St. Elsewhere
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| Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name: | St. Elsewhere |
| Abbreviation(s): | |
| Creator: | Joshua Brand and John Falsey |
| Date(s): | October 26, 1982 – May 25, 1988 |
| Medium: | TV |
| Country of Origin: | USA |
| External Links: | at IMDb at Wikipedia |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series, which in its final episode caused a stir by showing that the show may have been dreamt by the autistic character Tommy Westphall, and thus, was totally a product of his imagination.[1][2][3]
According to Wikipedia: "The hospital's nickname, 'St. Elsewhere', is a slang term used in the medical field to refer to lesser-equipped hospitals that serve patients turned away by more prestigious institutions; it is also used in medical academe to refer to teaching hospitals in general."[4]
Canon
Hospital background
According to a St. Elsewhere Fan Wiki, the hospital history and daily life reflected the idea of welcoming others who might not be welcomed so warmly elsewhere:
St. Eligius was founded in 1935 by Father Joseph McCabe, a Roman Catholic priest who took on the responsibility of caring for the city's needy. In January 1956, the City of Boston bought the hospital from the church […][…]
Upon entering the facility, visitors were greeted by a white statue of St. Eligius (patron saint of artists and craftsman) which stood prominently with arms outstretched in the hospital's lobby.[5]
Two fans on the same wikia page discussed the real-life Boston location of the apartments that doubled as the exterior for the hospital in the series.[5]
Miscellaneous
Due to the friendship between producer Tom Fontana and David Simon, which started in 1980s while working as writers in the same building, St. Elsewhere canonically crossed over with both HLTOS and other shows.
Seasons five and six
The season-five finale released on May 27, 1987 and titled "Last Dance at the Wrecker's Ball" shows that all attempts to save St. Eligius from closing seem to have failed and a wrecking ball starts destroying the hospital while a frail Dr. Auschlander, stuck after a relapse, attempts to escape. This would be the final episode of the series, but a new season was scheduled and released a few months later, with the sixth being the real conclusion of the series.
The episode "A Moon For the Misbegotten", aired in September 30, 1987 brings us St. Eligius being saved (and any damage from the above-mentioned "Wrecker's Ball" repaired), but it falls under the new ownership of Ecumena Corporation, a national managed health care concern. Ecumena's choice to head Sr. Eligius, Dr. John Gideon, did not get along well with the hospital staff, especially Dr. Westphall, who, in the final scene of this episode, delivers his resignation "in terms you can understand"—by dropping his pants and exposing his bare buttocks to Gideon ("You can kiss my ass, pal").[6]
George R. R. Martin even commented on this in 1992 when interviewed by Beth Blighton about the end of Beauty and the Beast (TV) on Lionheart Exclusive Interview:
[…] A show that's a success, on the other hand, or even a marginal success, they can't plan for an ending, 'cause they never know how long it's gonna last. Like St. Elsewhere thought they were over. They filmed an ending show. You probably saw it. It ended with the big wrecking ball crashing into the hospital. And then, after they write and film the show, they said 'No, we decided to keep you around for one more year.' So they had to come back next season and begin with the wrecking ball and then suddenly someone runs up with a court order! (laughs) Because they'd saved it for another year and then they bad to write another ending show.
The new and final season then brought a dark ending that was completely different from the one envisioned in the previous season. Titled "The Last One", the episode alludes to the fact that everything that happened in the series was a product of Tommy Westphall's dream imagination. See Dream Season.
Tommy Westphall universe hypothesis
With the presentation in the final episode of the series, some theories were discussed about its meaning. One of these is the Tommy Westphall universe hypothesis, which was originally put forward by comic book and TV writer Dwayne McDuffie in a 2002 blog post,[7] as a reductio ad absurdum argument against making strong statements about fictional continuity based upon guest appearances.
The Tommy Westphall universe hypothesis makes the claim that not only does St. Elsewhere take place within Tommy's mind, but so do numerous other television series which are directly and indirectly connected to St. Elsewhere through fictional crossovers and spin-offs, resulting in a large fictional universe taking place entirely within Tommy's mind.[8][3][9]
According to one commentator in 2024:
[…] 441 shows can be tied to St. Elsewhere with varying degrees of separation, ranging from I Love Lucy to The Flash. If the theory holds, then a large chunk of television is the direct result of one child’s formidable imagination.[10]
The theory is also debated by fans of other fandoms that have a shared universe, even being used as an allegory or slang to express certain thoughts about credibility of these universes and their timeline.[11][12]
Two fans, Melbourne playwright Keith Gow, and US-based Ash Crowe, are credited with having compiled a large chart linking the affected shows, ranging from Cheers to Doctor Who.[10]
The theory and its understood universe are not confined to the world of TV programs, but also extend to fanfiction, an example being the archive AO3 where has a variety of fan stories which present themes ranging from marriage or slash to hurt/comfort and whump. One story inspired by the Tommy Westphall final scene features a crossover between the Harry Potter and St. Elsewhere universes with an almost identical ending;[13] while another combines St. Elsewhere with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to attack the multiverse.[14] Such fanworks might arguably be seen to add to the list of fictional universes that are linked to, and possibly impacted by, the Tommy Westphall universe hypothesis.
Fanworks
1984
- Errantry multifandom anthology zine
- story "Rx: Needs Starch/Permanent Press, monologues by Sheryl Adsit (100) for Errantry #2
- 'Noids n 'Droids zine of fiction, poetry, art, and articles
- Mixed Media: Introductory Chapter by Kiel Stuart (Star Trek crossed with St. Elsewhere, Hill Street Blues, etc.) (43) for 'Noids n 'Droids #5
- Mixed Media: Chapter Three by Kiel Stuart (Star Trek crossed with St. Elsewhere, Hill Street Blues, etc.) (81) for 'Noids n 'Droids #5
1985
- Rerun anthology zine edited by Lorraine Bartlett
- story "For Now and Forever" by Teresa Sarick (41) for Rerun #3
- Psychic Investigations aka. PI³ multifandom anthology zine
- story "St. Elsewhere" by Rachelle S. (Adrian St. Clair/St. Elsewhere) for PI³ #1
1989
- The Karenina Continuity Chronicles fanzine series relating the adventures of Karenina Bosov
- story "The Magic Of Modern Medicine" by Susan M. Garrett (St. Elsewhere-The Magician-Dr. Strange) At Christmas, St. Elsewhere is one hospital where miracles can happen. (24 pages) for The Karenina Continuity Chronicles #4
- Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa wrote a St. Elsewhere Spec Script in the summer of 89. A Spec Script is what one writes to show that you have talent. It's how you sell yourself. Taken from the interview for the Beauty and The Beast: The Newsletter #7 v.2 n.8
2003
- Horizontal Mosaic slash multifandom anthology zine
- Sleepless in Seattle by Elizabeth Gerber ("Physician, heal thyself.") (21) for Horizontal Mosaic #3
Archives, Communities & Resources
- St. Elsewhere category at AO3
- St. Elsewhere at TVTropes
- All Just A Dream at TVTropes
- Tommy Westphall Universe Wiki
- The Tommy Westphall Universe
- St. Elsewhere Wiki
References
- ^ Burkhead, Cynthia A. (December 2010). "Dancing Dwarfs and Talking Fish: The Narrative Functions of Television Dreams". Middle Tennessee State University. pp. 155–157.
- ^ Turner, Leslie Jackson (1996). "How Far Is Too Far?: The Evolution of Prime-Time Standards at the Broadcast Television Networks from 1970-1995". Florida State University. p. 136.
- ^ a b Gravely, Gary (August 2015). "A Multiverse of Narratives: Possible Worlds Theory and Authorship From the Lone Artist to Corporate Authors". Middle Tennessee State University. pp. 165–167.
- ^ Wikipedia. St. Elsewhere. Accessed 17 June 2024.
- ^ a b "St. Eligius Hospital – St. Elsewhere Wiki". FANDOM. Archived from the original on 2024-06-24.
- ^ ""St. Elsewhere" A Moon for the Misbegotten (TV Episode 1987) - Trivia…". IMDb. Archived from the original on 2024-06-24.
- ^ McDuffie, Dwayne (2002-01-29). "Six Degrees of St. Elsewhere". Slush Factory. Archived from the original on 2012-06-25. Retrieved 2012-06-07.
- ^ Burkhead, Cynthia (2013). Dreams in American Television Narratives: From Dallas to Buffy. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 71–72.
- ^ Thin-Pool-8025. "Dumbest take you've heard regarding the show?". r/thesopranos at Reddit. Archived from the original on 2024-06-24.
- ^ a b Rossen, Jake (2017-05-31). "The Tommy Westphall Theory of a Unified TV Universe, Explained". Mental Floss. Archived from the original on 2019-06-15. Retrieved 2024-06-24.
- ^ "The Comic Board Search results for query: Westphall". thecomicboard.com. Archived from the original on 2024-06-24.
- ^ "The Comic Board Search results for query: Tommy Westphall". thecomicboard.com. Archived from the original on 2024-06-24.
- ^ Feanoldo (2020-05-13). "St. Mungo's". AO3. Archived from the original on 2021-01-23.
- ^ Psyga315 (2019-02-12). "Shredder's Simple Solution". AO3. Archived from the original on 2024-06-24.
This page uses content originally from Wikipedia's Tommy Westphall page; Wikipedia content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0. (view page authors).
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