Despite its sensationalized title, TLC’s newest docudrama, Best Funeral Ever, is surprisingly not a monstrosity. The hourlong special (which, if popular, could produce a full series) chronicles the employees of the Dallas-based Golden Gate Funeral Home as they plan extravagant “home-going celebrations” for the dead. Unlike traditional funeral homes, Golden Gate specializes in a positive and theatrical ode to life. As owner John Beckwith Jr. says, “If [the deceased] wanted to dunk a basketball, we can make that happen.”
There’s no Weekend at Bernie’s crossover here, though. Golden Gate might decorate the casket or urn and put on a show around it, but a certain kind of dignity remains. Beckwith and his staff, all of whom have distinctive and colorful personalities (some of which are ripe for natural drama, such as when the bombastic Trendnard butts heads with cautious Eplunus), appear to genuinely want to give families of the deceased something to smile about. During the course of the hour they manage to do just that, eliciting genuine laughs and sincere emotion that can’t help but spill over to viewers … READ MORE
