TLC Is Actually Releasing A Funeral Reality Show Called Best Funeral Ever
Another show on TLC’s late December/ early January roster is its examination of funerals in the Dallas, Texas area.
Apparently, funerals are something else that need to be documented, edited, sensationalised, and competitive to be the “best.” Hence the name of the show, Best Funeral Ever. The show is about the Golden Gate Funeral Home in Dallas and its so-called “home-goings” (the inverse of homecomings).
According to CNN, the idea of the show is to ”craft a funeral service that incorporates the deceased person’s job, passions or interests. If you really enjoyed the holidays, your funeral could be Christmas-themed with elves, snow and reindeer, like one of the services that will be featured during TLC’s special.”
As Golden Gate’s John Beckwith Jr. explained in a statement, “A home-going is much different than a funeral, it’s a celebration. The Golden Gate experience is our version of the traditional African-American home-going celebration. We do not produce generic funerals; everybody’s experience has to be different.” Here’s a teaser, the show will premiere December 26 at 8 p.m. ET.
“A funeral is something that most people perceive as sad and time of mourning and these guys flip that notion it on its head,” Best Funeral Ever executive producer Mike Kane told The New York Daily News.
“These guys” would be the funeral directors at the Golden Gate Funeral Home who are know for their bizarre and elaborate final send offs.
Among the most memorable memorials the show digs up are a doo-wop singer known for a rib sauce jingle who is buried in a man-sized meat smoker at a barbeque-themed funeral and a guy described as a “disco-dancing machine” is sent off with a foot-tapping ceremony complete with a smoke machine.
“If they want to dunk a basketball, GGFH can make them happen, If they want to jump out of an airplane GGFH can make that happen,” says Golden Gate CEO John Beckwith Jr., who prefers to use the term “home-going” to “funeral.”
Other wild wakes include a boxing fanatic whose silk-short wearing pall bearers carry his casket into a boxing ring and a person who loved Christmas so much, his funeral comes complete with a Santa, elves, and live reindeer. Then the casket arrives at the service on a big, red sled.
“These people really opened up their business to us,” said [executive producer] Kane. “They cater to family’s needs, and it’s not just a circus, they take what is usually a day of mourning and turn it into the family’s happiest day.” – via The New York Daily News.