Julia Duffy Dreams

Meredith?  Oprah?  What about me?

BETHANY  So, as you can tell from the look on Helena Bonham Carter's face, we went a little long yesterday!  I would like to be able to guarantee that we won't go that long again, but let's face it...we probably will.  I have to tell you, I am pretty exhausted today.  Why, you may ask?  I was up WAY too late (reading a book? packing lunches for my children? cleaning my house? NO!) watching highlights of Meredith Vieira's tenure on The Today Show.  And that got me thinking about how I have always loved television "events".  I like Meredith, but I haven't watched more than an hour of her on Today (before last night, that is).  So why did I tune in?  Because it was her last show.  It's a little snippet of television history.  I love watching the series finale of a show, even if I have never watched an episode before.  I love the excitement of the event.  (Not NBC's "The Event" - from what I understand, there wasn't a lot of excitement to be had there.)  So, our opening topic for today, my dear friend...talk to me about some of the television events that have stayed with you.



Welcome to television
history, Meredith Vieira.

 JONATHAN  I am choosing not to mention REAL events that were broadcast, but instead to focus on truly important things, like Bob Newhart waking up after his Julia Duffy dreams. Did you watch Meredith's farewell "Don't Stop Believin'" lip dub video? (Sidebar: why do they say lip dub and not lip synch now?) I got a little teary watching it although I never really liked her. What I do like (besides Rusty Martin's Vegas Tours) are "historical" television events! Neither one of us was ever an Oprah watcher, but I was tempted to check out the final episode to see how she'd end it. I think there's something really special about a series finale, when everyone involved has the opportunity to choose how we get to say goodbye, but it's really difficult to get it right. When they do, it can be really emotional. When you just dip into a random rerun, there's little at stake, but the endings make you really think about the passage of time. Goofy but true story: recently I saw the episode of "The Facts of Life" where Jo and Blair graduated. Although the series went on for several years afterward with the same cast, it was surprisingly intense to re-watch it. Despite the dated jokes (While talking about the movie of their lives, they decide Candice Bergen should play Blair and Charles Bronson should play Jo.) it was pretty poignant seeing them graduate and be scared about the future while also being reminded of just how far in the past this event really was. What about you, friend? Have you ever been the same since the town of Evening Shade blew up in the finale?

There's a snake in my coffee!

BETHANY  For the record, I had tears literally streaming down my cheeks as Matt, Al, Ann, and Natalie basically told the world "We loved Meredith in a way we could never have loved Katie!"  No reason for it, and I was crying huge crocodile tears.  This is why you and I are friends.  You know exactly what I mean!  We would be huge failures if we didn't mention the Wings finale.  Remember, Joe and Brian's dad had left them a huge (which I don't think would be much of anything now, $100,000 or something, but then it was going to be enough to buy a new airplane, and a retire to a private island, and buy Helen her own symphony or something) amount of money, and it all came full circle so beautifully.  The money was even upstairs in the same airport locker (that is interesting...considering their dad was dead before the pilot, and presumably was still dead for the finale!) that the canned snakes or whatever had been in during the pilot episode (wasn't every episode of Wings a pilot episode, really?) when Brian and Joe had been brought back together to find out what their dad had left them.  But in that pilot episode, after a scavenger hunt all over New England, they ended up with a photo of the two of them when they were kids (with Helen in the water swimming in the background...mistaken by Brian as a whale!) and on the back their dad had written "You're rich." meaning of course, they had each other.  And they had each other for the next 8 seasons, until the finale, when the very same thing almost drove them apart!!  Remember?  Anyone?  REMEMBER?!?

Why not?!

JONATHAN  That mini Wings recap was very moving too, although as touching as it was, it didn't have the same power of Meredith awkwardly dancing with Abe Vigoda. (WHY?) Of course, I will always love the fact that "Viera" was the perfect password clue. When I was driving in to work today, Ryan Seacrest was interviewing Ann Curry and she was talking about how getting the anchor spot meant so much to her because she knew her recently dead parents would have been proud, and it made me like her more. What do you think happened to Joe after the finale? Helen was undoubtedly an enormous success as the new cello superstar, but what did he do now that he wasn't going to be a pilot anymore? Do you think Casey and Brian eventually left the airport, too? That brings up an interesting subject: what do you think happened AFTER the finales for some of your fave movies/TV etc.?

BETHANY  Well, we know (if you had been paying attention!) that Joe and Helen only went to Vienna ("The one in Germany?" Gotta love that Roy!) for one year.  After that...hmm.  Well, one thing I have always had an issue with: if Helen got a great job with some symphony is Boston or New York or whatever, why would that really be so tough?  Couldn't she commute?  They live in Nantucket and her husband is a pilot with his own airplane.  So I think she got all trained up in Vienna and then when they came back she met Lilith Crane on the flight (wasn't Lilith a musician?) and Lilith got her connected and Helen joined a symphony in Boston.  All problems solved!  And Brian was so tired of Casey by that time (I know I would be!) that he stuffed her in the locker upstairs, which was a great hiding place, because apparently it is only rented by dead people.  I think we should go ahead and talk about the 800 lb. young Helen Chappell in the room...the worst finale of all time...Caroline In The City.

Merry Christmas, From The Minnelli/Luft Family

JONATHAN  I was too busy booking a room at White Christmas HOTEL to notice all the details, like major plot points! And while I fully admit that Casey was most definitely a character they just sort of shoehorned into the series, Amy Yasbeck is delightful and deserves better than being stuffed in the upstairs locker! Although realistically, I have a feeling she was pretty careless about running the lunch counter and probably accidentally killed a string of people with food poisoning before they hauled her off to jail. What about Alex the helicopter pilot? Shouldn't they have mentioned her again? Or do you think she was piloting Ron Silver's helicopter that went into the volcano on Veronica's Closet? What do you mean Caroline in the City had the worst finale ever? I, for one, was shocked when the man at the altar with Caroline was revealed to be Pat Morita's video store clerk. "Unexpected romantic comedy twist...very funny movie!" And the way that Cathy Guisewite swept in and stole Richard right from under Caroline's nose, along with her comic strip? Dazzling! Oh, and who  was plumper: young Helen Chappell or young Monica Gellar?

BETHANY  Best finale of all time?  In all seriousness I would say Newhart.  Dallas was pretty creepy.  Remember Joel Grey as the devil?  Jennifer Grey should have been on that episode, and gone up to everyone and said, "Oh, that other Sue Ellen?  No, you were just dreaming!  I'M Sue Ellen!  What's that?  Pam?  Nope.  No Pam.  ALL a dream!  Charlene Tilton??  NIGHTMARE!"