Everwood Finale Preview: Part 2

After four seasons, WB fan favorite Everwood (Mondays at 9 pm/ET) will say its final goodbye next week (at a special time, 8 pm). In Part 1 of this Q&A, executive producer Rina Mimoun, who has worked with series creator Greg Berlanti to craft the drama since its inception, recounted this season's big twists as well as the campaign to score the show a berth on the CW network. Here, she talks to TVGuide.com about what wound up being the series finale and hints at how fans can continue to get their Everwood fix.

TVGuide.com: Reflecting on the show's fourth season, which story line has seemed to generate the most buzz with fans?
Rina Mimoun: [The relationship between] Bright and Hannah, which speaks very well to the fact that there are so many new shows coming on about cops and killers and doctors and lawyers, but I think people are really missing romance on TV, other than on Grey's Anatomy, [which has] more sex. You don't have a sweet, simple love story.

TVGuide.com: C'mon, these kids are still in high school!
Mimoun: Exactly. My personal favorite thing that we were writing this year was Ephram [Gregory Smith]. That's the character I was most attached to this year. We had come up with the theme for the year very early on, which was that if Season 1 was all about hope, this season was all about people fulfilling their ultimate destinies. Before we even started this year, everyone had been so obsessed with Ephram's baby and Ephram as a father. I never wanted to see him with that baby, because that wasn't a story line that particularly interested me. But there is something about Ephram fulfilling his destiny as a father, and if he can't do it for his own son, how can you show that?

TVGuide.com: The story line with Kyle [Steven R. McQueen] really showcased Ephram's growth.
Mimoun: I loved that story line. Gregory Smith just played every note beautifully. He's phenomenal, just amazing. That was my favorite, but I feel the audience really sparked always to the love and romance.

TVGuide.com: As fans are now aware, CW has opted not to include Everwood on its fall schedule. What was it like shooting the finale that will now serve as a final goodbye to the characters we've come to know and love over the past four years?
Mimoun: I've been with the show since the beginning and it's been my living and breathing for the last four years. I take these characters with me everywhere I go. When we sat down to come up with the [series finale, we told] the staff, "Go all the way back to the pilot, and think of anything you ever wanted to see, in case the fans from the pilot are still with us." I feel like it's very satisfying in that way. Series finales are always so hard. I'm such a huge TV fan, and whenever one of my favorite shows ends, I'm always so afraid they're going to leave stuff out. I am sure some people are going to think that we did, but I definitely feel we paid a lot of things off.

TVGuide.com: What do you personally have planned for after the series finale airs?
Mimoun: Other than going to Disneyland? [Laughs] I'm really excited about what's coming up next. I'm going to be developing with Warner Brothers and hopefully I'll have my own "created by," and then I get to talk to you about that! I promise you there will be romance, no matter what I do. Romance and teenagers always! [Last week, Mimoun joined Gilmore Girls as a consultant.]

TVGuide.com: Reflecting on the past four years, can you select a story line or particular episode that had a special meaning or significance to you?
Mimoun: You know, I love that Amy! The girl [played by Emily VanCamp] has gone through the ringer. I read on a blog that everyone thought I had brought Hannah into Everwood. I never thought that would be the perception, because everyone who knows me especially Greg knows I'm the crazy Amy person. I loved watching Amy grow, loved seeing her evolve from a boy-crazy teenager who's finally trying to form her own opinions and really become intelligent and fully formed in herself and her friendships. I wish there were more young women out there who wanted to be more like Amy and less like Tara Reid. It's hard in television to show female friendships, and it's even harder to show young girls who are smart and intellectual and care about things other than their makeup. We've got to get some rockin' ladies on TV. This is my goal in life! 

TVGuide.com: Viewers will now be able to get their daily dose of Amy and the rest of the cast since the show will soon settle into syndication on ABC Family.
Mimoun: Yes, absolutely! We are syndicated with ABC Family and they should be showing us on that network within a year. I hope they would go back to [airing] the first season, because we've had such a problem with DVDs....

TVGuide.com: That was going to be my next question will we see additional DVD releases?
Mimoun: No DVDs! I wish I could say that a huge campaign would help that, and maybe it would. I'm a huge fan of campaigning.

TVGuide.com: Fans better sharpen their pencils and get writing!
Mimoun: Focus your letters on the DVD possibilities. From a business standpoint, we didn't have a fantastic run with our first season, but we distributed them close on the heels of when we premiered. If we had a little more time to get the rabid fan base we have right now, I feel we would have a really great run with DVDs. But again, there are a lot of powers that be much higher than myself who made the decisions. I've begged and pleaded!