# Fuck the "Newhart" Finale. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 30, 2010, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-newhart-finale/541263 "2010-05-30T04:19:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-newhart-finale/541263/21 "2010-05-30T17:32:39Z")
You know what other show’s finale wasn’t that great? _The Osbournes: Reloaded_. Oh, and the finale was also the pilot. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-newhart-finale/541263/22 "2010-05-30T19:26:58Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > The MASH ending wasn’t that great. Then again, the MASH series wasn’t all that great, either, madly caroming as it did between sanctimonious and juvenile. I’m prepared to buy that it was groundbreaking, but jeez… Ditto–the only thing even remotely worthwhile (to me) in the MASH finale was Winchester’s goodbye. Everything else was sanctimonious, treacily twaddle. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-newhart-finale/541263/23 "2010-05-30T20:57:13Z")
Do I get points for this Pitting? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-newhart-finale/541263/24 "2010-05-30T21:02:18Z")
Know what would have made the Newhart finale even worse? Gary Oldman. No one gets more ejaculate all over him on this board than Oldman for all the circlejerks people want to be in with him. ---
**Author:** ![toofs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@toofs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toofs)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-newhart-finale/541263/25 "2010-05-30T21:49:20Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Know what would have made the Newhart finale even worse? Gary Oldman. No one gets more ejaculate all over him on this board than Oldman for all the circlejerks people want to be in with him. WTF man! Gary Oldman is off limits, dude. Newhart would have been _grand_ with Mr. Oldman. I decide who’s on the pedestal, not you. Move along now. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-newhart-finale/541263/26 "2010-05-30T23:22:05Z")
> [@toofs](#): > > 😉 See? That stuff stings when it gets in your eye. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-newhart-finale/541263/27 "2010-05-30T23:24:04Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > You know what other show’s finale wasn’t that great? _The Osbournes: Reloaded_. Oh, and the finale was also the pilot. That’s how good it was, they only needed one episode. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-newhart-finale/541263/28 "2010-05-31T04:45:20Z")
> [@3trew](#): > > I’m thinking Opus the penguin. “Well, maybe not that bad, but Lord, it wasn’t good”. Always love the _Bloom County_ references, but we should be careful, lest we inspire a pit thread about ppl who love _Bloom County_. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-newhart-finale/541263/29 "2010-05-31T05:03:33Z")
What the fuck is up with all the fucking CIRCLE JERKS in this thread??? ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-newhart-finale/541263/30 "2010-05-31T07:05:12Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Know what would have made the Newhart finale even worse? Gary Oldman. No one gets more ejaculate all over him on this board than Oldman for all the circlejerks people want to be in with him. It’s Oldman’s own fault. He was once asked who he wanted to have attending the next circle jerk… [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MrTsuvykUZk/hqdefault.jpg "The Professional -- Everyone") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrTsuvykUZk) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-newhart-finale/541263/31 "2010-05-31T07:14:24Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Seriously, how many MASH episodes featured Hawkeye developing acute but temporary psychological problems? I recall at least three: > [ul][li]He develops crippling back pain when he learns a doctor back home is successful, and Hawkeye always thought the guy was mediocre.[/li][li]He starts sleepwalking and having nightmares about his childhood.[/li][li]He start suffering flu-like symptoms stemming from a repressed memory of a childhood near-drowning.[/ul][/li]And then chickens and babies… show some originality already! What you call unoriginal, I call foreshadowing. And it’s not like, during any of those times, he actually had altered memories. The idea that what we were seeing wasn’t what happened completely surprised me. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-newhart-finale/541263/32 "2010-05-31T09:20:02Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > What you call unoriginal, I call foreshadowing. Well, what you call foreshadowing, I call recycling of hackneyed plotlines. And during the episode with the near-drowning, I recall Hawkeye describing the story differently until the true version was teased out by Freedman. That it wasn’t a long drawn-out process is a function of being a 30-minute regular episode instead of a 2.5-hour finale. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-newhart-finale/541263/33 "2010-05-31T12:49:20Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Seriously, how many MASH episodes featured Hawkeye developing acute but temporary psychological problems? I recall at least three: > ::Snip:: > And then chickens and babies… show some originality already! To be fair there were like 3,000 episodes of MASH, they were bound to repeat some stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-newhart-finale/541263/34 "2010-05-31T13:49:42Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > The MASH ending wasn’t that great. Then again, the MASH series wasn’t all that great, either, madly caroming as it did between sanctimonious and juvenile. I’m prepared to buy that it was groundbreaking, but jeez… Wasn’t even groundbreaking. It just plain, flat-out wasn’t funny. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-newhart-finale/541263/35 "2010-05-31T14:16:18Z")
> [@toofs](#): > > Newhart can eat a dick. If he’d done this on the final episode, he would have gone down in television history. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-newhart-finale/541263/36 "2010-05-31T16:36:42Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Wasn’t even groundbreaking. It just plain, flat-out wasn’t funny. In keeping with the last 6 seasons of MASH, which weren’t very funny either. When it turned into the _Alan Alda Show_, it turned to shit. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-newhart-finale/541263/37 "2010-05-31T18:36:44Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > You know what other show’s finale wasn’t that great? [_The Osbournes: Reloaded_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osbournes_reloaded). Oh, and the finale was also the pilot. Thank God for that. Could you imagine _The Osbournes: Revolutions_? On second thought, It would be pretty fun to watch Ozzy mind-meld with a Roomba[sup]TM[/sup] ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-newhart-finale/541263/38 "2010-05-31T20:02:00Z")
I agree with the OP: “It was all a dream” plots, especially in the final episode of a series, is a slap in the collective face of the audience. You spend years watching this show, investing yourself in the characters, only to find out that (within the context of the show, of course) that none of it was “real” is, imho, the writers way of saying “Fooled you, sucka’s! What a bunch of maroons!!”. I would’ve been extremely pissed to follow _Newhart_ and then to be treated with such contempt for allowing myself to become a fan. It was the biggest Fuck You in the past 20 years of TV, and even worse, _the audience bought it_. :rolleyes: Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-newhart-finale/541263/39 "2010-05-31T20:07:36Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I would’ve been extremely pissed to follow _Newhart_ and then to be treated with such contempt for allowing myself to become a fan. It was the biggest Fuck You in the past 20 years of TV, and even worse, _the audience bought it_. :rolleyes: Go figure. JohnT, if you’d been there at the time, I’d venture a guess that you wouldn’t have thought that. I’d also venture a guess that NONE of the people who watched and followed the Newhart show at the time and who saw the finale as it was broadcast thought that. Anybody who’d have said, “How dare they bring back Suzanne Pleshette as Emily Hartley?!?” would’ve been considered out of his or her mind. ---
**Author:** ![toofs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@toofs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toofs)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-newhart-finale/541263/40 "2010-05-31T21:43:57Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > If he’d done this on the final episode, he would have gone down in television history. I see what you did there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-newhart-finale/541263.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-newhart-finale/541263.md?page=3)