Tom Fontana & the St. Elsewhere Snow Globe
Tom Fontana recently gave an interview to The Paley Center for Media in which he talks about the infamous snow globe ending to St. Elsewhere (which was 30 years ago, YIKES). It's a good read if you watched the show, or even if you simply enjoy Fontana's works:
Tom Fontana and the "St. Elsewhere" Snow Globe Series Finale
Apparently, Tom still has the snow globe they used. :)
There were a couple of things in particular that made me LOL:
DB: So let’s finally talk about the ending ending. Was that idea traceable to one person, the whole snow globe and Tommy Westphall concept?
TF: I don’t want to sound like I’m boasting, but I think it was my idea.
Oh, Tom, I'm pretty sure no one will think it sounds like you're boasting. :D
BUT THERE WAS ALSO THIS:
DB: Did you expect the kind of feedback that you got?
TF: No, it was a real lesson for me. I figured the people who watch this show know we do this kind of thing. I would say fifty-percent of the reaction we got was extremely angry. And it was a real lesson to me, given that it was my first series, how much people care, how much the audience cares about these characters that they lived with.
I don't think he learned that lesson well enough, considering what he did on Oz 15 years later!
Being reminded of how he ended St. Elsewhere, coupled with what he did on Oz, makes me really, really nervous for watching the series finale for Homicide. (Which is still a couple of seasons away, but I'm beginning to feel like I should start preparing myself NOW.)
Tom Fontana and the "St. Elsewhere" Snow Globe Series Finale
Apparently, Tom still has the snow globe they used. :)
There were a couple of things in particular that made me LOL:
DB: So let’s finally talk about the ending ending. Was that idea traceable to one person, the whole snow globe and Tommy Westphall concept?
TF: I don’t want to sound like I’m boasting, but I think it was my idea.
Oh, Tom, I'm pretty sure no one will think it sounds like you're boasting. :D
BUT THERE WAS ALSO THIS:
DB: Did you expect the kind of feedback that you got?
TF: No, it was a real lesson for me. I figured the people who watch this show know we do this kind of thing. I would say fifty-percent of the reaction we got was extremely angry. And it was a real lesson to me, given that it was my first series, how much people care, how much the audience cares about these characters that they lived with.
I don't think he learned that lesson well enough, considering what he did on Oz 15 years later!
Being reminded of how he ended St. Elsewhere, coupled with what he did on Oz, makes me really, really nervous for watching the series finale for Homicide. (Which is still a couple of seasons away, but I'm beginning to feel like I should start preparing myself NOW.)