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Tony Bensley

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If you think that was depressing, you should have heard Yogi Bear talk about earthquake safety! My grandparents actually took me to a Los Angeles museum that had this when I was 10 years old. The music makes me think Bill and Joe heard The Pointer Sisters' "Neutron Dance" on the radio and said, "do that but different enough not to get sued."





There almost was a fourth season of Gilligan's Island … but it would have come at the expense of more seasons of Gunsmoke. That set off an outcry from members of Congress that reversed that decision. When they made the last episode, they probably had no idea it would be their last.

I'm familiar with the story of the CBS President's wife being a huge GUNSMOKE fan which led to the 4th season renewal of GILLIGAN'S ISLAND being cancelled, but members of Congress were also in the mix? That's news to me!

The Castaways just couldn't ever seem to catch a break! Everyone wanted them left stranded, haha! :D

CHEERS! :)
 

ScottRE

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Which is something that CBS should have done originally, on the final episode-- if there were no more new episodes to be had after that final 1967 color episode, then why did the closing of it (I saw the closing of that last episode on DVD) still say "each week"?
Considering it was extremely rare to have a "final" episode, taking the time to remove a portion of the end title theme, which probably had announcements over it anyway, would be asking a lot. :D
 

Garysb

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Final episodes were pretty rare in the 1960's. It was felt at the time that if the show had a conclusion it would hurt the value of the reruns in syndication as it was thought there would be less interest in shows where the ending was known. There were exceptions. The most notable probably being "The Fugitive" "The Dick Van Dyke Show" had a final episode but it didn't conclude the show so much as turn it into a loop. Rob finishes his autobiography which is purchased by Alan Brady to become a sitcom. It was mostly a clip show about Rob and Laura. Therefore the episodes of the show become that book turned into a sitcom. Very clever.
 
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ScottRE

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It's so funny how people looked at TV shows back then. If The Fugitive ended with "The Shattered Silence" in April and never came back, it potentially would have had a healthy run in syndication. However, "The Judgment" - which was a huge satisfying hit first run - sealed its doom because people "know how it ends." But, I never understood that. The series wasn't a mystery! Fred Johnson killed Helen Kimble, this was never in doubt. People knew how each individual episode ended, but still would watch reruns. So what was the logic? Does Kimble clearing his name in episode 120 ruin the effectiveness of episode 24?

Nowadays, finale episodes are expected and it's disappointing when a show doesn't get one.
 

Garysb

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I think "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" set the standard for doing a final episode. No need to do an extra long finale, be funny, sentimental, bring back beloved cast members, and send your characters off to live their lives off screen. I think "Everyone Loves Raymond" had an excellent finale where you just know the characters are going to go on with their lives and there was no big change where people moved away. It was funny and sentimental . "Seinfeld " had a notoriously bad finale. Bloated and unfunny. The mini episode that was part of a reunion on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is what the Seinfeld final episode should have been. Anyone who has seen the youtube made mini episode of "Seinfeld" made from various clips from the "Curb Your Enthusiasm" episodes can see it made a great Seinfeld episode. So Seinfeld succeeded in making a successful reunion show where the actors are in character which is probably harder than doing a good final episode.
 
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Gary16

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Final episodes were pretty rare in the 1960's. It was felt at the time that if the show had a conclusion it would hurt the value of the reruns in syndication as it was thought there would be less interest in shows where the ending was known. There were exceptions. The most notable probably being "The Fugitive" "The Dick Van Dyke Show" had a final episode but it didn't conclude the show so much as turn it into a loop. Rob finishes his autobiography which is purchased by Alan Brady to become a sitcom. It was mostly a clip show about Rob and Laura. Therefore the episodes of the show become that book turned into a sitcom. Very clever.
“Perry Mason” had a final episode although it did leave the door open for a possible continuation. “Peyton Place” ended on a cliffhanger but the words “The End” were superimposed over the final shot.
 

bmasters9

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I think "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" set the standard for doing a final episode. No need to do an extra long finale, be funny, sentimental, bring back beloved cast members, and send your characters off to live their lives off screen.

And Barney Miller on ABC in '82 was very much the same thing 5 years later, IIRC.
 

Wiseguy

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And Barney Miller on ABC in '82 was very much the same thing 5 years later, IIRC.
And One Day at a Time two years after that (although they did air a backdoor pilot with the Schneider character that didn't sell).

What does the Mary Tyler Moore, Barney Miller and One Day at a Time finales have in common?

Besides the obvious, all or most characters went on their way, the stars of all three shows were the last to leave the main set and turned off the light (now that I think about it I'm not sure Ann Romano (or whatever her married name was) turned off the light, but still...)
 

Wiseguy

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I never knew that The Rockford Files used those words.
Although there are examples in a few episodes, all three words can be found in the pilot.

When Rockford and the Lindsay Wagner character confront her brother, the Bill Mumy character, he says about his father "To hell with him," at which point Lindsay slaps him in the face.
I recall the station cutting out the whole line making it unclear why Lindsay slapped him.

When Rockford calls Lindsay in a phone booth (remember those?) he looks up his private investigator ad in the phone book and sees someone drew a beard on his drawing in the ad.
(Why a private investigator would want his likeness in a public ad is another question, but I digress...) Anyway he tries to erase the beard, tears the page and exclaims "Damn!" and Lindsay asks what's the matter?
The station cut the damn out so we wonder why Lindsay asked what's the matter. Is she psychic? (Or bionic?) (The scene of him trying to erase the beard can be seen in the opening credits of the two-part version in place of Noah Beery's pics.)

When Rockford waits for the bad guy (William Smith, later to be on Hawaii Five-0) to come into the men's room (with liquid soap poured on the floor and a roll of coins in his fist) he antagonizes him after he enters with a line like his actions are compensation for feelings of inadequacy. When Smith answers "Meaning?" Rockford responds with "You know...queer...") At which point Smith makes a karate move, slips on the soap and gets punched out by Rockford's fist/roll of coins. Actually this cut works since it leaves it up to the viewer what Rockford meant, which is kind of obvious (today anyway). Oddly enough this scene is repeated in the opening recap in the two-part version but the station didn't cut the queer word there.

To be fair these were just one-time cuts (probably for the afternoon airing) but were replaced (sometimes) for the late-night broadcast though you could still tell where the film had been previously cut.
 

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