It’s been a week for farewells on television and I for one believe they were well done and appreciate how difficult it must be to come up with the final episode of a popular television show.
Goodness knows there’s been examples of what I would term less than stellar conclusions to television series, including MASH, How I Met Your Mother and, yes, even Seinfeld (hilariously referenced in David Letterman’s final Top Ten List).
So knowing Mad Men and Late Show with David Letterman were airing their final episodes last week there was a lot of hype and a lot of expectation of how things were going to wrap for hugely successful and dare I say culturally significant productions.
First, Mad Men.
OK, first of all, I came a little late to this Sunday night offering and missed my share of episodes and even years if the truth be told but I always caught it when I could and enjoyed it immensely, especially in its final year, almost like trying to soak it all up before it fades away forever.
I have to admit I was losing a little patience with the Don Draper “half-road-to-destruction-and-half-on-the-road-to-find-out” angle of late as I was missing the other characters back in New York.
However, I thought the finale tied it up all very nicely thank you very much and was completely satisfying, even if much of it was over the phone – but then again those were some of the most powerful scenes of all.
And those who may have found the ending ambiguous, especially for Don, hey, that’s life and that’s just great writing.
Peggy may have found love, Pete may have found the American dream, Roger may have finally met his match (maybe) but the complicated character that is Don Draper (and we all know that’s not even his real name) can’t quite be so easily wrapped up in a paper bag, so to speak.
However, the iconic Coke commercial at the end implies to me that Don used his California awakening to reconnect with his corporate sensibilities to create the commercial of a lifetime and seal his legacy as the ad man of the century.
At least that’s how I see it, the beauty of the ending is you can write your own (although if you think he’s going to live out his days doing yoga on a cliff in California, well….).
Anyway, anyone who has read this column semi-regularly knows I’m a huge fan of David Letterman. I’ve stolen his Top Ten List idea on several occasions and loved his irreverent, edgy, groundbreaking material and self-effacing, low-key style for many, many years.
So in his honour and as a final salute, The Top Ten things I liked about the finale.
10. Introducing his son Harry’s best friend to 13.7 million viewers, and the trademark giggling afterwards.
9. The bit with the kids.
8. Going over by 17 minutes or so so he could thank staff, family, guests, viewers and everyone else involved and say a tear-free but heartfelt thank you.
7. Jay who? (and the line about maybe not getting The Tonight Show after all).
6. OK, the Foo Fighters aren’t my favourite band but they’re his and it matched up with the video montage finale perfectly.
5. The line about when he screws up now he’s going to have to go on somebody else’s show to address it.
4. The presidential intro and send-off, although where the heck was Jimmy Carter?
3. The bit about the material they were going to air on Thursday if the show hadn’t ended Wednesday.
2. The celebrity Top Ten list was the perfect finale to what was always the best part of the show, and to be honest the bit I used to watch and then shut off back when he was on after The Tonight Show – hey it’s getting late for a school night.
1. Thanks Dave, and all the best as the new face of Scientology.
