TVSquad

... One great TV moment.

Like you don't know what this is! There weren't that many talked about moments on television in 2007 than the one that took place on June 10th. It was the night that millions of viewers called their cable company to complain about the lack of signal from HBO. In other words, it was the night of The Sopranos series finale.

Perhaps not since the series finales of Cheers, M*A*S*H, Seinfeld, or The Flintstones was there so much talk about about a final episode of a show. But, unlike the Seinfeld finale, for example, it wasn't the whole episode that was discussed and over-analyzed. It was only the last five minutes of The Sopranos finale that was on the minds of millions. And, boy were they verbal about those last 300 seconds!

"Reserve lots of money for Christmas, 2008."

That's the word from HBO Home Video head Henry McGee, speaking at the DVD and Beyond industry conference. He's talking about a Sopranos complete set. TVShowsOnDVD.com verified the info with McGee, and says it will be an expensive set. Though I wonder what they mean by expensive, since TV fans are used to paying $150-300 for complete sets.

Maybe the set will have commentary by David Chase on that series finale, or maybe deleted scenes or other info that will give more closure (for you fans who need that). Or maybe they'll be more of that black scene, which Chase wanted to last 20 seconds longer than it did (HBO talked him out of it).

OK, if you're not all exhausted by the Sopranos talk and examination of that final scene, let me bring up yet another take on the episode, via a friend of TV critic Roger Catlin at The Hartford Courant.

During the scene in the safehouse in the episode, there an an episode of The Twilight Zone playing on the television. An alert viewer figured out that it was the 1963 episode "The Bard," where a TV writer gets help from the ghost of William Shakespeare, who gets angry at the meddling from advertisers and the network and eventually punches an actor (Burt Reynolds).

Give David Chase some credit. He promised Alan Sepinwall of the Newark Star-Ledger an interview right after the finale of The Sopranos aired. Sure enough, even though he's on a sabbatical in France and is denying all interview requests, he kept his promise and spoke to Sepinwall yesterday, despite the controversy surrounding how his series closed out its run.

Did he reveal what happened in final scene, where Tony Soprano eyes some shady figures while waiting for his family to arrive for dinner, after it cut to black? Of course not. But he did try to allay fan's assertions that he pulled the rug out from under them.

Hello, are you enjoying your weekend?

Yeah, thanks for asking, Adam.

No prob. Do you know what would make your day even better?

Um, Mr. Belding from Saved By the Bell singing "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey?

Yes, imaginary person in my head, that's exactly what would make this great day even greater, and just for you and all my adoring readers, I've placed a video after the jump of Belding himself (real name: Dennis Haskins) joining metal band Metal Skool on stage along with football player Tony Romo for a rousing rendition of the hit song. Belding even treats the crowd to a truncated version of the Saved By the Bell theme. The best part comes toward the beginning when he's mistakenly introduced as "Mr. Belvedere."

The video contains LOTS OF CURSING, so don't watch it of you're at work or church.

[via Best Week Ever]

Every elementary student knows that April showers bring May flowers, and that Mayflowers bring pilgrims. However, do we really know all there is about the journey these religious hat-loving folk took to the new land? Well, no, we probably don't, because history is always murky and unclear. However, if you're interested in that fateful journey upon the fabled ship, the History Channel is airing Desperate Crossing: The Untold Story of The Mayflower, a 180-minute look at what it was like for the people aboard the ship, and what followed when they finally landed on Plymouth Rock.

Most of us know a kind of Cliff's Notes version of the Thanksgiving story: pilgrims left England to escape religious persecution, landed here, made pals with the Native Americans, ate some turkey, and watched the football game. This special, however, looks at the hardships the pilgrims faced on the four-month journey that killed half the crew. The special will feature reenactments based on authentic documentation from the actual events. The special will air on the History Channel on November 19 at 8 pm, and will repeat throughout the week.

Ah, the old "to invite the ex or not invite the ex?" quandary. It's a doozy. Ryan is turning 18 and he's got a big decision on his shoulders -- should he invite Marissa to his lame-ass birthday party or not? And not to read too much into the emotional complexity of The O.C., but I liked how they had Ryan and Marissa trying to figure out how to get over each other, while Julie and Dr. Roberts were trying to figure out how to get on with each other. It doesn't matter how old you get, relationships are still a sonuvabitch.