Quote: Badge @ December 17, 2006, 9:31 PMAm I the only person who thinks the final episode of Blackadder is a bit of self-important mawkish sentimentality?
I'm usually the first person to switch off at any sign of mawkishness and sickly syrupy stuff. However, I think the Blackadder scene is genuinely moving and works well. The final episode (and the series) certainly opened some people's eyes to the shitty treatment of the troops in WW1.
I think the freeze frame was the perfect place to stop in BA4. If it had shown them getting mowed down then I'd say it was going for the mawkish. The fade to poppy fields was a touch of class and tied in the past with the present (If i remember right, wasn't the last episode aired in November too?)
It was the only sitcom in which I laughed and then cried. Apart from the fantastic Futurama episode where Fry finds his fossilised dog and he refuses to bring it back to life as, after Fry went into the future, the dog lived a long life and he's worried the dog will have forgotten him. At the close we see the dog waiting all those years outside the pizza shop, hoping Fry will return. I'm not ashamed to say I bawled my eyes out. It was a gorgeous moment.
Ah yes, very moving that.
And yes; November 2nd 1989.
Looks like I am the only one then. 
Personally I think it's one of the best moments in any sitcom. The fact that they kept the laughs coming almost right up to the end and yet never went outside the bounds of good taste is quite an achievement.
I always found Blackadder a very smug little programme, and as someone who was and still is NOT a Blackadder fan, the final episode still chills me to the bone.
I absolutely love Blackader, but I'm with Badge - I've never been a fan of that ending. It could have been worse, but I thought it was decidedly mawkish.
Did anyone see that charity special episode of Vicar of Dibley about the African orphans? Oh dear god, at least it wasn't as bad as that.
That was just f**king shocking. A complete and utter Make Poverty History wankfest. They should be ashamed of themselves.
Would I be right in thinking that in the last episode of The Good Life Tom decides to go back to work? If that did happen, it was quite a bizarre and slightly subversive way to end the series.
I like a drastic ending some times (Seinfeld) but I like a calm ending in other shows (Spaced).
Quote: chipolata @ February 21, 2008, 3:56 PMWould I be right in thinking that in the last episode of The Good Life Tom decides to go back to work? If that did happen, it was quite a bizarre and slightly subversive way to end the series.
Can't remember if he went back to work, didn't their garden get vandalised and then they vowed to rebuild it? (but that might have been the Blue Peter garden 
).
I was wrong, the lounge was vandalised.
Last Episode of Series 4 :-
Due to the oil leak caused by Mrs Weaver's tank, much of the Good's garden is unusable, and Geraldine isn't producing any milk. These problems mean Tom is not in the mood to celebrate both his 42nd birthday and the second anniversary of self-sufficiency, but after Jerry succeeds Andrew at JJM, all four celebrate. However, when they go back to Tom and Barbara's they discover the living room has been vandalised.
(There was an Xmas special & a Royal Command performance broadcast after the above)
Quote: SlagA @ December 18, 2006, 10:15 AMI think the freeze frame was the perfect place to stop in BA4. If it had shown them getting mowed down then I'd say it was going for the mawkish. The fade to poppy fields was a touch of class and tied in the past with the present (If i remember right, wasn't the last episode aired in November too?)
I went to 'An Evening With Tony Robinson' last year (Bath Theatre Royal).
He said the 'freeze frame' at the end wasn't originally intended.
Because of all the smoke and explosions it was a 'one-take' scene. When all the cast landed (after supposedly being shot)the whole set shook and looked cheap, naff and nasty.
Somebody then had the inspired idea of the freeze frame and fade to poppy fields!
It was a great evening out, he showed some videos of sitcoms which never made it to the screen. Think he toured with this show, anyone else see it?
A strange one I know, but the last episode of ´Hi De Hi´ was actually very touching and sweetly funny. (Oh the shame!)
Quote: Writer2K @ February 21, 2008, 5:21 PMI went to 'An Evening With Tony Robinson' last year (Bath Theatre Royal).
He said the 'freeze frame' at the end wasn't originally intended.
Because of all the smoke and explosions it was a 'one-take' scene. When all the cast landed (after supposedly being shot)the whole set shook and looked cheap, naff and nasty.
Somebody then had the inspired idea of the freeze frame and fade to poppy fields!
Yeah, I'm pretty sure I read that they actually had NO idea how to end it at all, and that the slow-mo then fade was a complete fluke discovery when playing around in the editing suite.
Quote: Writer2K @ February 21, 2008, 5:21 PMIt was a great evening out, he showed some videos of sitcoms which never made it to the screen.
Woah. When was this? I went to the Worst Jobs in History tour (or whatever it was called) a few years back, but would have loved to have seen this. Don't suppose it's still touring, or is likely to again? :-/
OF&H trilogy was the perfect way to end the series (until they did some new ones, boo). And I LOVE the anecdote about Peter Pervis that Coogan tells in I'm Alan Partridge to finish that off. Perfection.
Quote: Aaron @ February 21, 2008, 6:40 PMWoah. When was this? I went to the Worst Jobs in History tour (or whatever it was called) a few years back, but would have loved to have seen this. Don't suppose it's still touring, or is likely to again? :-/
I think he takes this show 'out and about' every now and again. Found this review from 2006 (but I'm sure I saw it last year).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/berkshire/content/articles/2006/03/01/tony_robinson_review_feature.shtml
He also had photos of himself acting with John Wayne.
The recording of "Yes Minestrone" was hilariously embarrassing (written by Richard Curtis I think)...real shame no one has managed to 'sneak' a copy onto YouTube.