I remember St. Elsewhere, and how upset people were at the series finale, which revealed that everything took place in a snow globe held by a child on the autism spectrum. What did you think, Barry?
Kathy, starting in my teenage years, my favorite TV shows were Ben Casey, M*A*S*H, and St. Elsewhere. I never missed an episode of each. If I couldn't catch an episode of M*A*S*H or St. Elsewhere because I was on duty, I would set my VCR to tape it.
I knew something odd was going to happen in the final episode of St. Elsewhere. The entire tone of that episode was strange and very final and so I wasn't surprised at the ending. The medical consultants used for the show assured correct medical content. It was entirely plausible that all that I watched over six years could have been the thoughts of that autistic child as he stared into the snow globe. And I wasn't surprised to see the St. Eligius Hospital building in the snow globe after the snowflakes settled to the bottom.
Here's the final episode in its entirety presented as best as possible on YouTube...
As you said, many viewers were disturbed by this last episode. I felt differently. This episode came at a time when the medical field was starting to better understand autism. It made for much thoughtful and meaningful discussion in the hospital.
Of the three TV series, Ben Casey was my favorite...
Vince Edwards portrayed the young, intense and idealistic neurosurgery resident to perfection. Ben Casey was my teenage hero. And I got to live that role in real life years later...
That's me as a chief resident checking the post-op orders my intern wrote as we were waiting for the patient to be extubated prior to taking him to the recovery room.