The last episdode of ABP should have had Archie waking up in his chair after a bad dream, saying he wish he had a beer, and then we would hear Edith from the kitchen "Coming Archie!". There would be a tremendous applause and Archie would tell Edith he had a horrible dream that she had passed away in her sleep and we would discover the last three seasons of ABP were all Archie's dream.

Of course at that time the writers didn't have the hindsight I do(since the "dream season" of Dallas where Bobby came back from the dead hadn't happened yet) but this would have been a great way to end the series and correct the awful wrong of killing off Edith.

I don't really like dream sequences. Dream episodes might work for some episodes, but I don't know if it would really work for ABP.

After watching the first few episodes of ABP, I was starting to wish they had ended it when Mike and Gloria left. I think I'm starting to get into it now. Some of the episodes are fair, but we've had a few episodes that were pretty good. ABP might not stand up to AITF, but it does pretty well by itself.

Originally posted by jon123
The last episdode of ABP should have had Archie waking up in his chair after a bad dream, saying he wish he had a beer, and then we would hear Edith from the kitchen "Coming Archie!". There would be a tremendous applause and Archie would tell Edith he had a horrible dream that she had passed away in her sleep and we would discover the last three seasons of ABP were all Archie's dream.

Of course at that time the writers didn't have the hindsight I do(since the "dream season" of Dallas where Bobby came back from the dead hadn't happened yet) but this would have been a great way to end the series and correct the awful wrong of killing off Edith.

That would have been great! I hate characters dying in sitcoms. :(

The dream sequence has been done enough. The last episodes of Newhart and Roseanne had that same ending.

What would have been cool is Archie moving away in the final episode or the death of Archie, with Stephanie scared and alone in the house.--- Just joking about the latter! :lol:

Archie's Place was cancelled in 1983, and never had a final episode. The episode had to do with a Rabinowitz relationship with Billie I believe. There was nothing unique or special behind it.

I liked how The Cosby Show and Perfect Strangers ended, and that would have worked with Archie Bunker's Place.
For example, in the Cosby Show, Cliff and Clare walked off the set and you could see the audience. In the last Perfect Strangers, they had "Unforgettable" by Nat King Cole while they showed the
"most memorable moment". Then after the episode was complete, they had a Curtain Call where the actors took a final bow before the studio audience. That would have been great to "Sign off" 13 years of comedy. In fact, they did the same abomination to "The Jeffersons" where they cancelled them and never came out with a real final episode. They did have them move into the "Fresh Prince's" house in the final episode of Fresh Prince, but that is another story for The Jeffersons message board.

Normally I would also say that a dream sequence is a cop out, but in the case it would have brought one of the most popular characters in TV history back to life, and I think most of the audience would have been pleased. After finding out Edith didn't really die, they could have also had Mike and Gloria appear and say that they are still married and staying there until Mike finds a new job after being fired from marching nude. This would have given Archie something to be annoyed with at the end. (It also would have eliminated the horrible Gloria series).

This is all subjective anyway since ABP ended before Dallas, Newhart, Married with Children, and Rosanne did this and I'm sure this was never even thought of at that time. Since without a dream episode it would have been impossible to bring Edith back for a final episode except in flashbacks, it is just as well that ABP never had a real final episode.

Originally posted by jon123
The last episdode of ABP should have had Archie waking up in his chair after a bad dream, saying he wish he had a beer, and then we would hear Edith from the kitchen "Coming Archie!". There would be a tremendous applause and Archie would tell Edith he had a horrible dream that she had passed away in her sleep and we would discover the last three seasons of ABP were all Archie's dream.

.

That was funny. Edith coming in after being gone for 3 years. It sounds good, it just struck me funny, that's all. I will bump up my fan fic for those interested along with the script for "Archie Alone". I think these are some great comments about this topic. The writers worked with what they had.