A bit more info on the new ending - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

New AD fan · 08-12-2005, 05:28 PM

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald...n/12318519.htm

Still no news on the date that the epilogue will actually air, but this article from the Miami Herald tells us a few more details:

1. The new epilogue contains little dialogue, and is mostly montages and music.

2. Makeup and clothing were enhanced to comport with 1969, and to make Jack and Helen look older.

3. JJ went to Berkeley to bring Meg home.

4. Chris joined the violent wing of the anti-war movement.

5. NBC actually canned the show in December and was ready to shut it down after 13 episiodes, but Prince cut a sponsorship deal with Kraft and Oreo to extend the season to 17 episodes.

PrettyinPink55 · 08-13-2005, 08:37 PM

Thank you for sharing this!

Maine AD Fan · 08-14-2005, 10:09 PM

I had to go through a registration hassle to access that article, so have copied/pasted the key section, which follows:

''It's all edited and ready to go,'' says American Dreams creator Jonathan Prince. ``All they've got to do is decide whether they want to use the 60-minute version, or the 90-minute version -- I did it both ways.''

American Dreams, which followed two middle-class families -- one black, one white -- as they were washed along by the cultural and political tidal waves that swept through the 1960s, was an instant critical success when it debuted in 2002. It was consistently NBC's highest-rated show in critics' polls, including one taken this summer after the show had already left the air.

Unfortunately, the high ratings that count most with network executives are the ones from Nielsen, and American Dreams was never better than so-so there. The show floated uneasily on the cancellation bubble every year, and once even fell through.

''Nobody knows this, but Dreams was canceled last year, just before Christmas,'' says Prince. NBC executives told him to shut down production, that they would air only the 13 episodes already completed. Prince thought it over a moment, then replied: ``I'm not OK with that.''

He wangled a promise from NBC that he could complete his scheduled 17 episodes if he could come up with advertising support for them. After some intense negotiations, Prince struck product placement deals with Kraft cheese and Oreo cookies. (The latter was particularly memorable: Without ever mentioning the cookie's name, American Dreams dad Jack Pryor and son Will had a long, funny on-screen argument about the best way to eat Oreos.)

''Through the whole thing, the scripts kept coming in, everybody showed up for work, and the actors never knew we'd been canceled,'' Prince says. ``And of course, once we got the deals with Kraft and Oreo, we weren't canceled.''

But Prince knew the show's chances to return for a fourth season were dwindling. He didn't want to shoot the last episode as a series finale -- that would be like inviting cancellation -- but he didn't want to leave fans dangling, either. So he went to Zucker and Kevin Reilly, NBC's chief programmer, with an odd request.

''I asked them for money for an extra day and a half of shooting,'' he recalls. ``I said, if the show gets canceled -- if -- we'd be able to put a satisfying conclusion on it for the fans. I think they were a little surprised, but they gave me the money.''

Prince's original plans called for Meg to spend only the first six episodes of next season in Berkeley before her Vietnam-vet brother J.J. went to rescue her. But for his secret ending, Prince altered the story. The epilogue he shot takes place in 1969, three years later.

''It was really touching,'' he says. ``We had Gail O'Grady and Tom Verica [who played Meg's parents] in updated clothes, and we used makeup to age them, so they look really different than you saw them through the run of American Dreams. I think Gail and Tom were a little weirded out by the abrupt change of their look, and they were genuinely upset because shooting this really brought home the idea that the show might be canceled.

``The result is really, really emotional -- I promise you that anyone who watches will be weeping. If there are 15 lines of dialogue in the new ending, I'd be surprised. We use a lot of pictures, a lot of music, and a lot of silences. I think silences say a lot.''

The new ending almost didn't have to be used. A letter-writing campaign by Dreams' maniacally devoted fans -- they even hired a plane to buzz NBC headquarters here, towing a banner demanding that the show return -- came tantalizingly close to success. But in the final week of preparation of NBC's fall schedule, American Dreams got the ax. Though not before Prince tried one last gambit, which he cheerfully admits was a little dirty.

With American Dreams on the bubble, its cast was given permission to audition for other shows, with the understanding that they'd have to back out of them if Dreams returned. Three actors -- O'Grady, Will Estes (who played son J.J.) and Jonathan Adams (who played Henry Walker, patriarch of Dreams' black family) -- got important roles on new series on other networks.

''Because I'm not a very nice person, I called Kevin Reilly and said, `Hey, if you pick up our show, you not only get American Dreams, but you can screw over Gail's new show on CBS and Will and Jonathan's shows on Fox,'' confesses Prince.

It didn't work. But thanks to Prince, American Dreams viewers didn't get screwed over, either.

PrettyinPink55 · 08-15-2005, 03:54 PM

Thanks so much for posting that article!

Great8 · 08-15-2005, 04:37 PM

It's heartbreaking to see that our efforts almost paid off, yet ultimately failed. Damn you, NBC execs!

Given the fact that it's now August 15, and the Fall season starts in less than 6 weeks, I'm not convinced that we're going to see the alternate ending air. It's 60-90 minutes, NBC-- surely you can give us that?

Maine AD Fan · 08-16-2005, 11:01 AM

So close and yet so far (missing out on having the series renewed). Network greed strikes again.

I hope they'll at least throw us a few crumbs and even let us see the long version of the alternate ending. Too bad Public Television hasn't picked up American Dreams. It's educational, family friendly, and wonderful all around, but probably the cost of reconstructing the sets and bringing the cast back together is prohibitive at this point.

TV Watcher · 08-28-2005, 06:55 PM

Is there anyword on when the alternate ending will air or is there plans for it to come out on DVD?

PrettyinPink55 · 08-28-2005, 06:58 PM

I haven't heard anything

08-12-2005, 05:28 PM	#1
New AD fan Frequent Poster Member Join Date: Mar 03, 2005 Posts: 79	A bit more info on the new ending http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald...n/12318519.htm Still no news on the date that the epilogue will actually air, but this article from the Miami Herald tells us a few more details: 1. The new epilogue contains little dialogue, and is mostly montages and music. 2. Makeup and clothing were enhanced to comport with 1969, and to make Jack and Helen look older. 3. JJ went to Berkeley to bring Meg home. 4. Chris joined the violent wing of the anti-war movement. 5. NBC actually canned the show in December and was ready to shut it down after 13 episiodes, but Prince cut a sponsorship deal with Kraft and Oreo to extend the season to 17 episodes.

08-13-2005, 08:37 PM	#2
PrettyinPink55 Forum Veteran The Facts of Life Join Date: Feb 11, 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 24,308	Thank you for sharing this! __________________ ♥♥♥

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08-14-2005, 10:09 PM	#3
Maine AD Fan Frequent Poster Member Join Date: May 23, 2005 Posts: 47	I had to go through a registration hassle to access that article, so have copied/pasted the key section, which follows: ''It's all edited and ready to go,'' says American Dreams creator Jonathan Prince. ``All they've got to do is decide whether they want to use the 60-minute version, or the 90-minute version -- I did it both ways.'' American Dreams, which followed two middle-class families -- one black, one white -- as they were washed along by the cultural and political tidal waves that swept through the 1960s, was an instant critical success when it debuted in 2002. It was consistently NBC's highest-rated show in critics' polls, including one taken this summer after the show had already left the air. Unfortunately, the high ratings that count most with network executives are the ones from Nielsen, and American Dreams was never better than so-so there. The show floated uneasily on the cancellation bubble every year, and once even fell through. ''Nobody knows this, but Dreams was canceled last year, just before Christmas,'' says Prince. NBC executives told him to shut down production, that they would air only the 13 episodes already completed. Prince thought it over a moment, then replied: ``I'm not OK with that.'' He wangled a promise from NBC that he could complete his scheduled 17 episodes if he could come up with advertising support for them. After some intense negotiations, Prince struck product placement deals with Kraft cheese and Oreo cookies. (The latter was particularly memorable: Without ever mentioning the cookie's name, American Dreams dad Jack Pryor and son Will had a long, funny on-screen argument about the best way to eat Oreos.) ''Through the whole thing, the scripts kept coming in, everybody showed up for work, and the actors never knew we'd been canceled,'' Prince says. ``And of course, once we got the deals with Kraft and Oreo, we weren't canceled.'' But Prince knew the show's chances to return for a fourth season were dwindling. He didn't want to shoot the last episode as a series finale -- that would be like inviting cancellation -- but he didn't want to leave fans dangling, either. So he went to Zucker and Kevin Reilly, NBC's chief programmer, with an odd request. ''I asked them for money for an extra day and a half of shooting,'' he recalls. ``I said, if the show gets canceled -- if -- we'd be able to put a satisfying conclusion on it for the fans. I think they were a little surprised, but they gave me the money.'' Prince's original plans called for Meg to spend only the first six episodes of next season in Berkeley before her Vietnam-vet brother J.J. went to rescue her. But for his secret ending, Prince altered the story. The epilogue he shot takes place in 1969, three years later. ''It was really touching,'' he says. ``We had Gail O'Grady and Tom Verica [who played Meg's parents] in updated clothes, and we used makeup to age them, so they look really different than you saw them through the run of American Dreams. I think Gail and Tom were a little weirded out by the abrupt change of their look, and they were genuinely upset because shooting this really brought home the idea that the show might be canceled. ``The result is really, really emotional -- I promise you that anyone who watches will be weeping. If there are 15 lines of dialogue in the new ending, I'd be surprised. We use a lot of pictures, a lot of music, and a lot of silences. I think silences say a lot.'' The new ending almost didn't have to be used. A letter-writing campaign by Dreams' maniacally devoted fans -- they even hired a plane to buzz NBC headquarters here, towing a banner demanding that the show return -- came tantalizingly close to success. But in the final week of preparation of NBC's fall schedule, American Dreams got the ax. Though not before Prince tried one last gambit, which he cheerfully admits was a little dirty. With American Dreams on the bubble, its cast was given permission to audition for other shows, with the understanding that they'd have to back out of them if Dreams returned. Three actors -- O'Grady, Will Estes (who played son J.J.) and Jonathan Adams (who played Henry Walker, patriarch of Dreams' black family) -- got important roles on new series on other networks. ''Because I'm not a very nice person, I called Kevin Reilly and said, `Hey, if you pick up our show, you not only get American Dreams, but you can screw over Gail's new show on CBS and Will and Jonathan's shows on Fox,'' confesses Prince. It didn't work. But thanks to Prince, American Dreams viewers didn't get screwed over, either.

08-15-2005, 03:54 PM	#4
PrettyinPink55 Forum Veteran The Facts of Life Join Date: Feb 11, 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 24,308	Thanks so much for posting that article!

08-15-2005, 04:37 PM	#5
Great8 Frequent Poster Member Join Date: Feb 07, 2005 Posts: 77	It's heartbreaking to see that our efforts almost paid off, yet ultimately failed. Damn you, NBC execs! Given the fact that it's now August 15, and the Fall season starts in less than 6 weeks, I'm not convinced that we're going to see the alternate ending air. It's 60-90 minutes, NBC-- surely you can give us that?

08-16-2005, 11:01 AM	#6
Maine AD Fan Frequent Poster Member Join Date: May 23, 2005 Posts: 47	So close and yet so far (missing out on having the series renewed). Network greed strikes again. I hope they'll at least throw us a few crumbs and even let us see the long version of the alternate ending. Too bad Public Television hasn't picked up American Dreams. It's educational, family friendly, and wonderful all around, but probably the cost of reconstructing the sets and bringing the cast back together is prohibitive at this point.

08-28-2005, 06:55 PM	#7
TV Watcher Frequent Poster Member Join Date: Aug 28, 2005 Location: NJ Posts: 57	Is there anyword on when the alternate ending will air or is there plans for it to come out on DVD?

08-28-2005, 06:58 PM	#8
PrettyinPink55 Forum Veteran The Facts of Life Join Date: Feb 11, 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 24,308	I haven't heard anything