DEBORAH CROMBIE: I know that not all of you were TED LASSO fans, but for those of us who chanted "football is life," the end of season 3 and the series finale brought on what I can only describe as a state of mourning. We were so invested in these characters, their stories, and the sense of community the show created that the end of it all felt like losing dear friends. It seems to me that there should be a special name to describe that little grief at the end of a very good book or a much-loved book or TV series.
(For Ted Lasso fans, you can at least make a pilgrimage to Richmond, which I am hoping to do myself this week! This restaurant in Notting Hill stood in for A Taste of Athens--which was supposedly in Tooting--in TED LASSO!)
This started me thinking about television series over the years that have left a little hole in my heart when they finished. A few off the top of my head: ER, the X-Files, Morse… And I have a confession about that last one–I could never bring myself to watch the very last episode, because I couldn't bear to see Morse die. My husband is always saying, "It's just stories." Well, yes. But stories to me are never JUST anything. They have power, they connect us and enrich us and make life better in so many ways. So here's raising a glass to TED LASSO and all the funny, kind, creative, and talented people who brought it to us.
Dear REDS, are there shows you've grieved for when they ended?
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I wish I could watch The Wire again for the first time. And Breaking Bad. And Better Call Saul. And The Good Wife, when it first started. And oh, I agree, Debs, I could not in a million years watch the last Morse.
What else have I loved and thought about and miss? I still think about Line of Duty–but that's coming back, isn’t it? And I thought the last episode of Succession was terrific. It’s great–and rare–when the endings work.
And yes, they are stories. And that’s why they are powerful.
I’m sure Julia will come up with a name for that feeling, right? Maybe it’s just: Audio Lang Syne.
JENN McKINLAY: Ted Lasso, for sure. I even have a T-shirt for the Richmond Greyhounds. I’ve never bought a shirt for a TV show in my life. I’m sooooo going to miss it.
Other shows I’ve mourned are The Sopranos, ER, Cheers, Fraser, and Friends. When they’re long running series, it’s like having your favorite neighbor move away. The ‘hood just won’t be the same. *Sob*
LUCY BURDETTE: I will have to give Ted Lasso another try. I truly mourned the end of FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS. We adored those characters, and watched all the seasons over again during the pandemic. And we bought a Tim Riggins t-shirt for my sister, who loved that character as much as we did. Since Connie Britton played the coach’s wife so well, we moved on to NASHVILLE, which I also loved. Until they killed off someone unforgivable. That was it for me. A few others: LAST TANGO IN HALIFAX, MARE OF EASTOWN, BORGEN. I did also watch and love ER, the Sopranos and Friends! Oh one more, and that is SHETLAND, though I definitely preferred the actual books by Ann Cleeves to the TV series.
HALLIE EPHRON: Confession: I’ve never watched Better Call Saul or Ted Lasso. Something that I clearly need to do. Or Friday Night Lights, and I do trust Lucy’s taste.
What I miss? The good seasons of The Marvelous Mrs. Mazel. The latest one was (for me) a bust. Lotta schtick and not enough substance. Though the actors are great. And I miss the earlier seasons of The Great British Baking Show. The new hosts? Feh. I didn’t realize how much that mattered.
Thank goodness there’s still Antiques Roadshow.
My to-do list includes canceling Amazon and Netflix and adding HBO Max and one something-else. British? Hulu? Not sure what. And I just watched the first episode of Ridley on public TV. Good enough to have me looking up when the next episode airs.
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I love Ted Lasso and I think the ending was the perfect send off. I will SO miss seeing Hannah Waddingham, who is both an amazing actress and a terrific visual role model - can anyone say #armgoals? I’m racking my brains to come up with other popular series I actually watched to the very end, though. It seems as if they’re either getting chopped off by Netflix after two seasons to save money, or they go on and on and ON until I get bored.
I’ve been following works by Korean playwright Kim Eun-hee, whose show Kingdom (medieval zombies and court power struggles) I adored. The second was Jirisan, a contemporary set at Korea’s largest national park. Both of them were around 16 episodes and I would have loved to see so much more. Y’all, you need to start watching Korean TV!
DEBS: Aw, Jenn, I want a Richmond Greyhounds t-shirt, too!
READERS, how about you? What TV friends have you hated to lose?
Generally, I've been saddest to see my favorite science fiction shows finish . . . STAR TREK . . . BABYLON 5 . . . BATTLESTAR GALACTICA . . . LOST . . .
ReplyDeleteJoan, there is a Babylon 5 animated movie coming out this summer!
DeleteI'm looking forward to that, Jay . . . .
DeleteI’ve watched the last episode of Ted Lasso 3 times. Other favorites were ER, Buffy, M*A*S*H*, X-Files and Gilmore Girls.
DeleteI loved BREAKING BAD. I think it's one of the best American TV shows of all time. But I didn't mourn it when it ended. TED LASSO, now...even though I thought there were some ups and downs in that last season, I didn't care. I will really miss it, because as good as BREAKING BAD was, it wasn't a world I wanted to live in. TED LASSO, though? Where kindness is a virtue, friendships are vital, and people learn to become better versions of themselves. And they do all this in a wonderful little urban village within a huge cosmopolitan city. Yes, I'd like to live in that reality!
ReplyDeleteLisa (Brackmann)
Lisa, you said it much better than I did--"Where kindness is a virtue, friendships are vital, and people learn to become better versions of themselves." Just in case anyone thinks Ted Lasso is actually about soccer:-)
DeleteYes Ted Lasso. I kind of binged it as I just got Apple TV. I watched the first episode and shied away from it for a bit. But I persevered and so glad I did. And hope there’s a spin off of continuing with Richmond. Was sad when Gilmore Girls ended. Mary Tyler Moore show. Can’t think of too many at the moment. Pam McClure
ReplyDeleteI hope they do a spinoff with a Richmond women's team. There would certainly be lots of material. If anyone is following the real saga of Wrexham, the failing Welsh team bought by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, they've put a lot of money and effort into the women's team. Go Dragons!
DeleteI was sad when Married With Children ended so my son bought me the entire set of dvd's as a gift. I also miss NCIS: New Orleans, love the cast but I still watch the re-runs. My husband says I should know them by heart by now. Mike and Molly was a fun show too, a hilarious cast.
ReplyDeleteI really liked NCIS NOLA, especially one character and then he was killed off so that was it for me! I think the show ended soon after that. I would watch earlier episodes again just to see LaSalle.
DeleteA friend is an art director for a lot of movies (Spiderman series, for one), and he worked on NCIS NOLA, since they live there. He had a lot of cool stories about it.
DeleteMissing Schitt's Creek!
ReplyDeleteNo Ted Lasso for me, but I was surprised nobody mentioned West Wing. I was such a fan. Also ER and Chicago Hope and Downton Abbey. Ditto, Roberta, for LAST TANGO IN HALIFAX and MARE OF EASTOWN. And I know I'll grieve deeply if they ever cancel Call the Midwife.
ReplyDeleteI loved West Wing, too, Edith.
DeleteI quit Netflix a few years ago when LONGMIRE ended. I am so happy about all the new STAR TREK TV series currently running (yay SNW), but miss other great sci-fi shows such as BABYLON 5.
ReplyDeleteI knew I would forget one. The original QUANTUM LEAP with Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell.
DeleteOh, absolutely! A true classic.
DeleteGrace, I'm with you on the original QUANTAM LEAP.
DeleteQuantum Leap! One of the few shows where I actually cried at the end.
DeleteThere are too many to name, but one ending stands out among all the rest. In my opinion it is the all time best ever
ReplyDeleteM.A.S.H.
I never got to see the finale episode of M*A*S*H which really upset me. This was before the days of VCRs and I had a graduate course on that night. I had asked the professor if we could reschedule or something; there were only 2 other people in the class. They all looked at me like I had several screws loose or something. Years later I did get to see it, but it wasn't the same at all.
DeleteMASH was a great one. It might have been the first show that I (we) watched religiously. The ending was a disappointment in its writing quality, I thought, but it was the first of the American shows that tried to give their story an ending. That is what I like about a lot of the British Shows - they have a set number of episodes and don't just go on and on well past their sell-by date.
DeleteAs a pre-teenager at the time of The MASH final, it was very impactful to my views on war. Seems like criticizing the MASH final now after so many years is rather self-involved and not considering the broader perspective!
DeleteMy Father a veteran of the Korean conflict found it s very realistic portrayal.
MASH finale has a corner of my heart. It occurred on my parents 40th wedding anniversary. More in love with each other than MASH. They always celebrated alone as a couple…no parties…just the two of them. And the MASH finale was truly just the two of them in the entire restaurant…all the staff were in kitchen! “Just knock if you need us!” Elisabeth
DeleteHave to go with this- nothing has ever surpassed MASH last episode I saw it again recently and it still is the best. It did everything.
DeleteOh my goodness, we loved Schitt's Creek, and the end was a total sob fest.
ReplyDeleteI rewatched four episodes of Ted Lasso on the flight from Dallas to London last week. There are so many clever little things in every episode. And from a plotting standpoint, it's really fun to go back and see how they structured all the stories.
ReplyDeleteDownton Abbey - M*A*S*H - ER - Mad Men - Sopranos. I'm sure there are others. It's always interesting how the writers handle the last show. Some have been huge complements to the series, others, not so much.
ReplyDeleteIn our house we're also grieving over having watched the end of Sense8. It's not new, produced by Netflix and the Wachowskis in 2015 and 2016 for the first two seasons. It was meant to run five seasons but got canceled after the second. There was such a fan outcry that Netflix came back and funded a two-and-a-half hour finale that was kind of a jumble, but they at least got to tie up all the storylines. We loved all those characters so much!!
ReplyDeleteThere are so many shows that I felt a loss for when they ended. Among them are M*A*S*H*, Babylon 5, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, The West Wing, The Wire, ER, Cheers, Elementary, 24, Firefly.
ReplyDeleteThe way to cope varies on a variety of things. Sure, you can buy a T-shirt. I have shirts for M*A*S*H*, Deep Space Nine, The West Wing, 24 and Firefly among others.
Star Trek shows are helped by the fact that there are plenty of prose novels to read AND Paramount at one point made sure to have a continuity person so that when they set books after the end of each TV series, everything tracked even if they were only "unofficial canon". And there are plenty of comics for Star Trek and Firefly too. Oh and Firefly has a number of prose novels too.
And for Babylon 5 lovers, if you haven't been following the news, series creator J. Michael Straczynski has an animated movie coming out August 15 set during the run of the series. It features the surviving cast members in their roles. You can check out the trailer for that here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z54XNJivHOs
Cool, thanks for the Babylon5 trailer link!
DeleteJay, I just saw a trailer for it and I was so excited! B5 and JMS got me on the road to writing fiction.
DeleteJulia, so you can imagine how great it was when I got to meet him back in 2005.
DeleteSo many shows! Many of the ones mentioned above. And I was praying for a 3rd series of Netflix's Zone Blanche, which has not materialized. So many questions left unanswered.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of shows I missed, but The Closer - at least the first five seasons is top of the list. Also Mary Tyler Moore show, Remington Steele, Murder She Wrote, Columbo.
ReplyDeleteThe Closer is one of my all-time favorites. And I loved all the others you mentioned. Remington Steele was awesome!
DeleteMASH, Cheers, ER, Madam Secretary, British Baking, West Wing, Frasier.
ReplyDeleteOh, I so agree! I absolutely loved Madam Secretary!
DeleteRemington Steele!!
DeleteLove TED LASSO!!!
ReplyDeleteWe love British TV. Some of our favorites are:
Death in Paradise
Father Brown
British Antiques Roadshow
I also really enjoy Finding Your Roots.
It was a long time ago for most of my favorites, but Designing Women, MASH of course, Star Treks (various versions), China Beach, Morse--I saw him through the end, various Mystery shows on PBS--Cadfael especially-- I thought all but one was well done, and there were plenty of books left to make more. Quantum Leap, as mentioned above.
ReplyDeleteOh, China Beach! Yes, that was one of the first series I ever watched religiously. It was so good, and launched several careers, including Dana Delany's.
DeleteFrom Celia: so many shows, so little time. Right now we are watching MASH on Hulu. Didn’t do much tv watching back in the ‘70’s and Victor loves it. Another fav of his is Lucifer. Been through that twice, I think there may be a third time in my future. I loved so many shows already mentioned- THE WEST WING, GOOD WIFE, etc but the show I still mourn was the original Masterpiece Theatre production of THE FORSYTE SAGA. I think it was the first MT show. It’s never been rebroadcast. It was in B&W which may be why but it was wonderful. So many great offerings on PBS over the years. And yes, I do love TED LASSO too.
ReplyDeleteI LOVED Ted Lasso. Yes, I am in mourning. It's awful, this void. And, I know I'll miss the characters for weeks. I've loved Shetland, Downton Abbey, A Place to Call Home, Line of Duty, Enola Holmes, and most things on BBC, Masterpiece Theater, A & E.
ReplyDeleteI haven't started watching S3 of Ted Lasso yet. The Apple TV account is in Rod's name, so 2FA goes to his cell while he's busy at work. He's just not into the show. Considers it a "soap opera." I countered with how Battlestar Gallactica always made the cover of Soap Opera Digest. But, I also think I'm relieved I haven't watched yet because, deep down, I'm afraid I'll feel disappointment at the third season.
ReplyDeleteThe show I cried over its ending was House. In the year before the show premiered, my life had been like one of those episodes. A real doctor parade with tests galore. The show premiered right after my diagnosis of vasculitis. Something I'd only heard of in-passing but was now my life, as well as something I often had to explain to friends and family. When House's team would propose possible diagnoses, one was often vasculitis! It felt like a much needed shoutout because, believe me, especially back then, the toxic soup of treatment was no fun.
Also, during the show's run, I'd joined an online vasculitis patient support group, where I learned I wasn't the only one who loved watching House. You'd think we'd the show would give us all iatrogenic PTSD flashbacks, considering all the tests we'd all undergone, but we all loved watching House.
The Vasculitis Foundation even made contact with the producers of the show to thank them, so one episode with scenes set a conference included a Vasculitis Foundation banner.
My step down from the treatment--yup, so strong you just can't quit flatout--wrapped up about the time the show did. I cried during the final episodes. And I loved how they wrapped up the show.
House showed up at a specific time in my life. Like Ted Lasso was a breath of fresh air in the claustrophobia of the pandemic.
Rhonda, what a marvelous story, And I agree with your point that some shows are so specific to a time in your life - or in the case of the pandemic, an event going on for all of us. It reminds of when I was in law school and I read a every single book in Jackie Collins oeuvre. I adored them with a burning passion. Tried to read her then-latest several years after I had graduated and I couldn't stand it! They were absolutely what I needed at a tough time of my life, and then when my situation changed, so did my tastes.
DeleteThanks for sharing your Jackie Collins period, Julia. Amazing how particular stories can be just what we need at the time.
DeleteLuckily for my author friends, I'd rather read than watch TV, and have always hated the tyranny of scheduled broadcasts. That said, there are a handful of shows I've watched to the end, including Downton Abbey and China Beach. Thank goodness for streaming: Mad Men, Stephen Fry's Kingdom, Call the Midwife, Midsommer Murders, the James Norton years of Grantchester, the first two seasons of Ted Lasso, Vera, Brokenwood, Life Among the Vines, Emily in Paris, among others. Finally watched Prime Suspect, and was surprised there were so few seasons; I wanted more.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of shows I'd never watch, including some named by others here. My husband watched Weeds, which led to Breaking Bad, but I've never watched either. One season of Russian Doll was enough. I finally got irritated at Midsommer Murders because there are no women officers, and I doubt if I'll watch past S22. There are 23 seasons, for crud sakes! I have too many books to read, and how does everyone watch all this stuff AND read massive piles of books?
KAREN: I am like you, watching very few TV shows these days. I used to be a couch potato in Toronto but now enjoy spending time outdoors in Ottawa and reading a lot more.
DeleteI always wonder that myself, Karen! One show once a week is about my speed...
DeleteThanks for reminding me of DOWNTON ABBEY.
DeleteLucy, I know you will appreciate this. While I never watched FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, my young next-door neighbors did. As they tell it, when they were dating he suggested they watch it one night and she demurred. He told her, "I guarantee you are going to love this show. You're going to fall so in love you're going to want to name your first child Riggins." Fast forward about ten years and their five-year-old son, Riggins, is now a surrogate grandchild for us and a delight!
ReplyDeleteThat is such a great story Susan.
DeleteThis is great. There are so many . . . I still think about Jane Tennison all the time! My family and I just watched -- and loved -- Kaleidoscope. I was sorry to see it end! Really ingenious. Definitely The Sopranos and The Wire too . . .
ReplyDeleteJane Tennison was the best.
DeleteI love her. I really enjoyed the prequel series, but Helen M. will always be my Jane.
DeleteDebs: I think the writing on Ted Lasso is superb. I love the relationships between each of the characters.
ReplyDeleteThe final episode of MASH was a huge deal with everyone having watch parties. That is one way to deal with the loss; share it with other people. Cheers, Seinfeld, Downtown Abbey, The Middle, and Everybody Loves Raymond. We watch a lot of the old shows in syndication. You never have to say goodbye that way.
ReplyDeleteAs for books, I think I was most devastated to lose Kinsey Milhone with a Z book. I just wasn’t mentally prepared. Of course, it was much worse to lose Sue Grafton. Also, 9 books was not enough of Flavia De Luce and I am happy to see Alan Bradley report she will be coming to the screen.
DeleteBrenda, I was too young for a watch party for M*A*S*H* unless you count watching it with my parents as one. However, I did go to a watch party for the end of Cheers. Sadly, it was at a friend's college and while I was watching the show, most of his college friends were drunk off their asses which ruined the mass viewing aspect of it all for me.
DeleteI have a question for JRW. I put a book on pre-order at local bookstore. I got a call that my book had come in. When I went to pick it up and paid for it - I noticed it didn't have the price in the upper left hand corner inside of the book jacket, in other words it was blank. I think this means it was a publisher copy not intended for sale. I was charged the normal sales price. Should I go back, return it and ask for a refund and get the book when it is released for sale? Or keep this book?
ReplyDeleteAnon, if it was a hardcover with a dust jacket, it's unlikely it was any sort of publisher's copy. In my 20 years as a published author, I've never seen a hardcover ARC, and they are always well marked with "not for sale" somewhere on the jacket.
DeleteI would guess that the lack of a price in the dust jacket was either a misprint, or perhaps something new to enable the publisher to make quick changes due to inflation.
The reason I ask is because I don't want to possibly get the lady who sold me the book at the store in trouble.I'm a long time customer.
ReplyDeleteFoyle’s War … am surprised no one mentioned this.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Hank: The Wire. Oddly because it's about as far from that as possible, Extraordinary Attorney Woo, which may come back.
ReplyDeleteYes, I was going to include Attorney Woo but I hope it will return!
DeleteI've just started watching Attorney Woo and I can't believe it took me this long to start, when so many friends were suggesting it to me.
DeleteOh! Try Call My Agent, the French version. Fabulous.
ReplyDeleteLoved it!
DeleteAs Time goes by, Picket Fences, Northern Exposure, LA Law
ReplyDeleteOh, Northern Exposure. I LOVED that show!
DeleteMASH for sure. And Foyle’s War, also Cadfael, Downton Abby. And way way back, Upstairs Downstairs. But really so many! Columbo. And Rockford files.
ReplyDeleteIs there a book in this? Death of a Series?
ReplyDeleteWonderful topic! Another lifetime ago when I used to watch TV, I loved the GILMORE GIRLS, FRIENDS, AS TIME GOES BY, amongst other shows.
ReplyDeleteMASH was a family favorite. As a child, I loved BIONIC WOMAN and WONDER WOMAN. Later, it was FAMILY TIES, MURDER SHE WROTE and SABRINA THE TEEN WITCH. Family Ties and Murder She Wrote were often at the same time! Used to watch the Disney movies on Sunday nights on ABC ?
Grew up watching Masterpiece Theater on public TV and I think they still show Masterpiece Theater? And they still show Mystery! I remember the Morse series. Now it is Inspector Lewis and Endeavour.
Speaking of TED LASSO, I am still watching the first show of the nee season. I am taking my time watching the episodes. Someone mentioned Hannah Waddingham? She was on Midsommer Murders, another favorite TV mystery on Acorn TV.
These days I watch new TV shows on streaming video.
Diana
MASH was a unique show and definitely missed. I was sorry when BETTER CALL SAUL ended. He was such a rascal! And such a talented cast. JUSTIFIED. I loved that show! What a cast. I hear it is coming back but in Detroit this time. We'll see how it goes. X-FILES. LOST. TWIN PEAKS. All of them so imaginative. The new BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. The ending was mind boggling. So was that of ST ELSEWHERE.
ReplyDeleteWish we got Ted Lasso! Seems we get everything else, but. I hated to see "A Million Little Things" end. Also, "This is Us". So happy that Will Trent was renewed for another season. I truly love his character and all the others. The writing is superb.
ReplyDeleteI have never watched the last episode of George Gently. I just can’t.
ReplyDeleteI was a great fan of many shows that have already been mentioned, from MASH to Foyle's War to Attorney Woo to Deep Space Nine. But if I go back even farther, the show I loved as a kid and a teenager was "Bewitched," although after Dick York stopped playing Darrin I was never as enthusiastic. As a child I loved books with magic in them (and still occasionally find a good magic novel to read now!), and the way "Bewitched" brought magic into everyday 1960s life enchanted me! Don't think I ever saw the last episode, though--I was in college by then, with no TV.
ReplyDeleteBREAKING BAD and CALL SAUL both are on Netflix. I have been meaning to watch these tv shows for a while.
ReplyDeleteDiana