Despite its high standing among TV critics, St. Also, consider that each connection fromSt. But this television-changing theory doesn't stop there. 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. Donald Westphalls autistic son, who was gazing into a snow globe containing a miniature version of the hospital. 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. One prominent critic, Professor Brian Weatherson, argues that just because 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. sign-off. Fiscus and Morrison and the death of Dr. Auschlander, "St. If it were just a solid hospital show, it would be a popular back catalog binge watch, but its a part of TV history for two reasons: its novel approach to the hospital drama, and, Nobody is too interested in that, though. Other people didnt care for it at all. Elsewhere's final episode, "The Last One", one interpretation of which is that the entire St. Flashforward! 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. The episode marked the end of St. St. In a 2003 article published on BBC News Online, St. We went through this experience and I wanted it to be maintained as a real one, not a dream. Make Room For Daddy takes out I Love Lucy.. According toMental Floss,that series once mentioned a firm called Yoyodyne, which also was a client of a fictional law firm Wolfram and Hart, which appeared in theBuffy the Vampire Slayer spin-offAngel. St. I knew there would be an uproar. One of the producers on St. (On that series, Bobby Ewing was brought back to life after his "death" turned out to be just a bad dream. It made me laugh actually because it just is so like those guys. 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. Why was it necessary for St. I think there was a period when last rites were being performed when we could have rallied, he said, his tone clinically matter-of-fact. 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. We never answered any of the questions we posed. Some people liked its provocativeness. 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. On this day in 1988, TV viewers saw one of the most famous and perhaps the most debated series finales in TV history. Elsewhere was a figment of Tommy Westphalls elaborate imagination, then wouldnt other television characters who appeared in the shows continuity exist only within Tommy's mind, as well? 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. . I think a lot of the cast didnt care for it at all. Via Wikipedia: The most common interpretation of this scene is that the entire series of events in the series St. St. 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; Would you ever say "eat pig" instead of "eat pork"? "I prefer character connections, myself," Gow says. Elsewhere illustrates the rich and often blurred boundaries in how we experience the world."[7]. More: Why The X-Files Season 12 Never Happened. 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. 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. This is the final scene from "The Last One", the 22nd episode (137th overall) from the sixth and final season of NBC's 1982-88 medical drama Elsewhere. 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 (. The full list includes 419 shows as of 2016, the last time the curators of the Westphall theory updated its website. It wasn't unusual to hear other famous TV doctors and the like paged over St. Eligius' PA system, characters from series likeThe White Shadow, M*A*S*H*, andThe Mary Tyler Moore Show appeared or were referred to, and one season 3 episode even took place partially within another Boston institution the titular bar fromCheers. The Tommy Westphall universe hypothesis is an idea discussed among some television fans, it makes the claim that not only does St. 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. In the door comes Dr. Westphall, but he hangs up a construction workers hat. , the magic was in the tone, as it was with another show by the same production company. Birth! The Marvel Cinematic Universe might seem like a huge landscape of interconnected shows and TV movies, but the Tommy Westphall universe has it beat. If the theory holds, then a large chunk of television is the direct result of one childs formidable imagination. WebBasically the theory known as The Tommy Westphall Universe (TWU) begins when St. As one of the co-authors of the scene that ignited the entire premise, Fontana said he was stunned to discover the aftershocks and that the theory basically means that Tommy Westphall is the mind of God.. Here's my son, I talk to him, I don't even know if he can hear me. Can you still use Commanders Strike if the only attack available to forego is an attack against an ally? "That really solidifies things. The first episode of a show has to hook viewers in for the long haul in a way totally unlike, say, the first pages of a novel. Therefore, appearances from St. Proponents of the Tommy Westphall Universe argue that because of this fictional crossover, the two series exist within the same fictional universe, and within Tommy Westphall's mind because of the final episode 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. 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). What's he thinking about? Making a splash: A deep dive into the live-action. ED BEGLEY JR. (Dr. Victor Ehrlich): It was quite fitting for what they had done the previous six years. Not enough dollars, however, to keep the series alive for another year. 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. We always said: Thats a tough question--well, good night! . Tommy Westphall, portrayed by Chad Allen, is a minor character from the drama television series St. What are the advantages of running a power tool on 240 V vs 120 V? Often, characters crossing over on the same network can ignite a connection, with shared brands or locations providing the connective tissue for others. The thing is, autism was - and still is - largely not understood what goes on in a person's brain. Elsewhere characters Dr. Roxanne Turner and Dr. Victor Ehrlich appear on Homicide: Life on the Street. It is underfunded, understaffed, crowded, and running on fumes. Does the 500-table limit still apply to the latest version of Cassandra? Its been observed that much of American primetime TV has been about cops and the sex lives of doctors. Yet, in the ending of St. 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. The streamlining kind of took away its energy.. Observers of the theory take issue with the idea out of what they deem is a misunderstanding of an authors intent. Rather than case-of-the-week stories with infallible doctors and carboard-thin supporting characters,St. The show also has connections to series that cameafter it, largely thanks to one of its writers and producers, Tom Fontana. were arguably all dreamed up by young Tommy. The Show It's not every day we see Plucky Comic Relief commit suicide. English version of Russian proverb "The hedgehogs got pricked, cried, but continued to eat the cactus". 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. ER and Chicago Hope wouldnt exist in the form they did without St. 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. The doctors had visited the bar on Cheers in one St. I didnt dislike it. Inside it is a perfect replica of St. Eligius, with snow swirling around it as the shot fades to black. 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. WebSt. Walter White and Rachel Green are no longer just characters in your pop culture-themed fantasy game of Clue, they're characters that could have bumped into each other on the street. Elsewhere has fallen victim to economic pressures. For all the latest TV news, reviews, lists and features, follow @Paste_TV. I thought it was an interesting choice to make I respect [the ambition]. For indeed, St. Eligius. The one where EW follows up with the cast. CHAD ALLEN (Tommy Westphall): I remember the script arrived, I read it, got to the end, and I was stumped. Please feel free to submit articles to enhance the knowledge, acceptance, understanding and research of Autism and ASD. It only takes a minute to sign up. Fiscus (Mandel), Morrison (Morse) and Ehrlich (Begley) are all dealing with their own issues around their impending exits. Is all of American television the hallucination of an autistic child?? Fontana was being facetious (we think), but not everyone was as enthused with the premise. These strings go on across multiple decades of television, with I Love Lucy being the earliest example. Its an episode of heartfelt goodbyes and dramatic exits. I was only supposed to be in 18 of the 22 episodes, so I got an extra episodes pay out of it. Why did the Fairy Queen have to die for a poor deal? Craig, always a prissy sort, is absolutely beside himself with the prospect that his wife Ellen is taking a job in (gasp) Ohio. John Munch). Elsewhere characters Dr. Roxanne Turner (Alfre Woodard) and Dr. Victor Ehrlich (Ed Begley Jr.) appeared on Homicide: Life on the Street. What positional accuracy (ie, arc seconds) is necessary to view Saturn, Uranus, beyond? Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. [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. Helen Hunt even appeared in a few episodes. 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. The series is (implied to be) a figment of Tommy Westphall's imagination, existing in the snowglobe that he is focused on. That is 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 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. 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! They always tried to be out there, beyond the limits of what was being done before. Who is Bruce and does he have a real-world counterpart? 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. is not a great place to work or convalesce. How's he been? The last year, I put in a rug and a lamp. 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. Elsewheres bumbling Dr. Victor Erlich, offered the final diagnosis of his medical career. I remember reading about it in the paper that there was controversy over it. Paired with the show's penchant for references, this finale has spawned one of the most bizarre and elaborate fan theories of all time. Along with U.S.-based fan Ash Crowe, Gow began to develop a chart linking the series to other shows on television. 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 (ooh! That fictional firm appears inDoctor Who, Red Dwarf, and of course, theAlien feature film franchise. WebIf the St. By using our Services, you agree to our use of cookies. Like St. Eligius itself, St. A Weyland-Utani ship is also seen in a spaceship graveyard in the British sci-fi series Red Dwarf.. 7. Elsewhere have dropped out of the cultural lexicon entirelyexcept for one. Elsewhere, like basically every television series that is set in the present day, had crossover episodes or cameos with other popular shows. 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? 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. 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. 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. Eligius. Michael Kennedy is an avid movie and TV fan that's been working for Screen Rant in various capacities since 2014. (referring to Tommy) He give you any trouble? And none of MTMs shows better defined quality television than St. Tommy's father, still being portrayed by Ed Flanders (aka "Donald Westphall") arrives at the apartment wearing a hard hat. Gow said, "I've heard from TV writers who deliberately put in references to draw their shows into Tommy's mind. was a show that got by largely on the strength of its ensemble, running for six seasons from 1982-88. The original decision to include fictional product crossovers actually comes from the origins of the chart itself. In the door comes Dr. Westphall, but he hangs up a construction workers hat. Elsewhere through fictional crossovers and spin-offs, resulting in a large fictional universe taking place entirely within Tommy's mind. [3][1], The foremost interpretation of this scene is that the entire series of events in St. 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. The original decision to include fictional product crossovers actually comes from the origins of the chart itself. As Gow told HuffPost, "St. Elsewhere" writer Tom Fontana began writing connections between his shows using fictional products and companies. I think other people will find it puzzling, odd, maybe unfulfilling in some way.. World of his own. ", Father: "Well, we finally topped off the 22nd story. The Westphall universe just keeps expanding out in that manner from there, getting bigger and bigger in the same way as a snowball rolling downhill, which is appropriate considering Tommy's snow globe. When not writing, Michael enjoys going to concerts, taking in live professional wrestling, and debating pop culture. This ending was not serious to me. And I dont think that set of circumstances will ever happen again. The stories speak for themselves. As the episode comes to a close, Dr. Westphall is sitting alone in the office of his friend and mentor Dr. Auschlander, who has recently died when in runs his son, Tommy (Chad Allen), a quiet, autistic boy whom viewers had met a time or two before. 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. MARK HARMON (Dr. Robert Caldwell): I didnt see it live. It was this wonderful, crumbly, noble, decadent building that housed this incredible heart. This year, Ken Lowe is revisiting some of the most influential TV shows that made it to an officially planned final episode. 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. 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. What's he thinking about?". And people say, Norman, youre either mad or senile or both--but you dont get a show like St. The great thing about the show that even in its comedy, it was serious. I think it can happen. Elsewhere to end the way it did? Those two impressive achievements would have likely relegated the bizarre ending of St. Elsewhere" universe with other shows, then those shows with other shows, has created an elaborate web of American television. 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. Elsewhere in its final season owned the prison hospital in his series Oz.". And in the end, Fiscus patient does finally sing. ", But despite the elaborate system, the two still doubt their methods from time to time. Thats really cool for a teenager. We all knew that whenever you do the last episode of any series, the last chapter of any story like that, youre never going to come up with an ending that will satisfy everybody. This will become important very shortly. You can follow any one of these connective threads down a series of increasingly convoluted rabbit holes, and it probably won't surprise you to learn that a number of fans have done exactly that. 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. And listen, we set such a bar, its hard to top it to make that ending satisfy a lot of people. One example: "Episodes where reality shows exist within a fictional sphere are not included (such as the 'X-Files'/'COPS' crossover and the 'Chicago Hope'/'Entertainment Tonight' crossover). Mimsie the Cat has seen better days. As for the snow globe, that was the focus of Tommy's attention. 2023 Paste Media Group. St. As Gow and Crowe assembled their chart, comics writer Dwayne McDuffie (Static Shock) wrote a blog entry for Slush.com in 2002 that made a similar observation. Elsewheres Wednesday night time slot in the fall. The series was also known for one of its more playful aspects: it was prone to dropping references and callbacks to other TV series. And then I saw it and I thought, Its too much. You cant please most people most of the time. Fontana was the executive producer and showrunner for Homicide for its entire seven years. I tell you, the last episode, I never bought it. In another episode, St. Eligius traveled 50 years into the past.
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