st elsewhere ending theory

Elsewhere., It was as far as they could go, he said. The 50 greatest TV and movie detectives of all time. Kenneth Lowe is a regular contributor to Paste TV. Thanks to the phenomenal success of the MCU, shared universes now dot the pop culture landscape, including the DCEU, The Conjuring universe, the Godzilla and King Kong MonsterVerse, and many more. WebThere are oodles of ways to end a TV series. Elsewhere. Elsewhere came to an end for creative as well as financial reasons. Much of the humor between characters is gallows humor. Law & Order creator Dick Wolf is close friends with Fontana and frequently crossed Homicide characters over into his own series. The attitude was, Nothing can get us down, as bad as it is. And it was bad all the time.. These strings go on across multiple decades of television, with I Love Lucy being the earliest example. "[Fontana] was fond of putting in references to previous shows he worked on, including bringing characters from St. Elsewhere" writer Tom Fontana began writing connections between his shows using fictional products and companies. He sits there, all day long, in his own world, staring at that toy. Elsewhere is not a great place to work or convalesce. Crowe told HuffPost that if they were to start over today, they'd exclude fictional products as being the basis for counting a crossover, explaining, "since we started this, there's apparently been a real consolidation in fake-prop companies.". Wolfram and Hart had another client, Weyland-Yutani, that made a weapons display screen for Firefly; A surprise to everybody. And they figured out a way: Okay, we wont have any reunions, nothing like that. Official crossovers between the "St. Westphall sits down next to Tommy and says, "I don't understand this autism thing, Pop. WebIf the St. STEPHEN FURST (Dr. Elliot Axelrod): I thought it was kind of cool, actually. We went through this experience and I wanted it to be maintained as a real one, not a dream. Flashforward! Original Closing Credits From the Series Finale | The St. They tried to really think outside the box the box in this case being that little television box of the 80s and they did something so different. St. Death! In the door comes Dr. Westphall, but he hangs up a construction workers hat. The fictional brand or company thing is also Fontana's fault. Where things get complicated is that characters from St. Quantum Leap is on!). Television these daysor rather, television that jerks like me actually bother to write aboutbasically falls into two categories now: Heavily scripted and serialized prestige TV or reality show stuff that sounds like a made up show on 30 Rock. Via Wikipedia: The most common interpretation of this scene is that the entire series of events in the series St. [1][6] This hypothesis was originally put forward by comic book and TV writer Dwayne McDuffie in a 2002 blog post,[8] as a reductio ad absurdum argument against making strong statements about fictional continuity based upon guest appearances. Birth! WebTommy Westphall, portrayed by Chad Allen, is a minor character from the drama television series St. St elsewhere ending theory. The entire series is revealed to have been based on the stories Liz Lemon told her great-granddaughter, a future television writer, and as remembered by the more-or-less immortal Parcell. Tommy's World: The TV Legacy of St. Elsewhere's "Tommy Elsewhere were more demonstrative and understanding of autistic people then all 12 seasons of The Big Bang Theory put together. I felt one thing when I read it and one thing when I saw it. John Munch). One of the producers on St. Toe-tagged. All of it, McDuffie said, proved his own Grand Unification Theory that everyone and everything seen on TVexcept for the few minutes viewers spent with Tommy Westphall in May 1988is just a daydream. Then it could create conversation, so I thought it was kind of brilliant. St. The first connection made in the Tommy Westphall universe is from St. Even if that's true though, thinking about it remains an amusing diversion. Elsewhere cast reunion: It was a show that changed television, 'St. But for others, it was a stroke of inspiration. St Elsewhere That would surely lead to spreadsheets the size of walls: Weyland-Yutani is the company behind the machinations of the Alien franchise. What is the name of the poem Belle reads out? The theory is called the "The Tommy Westphall Universe" and hinges on a reveal at the finale of "St. At least that's the most widely held interpretation of St. St If you notice any other connections, feel free to join in on the madness. You cant please most people most of the time. But because we set a bar, it was just hard to really top that I wish I could say that I loved it. Elsewhere links to Doctor Who [PDF], hypothetically rendering the TARDIS a figment of Tommys imagination: Donald Westphall and two other doctors visited Sam Malones bar from Cheers; We never answered any of the questions we posed. The last year, I put in a rug and a lamp. Can I use my Coinbase address to receive bitcoin? Somehow, a literal airplane has crashed into the hospital. Specific to the Westphall Hypothesis, even if we accept that St. Ambiguous cut to black! Elsewhere has fallen victim to economic pressures. Its been observed that much of American primetime TV has been about cops and the sex lives of doctors. I saw it as a show about people struggling to answer lifes ridiculous questions--sometimes they would do it in a comic way, sometimes they would do it in a serious way, said Tom Fontana, one of the shows core group of writers and producers, who served as a creative consultant this season. [3][1], The foremost interpretation of this scene is that the entire series of events in St. St If NBC had started paying us more money, they would have had to start giving a lot of other people more money, too. World of his own. And because I cant tell you I have a better idea of how it couldve ended, I can live with that one. The common thread running through the last season (besides a consistent plot about a special new artificial heart) is that St. Eligius is probably going to close, right around the same time the hospitals residents (read: the younger main cast members) are all ending their residencies and about to head out into the depressing world of medicine. MARK HARMON (Dr. Robert Caldwell): I didnt see it live. Elsewhere visited the Cheers bar, the creators of Cheers offered no consent to have their series thought of as imaginary. Nicknamed St. St Elsewhere The suggestion is that the entire series was a product of Tommy Westphall's imagination but if that's true, then what it implies is nothing short of jaw-dropping. Over time, it began to look something like the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game. Part of HuffPost Entertainment. What world is Tommy imagining inside that snow globe, he wonders aloud. This is not likely the case (I'm not going to search for links to autism websites for this answer), but for writers looking for some weird ending for their show (other than "it was all a dream"), the idea of a child imagining the world of St. Inside the globe was a tiny mock-up of St. Eligius, the medical center that was featured in the series. St. Elsewhere (Series) - TV Tropes Elsewhere Tags theory, tv, map, universe, autism, st. elsewhere, concept, 80s Additional References Urban Dictionary Wikipedia About. The show had, above all, an attitude, said Norman Lloyd, whose character, liver specialist Dr. Auschlander, faced his own debilitating liver cancer during the run of the show. Composition by Dave Grusin Elsewhere" finale was the first big "it was all just a dream" finale, ending with the revelation that St. Eligius hospital and its staff were all the creations of Elsewhere. And none of MTMs shows better defined quality television than St. Share. Most of us failed. Gow said, "I've heard from TV writers who deliberately put in references to draw their shows into Tommy's mind. Elsewhere. When youre finished, watch the cast reunion on Good Morning America and voice your own opinion on the finale in our poll. At least that's the most widely held interpretation of St. Elsewhere 's final moments. The ending has become an infamous example of the "it was all a dream" conclusion that's appeared in dozens of movies and TV shows over the years. As a special tribute to recently deceased writer Dwayne McDuffie, CBR is pleased to present one of the most well-known texts from his time writing about the art of comics in "Six Degrees of St. All Rights Reserved, In the age of streaming in particular, I feel as if this is even more true than its been in the past. Despite its high standing among TV critics, St. Elsewhere" -- the notion of which is a hated cliche, yes, but could it be the reality of almost every story arc you've ever loved on American television? Elsewhere" that the whole show had been in the character Westphall's dream. But the notion isn't necessarily dependent on Tommy imagining anything: The connections still exist, whether they're considered a dream within fiction or just an interconnected television universe. And I dont think that set of circumstances will ever happen again. There are no villains in this piece. One prominent critic, Professor Brian Weatherson, argues that just because St. A FL native, Michael is passionate about pop culture, and earned an AS degree in film production in 2012. That is the actual ending, a strange world-within-a-world. THE TOMMY WESTPHALL UNIVERSE What are the advantages of running a power tool on 240 V vs 120 V? If a person dreams about visiting London and meeting Gordon Brown, it does not follow that because the city of London and Gordon Brown appeared in a dream, they do not exist in real life. Helen Hunt even appeared in a few episodes. Since Dr. Turner and Dr. Ehrlich are figments of Tommys imagination that means when they visit the Homicide universe, that it too is part of Tommys world. CLARIFICATION: This article originally included a quote that incorrectly stated all of the non-American shows in the list. Death! Elsewhere, Paltrow, Fontana and the several cast members interviewed all said they would have been willing to continue indefinitely. They remember it because of young Tommy Westphall (Chad Allen)the autistic son of Dr. Westphall, who was a recurring character on the show. God love him."[9]. Yet, in the ending of St. [1] As characters from St. Tommy runs to see the snow falling outside the window, and that's when everything changes. TV Shows That Were Actually All Just A Dream - Looper Elsewheres Wednesday night time slot in the fall. Tommy's father, still being portrayed by Ed Flanders (aka "Donald Westphall") arrives at the apartment wearing a hard hat. Through crossovers, spinoffs, cameos, or fictional brands or products appearing in more than one show, everything from Brooklyn Nine Nine and Law & Order to Everybody Hates Chris and Dr. Who were arguably all dreamed up by young Tommy. Both shows took a grittier and more realistic approach to their drama. TIL That thanks to the series finale of St Elsewhere, and - Reddit In another, Dr. Morrison, played by David Morse, lost his wife in a freak household accident, then listened with a mixture of anguish and reverence to her heart beating after being transplanted into someone elses chest. That is quite a choice. They did very unusual, bold things and did it regularly. Because of the number if cross overs that involved St Elsewhere characters (or their mention) and the cross overs those other shows had with other They always tried to be out there, beyond the limits of what was being done before. And listen, we set such a bar, its hard to top it to make that ending satisfy a lot of people. Partnering with The Huffington Post, Gow and Crowe published an extensive update of the "Tommyverse" to their television web of compromised shows, which HuffPost illustrator, Alissa Scheller, put into visual form. I was only supposed to be in 18 of the 22 episodes, so I got an extra episodes pay out of it. Making a splash: A deep dive into the live-action Little Mermaid with a new generation's Ariel. NBC Entertainment President Brandon Tartikoff is fond of defining quality television as something that starts with low ratings and ends with a cat meowing--a reference to programs produced by MTM Enterprises, which end with a kitten logo in a sly takeoff on MGMs roaring lion. The St. Illustration by HuffPost's Alissa Scheller. When NBCs hour-long hospital drama St. But I thought it was wonderful. This year, Ken Lowe is revisiting some of the most influential TV shows that made it to an officially planned final episode. "The theory doesn't really depend on Tommy Westphall, but he's a good hook," Gow says. Elsewhere, Alfre Woodard's Dr. Roxanne Turner,appeared) andOz (in which a company that briefly owned St. Eligius, Weigert, makes a bid to buy that show's Oswald Maximum Security Prison). WebThe problem that I see with the ending is that they explained away the whole show as the daydreams of an autistic child's imagination. Cheers introduced Frasier Crane, of Frasier; Elsewhere in its final season owned the prison hospital in his series Oz.". Elsewhere was a solid drama that gave a boatload of great actors some steady work for a few years, but it will always be a peculiar show for that final detail. Elsewhere to Homicide: Life on the Street, which shared a writer/producer in Tom Fontana. Fontana wrote a fictional "Weigert Corporation" as an intergral part of both "St. I tell you, the last episode, I never bought it. Elsewhere have dropped out of the cultural lexicon entirelyexcept for one. The Marvel Cinematic Universe might seem like a huge landscape of interconnected shows and TV movies, but the Tommy Westphall universe has it beat. Lloyd also enjoyed the priest who heard confession in a toilet stall (I mean, that was wild--I never thought that would get on), a nude surgery sequence based on Scandinavian medical practices and a scene in which Auschlander discussed sexual awakening with a frightened boy. Make Room For Daddy takes out I Love Lucy.. An exterior camera shot of the hospital cuts to Tommy West Elsewhere was a show that got by largely on the strength of its ensemble, running for six seasons from 1982-88. ERIC LANEUVILLE (Luther Hawkins): I look back on it now and say Well, it kinda worked. When I first saw it, I had some real reservations about it. Elsewhere, the magic was in the tone, as it was with another show by the same production company, Hill Street Blues. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? I can't find any justification for ending the show this way, other than the writers wanted to end the show on a twist ending, rather than just another typical ending. It made me laugh actually because it just is so like those guys. Paltrow noted that the shows bleak vision was deliberate. Why did DOS-based Windows require HIMEM.SYS to boot? Elsewhere, and I venture to say stuff like House or Scrubs, or even Greys Anatomy would not look or feel the same without its influence and success. Elsewhere. The series was also known for one of its more playful aspects: it was prone to dropping references and callbacks to other TV series. The ending has become an infamous example of the "it was all a dream" conclusion that's appeared in dozens of movies and TV shows over the years. Hour shows are just not selling into syndication; the market is saturated with them, Paltrow said in a telephone conversation from New York, where he and others from the St. The thing Im proudest of is the overall balance of the comedy to the drama; the counterpoint of that really grew and grew.. We always said: Thats a tough question--well, good night! . And Howie got so mad, because I got paid for a full episode, and all I had to do was lie on a slab for five seconds. In the final scene of the series, the camera widens out from St. Eligius, until it becomes clear the hospital is a model inside a snow globe being shaken by Tommy as he plays on the floor of a small apartment. The complete list of shows is at the bottom of the article. The problem that I see with the ending is that they explained away the whole show as the daydreams of an autistic child's imagination. Elsewhere, NBCs darkly comic series about a financially strapped Boston hospital and its beleaguered staff, is dead. For example, take thatCheers crossover. ST. ELSEWHERE: Season 6 (1987-88) Clip - (The Final Scene) I think other people will find it puzzling, odd, maybe unfulfilling in some way.. It made me smile when I heard about what they did because it was so them. Elsewhere, Paltrow said he remains hopeful that the reruns will find a home someday, on cable if not on broadcast stations. Here on EW.com, read what each of them had to say about the daring and polarizing ending that helped define the WTF? The elder Westphall returns home, but he's not dressed in scrubs he's wearing a hard hat, and his conversation with Auschlander (whom he addresses as "Pop") implies that he's a construction worker. Elsewhere seemed like an easy out. St. The full list includes 419 shows as of 2016, the last time the curators of the Westphall theory updated its website. rev2023.4.21.43403. Offers may be subject to change without notice. And most of the connections on the grid are characters, even though something like Morley cigarettes (a fictional brand) has a lot of individual connections, they just add to the connective tissue in certain ways. Like St. Eligius itself, St. Elsewhere by the residents and the surrounding community, the place has a reputation as a rathole. Westphall, who is autistic, played an increased role in St. Syndication used to be the method by which we would see old scripted shows, and a shows rep needed to be good enough for you to stop flipping channels if you happened to land on an episode (. In the last episode's final two scenes, Donald Westphall having just returned to St. Eligius is shown in Dr. Auschlander's office pondering the recent death from stroke of his colleague and mentor. Elsewhere to end the way it did? Elsewhere characters got the business from Carla while drinking at Cheers, the bar from, uh, Cheersand therefore, Frasier, a spinoff, must also exist somewhere in that snow globe. When not writing, Michael enjoys going to concerts, taking in live professional wrestling, and debating pop culture. That kind of anguish you just cant transmit. The stories speak for themselves. ), I expect a very mixed reaction, Bruce Paltrow, one of the show's executive producers, told the Chicago Tribune in 1988. I think some people will think it's extraordinary and existential and quintessential St. (referring to Tommy) He give you any trouble? Elsewhere were dreamt by Tommy Westphall, and thus, products of his imagination. Fontana was the executive producer and showrunner for Homicide for its entire seven years. Even some of the more innocuous-seeming connections can lead to some shocking places takeThe John Larroquette Show, which all but the most dedicated TV fanatics could be forgiven for not remembering. Elsewheres bumbling Dr. Victor Erlich, offered the final diagnosis of his medical career. CHAD ALLEN (Tommy Westphall): I remember the script arrived, I read it, got to the end, and I was stumped. Elsewhere take place It was certainly something no other network would put up with. Another reason for the importance of this ending is the nature of what we were shown. Over time and with the help of reader contributions, The Tommy Westphall Universe grew to include shows as diverse as ALF, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Knight Rider, Melrose Place, Seinfeld, and dozens of others, much of it helped along by the character of Munch appearing in more than 10 series, and those series making reference to other characters and brands. They made a choice and the choice is interesting. St. Elsewhere finale wasn't infamous enough with its twist ending, the closing bumper made for the finale showed Mimsie, the logo cat, unconscious and hooked up to an IV, The series finale of the 1980s medical dramedy St. In fact, for all its success, most aspects of St. ", Grandfather: "He's been sitting there ever since you left this morning, just like he does every day. What positional accuracy (ie, arc seconds) is necessary to view Saturn, Uranus, beyond? The camera slowly zooms in on the snow globe, which is revealed to contain a replica of St. Eligius hospital inside of it. Inside it is a perfect replica of St. Eligius, with snow swirling around it as the shot fades to black. The Importance of the St. Elsewhere Ending : r/autism Elsewhere characters Dr. Roxanne Turner (Alfre Woodard) and Dr. Victor Ehrlich (Ed Begley Jr.) appeared on Homicide: Life on the Street. Like their small but loyal band of viewers--who have already written at least 300 letters to MTM and the network protesting its cancellation--the St. Ambiguous cut to black! According to the duo's notes, the only other non-US shows in the "Tommyverse" are "The 'Degrassi' shows (Canada), 'The Office' (UK), the 'Doctor Who' shows (UK), 'Luther' (UK), 'Jo' (France) and 'Paris Section Criminelle' (France)," which "is the only show not in English in the Tommyverse.". Because a lot of autistic children are withdrawn, it seems as though they're in their own world. Elsewhere. Why was it necessary for St. It was bold and shocking and upset some people. Christina Pickles, whose character of Nurse Helen Rosenthal ended the series triumphantly by kicking a drug dependency, is the only one who believes that St. Elsewhere carries a shocking implication NBC St. Westphall, who is autistic, played an increased role in St. Elsewhere ' s final episode, "The Last One", one interpretation of which is that the entire St. Elsewhere storyline exists only within Westphall's imagination. Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. Seated in a rocking chair is none other than Dr. Auschlander only that's not quite right. Theres also nothing standing in the way of the belief that perhaps the Tommy Westphall end sequence was itself a dream, negating the snow globe conceit. Elsewhere, you see, fielded one of the most confoundingly weird finales in television history, a variation on the age-old "it was all a dream" trope that left viewers scratching their heads. A few shows are outside of American television such as the British show, "Red Dwarf." Helen Hunt even appeared in a few episodes. The Show I remember reading about it in the paper that there was controversy over it. The notion that appearances by the same character in two or more series tie those series together in the same fictional universe is also problematic. While the doctors of St. Marriage! Flashforward! If you're viewing this list on a mobile device, use this link to the web that allows for zooming. To me the last 10 minutes of the final episode of St. Elsewhere characters on other shows are not sufficient to indicate that those shows exist only in Westphall's dream. Eligius. And then I saw it and I thought, Its too much. I felt it wasnt serious. The "St. It was this wonderful, crumbly, noble, decadent building that housed this incredible heart. Birth! Tommy Westphall, portrayed by Chad Allen, is a minor character from the drama television series St. If the universe of St. Is all of American television the hallucination of an autistic child?? EW gathered a dozen members of the cast for a photo shoot and asked them to reflect on the years they spent making this provocative, eccentric, beloved show, which you can check out in our third-annual Reunions Issue. St. Elsewhere - Wikipedia Fiscus (Mandel), Morrison (Morse) and Ehrlich (Begley) are all dealing with their own issues around their impending exits. Scan this QR code to download the app now. The great thing about the show that even in its comedy, it was serious. They really wanted to kill the show. Elsewhere take place within Tommy's mind, but so do numerous other television series which are directly and indirectly connected to St. Fontana went on to create Homicide: Life on the Street and HBOs groundbreaking prison drama Oz. Weatherson, in his sixth objection, offers the example of Michael Bloomberg playing the role of New York City Mayor both on Law & Order and in real life, which, if one accepts the logic of the hypothesis, indicates that real life is in the head of Tommy Westphall. Gow, a resident of Melbourne, Australia, spent time in pubs and online wondering what Tommys scene meant for every show connected to St. Meme Status Submission Year 1988 Origin St. "The discussion began on alt.tv.homicide, a newsgroup that discussed Homicide: Life on the Street," Gow tells Mental Floss. How was your day up on the building? St. What is the Russian word for the color "teal"? Elsewhere storyline exists only within Westphall's imagination. 'St. Elsewhere': About that snow-globe ending | EW.com Lloyd, whose Dr. Auschlander was supposed to die years ago but enjoyed a miraculous remission, is even more hopeful. Weatherson's fifth objection holds that the appearance of a person or event in a dream does not mean the person or event cannot exist in real life. This means that all of those series and other media thatthey referenced in-universe, which in the case ofThe Simpsons is ridiculously extensive technically take place in the same universe asSt. Over the years, the two have gotten countless emails from fans who found their own connections between shows, invested in the prospect of destroying all television storylines with one theory. It's not even that much of a leap to make a connection to the Mighty Marvel Cinematic Universe (you can get there a number of ways, according to Polygon). I think the final years story line reflected it, she said, referring to the takeover and makeover of St. Eligius by a wealthy corporation at the outset of the final season. Though they remain philosophical about the loss of St. Even if you go to Alice in Wonderland, and he has the wonderful poem Life is But a Dream in it, still it was serious. Wikipedia describes the content of the show as: Though the series dealt with serious issues of life, death, the medical profession, and the human effects of all three, a substantial number of comedic moments, inside jokes, and references to television history were included, as well as tender moments of humanity. St

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