Fans of Six Feet Under were floored, when at the end "Ecotone" (the fourth to last episode of the series) Nate finally succumbed to his AVM and passed away. His death earned one of the few "end of episode epitaphs" featured on the show.
Fortunately for Nate and his family, everyone had a chance to say good-bye. Claire and David spent hours in the hospital room with him, as did Ruth. Even Brenda visited, despite knowing about the affair with Maggie - until Nate says no more; we're done.
As fans, we cried. We mourned. We couldn't imagine the final three episodes of one HBO's finest programs without it's main player. Of course, we knew he'd be back - dead. That was a given, but it's still not the same. Little did we know what was in store for us.
Do not adjust your web browser. You are now entering the Retro Squad, where we are reviewing past episodes of classic TV shows.
(S03E13) Originally aired February 10th, 2006 -- I could roll out about a dozen clichés when describing the series finale of Arrested Development, but I'm honestly not sure that saying "this was the end of an era" does it enough justice. For those that own the DVD sets, take a look at the cover for season two. There's a quote from Entertainment Weekly on it: "Once in the history of time comes a sitcom like Arrested Development."
Too bad FOX never saw it that way. Not only did they delay the airing of the final four AD episodes, but when it came time to show them, they got bundled together and aired 'em in a row - on a Friday night in the middle of winter! As I've said before, it sucks that Emmy wins don't dictate a show's future. But we really can't blame FOX because those Emmys are arguably why we were lucky enough to get three seasons period. Blame the people who watched Skating with Celebrities (AD's time-slot replacement) instead.
History repeats itself. Just like Daniels said, what's the point if one generation is too busy training the next how not to do the job? More than anything, that was the biggest message that came across in the series finale of The Wire. But there was one more too. You always hear the saying "if it ain't broke don't fix it," but over the course of five seasons and sixty episodes of The Wire, David Simon systematically explained why things that are broken don't seem to get fixed either. And now it's over.
Gallery: The Wire: Season 5 Premiere Party and Episode Photos
Interesting bit of news just came into TV Squad headquarters:
HBO has nixed the early On-Demand premiere of The Wire series finale. Set to bow on Sunday, March 9th from 9:00 to 10:35PM, that airing of the finale episode (entitled "-30-") will be its first.
This bucks the trend of debuting each new episode On-Demand the Monday before its Sunday premiere. HBO maintained this practice for all of season four and had been doing the same with season five, until now. This Sunday's new episode (it's the second to last one) has been On-Demand since Monday.
Remember that? 86 episodes and how does it end? Black. The end of an era. Clichéd, yes -- but still true. June 10th, 2007 marked the conclusion of one of the biggest cultural phenomenons we've ever seen. HBO's The Sopranos. Everyone watched it and whether or not you loved or hated the series finale doesn't really matter. Why? Because we're still talking about it.
The creators of Lost are thankful for that black-screen Sopranos finale.
Maybe Victoria Beckham isn't so mysterious after all. The reality show that was supposed to let us get to know the "real her" just was shortened from six episodes to one.
(S06E21) It's finally here, folks. The week that we've all been waiting for. Well, perhaps not that anxiously awaiting, as we know that something we've all been into for so many years is going away. That said, it's still something that has the potential of being very, very cool culturally and will definitely dominate the watercooler talk for the next few days or so.
To celebrate this momentous occasion, we're going to have a chatroom live for all of you to join in on as the show goes on and share your theories, reactions, and opinions in real-time. Shortly after the finale, you'll be able to read our review of the show here. The review is after the jump. And, our chatroom is still open for any of you to share your thoughts and comments on how The Sopranos went down.
There's been a ton of discussion about how HBO's The Sopranos will end, and there are definitely some prevailing theories or suspicions out there. We thought we'd find out what you, the TV Squad readers, would like to see happen as The Sopranos comes to a close, and have put together this nifty poll to ask just that. Of course, if what you think is going to happen isn't in the poll itself, then just choose the "Other" option and drop your thoughts in the comments section.
Theories about the finale's title, "Made in America," are also welcome, as they could tie into "being made" or something the terrorists could be doing, for instance.
One day after the series finale of The Sopranos, TNT will dedicate twelve hours to a Law and Order marathon focusing on episodes featuring actors from The Sopranos.
The marathon begins Monday, June 11 at 2:00 p.m. and features episodes with appearances from Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, Jerry Adler,John Ventimiglia, Vincent Curatola, Dan Grimaldi, Joseph R. Gannascoli, Ray Abruzzo, Robert Funaro, Dominic Chianese, Vincent Pastore, Sharon Angela and Frank Vincent.
(S03E19/S03E20) Well now I'm pissed. As if I wasn't already pissed before this episode aired, they go and end things with a big ol' fizzle. Unfortunately for all of us, Rob Thomas took a gamble that the series would get picked up for a new season, so we're left what feels very, very much like a season ender, not a series ender. And sorry, but a flash-forward reboot retooling can't possibly clear up the loose ends we're left with after this episode.
With that said, even though we all know this was a series ending episode, this was pretty decent for a season ender.
(S07E22) This may not have been the way Gilmore Girls was originally supposed to end, but, as it turned out, it was a pretty good way for it to go out.
When I think about it, ending the show in such a "rip off the Band-Aid" fashion was best for everyone, including the fans. We had only two weeks to cope with the show's departure, knowing that the finale was already shot and ready to go. Nothing we could do or say was going to change how we were going to leave Lorelai, Rory, Luke, and the rest of the folks in the Gilmore world. Because of that, there was no speculation, no guessing. And there were also no grand moments, supreme life changes, and the obligatory scenes of someone looking back on an empty room before turning out the lights. It was very understated. And very satisfying.
(S09E12 / S09E13) Last month, I wrote a post praising The King of Queens for not making their 200th episode into any kind of "special" episode, just doing the same goofy but funny comedy the show has always done. There was no character development, no great revelations, no massive earth-shattering changes, and no story arcs. I expected them to do the same for the finale; just show another day in the life of the Heffernans and fade to black.
We got none of that; in fact, everything I listed above was exactly what we got, not only in this one-hour finale, but the two episodes before that. Drama isn't this show's strong suit, and it made for a finale that was wildly out of character in comparison with the rest of the series.
TV Squad HQ just received a missive from Warner Brothers and The CW. It's a joint statement that says that Gilmore Girls will air its series finale on May 15th (A representative for Warner Brothers confirmed the note).
Yes, you heard me: series finale. After seven seasons, it looks like both the studio and the network have decided to pull the plug and end the show. There were rumors floating around that co-star Alexis Bledel was not going to sign a new contract for an 8th season, and the show couldn't really continue without her. Given the middling quality of the episodes this year, especially in the extremely rocky first half of the season, this seems like the right time to end the show, though it now seems like we're in a rush to the finish line to try to tie up all the show's loose ends.
So, this means we have two episodes left. Do you think Rory will get married to Logan? Will Lorelai and Luke take that boat trip that Luke was going to go on with his daughter April? And do you folks think the show needed more time to resolve these storylines? Let me know in the comments. The joint statement is after the jump.
Permits have been denied to the producers of The Sopranos to film in the town of Bloomfield, New Jersey on the basis of the show's "offensive depiction" of Italian-Americans. The producers had intended to film the series' final scene at Holsten's Brookdale Confectionery in Bloomfield. The permits for shooting were approved and then revoked after complaints reached Mayor Raymond McCarthy who was quoted as saying, "I don't think The Sopranos depicts the life of a typical Italian-American in a positive way, and I still don't like the way people see New Jersey based upon The Sopranos series." (The way people saw New Jersey pre-Sopranos was apparently downright Utopian.)
The filming permits are being reviewed again next week because of the flood of calls supporting Holsten's, the actual shooting location. As council member Peggy O'Boyle Dunigan said, "If you don't like the show, you can turn it off. It's hard enough to have a small business in town. I don't want to discourage them." If they get the permits, I guess we know where The Sopranos will finally end - in an ice cream parlor - hopefully, not in the freezer. UPDATE: A loophole has been found because Holsten's is a commercial space. Filming will proceed as planned.
(S04E16) Does this count as the end of an era? I'm not sure. When The OC first began, it sure felt like the beginning of an era. Now that it's over, I'm not exactly sure what it's the end of. Other than something that I'm really, really going to miss.
I have to be honest. The first twenty or so minutes of this episode fell pretty flat for me. I really wasn't enjoying the six-month jump, only to find out that everything we thought we knew was no more. Julie was engaged to Bullit, Taylor was back in France, and Seth and Summer had become "comfortable." Nothing was right, and despite the fact that we all knew how this was going to end, I was a little put off by the way it started. But it picked up steam and by the episode's end, I was completely satisfied with the way it all turned out.
Fans of Six Feet Under were floored, when at the end "Ecotone" (the fourth to last episode of the series) Nate finally succumbed to his AVM and passed away. His death earned one of the few "end of episode epitaphs" featured on the show.
Interesting bit of news just came into TV Squad headquarters:
There's been a ton of discussion about how HBO's 
One day after the series finale of The Sopranos, TNT will dedicate twelve hours to a Law and Order marathon focusing on episodes featuring actors from The Sopranos.
TV Squad HQ just received a missive from Warner Brothers and The CW. It's a joint statement that says that 
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Giveaway Monday: TV Funhouse
