The series finale(Beginning of The End & Beginning of The Beginning)..Recycled plot? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

88survivor · 11-04-2007, 08:25 PM

Finally watched it. It has been so long since I saw it in 1988 when I was five. Was it just me or did it recycled from both "Rough Housing" and "The New Girl" quite a bit? Sure, it was easy to spot all those recognizable people like Seth Green, Juliette Lewis, among others...but were those bits almost verbatim in a way? They made Blair a Mrs. Garrett clone when it was so un-Blair like of her to do: Buy Eastland and become house mother. It didn't make a bit of sense at the end of the finale either. It really was trying to make the kids like the 1st Season kids, notice they almost use the exact same set like in the 1st Season? Identical. Mr. Mitchell is a Bradley clone...except much more dislikable and full of BS than Bradley. Am I the only that noticed this at all?

FOL85NatandMrsGRock · 11-05-2007, 08:40 AM

No, i noticed it. I also recently watched this episode because it had also been a long time (not as long as you, because i last saw it on nick at nite). However, i remembered not being a huge fan of this episode when i first saw it and i still agree with myself. It was very similar with them trying to get a new show going, but nobody wanted to see that... especially blair of all people! i liked where she was going with the law school. I think she could have made a go for herself in that profession. The show just didn't seem worth while anymore by this point, and you could tell they were trying to scrounge up anything they could!

RoryGilmore · 11-05-2007, 05:34 PM

Totally agree with you guys, I personally think the writers were desperate by this point to get something else going.

onederboi779 · 11-06-2007, 09:19 AM

this actually was a good episode but it should not have been the series finale.if it was going to be the series finale they should have had the cast in more scenes.not just 5 minutes at the beginning of part 1 and 5 minutes at the end of part 2.they could have had jo tootie and natalie visit eastland helping blair set things up and have beverlyann decide to have andy become a student at eastland since blair was now in charge.if they couldnt do that then they should have at least had one more episode with the girls moving out of the house.it just felt like the casts scenes were so rushed for the final episode of the show.

88survivor · 11-06-2007, 02:24 PM

You'll notice that Andy disappears and is never mentioned again at all.

JulieSomoski · 11-06-2007, 03:15 PM

I'm with you . . . never cared for the finale at all. Actually, I thought it was one of the worst finales of all time. There was just nothing at all going on in this episode that we'd see in a normal episode, which I didn't like. Every character was going off in a different direction, yet the series was over, so we never got to see anymore about it.

FOL85NatandMrsGRock · 11-06-2007, 04:21 PM

Yea, i think that Mrs. G should have somehow came back and they should have had a final conclusion of everything. Becuase Jo was already married, Tootie was engaged, and Blair obviously had another following in life, that should have been the 2nd to last episode. Beverly Ann could have had another calling that she needed to leave, and the girls were planning to move out so have mrs. g come back to sell the place (or something) i dunno... it was all left to guess, Jo was a married woman and should have been out of there anyways... there's practically no mention of the shop with the last half a season and it's obvious the girls wanted to venture their seperate ways, oh well.... we can't go back in the past to fix the mistake now, all we can do is gripe about it and pretend a good ending actually took place

Dean Winchester · 11-06-2007, 11:53 PM

I wish thye would've done a series finale sending everyone off on their way instead of hoping the Blair spinoff would take off and hopefully get guest appearences.

I think a better finale might've had something to do with Mrs. G coming back with husband and she and Beverly Ann agree to sell the house. Then maybe Tootie ends up with a part on a major Broadway play, and maybe a newspaper or magazine loved an essay Natalie wrote and hired her on or something. Something that could've sent the show off with class and style and given all of the characters a respectable amount of time instead of being 95% Blair

ABlairican Pie · 11-07-2007, 02:40 AM

If there was one "jump-the-shark" episode of The Facts Of Life, let's be glad it was in the two-part finale. I just didn't get the whole point behind such braindead ragamuffins in that episode. I remember one of them talked like a burnout teen, none of the kids in that episode were all cute, perky, and feisty
like in the first season. Boys in a co-ed Eastland: nice try, but.... And Blair as headmistress. Well, no one ever saw that coming before in previous episodes. It was like she dropped everything just to save Eastland (and prove that she had a heart of gold after all), no law school, no Casey in the picture, etc. Of course this was all part of a spinoff of Facts and was intended to give Lisa something to do (until she got settled into married, domestic life), but it did not look at all promising. It did not show a natural growth and maturity (at least in the time span suggested) of Blair to go from being college student with new responsibilities into that of being a headmistress, something more suited for someone more than twice her age and with more experience. She didn't go to college to learn anything about teaching, but got all her life lessons from Mrs. Garrett. Being a student of Eastland for all those years wouldn't necessarily equip her for the task of running Eastland.

At least it suggested that Blair actually made something noble of herself and used her wealth to save an important institution, a total turnaround from her spoiled, arrogant youth.

Dean Winchester · 11-07-2007, 03:20 AM

good assessment Ablarican. While I do think it was good that Blair got one big sendoff episode, I think maybe it should've been the penultimate episode instead of the absolute final episode (or two part finale). She could've bought Eastland, and then had one last episode where Mrs. G returns and the girls all go their separate ways. It sucks that the season 4 and 8 finales work better as "series finales" than the actual finale

ABlairican Pie · 11-07-2007, 09:17 AM

It's also interesting that nothing about the final episodes were ever tied in to the Reunion movie. (Of course, the Reunion movie also could have used some improvement. I noticed that there was no major subplot involving Blair, just like 'The Facts Of Life Goes To Paris' saw her pretty much inactive, just dilly-dallying around the Parisian scene. Why was that? You'd think if anyone had some exciting stuff coming her way, it would be Blair.)

88survivor · 11-07-2007, 09:39 AM

Probably it is due to the Jo popularity back then. I love the locations in the Facts of Life Goes To Paris...it's very scenic and beautiful. I want to go there sometime.

Probably I was five and I didn't understand the whole plot in the finale, but seeing it now made say that I didn't enjoy that idea at all. Was it just me or were the jokes much more sexual this time around? Sure, the early Facts of Life jokes were at other times based on sexual situation jokes, but in that finale it was done in such bad taste.

RoryGilmore · 11-07-2007, 04:41 PM

Well not much left for me to say

you all took the words right out of my mouth

ABlairican Pie · 11-07-2007, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 88survivor

Probably it is due to the Jo popularity back then. I love the locations in the Facts of Life Goes To Paris...it's very scenic and beautiful. I want to go there sometime.

Probably I was five and I didn't understand the whole plot in the finale, but seeing it now made say that I didn't enjoy that idea at all. Was it just me or were the jokes much more sexual this time around? Sure, the early Facts of Life jokes were at other times based on sexual situation jokes, but in that finale it was done in such bad taste.

Yeah, there was this one girl stuffing her bra who said, "Do I over-boob?" And I thought, what in the world??

I know that tons of teens have self-esteem issues and feel inadequate, but this just felt tacky. I guess they were going for the more "teen realism" concept back twenty years ago, the whole Guns N' Roses trashed youth kinda
deal. The one thing that was so much better about the first season was that the whole sexual undertones were tongue in cheek, like a really naughty late night "girls gone bad at private school" B-movie thing that was popular in the late 70's, with just the right splash of teen humor and realness that didn't go overboard. Case in point: Remember Nancy in the first season writhing on the floor trying to fit into her jeans? Loved that part.

Nice and suggestive as well as not too far from real scenes in teens' lives.

RoryGilmore · 11-08-2007, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ABlairican Pie

Case in point: Remember Nancy in the first season writhing on the floor trying to fit into her jeans? Loved that part.

Nice and suggestive as well as not too far from real scenes in teens' lives.

Aint it the truth, I've done that plenty of times.

11-04-2007, 08:25 PM	#1
88survivor Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 03, 2006 Location: NY Posts: 1,849	The series finale(Beginning of The End & Beginning of The Beginning)..Recycled plot? Finally watched it. It has been so long since I saw it in 1988 when I was five. Was it just me or did it recycled from both "Rough Housing" and "The New Girl" quite a bit? Sure, it was easy to spot all those recognizable people like Seth Green, Juliette Lewis, among others...but were those bits almost verbatim in a way? They made Blair a Mrs. Garrett clone when it was so un-Blair like of her to do: Buy Eastland and become house mother. It didn't make a bit of sense at the end of the finale either. It really was trying to make the kids like the 1st Season kids, notice they almost use the exact same set like in the 1st Season? Identical. Mr. Mitchell is a Bradley clone...except much more dislikable and full of BS than Bradley. Am I the only that noticed this at all?

11-05-2007, 08:40 AM	#2
FOL85NatandMrsGRock The Lovable Sarah Senior Member Join Date: Nov 07, 2000 Location: Wisconsin (Same Place Charlotte's From and where That 70's Show takes place!) .... Wish I was in Mayfield USA! Posts: 1,770	No, i noticed it. I also recently watched this episode because it had also been a long time (not as long as you, because i last saw it on nick at nite). However, i remembered not being a huge fan of this episode when i first saw it and i still agree with myself. It was very similar with them trying to get a new show going, but nobody wanted to see that... especially blair of all people! i liked where she was going with the law school. I think she could have made a go for herself in that profession. The show just didn't seem worth while anymore by this point, and you could tell they were trying to scrounge up anything they could!
	__________________ Lorelai: (on the phone to Luke) So where are you anyways? Luke: I'm somewhere near if I lived here I'd shoot myself Lorelai: Oh I hear it's lovely there this time of year Gilmore Girls Eric: This guy's no good, I'm telling you, I have a 5th sense about these things! Jack: You mean a 6th sense? Eric: No, that's smell! You gotta be lucky to get that one! Boy Meets World

11-05-2007, 05:34 PM	#3
RoryGilmore Always and Forever Forum Veteran Join Date: Oct 30, 2004 Location: Wherever he is, that's where I'll be Posts: 6,529	Totally agree with you guys, I personally think the writers were desperate by this point to get something else going.
	__________________ I have died everyday, waiting for you Darling, don't be afraid, I have loved you for a thousand years I'll love you for a thousand more And all along I believed, I would find you Time has brought your heart to me, I have loved you for a thousand years I'll love you for a thousand more

11-06-2007, 03:15 PM	#6
JulieSomoski Roseanne Reboot - March 27! Forum Veteran Join Date: Nov 06, 2004 Location: Michigan Posts: 7,558	I'm with you . . . never cared for the finale at all. Actually, I thought it was one of the worst finales of all time. There was just nothing at all going on in this episode that we'd see in a normal episode, which I didn't like. Every character was going off in a different direction, yet the series was over, so we never got to see anymore about it.
	__________________ Click here to view some great articles written by my husband and I! All views are appreciated! Watch: Medium, Fridays at 9pm, on CBS! Big Bang Theory, Mondays at 9:30pm, on CBS! The Mentalist, Thursdays at 10pm, on CBS! Old Christine, Wednesdays at 8pm, on CBS! ABC's Comedy Lineup, Starting Wednesdays at 8:30pm, on ABC!

11-07-2007, 02:40 AM	#9
ABlairican Pie Member Forum Superstar Join Date: Dec 12, 2001 Location: Living where cats reign more Supreme than a pizza. Posts: 31,620	If there was one "jump-the-shark" episode of The Facts Of Life, let's be glad it was in the two-part finale. I just didn't get the whole point behind such braindead ragamuffins in that episode. I remember one of them talked like a burnout teen, none of the kids in that episode were all cute, perky, and feisty like in the first season. Boys in a co-ed Eastland: nice try, but.... And Blair as headmistress. Well, no one ever saw that coming before in previous episodes. It was like she dropped everything just to save Eastland (and prove that she had a heart of gold after all), no law school, no Casey in the picture, etc. Of course this was all part of a spinoff of Facts and was intended to give Lisa something to do (until she got settled into married, domestic life), but it did not look at all promising. It did not show a natural growth and maturity (at least in the time span suggested) of Blair to go from being college student with new responsibilities into that of being a headmistress, something more suited for someone more than twice her age and with more experience. She didn't go to college to learn anything about teaching, but got all her life lessons from Mrs. Garrett. Being a student of Eastland for all those years wouldn't necessarily equip her for the task of running Eastland. At least it suggested that Blair actually made something noble of herself and used her wealth to save an important institution, a total turnaround from her spoiled, arrogant youth.
	__________________ Release the kitties. --Nathan Explosion

11-06-2007, 09:19 AM	#4
onederboi779 Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Nov 05, 2007 Location: massachusettes Posts: 26	this actually was a good episode but it should not have been the series finale.if it was going to be the series finale they should have had the cast in more scenes.not just 5 minutes at the beginning of part 1 and 5 minutes at the end of part 2.they could have had jo tootie and natalie visit eastland helping blair set things up and have beverlyann decide to have andy become a student at eastland since blair was now in charge.if they couldnt do that then they should have at least had one more episode with the girls moving out of the house.it just felt like the casts scenes were so rushed for the final episode of the show.

11-06-2007, 02:24 PM	#5
88survivor Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 03, 2006 Location: NY Posts: 1,849	You'll notice that Andy disappears and is never mentioned again at all.

11-06-2007, 04:21 PM	#7
FOL85NatandMrsGRock The Lovable Sarah Senior Member Join Date: Nov 07, 2000 Location: Wisconsin (Same Place Charlotte's From and where That 70's Show takes place!) .... Wish I was in Mayfield USA! Posts: 1,770	Yea, i think that Mrs. G should have somehow came back and they should have had a final conclusion of everything. Becuase Jo was already married, Tootie was engaged, and Blair obviously had another following in life, that should have been the 2nd to last episode. Beverly Ann could have had another calling that she needed to leave, and the girls were planning to move out so have mrs. g come back to sell the place (or something) i dunno... it was all left to guess, Jo was a married woman and should have been out of there anyways... there's practically no mention of the shop with the last half a season and it's obvious the girls wanted to venture their seperate ways, oh well.... we can't go back in the past to fix the mistake now, all we can do is gripe about it and pretend a good ending actually took place

11-06-2007, 11:53 PM	#8
Dean Winchester Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Sep 28, 2003 Location: Louisville KY Posts: 14,803	I wish thye would've done a series finale sending everyone off on their way instead of hoping the Blair spinoff would take off and hopefully get guest appearences. I think a better finale might've had something to do with Mrs. G coming back with husband and she and Beverly Ann agree to sell the house. Then maybe Tootie ends up with a part on a major Broadway play, and maybe a newspaper or magazine loved an essay Natalie wrote and hired her on or something. Something that could've sent the show off with class and style and given all of the characters a respectable amount of time instead of being 95% Blair

11-07-2007, 03:20 AM	#10
Dean Winchester Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Sep 28, 2003 Location: Louisville KY Posts: 14,803	good assessment Ablarican. While I do think it was good that Blair got one big sendoff episode, I think maybe it should've been the penultimate episode instead of the absolute final episode (or two part finale). She could've bought Eastland, and then had one last episode where Mrs. G returns and the girls all go their separate ways. It sucks that the season 4 and 8 finales work better as "series finales" than the actual finale

11-07-2007, 09:17 AM	#11
ABlairican Pie Member Forum Superstar Join Date: Dec 12, 2001 Location: Living where cats reign more Supreme than a pizza. Posts: 31,620	It's also interesting that nothing about the final episodes were ever tied in to the Reunion movie. (Of course, the Reunion movie also could have used some improvement. I noticed that there was no major subplot involving Blair, just like 'The Facts Of Life Goes To Paris' saw her pretty much inactive, just dilly-dallying around the Parisian scene. Why was that? You'd think if anyone had some exciting stuff coming her way, it would be Blair.)

11-07-2007, 09:39 AM	#12
88survivor Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 03, 2006 Location: NY Posts: 1,849	Probably it is due to the Jo popularity back then. I love the locations in the Facts of Life Goes To Paris...it's very scenic and beautiful. I want to go there sometime. Probably I was five and I didn't understand the whole plot in the finale, but seeing it now made say that I didn't enjoy that idea at all. Was it just me or were the jokes much more sexual this time around? Sure, the early Facts of Life jokes were at other times based on sexual situation jokes, but in that finale it was done in such bad taste.

11-07-2007, 04:41 PM	#13
RoryGilmore Always and Forever Forum Veteran Join Date: Oct 30, 2004 Location: Wherever he is, that's where I'll be Posts: 6,529	Well not much left for me to say you all took the words right out of my mouth