Best Funeral Ever Special To Air On TLC

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The title of TLC's one-hour special Best Funeral Ever should give you some indication that the funerals featured won't be your typical sad day of grief and mourning. The one-hour special is set to air later this month and will give us a look inside a Dallas funeral home where some very unique funeral services are arranged.

Best Funeral Ever is set to air Wednesday, December 26th and will feature three funerals at the Golden Gate Funeral Home in Dallas. Run by John Beckwith Jr, the funeral home organizes "home-going celebrations."

“A home-going is much different than a funeral, it’s a celebration," explains John Beckwith, Jr. 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.”

Not generic may be an understatement. Here's a preview of the special…

We can watch the trailer and think that these funerals are the most unusual send-offs some of us have ever seen. We might even find it weird or funny that people might veer far away from a more "traditional" funeral. But reading a bit about the three funerals featured in this specials, I kind of get it.

One is for a former doo-wop singer who was known for a rib sauce jingle. He has a barbecue-themed service, which features live pigs, praise dancers and a barbecue sauce fountain for a ceremonial rib-dip by his loved ones as a way of saying goodbye.

Another of the featured funerals involves a man whose disability kept him from being able to ride roller coasters. His home-going ceremony has a State-Fair theme to it. And the third is a Christmas-inspired funeral because the deceased man was fond of the holiday. So it seems these send-offs are unique celebrations of the people's lives and a way for their loved ones to say goodbye in an unforgettable way.

Best Funeral Ever premieres Wednesday, December 26th at 8/7c on TLC.

Kelly West
Assistant Managing Editor

Kelly joined CinemaBlend as a freelance TV news writer in 2006 and went on to serve as the site’s TV Editor before moving over to other roles on the site. At present, she’s an Assistant Managing Editor who spends much of her time brainstorming and editing feature content on the site. She an expert in all things Harry Potter, books from a variety of genres (sci-fi, mystery, horror, YA, drama, romance -- anything with a great story and interesting characters.), watching Big Brother, frequently rewatching The Office, listening to Taylor Swift, and playing The Sims.