Are you satisified with the way that Who's the Boss? ended

[TMC]

I noticed that in about two weeks, it will officially mark 30 years since the series finale of Who's the Boss? aired on ABC. It aired the same night (April 25, 1992) that the series finales of Growing Pains and MacGyver aired. So it goes without saying, that it was definitely, across the board, the end of an era.



It also goes without saying, that the last two seasons of Who's the Boss? probably, weren't the best. The show by that point, had many episodes that felt rushed and cartoonish while missing the heart and sweet moments between the characters as seen before.

Does plot of the series finale ("Savor the Veal") make you sad? In it, Tony has his dream job in Iowa - coaching and teaching history - but Angela can't cut it there, socially or business-wise, so he chucks it all to move back to Connecticut and be her housekeeper and driving instructor. TV Tropes considers the full-circle ending of the series as an example of an "Esoteric Happy Ending".



Did it sound stupid that a presumably successful career woman in Angela couldn't hack it business-wise in Iowa when she was the president of a Madison agency and then owned her own business too? If that was the case, then wouldn't it have made more sense had the series been SET in Iowa all along? Then they could've had Tony find his dream job in New York, and have Angela not be able to make it.



Should the last episode really been about the entire Bower/Micelli family, where all of the characters having had one last moment to shine?

[thejasoomian]

Wow, JL is still really emotional about WTB ending. I loved the show up until the 5th season then lost interest. I returned for the final episodes but for some reason I didn't like how they ended it. I thought the UK version did a better job with the actual ending.

[TMC]

Tony by this point, had already graduated from college and had gotten an ideal teaching job for himself. So in the grander scheme of things, how much sense did it make for him to come back to be Angela's housekeeper? Especially, if Tony Danza was so against the idea of his character marrying Angela rather than simply breaking up with her?

[TMC]

What are the biggest creative mistakes that were made during the production of Season 8 of Who's the Boss? (1984-92)?

The rushed and divisive series finale

The most significant and widely criticized creative mistake was the series finale, "Savor the Veal."

• The break-up: Instead of celebrating the union fans had waited eight years for, the finale breaks up Tony and Angela, forcing them to move away from each other for work. The decision to end the relationship was primarily driven by the belief that marriage would kill the show in reruns.
• The bookend ending: In the final scene, Tony reappears at Angela's doorstep to apply for the housekeeper job again, echoing the series pilot. While meant to be a full-circle moment, many viewers felt the move negated all character development and made the entire series feel pointless. Star Judith Light expressed her own apprehension about the ending but was ultimately pleased with the final moment.

Mishandling of the Tony and Angela romance

The central "will-they-or-won't-they" dynamic between Tony and Angela was a major driver of the series for seven seasons.

• A disastrous finale. The hour-long series finale, "Savor the Veal," ended with Angela leaving the advertising agency to pursue a new career in New York, which put a definitive end to her relationship with Tony. In the final scene, Tony leaves to follow her and gets the same job she once offered him in the very first episode. The ambiguous ending left many viewers feeling that the relationship was left unresolved and that the show was "back where it started". This unsatisfying resolution was reportedly influenced by the show's syndicator, who believed that a definitive "happily ever after" would hurt syndication sales.

What are the biggest creative mistakes that were made during the production of Who's the Boss? (1984-92)?

The anticlimactic final season

The final season made several widely criticized creative decisions, including rushed romances and an ending that undermined the main characters' growth.

• The ambiguous finale. The series finale left the central love story unresolved. Tony gets a job in Iowa, and the series ends with him returning to Angela's house but leaving their future uncertain. This finale frustrated viewers who had waited eight years for a satisfying conclusion. The ending was a transparent attempt to maintain the show's marketable "unresolved sexual tension" for syndication, even though it damaged the integrity of the story.

Dragging out the central romance

For most of its eight-season run, the show built comedy and drama around the unresolved sexual tension between Tony Micelli and Angela Bower.

• The finale's misstep: The final episode, in which Tony leaves and then returns to Angela, was seen as a creative cop-out. Instead of definitively resolving their relationship, it ended on a non-committal note that some viewers considered anticlimactic.

What are the biggest creative mistakes that were made during the production of the series finale of Who's the Boss? (1984-92)?

The finale of Who's the Boss? is often criticized for its unresolved and ambiguous ending, which many fans felt was a creative mistake after years of character development. The final episode bookends the series by having Tony Micelli return to Angela's house to apply for his old housekeeper job, leaving their future as a couple uncertain.

The biggest creative mistakes centered on its controversial ending:

• A lack of a definitive resolution. For eight seasons, the will-they-won't-they dynamic between Tony and Angela was the central romantic tension of the series. The finale, however, offers no clear resolution to this relationship. Instead of showing them get married, or even fully committing to being a couple, it ends with an ambiguous wink to the original pilot episode. For a sitcom that relied on its characters' relationships, the creative decision to leave their ultimate fate as an open question disappointed many loyal viewers.
• Executive meddling over syndication fears. The ambiguous ending was not the writers' preferred choice but was reportedly influenced by the show's syndicator, Columbia/Tri-Star. The network feared that a clear resolution, like a marriage, would discourage audiences from tuning into reruns, thus hurting syndication sales. This decision put financial interests ahead of a satisfying creative conclusion for the characters.
• Undermining character and plot progression. The finale invalidates much of the character growth and plot development from the previous seasons. After finally acknowledging their love for each other in the final season, the ending forces the characters back into their original, pre-relationship dynamic. This creative "reset" feels artificial and negates the emotional journey the characters and audience had taken over the years.
• Tony Danza's opposition to marriage. Another factor contributing to the unresolved ending was actor Tony Danza's own resistance. He believed that marriage between Tony and Angela would "contradict the original purpose of the show". While understandable from his perspective, this attitude contributed to an ending that prioritized the original series premise over the natural evolution of the characters.
• The finale of a different show was preferred. Some reports suggest the series finale for Mad About You was the one Tony Danza would have preferred. While it's unclear if he felt this way specifically regarding the finale of Who's the Boss?, this anecdote highlights the lack of creative cohesion and conviction behind the final episode.

The biggest creative mistake of the Who's the Boss? series finale was its failure to provide a definitive ending to Tony and Angela's relationship after eight seasons of buildup. The decision was driven by network concerns that a marriage would harm syndication ratings, but it ultimately left many viewers unsatisfied.

Ambiguous conclusion

The finale, "Savor the Veal," brings the series full circle by having Angela show up at Tony's new home in Iowa after he moves away to become a teacher. It mirrors the pilot episode where he arrived at her doorstep seeking a new life.

However, after years of a simmering will-they-or-won't-they dynamic, the final scene offers an ambiguous finish instead of a satisfying resolution. The ending left the characters' fate open-ended, which pleased network executives concerned about limiting the show's syndication value. For fans, it felt like a betrayal of the relationship they had invested in for so long.

Interference from network and actor

• This creative misstep was largely the result of two opposing forces:
• Syndication concerns: According to sources, the show's syndicator feared that a definitive marriage would make reruns seem less relevant and hurt sales.
• Tony Danza's stance: Star Tony Danza was also "vehemently against" a marriage, believing it would contradict the original premise of the show.
• By the end of the series, however, the central conflict was no longer about a man working for a woman, but about Tony and Angela's romantic evolution. The finale's ending failed to acknowledge this shift.

Unfulfilling bookend

While the finale attempted to create a neat bookend by mirroring the pilot, this device was undercut by its own ambiguity.

• Original premise: The premise of the show was Tony, a former baseball player, showing up at Angela's house for a job.
• Finale's return: In the finale, Angela shows up at Tony's house in Iowa. While their embrace suggests a reunion, the lack of commitment feels like an unsatisfactory rehash of the pilot's beginning rather than a rewarding conclusion.
• Lost potential: Many fans felt a wedding was the only logical payoff after such a long-running, romantic storyline. The finale instead focused on a "brand new life" for the characters, an ending that was less about resolution and more about potential future, off-screen storylines.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by thejasoomian

Wow, JL is still really emotional about WTB ending. I loved the show up until the 5th season then lost interest. I returned for the final episodes but for some reason I didn't like how they ended it. I thought the UK version did a better job with the actual ending.

Here's what Dial-Up Days has to say about the ending (beginning at the 12:00 mark):