The show had, above all, an attitude, said Norman Lloyd, whose character, liver specialist Dr. Auschlander, faced his own debilitating liver cancer during the run of the show. The full list includes 419 shows as of 2016, the last time the curators of the Westphall theory updated its website. Remembering 'St. Elsewhere' 25 Years Later - HuffPost Mimsie the Cat has seen better days. 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. "[Fontana] was fond of putting in references to previous shows he worked on, including bringing characters from St. Flashforward! John Munch). What is the rationale/justification for ending the series this way? Elsewhere. Elsewhere writer Tom Fontana was quoted as saying "Someone did the math once and something like 90 percent of all [American] television took place in Tommy Westphall's mind. Dedicated fans attempting to chase down every connection toSt. I think a lot of the cast didnt care for it at all. Most of us failed. This has led to dozens of shows using the same fake product, so in terms of the chart, "that's become an increasingly complex can of worms," said Crowe. The whole circus is overseen by Dr. Donald Westphall (Ed Flanders), with Dr. Daniel Auschlander (Norman Lloyd) and Dr. Mark Craig (Daniels) rounding out the experienced older set of doctors helping the residents learn the ropes. ), Fontana did, however, recall that half of the viewer mail retrieved after the finale was positive, while the other half made loose reference to a desire to burn [the studio lot] to the ground.". If the show were not great, if we had not had as many nominations, we probably wouldnt even be talking about it. When youre finished, watch the cast reunion on Good Morning America and voice your own opinion on the finale in our poll. Not necessarily because the serieswhich had earned 13 Emmy Awards during its runwas ending, but because producers opted for a highly unconventional finale. Fiscus (Mandel), Morrison (Morse) and Ehrlich (Begley) are all dealing with their own issues around their impending exits. Although you may have never noticed the connection, there's a compelling case that "Friends," "Breaking Bad," "Seinfeld," "I Love Lucy" and just about every other popular American television show exist within the same universe. [3] An exterior camera shot of the hospital cuts to Tommy Westphall sitting in the living room of an apartment building alongside his grandfather, now being portrayed by Norman Lloyd (aka "Daniel Auschlander"). Elsewhere to another series likely has additional connections of its own and for a sterling example of this, look no further thanHomicide. St. Law & Order creator Dick Wolf is close friends with Fontana and frequently crossed Homicide characters over into his own series. Lloyd, whose Dr. Auschlander was supposed to die years ago but enjoyed a miraculous remission, is even more hopeful. 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 (. I spent a shift sitting bedside with my daughter in the emergency room during a three-day-long stay once, watching the same sainted nurse come and go as an endless tide of needy patients washed in. And the fat lady sings tonight: The last episode of St. They always tried to be out there, beyond the limits of what was being done before. Cookies help us deliver our Services. More than puzzling, some people found it to be an actual puzzle. 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 (ooh! 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. At one point I was the answer for a Trivial Pursuit question. Review/Television; Ed Flanders as Dr. Westphal in, "Six Objections to the Westphall Hypothesis", "Director Ben Wheatley Talks 'High-Rise', 'Doctor Who', 'Free Fire' and More at TIFF", "NewsRadio (TV Series) Daydream (1996) Trivia", Other arguments against the Tommy Westphall Universe, Association for Science in Autism Treatment, Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative, Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, Maia Chung Autism and Disabilities Foundation (Jamaica), The Accidental Teacher: Life Lessons from My Silent Son, Aspergirls: Empowering Females with Asperger's Syndrome, Freaks, Geeks, and Asperger Syndrome: A User Guide to Adolescence, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Everybody Is Different: A Book for Young People Who Have Brothers or Sisters With Autism, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tommy_Westphall&oldid=1148529078, Fictional characters on the autism spectrum, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 6 April 2023, at 18:38. 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. What positional accuracy (ie, arc seconds) is necessary to view Saturn, Uranus, beyond? Elsewheres bumbling Dr. Victor Erlich, offered the final diagnosis of his medical career. In a 2003 article published on BBC News Online, St. 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. Offers may be subject to change without notice. The entire series is revealed to have been based on the stories Liz Lemon told her great-granddaughter, a future television writer, and as remembered by the more-or-less immortal Parcell. And listen, we set such a bar, its hard to top it to make that ending satisfy a lot of people. My character died in the second-to-last episode, but I was in the last episode in a scene in which Howies character pays a visit to Dr. Axelrods corpse in the morgue. If you're viewing this list on a mobile device, use this link to the web that allows for zooming. So what happens when an ending goes completely off the rails? Contemporary television writers have even bought in to Gow and Crowe's theory. Elsewhere was an aberration. The strange thing that occurs to me when thinking about the show was how temporary it seemed, mused Begley, who spent the last six years matching wits--and losing--with William Daniels, who played St. Eligius Hospitals cranky chief of surgery, Mark Craig. 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 prefer character connections, myself," Gow says. It is underfunded, understaffed, crowded, and running on fumes. were arguably all dreamed up by young Tommy. ). In another episode, St. Eligius traveled 50 years into the past. Elsewhere, Paltrow, Fontana and the several cast members interviewed all said they would have been willing to continue indefinitely. In the last episode's final two scenes, Donald Westphall having just returned to St. Eligius is shown in Dr. Auschlander's office pondering the recent death from stroke of his colleague and mentor. 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. Ending of "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans". Fontana was the executive producer and showrunner for Homicide for its entire seven years. Like their small but loyal band of viewers--who have already written at least 300 letters to MTM and the network protesting its cancellation--the St. Elsewhere,[1] which ran on NBC from 1982 to 1988.[2]. CLARIFICATION: This article originally included a quote that incorrectly stated all of the non-American shows in the list. The stories speak for themselves. Meme Status Submission Year 1988 Origin St. A few shows are outside of American television such as the British show, "Red Dwarf." We went through this experience and I wanted it to be maintained as a real one, not a dream. By using our Services, you agree to our use of cookies. Elsewhere. 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. I felt it wasnt serious. It only takes a minute to sign up. Seated in a rocking chair is none other than Dr. Auschlander only that's not quite right. Elsewhere--a derisive nickname for the aging South Boston medical facility--was never healthy in the ratings. ", Grandfather: "He's been sitting there ever since you left this morning, just like he does every day. "For 'St. Here's my son, I talk to him, I don't even know if he can hear me. And people say, Norman, youre either mad or senile or both--but you dont get a show like St. At one point, St. The shows one truly lasting and iconic What world is Tommy imagining inside that snow globe, he wonders aloud. According toMental Floss,that series once mentioned a firm called Yoyodyne, which also was a client of a fictional law firm Wolfram and Hart, which appeared in theBuffy the Vampire Slayer spin-offAngel. 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. 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. Elsewhere through fictional crossovers and spin-offs, resulting in a large fictional universe taking place entirely within Tommy's mind. Quantum Leap is on!). I tell you, the last episode, I never bought it. I thought it was ahead of its time, pretty ingenious and creative and not like anything else. When directing episodes for the eighth series of the revived Doctor Who in 2014, Ben Wheatley had the art department create a replica of Tommy Westphall's snowglobe, which Wheatley placed in the TARDIS set as a reference to the hypothesis. St 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. Both shows took a grittier and more realistic approach to their drama. If NBC had started paying us more money, they would have had to start giving a lot of other people more money, too. I think itll have another life, he said, smiling enigmatically. The series was also known for one of its more playful aspects: it was prone to dropping references and callbacks to other TV series. Rather than case-of-the-week stories with infallible doctors and carboard-thin supporting characters,St. Elsewhere truly shook things up Elsewhere was a solid drama that gave a boatload of great actors some steady work for a few years, but it will always be a peculiar show for that final detail. The great thing about the show that even in its comedy, it was serious. Tommy runs to see the snow falling outside the window, and that's when everything changes. 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. In a way that actually sucks most of contemporary-set American scripted TV into the inside of a snow globe? Elsewhere characters Dr. Roxanne Turner and Dr. Victor Ehrlich appear on Homicide: Life on the Street. HOWIE MANDEL (Dr. Wayne Fiscus): I thought it was realllllllly interesting. Beginnings and endings are important in all forms of fiction, but Id argue especially so in scripted television. This ending was not serious to me. But I wasnt surprised that there were many people who didnt find it satisfying. Both shows took a grittier and more realistic approach to their drama. What were the most popular text editors for MS-DOS in the 1980s? The show also has connections to series that cameafter it, largely thanks to one of its writers and producers, Tom Fontana. Elsewhere cast reunion: It was a show that changed television, 'St. ", But despite the elaborate system, the two still doubt their methods from time to time. Elsewhere was a solid drama that gave a boatload of great actors some steady work for a few years, but it will always be a peculiar show for that final detail. 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. We all knew that whenever you do the last episode of any series, the last chapter of any story like that, youre never going to come up with an ending that will satisfy everybody. Elsewhere, Paltrow said he remains hopeful that the reruns will find a home someday, on cable if not on broadcast stations. 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.". The series finale of the 1980s medical dramedy St. Weatherson, in his sixth objection, offers the example of Michael Bloomberg playing the role of New York City Mayor both on Law & Order and in real life, which, if one accepts the logic of the hypothesis, indicates that real life is in the head of Tommy Westphall. As of this writing, 441 shows can be tied to St. Craig, always a prissy sort, is absolutely beside himself with the prospect that his wife Ellen is taking a job in (gasp) Ohio. Elsewhere., It was as far as they could go, he said. Composition by Dave Grusin [11], NewsRadio episode "Daydream" (season 3 episode 7) ends with Jimmy James staring into a snow globe that appears to contain a miniature version of the WNYX office, thus seeming to indicate that Jimmy James has imagined the entire episode.[12].
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