Best and Worst TV Series Finales Spoilers for every show ever made

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wildcpac

Banned
Now that 2 of our most beloved TV shows have ended (24 and Lost) in the past 24 hours, I thought now would be a perfect time to have a discussion on Series Finales. What TV shows have ended great and which ones have ended on whimper. This is going to be a heavy spoiler thread. All that I ask is just highlight which TV Show you are talking about before going into the spoilers. That way people can realize what it is before seeing the rest in case they haven't seen it.


My personal favorite TV Series Finale is the Wonder Years final episode. Probably because the show was one of the most realistic shows ever made that the average person could relate to while growing up. The Series ended with Daniel Stern talking about how he grew up and got married with Children. That things didn't work out with Winnie and how his father passed away several years ago leaving Wayne to take over the family business. The ending was sad but you realize that you 99.999999 do not end up with the girl you love in High School and that people who are close in your life do not live forever.
 
I'm really glad you made this. Something has been bugging me for a couple days: What TV show ended with it all being a dog's dream?

Also, I fucking hate the finale for Roseanne, where it was revealed that Dan had died, Becky was with David, etc. It just sucked. It changed a lot of stuff about the show, especially the last season or two.
 
ER had a pretty good finale last year and Arrested Development's wrapped up everything pretty nicely, but still left the possibility of a movie. Frasier's was lackluster and Seinfeld's was pretty bad. Can't remember any other shows where I've watched the finale live, and I have yet to watch the 24 finale so I'll wait until later to pass judgement.
 
Roseanne was the absolute worst. The last season was a dream season and she made it all up or some bullshit. This included them winning the lottery which was the biggest joke. The Connors were lower middle class trash which appealed to 90 percent of the country and the reason why the show was a hit. They couldn't afford their bills, they lost jobs, businesses went bankrupt, they couldn't afford kids college tuition, etc etc etc. The majority of the country were able to relate to a show where the family lived paycheck to paycheck and struggled. Roseanne also came on at the end of the 80's and the excess of that time period. Where TV Shows about Wealthy and Rich people were the top shows (Dynasty, Dallas, Falcon Crest, etc).



I never watched St Elsewhere but just reading about their series finale and you have to laugh out loud. The end of the series revealed that the hospital was set in a snow globe and was all the imagination of an Autistic Child. Way to slap your fan base in the face.
 
Scrubs was pretty good finale--season 8 finale. Didn't watch any of the season 9 shows were they tried to reboot it.

Lost I was half satisfied with. Good ending to the character arcs, but hated that the island mythos largely got tossed aside and so many seemingly key plot elements from early seasons blown off etc.

24 was ok for a season finale, not much of a series finale. But of course they're making at least one movie, so it's not the real wrap up for these characters as there's more to come.

X-Files finale sucked. Honestly don't remember much about it other than it didn't answer shit.

Can't think of any other series I watched long-term--didn't watch a lot of TV growing up, many shows I watched got canceled and didn't get real resolutions etc.

But in general, I may be done with serial tv shows. Too much time investment and seem to seldom get a good pay off as they get canceled and have rushed endings, or the writers just can't wrap it all up etc. May stick with movies and books from here on, once I finish up the few shows I've been watching that are still on (Weeds, Dexter, Desperate Housewives and V).
 
There are a bunch of good shows that I miss and wish were still on, but just ended.

Green Wing (UK, like Scrubs without the FAIL)
Generation Kill
Flight of the Conchords (I'm assuming that's it)
Life
Coupling (UK)

I think like Dmaul I'm done with Serial TV Shows...

I can't think of any "old" shows that I can remember the ending. Barely remember Wonder Years.
 
[quote name='BoSoxFan900']Forgot to mention:

The finale for The Shield was absolutely fantastic. I literally don't think it could have been any better.[/QUOTE]

Vic screwing over everybody and ending up with a desk job for the rest of his life.
 
[quote name='wildcpac']Roseanne was the absolute worst. The last season was a dream season and she made it all up or some bullshit. This included them winning the lottery which was the biggest joke. The Connors were lower middle class trash which appealed to 90 percent of the country and the reason why the show was a hit. They couldn't afford their bills, they lost jobs, businesses went bankrupt, they couldn't afford kids college tuition, etc etc etc. The majority of the country were able to relate to a show where the family lived paycheck to paycheck and struggled. Roseanne also came on at the end of the 80's and the excess of that time period. Where TV Shows about Wealthy and Rich people were the top shows (Dynasty, Dallas, Falcon Crest, etc).

[/QUOTE]

I really enjoyed how Roseanne ended. I didn't like some of the last episodes, but I got the point at the end, the whole show from the time she got her office in the basement on was all just a story, trying to make her life more interesting, if her kids made choices she didn't like, she changed it, and when Dan died, she made them all millionaires so she could cope with the grief. I think she was brilliant for writing it all in, while sad, to me it completed the series better than most shows do now.
 
I wish I could make a post about my name is earl and how I loved or hated the finale but I can't because the jerks canned the show. That goes along with any other show that I liked and usually gets canned.
 
The Wire is my fav show of all time, but the last season was the weakest by far. The ending provided closure but was not great by any stretch of the imagination. I have yet to watch any of "Six Feet Under" but the finale for that was supposely awesome.
 
[quote name='BoSoxFan900']I'm really glad you made this. Something has been bugging me for a couple days: What TV show ended with it all being a dog's dream?
[/QUOTE]

Oh, that's ringing a bell. Was it Mary Tyler Moore or an older comedy like that maybe?
 
[quote name='keithp']Oh, that's ringing a bell. Was it Mary Tyler Moore or an older comedy like that maybe?[/QUOTE]
An old comedy sounds right, but I don't think it was MTM. It's bugging the crap out of me.
 
[quote name='BoSoxFan900']An old comedy sounds right, but I don't think it was MTM. It's bugging the crap out of me.[/QUOTE]



Well it wasn't on any list I saw. Bob Newhart's second show was all a dream sequence of his first show.
 
Good: Any show that had a series finale, even if it sucked.

Bad: Not even having a series finale, just a cliffhanger. (fuck you tv networks)
 
I always admired the Larry Sanders finale. It struck the right balance between staying true to the show's tone yet indulging in maudlin finale BS. The last scene with Artie, Larry, and Hank just showed how strong the show's core was.

Also, the sendoff for Star Trek TNG was a classic. Where LOST ditched the sci-fi element and went mostly for character exposition, TNG sent us out with a fun sci-fi twist in intersecting realities that pulled many elements of the show together AND gave us one last moment with the characters we'd known so well. "Five card stud, nothing wild, the sky's the limit," is probably one of the sweetest, most sincere last lines ever. What a great way to go out.

On the subject of bad finales, I'd say Deadwood's was very poor in light of the high mark the show set in Seasons 1 and 2. Granted, the finale wasn't exactly planned, but the show deserved much, much better. It's a shame, because that last shot of Al scrubbing out the blood on the floor could've carried a lot more weight, given the right context.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Just stumbled across this---list of 20 greatest finales of all time on Entertainment Weekly.

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20387623,00.html[/QUOTE]

Thanks for that! I just read it. I had forgotten how good the ending to Newhart was, THAT was clever writing. I knew Cheers would be up there. I wasn't fond of Seinfield's ending, but I had grown tired of the show in the later years when all of the characters were nothing more than caricatures of themselves, especially George.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']
But in general, I may be done with serial tv shows. Too much time investment and seem to seldom get a good pay off as they get canceled and have rushed endings, or the writers just can't wrap it all up etc. May stick with movies and books from here on, once I finish up the few shows I've been watching that are still on (Weeds, Dexter, Desperate Housewives and V).[/QUOTE]


After a bit more thought I'll amend that slightly.

I think I'm done with watching serial dramas live. If I watch another it will be on DVD/Bluray/Netflix streaming etc. when it's all done and I hear from friends that it's great start to finish and worth a watch.

Otherwise I'll stick to shows that stand alone episode to episode--or at least year to year with wrapping up a new main plot each year.

As I said of Lost, serial dramas too often end up like banging a hot chick for a really long time, and having it end right when you're about to blow your load and being stuck with blue balls for eternity!

Lots of build up, no satisfy climax--be it because of cancellation or just hating how the writers end it.
 
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Good with little to No explanation:
1) Arrested Development
2) Buffy
3) Angel
4) Newhart- Classic.
5)St. Elsewhere. A mindfuck ending that technically still has impact on TV shows on now.
6)Star Trek:TNG
7)JLU
8) Scrubs.
9) The Fugitive- Watched it when the movie came out and it was great years later.

Worst Endings:

1) My name is Earl- Not their fault, I hate ending on a chiffhanger
2)Seinfeld.
3) Roseanne- Sucked ass.
 
ST:TNG did have a good ending, DS9's ending was ok, Voyager's sucked i thought, Enterprise's was the worst.

I hated X-Files' ending, but then that show had been horrible since Duchovny left.
 
Married With Children never getting a series finale pisses me off the most. It was one of the top 4 Fox TV shows for a decade plus and gets treated like garbage in the end.
 
[quote name='wildcpac']Married With Children never getting a series finale pisses me off the most. It was one of the top 4 Fox TV shows for a decade plus and gets treated like garbage in the end.[/QUOTE]

I want to say there was a finale. Kelly was getting married, but ended up ditching the groom.
 
[quote name='wildcpac']Married With Children never getting a series finale pisses me off the most. It was one of the top 4 Fox TV shows for a decade plus and gets treated like garbage in the end.[/QUOTE]

It may not have been the series finale, but I remember they had an episode where it was all a dream inside Buck the dogs head.
 
[quote name='Tony208']

Bad: Not even having a series finale, just a cliffhanger. (fuck you tv networks)[/QUOTE]

The worst ending I've seen was The Riches, the FX show with Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver. It was cancelled when they'd only filmed half of the second season due to the writer's strike. It ended right in the middle of a plot, it wasn't even a cliffhanger, it was when things were starting to get in motion and then...bye bye.

And a special mention of lameness goes to Prison Break for not airing the real ending, instead putting it out on DVD only so you have to pay to see the last part of something that's been free for four years.

I agree with The Shield, best finale I've ever seen. Devastating to the very end.
 
[quote name='Scorch']Really? No mention of Freaks and Geeks for worst?[/QUOTE]

Was there an actual "finale"? I don't recall one. I just recall a quick cancellation and only one season with 18 episodes.
 
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Season 2 finale and eventually the series finale was the best. Season 2 was a slow cooker but the ending was amazing and jaw dropping! The show was very intelligent and surpassed anything I have seen for any sci-fi shows, this include Battlestar Galactica, Lost, etc. Season 3 would have owned all tv shows ever made.
 
[quote name='JolietJake']They're wrong about Frasier, he left for a job in San Fransisco, not Chicago.[/QUOTE]

It says he ended up going to Chicago to be with his love interest. He did.
 
[quote name='blueweltall']Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Season 2 finale and eventually the series finale was the best. Season 2 was a slow cooker but the ending was amazing and jaw dropping! The show was very intelligent and surpassed anything I have seen for any sci-fi shows, this include Battlestar Galactica, Lost, etc. Season 3 would have owned all tv shows ever made.[/QUOTE]

I had forgotten about that one. Thanks for reminding me how much I hate Fox!
 
[quote name='crushtopher']Was there an actual "finale"? I don't recall one. I just recall a quick cancellation and only one season with 18 episodes.[/QUOTE]

I do not believe the show was given a proper finale. All I remember is that the Lindsay lied to the parents about what she was doing for the summer and was really following The Greatful Dead around.

IMDB list the last episode #18 being shown during the summer of 2000. NBC showed the season out of order according to IMDB where episodes 14 and 15 where shown in October of 2000.
 
[quote name='Matt Young']It says he ended up going to Chicago to be with his love interest. He did.[/QUOTE]
Maybe i need to watch it again, but I know that at least at one point he decided to take the job in San Fransisco.

edit- IMDB does say he ended up in Chicago, guess I don't remember that part. That whole ending seemed rushed to me anyway.
 
[quote name='VipFREAK']There are a bunch of good shows that I miss and wish were still on, but just ended.
Coupling (UK)[/QUOTE]

The whole last season blew ass though. They replaced the best character on the show with some douchebag.
 
[quote name='wildcpac']Vic screwing over everybody and ending up with a desk job for the rest of his life.[/QUOTE]

That is the worst explanation I have ever read of that finale and totally misses how the show ended.
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']The whole last season blew ass though. They replaced the best character on the show with some douchebag.[/QUOTE]

Yeah... It did suck. It wasn't the same. Good thing the whole show didn't suck as much as the US version though.
 
can you really count shows that just end because they get canceled?

I say no, they didn't write an ending, so how can it be called one?

Just be mad the show ended without being properly written as such.

Reaper was my favorite new show 3 years ago, and it ended on a cliffhanger because they didn't know it was canceled at the time... how can I call it bad? they had no shot.
 
I gotta agree with the OP with the Wonder Years
My absolute favorite show of all time. It was very believable. The ending was bittersweet. They REALLY need to put that on DVD.
 
[quote name='myl0r']I gotta agree with the OP with the Wonder Years
My absolute favorite show of all time. It was very believable. The ending was bittersweet. They REALLY need to put that on DVD.[/QUOTE]

Not going to happen. Especially with all of the licensed music played every single show. Sucks that the show started a good 10 years before people thought of putting TV Shows on Video and before DVD was around. That way the contracts would have been worked out/agreed upon.
 
[quote name='wildcpac']Not going to happen. Especially with all of the licensed music played every single show. Sucks that the show started a good 10 years before people thought of putting TV Shows on Video and before DVD was around. That way the contracts would have been worked out/agreed upon.[/QUOTE]

This is supposedly the same problem that Larry Sanders has encountered. It's a shame.

Also, back on topic, no one's mentioned the BSG finale, not that I'd expect them to, but I think that it was a fitting end to a great show. It was plagued by some of the challenges LOST faced, but unlike LOST, BSG never worked hard to explain the mystical elements on the show. So much was taken for granted through its run that to chalk up things to mysticism in the end wasn't a big deal for me.
 
[quote name='dothog']
Also, back on topic, no one's mentioned the BSG finale, not that I'd expect them to, but I think that it was a fitting end to a great show. It was plagued by some of the challenges LOST faced, but unlike LOST, BSG never worked hard to explain the mystical elements on the show. So much was taken for granted through its run that to chalk up things to mysticism in the end wasn't a big deal for me.[/QUOTE]

It was a fitting ending, but I still don't think it was a particularly good Finale. Unlike Lost where they really built up to the finale, BSG's felt incredibly rushed.

The example I always go back to for this is that when everyone is saying goodbye to their loved ones at the end, there is no final scene between Adama and Tigh. To me their friendship was central to the show, and certainly a driving point to a lot of the drama of the last season, and they never shared a final scene together. That wasn't the only example of the fact that it seemed they were just trying to fit it all in and wrap things up. It was lazy writing.

I guess overall I'd say the ending (post final battle) felt "tacked on". Although it's worthy both for the final scene of Baltar and Six (also known as my avatar) which was one of the most poignant moments on the show; and for the last shot of Adama on the ridge, both were beautiful.


My favorite finale ever was definitely Scrubs. And like a previous poster, I mean the Season 8 finale, which was the real ending of the show before this year's dumb re-boot. It wrapped everything up perfectly and was just wonderful for all characters involved, about as good as a comedy finale could be.
 
[quote name='bvharris']
I guess overall I'd say the ending (post final battle) felt "tacked on". Although it's worthy both for the final scene of Baltar and Six (also known as my avatar) which was one of the most poignant moments on the show; and for the last shot of Adama on the ridge, both were beautiful.
[/QUOTE]
What felt "tacked on" to me was the sequence in the modern day with Baltar and Six and the gratuitous shot of the robots on TV. That was a step too far -- maybe even a full leap too far. However, I think the landing and the denouement was something the writers always wanted, and there was no avoiding it, really. People love that kind of maudlin BS in finales, so I don't hold that against the episode.

I am by no means a staunch defender of the BSG finale. Given how vocal the backlash was on the internet, I know that I liked it more than others. While it's certainly not one of my favorites, I did admire that the BSG writers used that final season (or final half-seasons) and finale to address some big questions for the audience. As much flak as BSG took for its finale, the writers attempted to cater to their audience yet fit the writers' ultimate vision as best they could, which is at least the start of a good -- maybe not great -- finale.
 
That last part didn't even happen as far as I'm concerned. BSG for me ended with the beautiful shot of Adama on the ridge and his voiceover.

I have no problem with the rest of the ending other than that they half-assed it. To spend half an hour saying goodbye to the characters and not have Adama and Tigh even acknowledge each other was pretty inexcusable to me. Other than that, it worked pretty well. Though in terms of answering questions, they never gave a clear explanation of what was going on with Starbuck.

I agree with you that it wasn't as bad as some of the backlash, and I probably liked it more than most as well. But I wish it had done more.
 
Best: The Shield, hands down. Even as a fan of The Wire, Season 7 of the Shield surpassed most seasons of David Simon's opus. It was magnificently done. The writing, acting, tension, and progressive build-up of 7 years of corruption.

Worst: Full House--Michelle falls off a fucking horse?
 
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