This week on "Best Funeral Ever," the staff at Golden Gate put together a game show-themed funeral. The prizes included memorabilia from the deceased loved on, but the bizarre highlight of the funeral service was the grand finale. Like "Wheel of Fortune," there was a wheel to be spun. And on that wheel, was the deceased's casket.
“Uncle James, would you do us the honor of spinning the wheel and see what Tip is gonna win," the pastor said. After the spin, the wheel landed on Salvation. "Give it up for Tip," the pastor continued. "He got salvation! He got salvation, and salvation leads to eternal life!”
Crushable's Alyssa Frank thinks there's an important message underneath the more ridiculous elements. "[T]he show is still morally dubious underneath those moments of ‘aw,’ but it might change how you approach your own final arrangements, and even death itself," she wrote. "I know it has for me. Because now that I’ve seen what’s possible, I can’t possibly have a regular funeral with measly heartfelt speeches and elegant flower arrangements.”
The AV Club's Sonia Saraiya decribed it as a "mix between heartfelt and bizarre." She went on to write, "‘Best Funeral Ever’ has elements of condescension, but for TLC, it’s positively restrained...Too much sincerity would be just as hard to handle as too much cynicism. We don’t need TLC telling us how to feel and for once, it seems that the network has learned that lesson.”
"Best Funeral Ever" airs Mondays at 10 p.m. EST on TLC.
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