Going to America

"Going to America"
Father Ted episode
Episode no. Series 3
Episode 8
Directed by Graham Linehan, Andy de Emmony
Written by Arthur Mathews, Graham Linehan
Original air date 1 May 1998
Guest appearance(s)

Tommy Tiernan (Fr. Kevin),
Jeff Harding (Fr. Buzz Cagney),
Mark Doherty (Fr. Alan),
Hugh B. O'Brien (Eugene),
Brian Eno (Fr. Brian Eno)

"Going to America" is the final episode of the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted. It is the eighth episode of the third series and the 25th episode overall. The show's star Dermot Morgan died the day after filming was completed.

Synopsis

Father Kevin falls victim to depression.

After Ted prevents a depressed Father Kevin (Tommy Tiernan) from jumping to his death at the "It's Great Being a Priest" conference, an American priest, Father Buzz Cagney (Jeff Harding), asks him if he will come to a parish in Los Angeles. Ted cannot wait and excitedly tells Jack, Dougal and Mrs. Doyle, who incorrectly think they will be able to come with him. Ted does not have the heart to tell them otherwise and brings them to the airport, leaving them there while he gets on the plane. However, Ted has second thoughts when Buzz mentions the gang culture around Ted's new parish in Los Angeles and its violent state. Realising he is in serious trouble, Ted abandons going on his trip and rejoins Jack, Dougal and Mrs Doyle. It transpires that the three of them never wanted to go to the States anyway, with the possible exception of Jack, who yells 'Feck!' when he learns of what has gone wrong, though the promise of a drink cheers him up. The group leaves the airport and heads for home, and Ted resigns himself to the fact he is probably never going to escape Craggy Island.

Alternate ending

The episode was always intended to be the last Father Ted; in the original script, the last scene was to be set at the "It's Still Great Being a Priest" conference with Father Kevin once again on the window ledge and once again Ted arriving on the ledge, except this time it is not to stop him from jumping but to join him, because he was depressed that the intended trip to America fell through and he would have to stay on Craggy Island forever. This ending was abandoned in favour of a montage of clips from all three series of the show, although this was not (as believed) because of the death of Dermot Morgan. Rather, the writers did not think that their original ending was very funny.

The episode was filmed on 27 February 1998, the day before Morgan died.

Production

This episode does not normally contain a credits sequence at the end, as it is replaced by the clips montage. The episode's guest cast is listed alongside the lead actors in the opening credits.

While filming the scene in which Ted dances to "Theme from Shaft," Tommy Tiernan continually flubbed his lines. As a result, Dermot Morgan was required to perform the dance repeatedly, despite pains in his heart. In a 2009 interview, Tiernan speculated that this contributed to Morgan's fatal heart attack the following day.[1]

Montage clips

A clip is shown from each episode, in reverse order of airdate.

The final shot is an exterior view of the parochial house. Ted and Dougal say goodnight to each other and the light in their bedroom is switched off.

Trivia

  • Father Kevin is cured of his depression by listening to a cover of Issac Hayes' "Theme from Shaft" by Eddie & the Soul Band, before falling back into depression by the song "Exit Music (For a Film)" by Radiohead.
  • Brian Eno makes a brief cameo appearance in the episode as Father Brian Eno. Linehan has claimed that the idea came as "we used to see him around Kilburn wearing a fez."[2]
  • When Ted discusses a fictional Harrison Ford film with Dougal, the details mentioned are identical to those of Firestorm, a fictional film previously described by characters in the American sitcom Seinfeld.

References

  1. ↑ Tyaransen, Olaf (28 September 2009). "TOMMY TIERNAN IN THE CHAT ROOM". hotpress.com. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  2. ↑ Linehan, Graham. "Twitter post". Twitter. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
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