Thats what I thought it think it means! So I knew that it was really cool, and I loved that. Elsewhere. I thought it was ahead of its time, pretty ingenious and creative and not like anything else. They needed a way to end the show It was a provocative ending. I didnt dislike it. But I thought it was wonderful. The original decision to include fictional product crossovers actually comes from the origins of the chart itself. As Gow told HuffPost, "St. Elsewhere" writer Tom Fontana began writing connections between his shows using fictional products and companies. Web359. Elsewhere,[1] which ran on NBC from 1982 to 1988.[2]. I was not upset. Canceled. Elsewhere, and I venture to say stuff like House or Scrubs, or even Greys Anatomy would not look or feel the same without its influence and success. The Tommy Westphall universe hypothesis is an idea discussed among some television fans, it makes the claim that not only does St. Why was it necessary for St. The Marvel Cinematic Universe might seem like a huge landscape of interconnected shows and TV movies, but the Tommy Westphall universe has it beat. Westphall, who is autistic, played an increased role in St. They really wanted to kill the show. Helen Hunt even appeared in a few episodes. St. MARK HARMON (Dr. Robert Caldwell): I didnt see it live. Elsewhere" that the whole show had been in the character Westphall's dream. Elsewhere carries a shocking implication NBC St. The series sported a large ensemble cast, with veteran actors Ed Flanders and Norman Lloyd anchoring the proceedings for most of its run as Dr. Donald Westphall and Dr. Daniel Auschlander, respectively, and it made household names of up-and-comers like Howie Mandel, Mark Harmon, and Denzel Washington, as well. Because a lot of autistic children are withdrawn, it seems as though they're in their own world. So what happens when an ending goes completely off the rails? The doctors had visited the bar on Cheers in one St. I sure heard about it. St. Elsewhere" universe with other shows, then those shows with other shows, has created an elaborate web of American television. Executive producer Bruce Paltrow explained that the show cost MTM more to produce than what NBC paid to broadcast it--which is common--but that because the outlook for recouping those deficits through syndicated reruns is so bleak, the company didnt consider another year of expenditures worth its while. Scan this QR code to download the app now. It wasn't unusual to hear other famous TV doctors and the like paged over St. Eligius' PA system, characters from series likeThe White Shadow, M*A*S*H*, andThe Mary Tyler Moore Show appeared or were referred to, and one season 3 episode even took place partially within another Boston institution the titular bar fromCheers. The thing is, autism was - and still is - largely not understood what goes on in a person's brain. In that time, Michael has written over 2000 articles for the site, first working solely as a news writer, then later as a senior writer and associate news editor.

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