New blog post from our CEO Prashanth: Community is the future of AI, Improving the copy in the close modal and post notices - 2023 edition. 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. The one where EW follows up with the cast. I really had very little to say about that episode because I thought it was a letdown. Elsewhere to end the way it did? Elsewhere truly shook things up and gave us one of the most talked-about series finales in history with the snow globe. After watching six Emmy-nominated seasons of drama medical and emotional, dark and light, envelope-pushing and heartstring-pulling at the run-down St. Eligius, we were led to believe in the finales last scene that the entire show was actually a product of the imagination of (construction worker?) As far as I could tell, there was always controversy around St. 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. NORMAN LLOYD: (Dr. Daniel Auschlander): Theyd been talking about Citizen Kane. More than puzzling, some people found it to be an actual puzzle. Where things get complicated is that characters from St. BTW, in the Wikipedia article about the last episode, someone estimates that "90% of the shows existed in this kid's head" due to the many show crossovers. While that can sometimes describe St. Elsewhere characters on other shows are not sufficient to indicate that those shows exist only in Westphall's dream. Who is Bruce and does he have a real-world counterpart? The series is (implied to be) a figment of Tommy Westphall's imagination, existing in the snowglobe that he is focused on. Yet, in the ending of St. Elsewhere, which established a defiant tradition of baiting the NBC censors, blurring the line between the real and the surreal, tantalizing the alert viewers with inside jokes and subtle references to literature, television and pop music lyrics, going precariously far out on a limb and then deliberately chopping it off. Helen Hunt even appeared in a few episodes. Elsewhere. Through crossovers, spinoffs, cameos, or fictional brands or products appearing in more than one show, everything from. The series sported a large ensemble cast, with veteran actors Ed Flanders and Norman Lloyd anchoring the proceedings for most of its run as Dr. Donald Westphall and Dr. Daniel Auschlander, respectively, and it made household names of up-and-comers like Howie Mandel, Mark Harmon, and Denzel Washington, as well. When NBC refused to finance their ambitious plan, the idea for the snow globe was hatched. Fox doesnt think hell live to be 80: Every day its tougher. 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. John Munch). "St. As for the snow globe, that was the focus of Tommy's attention. That series introduced the character of Detective John Munch (Richard Belzer), who went on to become a main character onLaw and Order:Special Victims Unit (and has made guest appearances in virtually everyLaw and Order series), and who has also popped up on shows likeThe Beat, The Wire, The X-Files, Arrested Development,and30 Rock. World of his own. Elsewhere ' s series finale features momentous changes for several main characters, including the departures of Drs. The series finale of the 1980s medical dramedy St. The Show After the "Fansville" characters exchange meta-humorous existential comments, the camera pans out to show that the characters in fact exist in a snowglobe sitting on Larry Culpepper's desk. In the closing moments of the episode, a boy named Tommy Westphall (Chad Allen), the son of medical director Dr. Donald Westphall, was seen peering into a snow globe. It was a show that never did amazing in the ratings, but it held on because it was always pressing the boundaries of what was okay on TV, bringing up issues that werent even being discussed. Then it could create conversation, so I thought it was kind of brilliant. "Red Dwarf" is now included as well. Elsewhere carries a shocking implication NBC St. And the fat lady sings tonight: The last episode of St. Share. Elsewhere signed off after six seasons on May 25, 1988, more than a few viewers were saddened. For indeed, St. WebSt. Birth! I went, Wow. Donald Westphalls autistic son, who was gazing into a snow globe containing a miniature version of the hospital. Like St. Eligius itself, St. Fontana went on to create Homicide: Life on the Street and HBOs groundbreaking prison drama Oz. Fontana was being facetious (we think), but not everyone was as enthused with the premise. I thought it was interesting. But the series managed to survive for six years on a powerful drug called demographics: The show attracted a relatively small but highly desirable audience of young, affluent viewers, and that in turn attracted plenty of advertising dollars to NBC. With the aria "Chi il bel sogno di Doretta" (Doretta's Beautiful Dream) from Puccini's opera La Rondine playing, Tommy Westphall enters the office and runs to the window, where he looks at the snow falling outside St. Thats really cool for a teenager. That fictional firm appears inDoctor Who, Red Dwarf, and of course, theAlien feature film franchise. My character died in the second-to-last episode, but I was in the last episode in a scene in which Howies character pays a visit to Dr. Axelrods corpse in the morgue. Browse other questions tagged, Start here for a quick overview of the site, Detailed answers to any questions you might have, Discuss the workings and policies of this site. One TV writer wants to put a copy of the grid on her office wall and put 'YOU ARE HERE' on the show she writes for.". The "St. Elsewheres Wednesday night time slot in the fall. What's the cheapest way to buy out a sibling's share of our parents house if I have no cash and want to pay less than the appraised value? Both shows took a grittier and more realistic approach to their drama. You can make up your own line what it means. The Ending Of St. Elsewhere Explained - Looper What's he thinking about? Tell me if you think it means what I think it means! My mom read it, and she looked at me sort of puzzled too and said, I think it means its all in your head? I said, Thats what I thought it think it means! So I knew that it was really cool, and I loved that. Its been observed that much of American primetime TV has been about cops and the sex lives of doctors. The shows cast had seen ups and downs, additions and subtractions in its time, with Flanders character Westphall eventually stepping down as the hospitals head to become a doctor there. He gets Tommy up to wash up for dinner, and as he puts the snow globe on the TV set, the camera zooms in. Even if that's true though, thinking about it remains an amusing diversion. For example, take thatCheers crossover. What positional accuracy (ie, arc seconds) is necessary to view Saturn, Uranus, beyond? Tommy Westphall - Wikipedia BONNIE BARTLETT (Ellen Craig): [The writers] wanted to do an ending to the show in a way so that it could never be brought back again. Autism news, information and support. Elsewhere': About that snow-globe ending. And they figured out a way: Okay, we wont have any reunions, nothing like that. The last year, I put in a rug and a lamp. This 40-year-old show looks like that nurses job in that ER, and the characters coping mechanisms and responses to trauma may be dramatized, but they arent implausible. Elsewhere. Why did DOS-based Windows require HIMEM.SYS to boot? Mandels character, though, gets the easiest metaphor of the episode. Why did the Fairy Queen have to die for a poor deal? 2023 Paste Media Group. The thing Im proudest of is the overall balance of the comedy to the drama; the counterpoint of that really grew and grew.. Elsewhere seemed like an easy out. Elsewhere cast reunion: It was a show that changed television, 'St. Birth! For instance, it may be the other way around, and the snow globe scene may itself be the dream. What world is Tommy imagining inside that snow globe, he wonders aloud. 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. 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. Heres how St. Tommy Westphall, portrayed by Chad Allen, is a minor character from the drama television series St. I felt one thing when I read it and one thing when I saw it. I could have put in a sauna and a Jacuzzi, you know?. . There are oodles of ways to end a TV series. Can you still use Commanders Strike if the only attack available to forego is an attack against an ally? 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. Its just asking too much from all of us. But I loved that they took the leap, and that was in the spirit of the show. 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? The thing is, autism was - and still is - While the doctors of St. A $300-million (minimum) gondola to Dodger Stadium? 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, 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. This ending was not serious to me. Tommy Westphall's Universe Ambiguous cut to black! Making a splash: A deep dive into the live-action. And people say, Norman, youre either mad or senile or both--but you dont get a show like St. Some people liked its provocativeness. To me the last 10 minutes of the final ST. ELSEWHERE: Season 6 (1987-88) Clip - (The Final Scene) The whole circus is overseen by Dr. Donald Westphall (Ed Flanders), with Dr. Daniel Auschlander (Norman Lloyd) and Dr. Mark Craig (Daniels) rounding out the experienced older set of doctors helping the residents learn the ropes. As they leave the living room, Tommy's father places the snow globe upon a television set. Elsewhere" Dwayne McDuffie at the Los Angeles premiere of "All Star Superman" Elsewhere, like basically every television series that is set in the present day, had crossover episodes or cameos with other popular shows. God love him."[9]. Elsewhere was the designated comic relief for the first few episodes. Characters from Homicide crossed over with multiple series, including The X-Files, Law & Order, The Wire and Arrested Development, with Richard Belzer's John Munch being the most frequent culprit. Why is Frank McCourt really pushing this? Arrow is also included, which means all subsequent Arrowverse shows also tie back to Westphall. You never knew what was going to happen next. Via Wikipedia: The most common interpretation of this scene is that the entire series of events in the series St. Gow, a resident of Melbourne, Australia, spent time in pubs and online wondering what Tommys scene meant for every show connected to St. This is because it's pretty easy to connectSt. It was highly unpredictable, just like every episode. At least that's the most widely held interpretation of St. St Elsewhere Theres a lot to unpack: is it simply making a statement on the show as a fictional world? When I read it, I thought it was amazing: Only these people could come up with this idea And I thought it was very touching. 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. And because I cant tell you I have a better idea of how it couldve ended, I can live with that one. Law & Order creator Dick Wolf is close friends with Fontana and frequently crossed Homicide characters over into his own series. Westphall sits down next to Tommy and says, "I don't understand this autism thing, Pop. 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. How's he been? We're often considered and thought of as robot-like people who have no emotions and who only see other people as objects. We cant take that jump from seeing these people, Norman, Ed [Flanders] and Bill [Daniels], and this young boy for six years, and suddenly were supposed to believe that theyre these other people. That is But for others, it was a stroke of inspiration. ). 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. Crisis On Infinite Earths Solved DC Movies' Continuity Problem, Star Wars' Next Show Needs To Fill The Biggest Gap In Anakin's Life, 1 Sorcerers Stone Problem Could Make The Harry Potter Remake Harder, Why Missy's Hair Is Shorter In Young Sheldon Season 6 Episode 18. Of course, every party has a pooper, and there are those that consider the Tommy Westphall universe ridiculous. The theory is called the "The Tommy Westphall Universe" and hinges on a reveal at the finale of "St. St. CHAD ALLEN (Tommy Westphall): I remember the script arrived, I read it, got to the end, and I was stumped. Elsewhere into Homicide.". Why did Sonny trust Carlo enough to introduce him to the family and then sour on him? Elsewhere is not a great place to work or convalesce. Elsewhere. Offers may be subject to change without notice. wouldnt exist in the form they did without. It was all a dream! , like basically every television series that is set in the present day, had crossover episodes or cameos with other popular shows. If you notice any other connections, feel free to join in on the madness. Elsewhere an autistic boy is shown to have imagined and created a vast and deeply human universe. In the door comes Dr. Westphall, but he hangs up a construction workers hat. There are no villains in this piece. Nicknamed St. That series' creator, Joss Whedon, also createdFirefly, in which it's established that Wolfram and Hart had also represented a mega-corporation by the name of Weyland-Utani. The strange thing that occurs to me when thinking about the show was how temporary it seemed, mused Begley, who spent the last six years matching wits--and losing--with William Daniels, who played St. Eligius Hospitals cranky chief of surgery, Mark Craig. It's safe to say that the final episode, specifically the end scene, of St. Contemporary television writers have even bought in to Gow and Crowe's theory. It was seen as a cheap shot and a quick fix, even though the mechanism and method was mimicked many times over afterwards. What were the most popular text editors for MS-DOS in the 1980s? It was certainly something no other network would put up with. Elsewhere production team are at work on Tattingers, a new NBC series from MTM slated for St. If the universe of St. By clicking Accept all cookies, you agree Stack Exchange can store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with our Cookie Policy. On this day in 1988, TV viewers saw one of the most famous and perhaps the most debated series finales in TV history. St. 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. Fan Theory Proves Almost All TV Shows Exist Within Same What world is Tommy imagining inside that snow globe, he wonders aloud. It was all a dream! I think other people will find it puzzling, odd, maybe unfulfilling in some way.. I was only supposed to be in 18 of the 22 episodes, so I got an extra episodes pay out of it. Therefore, the commercial also does homage to the Newhart finale, as Larry Culpepper's presence from a previous Dr Pepper ad campaign references Bob Newhart's psychiatrist from The Bob Newhart Show appearing in The Last Newhart. Though MTM hasnt had much luck yet syndicating St. St Elsewhere Elsewhere was never a huge ratings hit, but it had a loyal following, won awards, and remained well-regarded in the years following its final curtain call. 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. So Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., Mayberry R.F.D., and Make Room for Daddy/The Danny Thomas Show are gone. 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. That would surely lead to spreadsheets the size of walls: Weyland-Yutani is the company behind the machinations of the Alien franchise. The show was a proving ground for actors you have seen in a million things before or since: Denzel Washington and Howie Mandel were easily the most recognizable, but there were also ringers like Mark Harmon, David Morse, Ed Begley Jr., Bruce Greenwood, Ronny Cox, and not only Mr. Feeny himself (William Daniels), but his wife (real and fictional) Bonnie Bartlett. 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. 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. orGrey's Anatomy, then you've got one series to thank. Was the fact that Tommy is considered Autistic symbolic in any way? Review/Television; Ed Flanders as Dr. Westphal in, "Six Objections to the Westphall Hypothesis", "Director Ben Wheatley Talks 'High-Rise', 'Doctor Who', 'Free Fire' and More at TIFF", "NewsRadio (TV Series) Daydream (1996) Trivia", Other arguments against the Tommy Westphall Universe, Association for Science in Autism Treatment, Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative, Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, Maia Chung Autism and Disabilities Foundation (Jamaica), The Accidental Teacher: Life Lessons from My Silent Son, Aspergirls: Empowering Females with Asperger's Syndrome, Freaks, Geeks, and Asperger Syndrome: A User Guide to Adolescence, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Everybody Is Different: A Book for Young People Who Have Brothers or Sisters With Autism, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tommy_Westphall&oldid=1148529078, Fictional characters on the autism spectrum, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 6 April 2023, at 18:38. To me the last 10 minutes of the final episode of St. Michael Kennedy is an avid movie and TV fan that's been working for Screen Rant in various capacities since 2014. There is too much that is rich, that is still to be mined., Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Get ready for the 2023 Met Gala: Heres when, and how, to tune in live, Tucker Carlson, Don Lemon blasted at White House Correspondents dinner, Tom Jones review: PBS Masterpieces latest period drama is laid-back and enjoyable, Michael J. In fact, for all its success, most aspects of St. Thats All, Folksis a look back at televisions most unforgettable series finales. There are other possible interpretations of Tommy's "vision" which may suggest something other than the entire series being his dream. By using our Services, you agree to our use of cookies. Cookies help us deliver our Services. Though they remain philosophical about the loss of St. Then the Birdman decides he's fed up with being in the mental ward and wants to fly away from the hospital, so he jumps off the roof. 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.". this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. So you pick your horse and place your bet. Elsewhere were more demonstrative and understanding of autistic people then all 12 seasons of The Big Bang Theory put together. At one point I was the answer for a Trivial Pursuit question. Why is it shorter than a normal address? Another reason for the importance of this ending is the nature of what we were shown. St 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. Revisiting St. Elsewhere's Strange Snow Globe Series Finale Part of HuffPost Entertainment. At one point. He sits there, all day long, in his own world, staring at that toy. The complete list of shows is at the bottom of the article. The Biggest Shared Universe Has Over 400 Shows - Screen Rant There are two very important reasons why the ending is not only justified but important and even critically needed for a show like St. Not necessarily because the serieswhich had earned 13 Emmy Awards during its runwas ending, but because producers opted for a highly unconventional finale. How Palm Springs ran out Black and Latino families to build a fantasy for rich, white people, 17 SoCal hiking trails that are blooming with wildflowers (but probably not for long! When NBCs hour-long hospital drama St. Elsewhere to another series likely has additional connections of its own and for a sterling example of this, look no further thanHomicide. Fiscus (Mandel), Morrison (Morse) and Ehrlich (Begley) are all dealing with their own issues around their impending exits. 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. Tommy's father, still being portrayed by Ed Flanders (aka "Donald Westphall") arrives at the apartment wearing a hard hat. The corporation that bought St. MARK HARMON (Dr. Robert Caldwell): I didnt see it live. Goober and the Truckers Paradise [pilot only], Mrs Columbo/Kate Columbo/Kate the Dectective/Kate Loves a Mystery, use this link to the web that allows for zooming. But now, viewers are picking shows out to binge watch, and they want to know that their time investment is going to have some payoff. STEPHEN FURST (Dr. Elliot Axelrod): I thought it was kind of cool, actually. , the magic was in the tone, as it was with another show by the same production company. If you've ever been riveted by the human drama ofE.R. Elsewhere were dreamt by Tommy Westphall, and thus, products of his imagination. CYNTHIA SIKES (Dr. Annie Cavanero): Part of me likes that whole thing because its sort of an Orson Welles-ian Rosebud [ending]. He went on to create the acclaimed seriesHomicide:Life on the Street (in which a character fromSt. The Marvel Cinematic Universe might seem like a huge landscape of interconnected shows and TV movies, but the Tommy Westphall universe has it beat. St. Elsewhere (Series) - TV Tropes Gow and Crowe have an elaborate system of rules for what shows can and can't be included in the list, which they shared with HuffPost and can now be seen on their site's latest update. Through six years, I never put anything in my dressing room. But they did want to end the show, and not have little St. Elsewheres coming after it. WebBasically the theory known as The Tommy Westphall Universe (TWU) begins when St. characters got the business from Carla while drinking at Cheers, the bar from, uh, , a spinoff, must also exist somewhere in that snow globe. Elsewhere signed off after six seasons on May 25, 1988, more than a few viewers were saddened. You can barely please half the people most of the time. Elsewhere team enjoyed life on the series even when times were tough, which was always. 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. The implication was that Tommya character on the autism spectrumhad imagined the entire show, a fiction-within-the-fiction conceit that had angered viewers during the infamous dream season arc on Dallas five years earlier. The Tommy Westphall universe hypothesis is an idea discussed among some television fans, it makes the claim that not only does St. Embedded hyperlinks in a thesis or research paper. It was not right for us to say, You should lose more money. . Erasing the fiction of an entire medium is not what Tom Fontana had planned. As Dr. Fiscus struggles with the anxiety of leaving the hospital, his last patient at St. Eligius is the actress portraying a valkyrie in a Wagner opera who has, get this, laryngitis. Elsewhere. 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. Elsewhere 's characters appear in Tommy's dream doesn't mean they don't also Elsewhere's final moments. Halle Bailey, Melissa McCarthy, and director Rob Marshall share the tale behind making their underwater musical with a groundbreaking Disney princess. WebTommy Westphall, portrayed by Chad Allen, is a minor character from the drama television series St. St elsewhere ending theory. Gow said, "I've heard from TV writers who deliberately put in references to draw their shows into Tommy's mind. (Quizzed by IndieWire in 2012 as to who exactly came up with the idea, neither Fontana nor co-writers Channing Gibson or John Tinker could remember. 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. If the show were not great, if we had not had as many nominations, we probably wouldnt even be talking about it. Because a lot of autistic children are withdrawn, it seems as though they're in their own world. Seated in a rocking chair is none other than Dr. Auschlander only that's not quite right. I sure heard about it. What symbolic value does either the globe or the snow have on the ending of the series? Elsewhere, including all its characters, are revealed to have been the dream of a minor character named Tommy Westphall, an autistic boy who possesses a snow globe containing a replica of the hospital where the series took place. The doctors had visited the bar on Cheers in one St. Elsewhere have dropped out of the cultural lexicon entirelyexcept for one. I was pretty happy with it. Elsewhere, he was openly hostile toward any idea of a reunion special down the line and insisted that the series finale should be definitive.