With all the talk of finales lately, it got me to thinking about other shows that I enjoy and how they might end. I’d love to hear your predictions for how various series will sign off the air.
I for one, would love for “The Office” fast forward into the future a bit to see what all of our favorite Dunder-Mifflin employees are up to twenty years from now.
I think it would be satisfying to have the in-show “documentary” actually have a release of some sort in the show’s world, and for the doc-crew to do a “where are they now” follow up.
How about some other predictions… “30 Rock,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Breaking Bad,” “Mad Men,” etc… How will they all end?
We’ve already seen “future glimpses” (however tongue-in-cheek) of Lisa becoming President of the United States, and of Bart being Chief Justics of the Supreme Court. Show the Simpson children in those roles and top it off, have Maggie as (ironically titled) Speaker of the House - but still mute on screen (similar to the running joke in the “Lisa’s Wedding” episode).
But in all seriousness, I imagine the mother will be someone introduced in the last season, Ted will date her for maybe an episode or two, then they’ll break up (making us think she wasn’t the mother), and then after that, he’ll find out that she was the girl who owned the yellow umbrella, and was in that econ class he started to teach by accident, and was the roommate of the girl he dated, but everything Ted thought he liked about her was because of said roommate.
It will then end with Bob Saget saying,
“And that, kids, is the true story of how I met your mother.” while the scene fades to Ted and the mother’s wedding, ending with Ted and/or the mother saying “I do.”
I think the series will end with us finding out that the kids have been watching a video that Ted made for them before he passed away. We’ll find out who the mother was. We will see a summary of their wonderful, happy life together before Ted finds out that he is sick and then we will see him sit down and record a video for his children detailing how he met their mother through stories of his past that will also offer them valuable life lessons.
My actual prediction for The Office: Dunder Mifflin Scranton is finally shuttered (maybe at the end of the penultimate episode). The show flashes forward to catch up with the employees a few months later, and it’s revealed that everybody now has a much more fulfilling life informed by their experiences at Dunder Mifflin: Stanley is retired comfortably somehow, Jim is a sales manager for ThinkGeek, Pam works at a museum somehow, Meredith is a bartender at a strip joint, Ryan has a startup IPO bought for millions but is bankrupted again by the end of the episode, etc. Dwight is probably eaten by a bear. The show ends with a scene where Jim is leading a meeting with vaguely Michael-ish schtick, but it’s clear his employees actually benefit from it.
I like this idea, but I’m pretty sure the kids used to interact with the narrator in the first few seasons (now all the clips of the kids are stock footage, since the actors are too old to play their former roles).
(plus, the kids always look bored and annoyed, which would make them kinda dicks if they were watching their dead fathers final video)
For House, I think after a string of cases that have been disappointingly easy to diagnose, the good doctor opts out of the clockwork universe via suicide.
I think it would be hilarious if HIMYM ended with the revelation that the whole thing is just some crazy drunk guy (played by Bob Saget) bothering the real Ted’s kid while at a party at Ted’s house, and they’re just humoring him. Why else would Ted the narrator sound so different from Ted the character? It’s not like Ted’s got puberty coming up like Kevin on the Wonder Years could use as an excuse (at least early on).
