Time for a little Pomp & Circumstance

14 Jun

In my real life I work at a place that understands celebrating accomplishments. Last night, I attended the semi-regular (i.e. occurring three times a year) graduation ceremony for those who have completed the program. It isn’t easy- more people fail or leave before they ever reach this milestone- so the celebration is important. On a personal note, I worked closely with four of the graduates over the last year and it was amazing to see them have their moment to shine. One was even valedictorian!

And this is graduation season- I can’t count the number of posts I’ve seen on facebook from friends celebrating theirs, their kids, a sibling, a parent, etc graduation (do we really need to have a ceremony for every grade? I don’t think so… personal opinion is that if we do something every year it’s like giving a trophy to every kid- even the ones who didn’t try/win). So I was inspired to make a list of graduation episodes of television. BUT… I could only come up with five episodes that stand out to me… I know there are more, so please list the ones that left a mark on you in the comments!

In the order I thought of them…

Buffy

The graduation episode of Buffy wrapped up season 3, tying up all the story threads of the season in a nice bow, with tons of glorious fights and witty comments. Apparently, FOX still has Buffy on lockdown and I couldn’t link the fabulous speech from Principal Snyder and the Mayor’s transformation into a snake…

Beverly Hills, 90210 (the original)

I remember watching 90210 up until their first year of college with my family… What I truly remember happened prior to this episode- “Donna Martin graduates!!”

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFXrLxFv2Wo]

Roswell

The series finale used the graduation ceremony as an opportunity to escape from alien hunters who were pursuing our heroes…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GoGuE-XGbo]

Smallville

In the finale episode of the series fourth season, Smallville is once again hit by a meteor shower that brings with it unfathomable alien destruction. And Clark saves people. And Lana is whiny.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW1qf9D0UX8]

Dawson’s Creek

I actually couldn’t remember this episode… except for the slightly cheesy speech from Joey.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s32Awu65neo]