Notes on Pop Culture: Great TV Finales

We've just concluded the traditional TV season and were treated to ample season/series finales. Most of them were moderately entertaining, some were really good and many were disappointing. I really liked the season enders for The Good Wife, Parks and Recreation (Councilor Knope!), The Mentalist and Scandal. I wasn't all that thrilled with the finales of Grey's Anatomy, Awake (was ticked that it was so confusing and now we'll never know the real story because it was canceled) and House.

The folks at Entertainment Weekly, meanwhile, time-traveled back to the recent TV past to select 26 season finales (not series finales) of which they were fond. Why 26? You'll have to ask them. Among the finales they honored:

The third season Mad Men finale when Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce was born in a cramped hotel suite.

The stunning conclusion of 24's first season where Jack Bauer's wife was murdered in the CTU offices.

The season two finale of Alias when CIA agent Sydney Bristow learned that she'd missed the past two years of her life and that her longtime love, fellow agent Michael Vaughn had thought she was dead and married somebody else.

The season two finale of Grey's Anatomy when Denny died and Meredith and Derek hooked up again. As much as I hated the Denny storyline, this episode, plus its selection of tunes (almost all of which I later downloaded) haunted me for weeks. However Grey's season six finale, with the mass shooting in Seattle Grace, Derek getting shot, residents dying and Meredith miscarrying could give the Denny dying season two finale a run for its money.

"Not Penny's Boat" season three Lost finale where Charlie died as a sacrifice for his friends and the whole series flashed forward for the first time. Let's just forget about that last season, okay? That never happened.

All in all, some excellent choices, although I would've added the season three finale of The Mentalist where Patrick Jane shot the man he thought was Red John (the serial killer who murdered his wife and daughter), the fifth season finale of the Gilmore Girls when Rory moved in with Richard and Emily after dropping out of Yale and the season one finale of Friday Night Lights where the Panthers won the state championship, Tami learned she was pregnant and Eric took a job at a college a plane ride away from Dillon.

What was your favorite TV show finale, this season or ever?

Did Lindelof Tweet a Response to 'Lost' Finale Criticism?

One of the many folks I follow on Twitter is Damon Lindelof, one of the two creators/showrunners/master gurus behind Lost.

As many of you know, the series finale which aired last month was controversial. There were those fans who adored its heavenly conclusion, while others (including yours truly) observed that while it may have been emotionally satisifying, intellectually, it felt like a cop-out because it failed to address some of the series' major questions.

In the weeks leading up to the finale, Lindelof and Carlton Cuse said they'd go "radio silent" after the finale was aired.

Then I saw this Tweet today from Lindelof, ostensibly referencing the longest ever Wimbledon match (11+ hours) between Nicolas Manhut and John Isner which finally ended today with Isner prevailing:

"I found the ending of Isner/Mahut satisfying, but wish they had answered more questions."

A response to the criticism of the Lost finale? Hmm, sounds like it to me.

Lindelof's irony aside, I thought his Tweet about the tennis match was almost as good as Saturday Night Live's Seth Meyers who Tweeted, "Mahut just didn't want it enough."

Notes on Pop Culture: Jack Bauer's Last Hour, More on 'Lost's' 'The End' and Parenting Teens in Primetime

*Warning: Spoilers ahead from the series finales of 24 and Lost.*

Notes on Pop Culture: Dave Barry in NYT, 'Lost' Interview Has Me Worried

Dave Barry Featured in Sunday's New York Times

One of my favorite writers is a humorist. His name is Dave Barry. When I was teaching journalism classes at the University of Massachusetts, I frequently distributed Barry's columns to my students and, in at least one class, assigned a collection of his columns as required reading. His writing is funny, keenly observant and down-to-earth, as well as very, very clever. Ever tried to write funny? It's hard. Believe me.

This weekend the Pulitzer Prize winning Barry, who has a new book coming out next week, I'll Mature When I'm Dead (*clearing throat and hoping anyone who's looking to get me a Mother's Day gift takes advantage of the link*), is featured in the New York Times Sunday Magazine.

Since he's in the spotlight of the "Domains" column, there are photos of Barry's house and various stuff in his home, including a photo of a toilet. (It's unclear if that's actually Dave Barry's toilet or not.) If you're a longtime fan of Barry's columns -- or one of my former students -- you might be familar with his campaign to improve the flushing power of toilets. On his toilet crusade, Barry said:

"Years ago we moved to a house that had toilets that did not work well. The plumber told me Congress had mandated that all new toilets use less water. I spent more time on the low-flow toilet than any columnist in America. . . We have some low-flow toilets and one standard one. I tell guests, 'If you really need a toilet that can do the job, go to that one.'"

God do I miss his weekly columns.

Lost Interview Has Me Worried

The Hollywood Reporter has published an interview with one of the brains behind Lost, Damon Lindelof. Why does it worry me? First of all, there's the lead of the story:

"Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof tells THR the crew built new sets for the final moments of the ABC hit drama and that fans should expect to ask themselves, 'What did they mean by this?' after the show ends."

Then there was this:

"As for the nagging question of whether fans be satisfied by the ending, Lindelof said the finale will not employ a Sopranos-style fake-out, but he emphasized that viewers will definitely be left with questions."

So when this ends, I won't have a satisfied smile on my face? I'll be asking, "What the hell just happened?" and know that there'll be no more, no answers? Say it isn't so.

Image credit: Colby Katz/New York Times.