Topic: Tom's TV Finales marathon

[Tom]

TV Finales marathon

After having concluded my TV pilots marathon I thought I'd give a finales marathon a go.
I will only watch finales which I have either seen before, or if I think watching it will not spoil me the rest of the series.

[Tom]

3rd Rock from the Sun: Season Six (2000/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Network (United Kingdom) Length: 414 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Subtitles:

Plot:
So we bid farewell to a true sitcom classic. 3rd Rock's brilliant ensemble cast has made it one of television's most unique, original and outragious sitcoms hailed by critics, adored by fans and honoured with Emmy Awards. Presentend here are all 20 episodes of the final season containing some of 3rd Rock's most memorable episodes and featuring guests slots by the likes of John Cleese and Elvis Costello.


3rd Rock From the Sun
Season 6.19 The Thing That Wouldn't Die (Part I)
Writer: Dave Jeser (Screenwriter), Matt Silverstein (Screenwriter), Dave Lewman (Original Material By), Joe Liss (Original Material By)
Director: Terry Hughes
Cast: John Lithgow (Dick Solomon), Kristen Johnston (Sally Solomon), French Stewart (Harry Solomon), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Tommy Solomon), Simbi Khali (Nina), Elmarie Wendel (Mrs. Dubcek), Wayne Knight (Officer Don), Jane Curtin (Mary Albright), Ileen Getz (Judith), Mindy Spence (Sam), Chad Einbinder (Rico)

To conclude this series they have Mary finally finding out about Dick. It is a little fast, how she accepted this fact (they should have done this earlier in the season and deal with this in more than one episode), but it was fun to watch her expressions when Dick asked her to think about the last six years with the knowledge that he is an alien and how much sense it makes.

Rating:


3rd Rock From the Sun
Season 6.20 The Thing That Wouldn't Die (Part II)
Writer: Dave Goetsch (Screenwriter), Jason Venokur (Screenwriter), Christine Zander (Original Material By)
Director: Terry Hughes
Cast: John Lithgow (Dick Solomon), Kristen Johnston (Sally Solomon), French Stewart (Harry Solomon), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Tommy Solomon), Simbi Khali (Nina), Elmarie Wendel (Mrs. Dubcek), Wayne Knight (Officer Don), Jane Curtin (Mary Albright), Ian Lithgow (Leon), David DeLuise (Bug), Chris Hogan (Pitman), Danielle Nicolet (Caryn), Ileen Getz (Judith), Ron West (Dr. Strudwick), Elvis Costello (Himself)

Second part of the series finale. Not that much fun as hardly anything is happening.

Rating:

[Tom]

The 4400: Season Four (2007/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia CBS DVD, Paramount Home Entertainment (United States) Length: 560 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, Spanish: Dolby Digital 1, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English, Portuguese, Spanish

Plot:
The 4400™: The Fourth Season continues the incredible story of 4400 people who were suddenly abducted and are later mysteriously returned to Earth. Though they have no memory of their otherworldly experiences, some now possess special powers, both good and bad. This 4-disc collectible set of this unique and critically acclaimed series includes exclusive featurettes, audio commentaries with the cast and the filmmakers, deleted scenes and 13 episodes that will blow your mind.


The 4400
Season 4.13 The Great Leap Forward
Writer: Scott Peters (Created By), René Echevarria (Created By), Ira Steven Behr (Writer), Craig Sweeny (Writer)
Director: Scott Peters
Cast: Joel Gretsch (Tom Baldwin), Jacqueline McKenzie (Diana Skouris), Patrick Flueger (Shawn Farrell), Chad Faust (Kyle Baldwin), Conchita Campbell (Maia Rutledge), Megalyn Echikunwoke (Isabelle Tyler), Jenni Baird (Meghan Doyle), Bill Campbell (Jordan Collier), Jeffrey Combs (Kevin Burkhoff), Penny Johnson (Rebecca Parrish), Kaj-Erik Eriksen (Danny Farrell), Richard Kahan (Marco Pacella), Kavan Smith (Agent Garrity), Chilton Crane (Susan Farrell), Pascale Hutton (Abigail Honeycutt), Graeme Duffy (Brady Wingate), Jennifer Spence (Joanna), Carrie Genzel (Reporter), Paul Duchart (Minister), Ted Cole (Dr. Griffith), Pablo Silveira (Paramedic), David MacInnis (Ambulance Driver), Beulah Wong (Triage Nurse), Nneka Croal (Agent Ashmore)

This series finale was planned as a season finale and ends on a cliffhanger. The series got cancelled after the finale was already shot. But I still works as a series finale

(click to show/hide)

if you do not mind a the-bad-guy-wins-series-finale

Rating:

[Tom]

Action: The Complete Series (1999/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (United States) Length: 293 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles:

Plot:
Way too edgy for network TV, this funny, uncensored, naming-names series peels off the glitter of Hollywood moviemaking and exposes the duplicitous but totally addictive, behind-the-scenes truth. Campy, uncesored and very controversial, this "too-close-to reality" show features guest stars that include Keanu Reeves, Salma Hayek, Scott Wolf and Sandra Bullock.

Superstar producer Peter Dragon (Jay Mohr, host of TV's "Last Comic Standing") builds his stellar career on the three pillars of show business - prostitution, nepostism and dishonesty. Adding to that an ego as big as a Beverly Hills mansion, the aptly named Dragon and his cohorts manage to be politically incorrect, backstabbing, phony, petty, pissy and most of all -- ingeniously funny!


Action
Season 1.13 Last Ride Of The Elephant Princess
Writer: Chris Thompson (Created By), Jim Vallely (Writer), Ron Zimmerman (Writer)
Director: Vahan Moosekian
Cast: Jay Mohr (Peter Dragon), Illeana Douglas (Wendy Ward), Jarrad Paul (Adam Rafkin), Jack Plotnick (Stuart Glazer), Buddy Hackett (Uncle Lonnie), Lee Arenberg (Bobby G.), Terry Rhoads (Guy), Stuart Pankin (Bill Rothstein), Harris Laskawy (Elliot Rothstein), James Leo Ryan (Man)

Like with the pilot I was bored with the episode. So much so, that I didn't even pay enough attention, if this episode provided a proper series or even season finale

Rating:

[Tom]

The Addams Family: Volume Three (1965/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia (United States) Length: 588 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 1 Subtitles:

Plot:
Brace yourself for more macabre mayhem and monstrous madness - it's time, once again, to pay a call on the Addams Family, television's creepiest clan, as they wreak hilarious havoc on their unsuspecting victims. This time, love is in the air, and it seems that everyone - Pugsley, Ophelia, Uncle Fester, and even Lurch - is being bitten by the bug! Gomez, meanwhile, is burglarizing houses in his sleep, and it's curtains for the new neighbors when Morticia tries her hand at decorating. Now, complete your collection and prepare for a scare with the frightfully funny final volume of The Addams Family. It's drop-dead hilarious.


The Addams Family
Season 2.30 Ophelia's Career 08.04.1966
Writer: Charles Addams (Original Characters By), Harry Winkler (Writer), Hannibal Coons (Writer)
Director: Sidney Lanfield
Cast: Carolyn Jones (Morticia Addams), John Astin (Gomez Addams), Jackie Coogan (Uncle Fester), Ted Cassidy (Lurch), Blossom Rock (Grandmama), Lisa Loring (Wednesday), Ken Weatherwax (Pugsley), Ben Wright (Mr. Rudolpho), Ralph Rose (Signor Bellini), Felix Silla (Cousin Itt), Thing (Itself)

Just like any other episode. There is nothing which would tell that this is the final episode of the series. If you enjoy the other episodes, you will also enjoy this one.

Rating:

[Tom]

The Adventures of Mini-Goddess: Volume 4: The Skuld Files (1999/Japan) IMDb | Wikipedia (United Kingdom) Length: 100 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English

Plot:
SUPER SMALL = SUPER CUTE!

Whenever Keiichi leaves the house, Belldandy, Urd and Skuld shrink themselves to play with the other residents of the area - including their clueless rat sidekick, Gan. Whether it's life trapped in a jar of miso paste or the revolt of Urd's clones, the goddess adventures are dangerously funny!

SKULD: The sweet little sister of the goddess trio, Skuld's innocence counters the fact that her mechanical inventions frequently cause Gan bodily harm!


The Adventures of Mini-Goddess
Season 1.48 Korekara dounaru no? 29.03.1999
Writer: Kosuke Fujishima (Original Material By), Shouji Yonemura (Screenwriter), Chinatu Houjou (Screenwriter), Atsuhiro Tomioka (Screenwriter), Shinzo Fujita (Screenwriter)
Director: Yasuhiro Matsumura
Cast: Kikuko Inoue (Belldandy), Yumi Toma (Urd), Aya Hisakawa (Skuld), Mitsuo Iwata (Gan-chan), Tadashi Nakamura (Narrator), , Anthony Mozdy (Gan-chan), Wendee Lee (Urd), Sherry Lynn (Skuld), Ruby Marlowe (Belldandy), William Frederick (Narrator)

This episode acknowledges that it is the last episode. As this series is just taking the characters of the series "Ah! My Goddess" and having fun with them, it is often very meta. Here the goddesses and Gan-chan think what they should do as this is the last episode. They decide to celebrate. Funniest moment in this episode is, when Gan-chan dreams (multiple times) that the goddesses had made a lot of clones of him, saying how else he thinks he would have survived the series

Rating:

[Tom]

Adventures of Superman: Seasons Five and Six (1957/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Warner Home Video (United States) Length: 677 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 1 Subtitles: French, Spanish

Plot:
Crime doesn't pay. Not when SUPERMAN is around. Yet that won't stop METROPOLIS miscreants feverishly bent on malevolent misdeeds. A deadly KRYPTONITE ray gun, knights in armor, anti-memory vapor, a gizmo that zaps bad guys across phone lines, even a mind-reading burro who taps out responses (and who has suspicions about CLARK KENT!) - all are called into futile service to thwart the MAN OF STEEL.

"You can set your watch on it" JIMMY OLSEN says about Superman always showing up in the nick of time. The good news for series fans is that he shows up again and again in these 26 flights of fantasy that complete the six season Adventures of Superman. George Reeves returns as the caped hero: stalwart, caring and with a sense of humor...a pairing of star and role that continues to win fans the world over.


The Adventures of Superman
Season 6.13 All That Glitters
Writer: Robert Leslie Bellem (Writer), Whitney Ellsworth (Writer)
Director: George Reeves
Cast: George Reeves (Superman / Clark Kent), Jack Larson (Jimmy Olsen), Noel Neill (Lois Lane), John Hamilton (Perry White), Robert Shayne (Inspector Henderson), Phillips Tead (Professor J. J. Pepperwinkle), Len Hendry (Nick Mitchell), Jack Littlefield (Elbows Logan), Richard Elliott (Mr. Gobey), George Eldredge (John Salem), Paul Cavanagh (Delbert Carter), Myrna Fahey (Miss Dunn)

I only ever saw this series on DVD. But I only have finished the first two seasons so far. It has been some time since then, so I don't remember, if the early episodes were also this bad. It is like they are parodying themselves. Like they made the dialog and story so ridiculous, that there won't be no chance, they wouldn't be cancelled.
Superman/Clark is hardly in this episode. I am not sure if it is only because George Reeves directed the episode, or if this is regularly the case for later episodes.
Also I am not a fan of Noel Neill as Lois Lane. I think the first season's Lois Lane, Phyllis Coates, has the looks and attitude of a proper Lois. Not Noel Neill though.


Rating:

[DSig]

Oh wow .. how cool.  I really want to get the first couple seasons of this.  Though probably wouldn't be as good as I remember

[Tom]

Ah! My Goddess: Season One (2005/Japan) IMDb | Wikipedia Anime Works (United States) Length: 650 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English

Plot:
Kosuke Fujishima's unforgettable story of every hapless college boy's dream comes to life! Keiichi Morisato is an engineering student, top driver of his campus racing club, and not very lucky with the ladies. While calling for take-out food one evening, a wrong number puts him in contact with the "Goddess Hotline." One misplaced wish later, Keiichi find himself blessed with Belldandy, the perfect girlfriend and a goddess in every sense of the word. Unfortunately, she doesn't have any idea how to act in the human world, and her presence quickly gets Keiichi kicked out of the dorms. Fortunately for Keiichi, his troubles have just begin!


Ah! My Goddess
Season 1.24 Aa! Itsumo Kimi to Tomo ni? 07.07.2005
Writer: Kosuke Fujishima (Original Material By), Hiroshi Watanabe (Screenwriter)
Director: Hiroaki Goda
Cast: Kikuko Inoue (Belldandy), Masami Kikuchi (Keiichi Morisato), Yumi Toma (Urd), Aya Hisakawa (Skuld), Chafuurin (Urn of Hakushon the Demon King), Miki Itoh (Lind), Miwa Kouzuki (Reporter), , Eileen Stevens (Belldandy), Drew Aaron (Keiichi Morisato), Vibe Jones (Urd), Annice Moriarty (Skuld), Mike Pollack (Urn of Hakushon the Demon King), Evelyn Lanto (Lind), Alissa Brodsky (Reporter)

This is not the last episode in this set, but it was the last episode which was aired for the first series, and it concludes the season's storyline. It is a good episode.
The DVD contains two further light-hearted episodes which play after the finale. They were produced especially for the DVD release.

Rating:

[Tom]

Ah! My Goddess: Flights of Fancy: Season Two (2006/Japan) IMDb | Wikipedia FUNimation Productions (United States) Length: 600 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English

Plot:
The song may say "Thank heaven for little girls" - but who is college student Keiichi Morisato supposed to thank when three honest to goodness living Goddesses move in and take over his life? And should he really be all that grateful?

After all, in most mythologies, close relationships between mortals and immortals usually lead to mortifying complications, so we're already talking about an extremely mixed blessing! And when a FOURTH Goddess suddenly appears, that blessing becomes more like a curse! They may just be trying to help, but sometimes it seems that Belldandy, Skuld, Urd and Peorth might be less concerned with Keiichi's safety than they are with establishing a pecking order and ownership rights!

The delicate celestial balance that exists between human and goddess is thrown into complete and utter chaos in Ah! My Goddess 2 - The Complete Collection!


Ah! My Goddess
Season 2.24 Ah! The Song of Love That Shakes the Heart!
Writer: Kosuke Fujishima (Original Material By), Akira Watanabe (Screenwriter)
Director: Hiroaki Goda
Cast: Eileen Stevens (Belldandy), Drew Aaron (Keiichi Morisato), Vibe Jones (Urd), Annice Moriarty (Skuld), Juliet Cesario (Peorth), Veronica Taylor (Chihiro Fujimi), , Kikuko Inoue (Belldandy), Masami Kikuchi (Keiichi Morisato), Yumi Toma (Urd), Aya Hisakawa (Skuld), Rei Sakuma (Peorth), Yuka Imai (Chihiro Fujimi)

I decided to watch this episode as finale, even though it is a bonus episode produced for the DVD release coming after the finale. It is a nice episode provided some emotional closure.

Rating:

[Achim]

Like with the pilot I was bored with the episode. So much so, that I didn't even pay enough attention, if this episode provided a proper series or even season finale

The cover made it look like Extras, Ricky Gervais' excellently hilarious show. But seeing your review I don't even have to ask any more questions...

[Tom]

[tom]013023194298f.jpg[/tom]

Ai Yori Aoshi: Volume 5 "With All My Heart" (2001/Japan) IMDb | Wikipedia Pioneer Entertainment (United States) Length: 100 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English

Plot:
When Aoi falls ill, everyone at the Sakuraba mansion falls apart trying to fill her shoes with the necessary household chores. Then, Kaoru invites Aoi to visit someone special, she finds herself being introduced to Kaoru’s mother’s grave as someone important in his life. As their love for each other truly blossoms, Kaoru and Aoi encounter a severe frost - Aoi’s father forces Aoi to return home in an attempt to separate her from Kaoru forever!


Ai Yori Aoshi
Season 1.24 Aoi
Writer: Kou Fumizuki (Original Material By), Kenichi Kanemaki (Writer)
Director: Katsuichi Nakayama
Cast: Soichiro Hoshi (Kaoru Hanabishi), Ayako Kawasumi (Aoi Sakuraba), Akiko Hiramatsu (Miyabi Kagurazaki), Satsuki Yukino (Tina Foster), Kaori Mizuhashi (Taeko Minazuki), Sayaka Narita (Mayu Miyuki), Haruko Momoi (Chika Minazuki), Kenyu Horiuchi (Saionji), Kazuya Nakai (Suzuki), Makoto Higo (Sato), Yuka Inoguchi (Uzume), Masara Takashima (Aoi's Mother), Narumi Hikada (Young Kaoru), Kenji Utsumi (Aoi's Father), , Barbara Goodson, Dave Wittenberg, Doug Stone, Kay Jensen, Kirsty Pape, Walter Lang, Lia Sargent, Michelle Ruff, Ron Allen, Sue Beth Arden, Wendee Lee

A good conclusion to the first series (especially considering the manga still ran at the time and the story wasn't concluded yet), but not as good as I remembered it.

Rating:

[Tom]

[tom]013023230491f.jpg[/tom]

Ai Yori Aoshi Enishi: Volume 3 "Destiny" (2003/Japan) IMDb | Wikipedia (United States) Length: 93 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English

Plot:
Can they stay together?

What a time for suprises for all the friends! Kaoru and Aoi go on a date together and spend their time reminiscing and enjoying each other's company. The two end up spending the evening at a hotel... Later, the residents of Sakuraba mansion decide to go to a spa resort and Kaoru winds up seeing more than he was meant to! Digital cameras can be so much fun - the gang decides to take some pictures themselves, dressing up in costumes and outfits that turn out to be very fun. Tina then takes a trip back home to America, leaving the rest of the household worried and missing her... will she ever come back?


Ai Yori Aoshi: Enishi
Season 1.12 Kizuna
Writer: Kou Fumizuki (Original Material By)
Director: Katsuichi Nakayama
Cast: Soichiro Hoshi (Kaoru Hanabishi), Ayako Kawasumi (Aoi Sakuraba), Akiko Hiramatsu (Miyabi Kagurazaki), Satsuki Yukino (Tina Foster), Kaori Mizuhashi (Taeko Minazuki), Sayaka Narita (Mayu Miyuki), Haruko Momoi (Chika Minazuki), Kimiko Koyama (Natsuki Komiya), Mamiko Noto (Chizuru Aizawa), Yuka Inoguchi (Uzume), Mami Koyama (Tina's Mom), , Dave Wittenberg, Julie Ann Taylor, Kay Jensen, Kirsty Pape, Lia Sargent, Michelle Ruff, Midge Mayes, Scott Page-Pagter, Sue Beth Arden, Wendee Lee

This episode is more about concluding Tina's storyline (a supporting character), than about the two main characters. I don't remember how much resolve they brought to those two in the previous episodes. But I know it was definately different than the manga ending (which was also still running when this series was produced).

Rating:

[Tom]

[tom]031398201212f.jpg[/tom]

ALF: Season Four (1989/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Lions Gate Home Entertainment (United States) Length: 514 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles:

Plot:
"Just think of me as a Melmacian babe magnet!" ALF is back for an encore! That smart-mouthed, always loveable alien keeps us laughing in this fourth and final season. With a special appearance by David Spade, ALF dreams he becomes the world's best comic and, in addition to his already unusual diet, he's addicted to cotton and triest to munch on Willie's pants! Finally, ALF can't resist the chance to settle a new planet with a couple of long-lost extra-terrestrial friends. Will we ever be the same without him? Well, of all the planets in the universe, we're glad he picked this one!


ALF
Season 4.24 Consider Me Gone
Writer: Tom Patchett (Created By), Paul Fusco (Created By), Steve Pepoon (Screenwriter), David Silverman (Screenwriter), Stephen Sustarsic (Screenwriter), Victor Fresco (Screenwriter), Ian Praiser (Story By)
Director: Nick Havinga
Cast: Max Wright (Willie Tanner), Anne Schedeen (Kate Tanner), Andrea Elson (Lynn Tanner), Benji Gregory (Brian Tanner), Richard Fancy (Colonel Halsey), Doug Ballard (Lieutenant Alden), Larry Poindexter (Sergeant Armstrong), Sherman Howard (Officer), Paul Fusco (Gordon "ALF" Shumway), Charles Nickerson (Eric Tanner)

This has a WTF ending. I always thought it was a ballsy move to do, and I am a little disappointed, that it was not planned as the series finale, but only a season cliffhanger. As a series finale you wouldn't have expected to end it this way. There was a TV movie resolving the ending years later, but in my opinion it didn't do it justice.

Rating:

[Tom]

[tom]097361393049f.jpg[/tom]

Andy Richter Controls the Universe: The Complete Series (2002/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Paramount Home Entertainment, CBS DVD (United States) Length: 417 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles:

Plot:
The rules of comedy are about to be broken in Andy Richter Controls The Universe, one of the funniest sitcoms in TV history. A bored writer of instruction manuals, Andy spends his office hours daydreaming about what his life could, should and ought to be. Starring in his outlandish fantasies are his unlucky-in-love boss Jessica (Paget Brewster), best buddy Keith (James Patrick Stuart), quirky pal Byron (Jonathan Slavin) and Andy's secret object of desire, Wendy the receptionist (Irene Molloy). Featuring the Emmy®-nominated series' 14 episode run – plus 5 that were never shown on network TV – this it cutting edge lunacy at its irreverent best, a mirth-quaking 10 on the Richter scale!


Andy Richter Controls the Universe
Season 1.19 Charity Begins D Block
Writer: Victor Fresco (Created By), Dave Jeser (Writer), Matt Silverstein (Writer)
Director: Andy Ackerman
Cast: Andy Richter (Andy Richter), Paget Brewster (Jessica Green), Irene Molloy (Wendy McKay), Jonathan Slavin (Byron Togler), James Patrick Stuart (Keith), Charlie Robinson (Warden), John Bliss (Mr. Pickering), Jim Beaver (Craig), John Eric Bentley (Doctor), Rex Lee (Asian Man), Lee Rutera (Skeeter), Walter Williamson (Silbert Danforth)

A great TV show which was cancelled much too soon. Sadly the last episode was just a run-of-the-mill episode and isn't even a season finale. It was good, but not as funny as other episodes of this series.

Rating: