Best and Worst TV Series finales.

[Kay]

I searched but couldn't find another thread like this.

What are the worst series finales or the best in your opinion?

Worst for me is Seinfeld. Nothing could be as bad. Poorly written and just a huge mistake to have the characters all go on trial and then to jail. It ruined the whole show.


Best so far for me is Six Feet Under. It was sad and beautiful at the same time. We saw how everyone died in the future and the last shot of a very old Claire dying surrounded by all the pictures was beautiful.

St. Elsewhere is a close second. I was young when it ended so I don't remember a whole lot about the series but I do remember the end. The whole show and all the characters were all in the mind and imagination of the kid and his snowglobe of a hospital.

[ysolde]

Kay
Worst: Seinfeld. Totally ruined one of the best shows on television.

Best: SFU. It made me think for days, weeks, about the frailty of human life, my own death (I think I am about the same age as Brenda), and how each character died as they had lived.

[ginastorm]

Good question!

I really liked the final episode of "The Wonder Years". You knew what happened to each character. I hate endings that leave you hanging and I felt like TWY really tried to tie up all loose ends.

Worst: Any show that gets the axe after the season finale airs. Those kind of endings are bad because the writers thought that the show would be coming back in the fall, so everything is up in the air.

[greenbunny]

Worst: Angel. They killed off all the lovable characters in a pointless battle that accomplished nothing, then had the rest of them go kamikaze in what I assume was intended to imply the group's destruction. For years they had this big mission, then just tossed it all away. Plus, it was beyond pathetic that they wrapped up the Buffy love triangle in an episode that only showed a random blonde extra shaking her butt in a club with her back turned.

[kris97]

I was just going to say the Wonder Years for the best, Gina!

I also enjoyed Friends and - I know this is unpopular - Seinfeld.

Also, Cheers was great.

On the other hand, I was really annoyed at the Sopranos.

[SweetRed]

I am going to sound so old school, but besides a few already mentioned, I loved M*A*S*H and Newhart. I also loved Arrested Development's finale, even though I wish it would've gone on another 6 or 7 seasons.

Ditto hating the Seinfeld finale. I also hated St. Elsewhere's finale.

No, I'm really not THAT old. I just like "older" TV :)

[ambula704]

I loved Friends and Sex and the City...I thought they both did a good job of rounding out the story lines and leaving you feeling happy about the whole series...

I hated the finale for Roseanne...it was clever but just made me confused and didnt really make sense.

[msnicolea]

The best EVER: MASH

I know a lot of people will say they hated Seinfeld's, but I liked it--so totally different and anti-climatic, just like the show!

I LOVED the Six Feet Under finale--one of my all-time favorites!
Side Question--what is the song playing while Claire drives away in the car--it's so beautiful!

Others I liked:
Cheers
Friends
SATC

I just like happy endings (get your minds out fo the gutter)!

[diam124]

Best - Definitely Six Feet Under - I think I watched the final scene about 15 times. Loved it. (The song is Sia's Breathe Me and although I love it, I associate it with death because of this show so it makes me sad!)

Worst - Without a doubt, Sopranos.

[msnicolea]

Thanks!

[meatpie]

Best - M*A*S*H and Cheers

Worst - Sex and the City. I hated that they had the creepy Russian hit her accidentally. C'mon!! They were not made for each other. Just break up. Why all the drama? Big/John - who cares. But I did love the Samantha storyline with the young actor, and that Charlotte got a baby. I mostly hated the female characters in that show anyway. I watched it for one-ball Steve, Harry, and Aiden.

[houseblend]

I agree with SweetRed - Newhart was one of the best series finales. Who's the Boss was good as well.

Worst - Seventh Heaven (er, the first one - does it count if they change their mind after the fact? :rolleyes: ; didn't manage to catch the second one). I also didn't care for the ending of Dawson's Creek. (And I honestly do move on to watch shows in my own age group :D ....just most had more neutral endings.)

[ginadc]

I'm so handicapped here because I never watched SFU or Seinfeld!

I actually hated the MASH finale. They just spent so much time on Hawkeye's breakdown that I felt like they neglected a lot of what the wrap-up should have been. It didn't work for me.

I actually liked the Angel finale. I was saddened by Wesley's death but, let's face it, he was heading there for quite awhile. I thought they left things a little open with the ending--sure, it looked like they were outnumbered by the legions of hell and Gunn only had a few minutes before bleeding out, but didn't it often look like that? I just loved Angel's "Personally, I wanna slay the dragon" line. Classic.

And in that same vein, while I wasn't totally in love with the Buffy finale, I thought it was pretty good. Activating all the Slayers at the same time was way cool (loved the little girl playing baseball), and I was thrilled that they found a way to let Buffy live and have a (semi) normal life.

[Adaya]

Best: Cosby Show

Worst: Can't think of one yet. Will come back when I do.

[kugrrly]

Best
Cheers
Six Feet Under
Sex and the City
Friends

Worst
Seinfeld
Full House (I caught it while I was taking care of kids)
Roseanne

Still debating the Sopranos episdoe. I was irked right after, but after I thought about it I did not hate it as much.

[MichelleRenee]

Best: Friends. Ross and Rachel belonged together!

Worst: Dawson's Creek. Joey and Dawson belonged together!!

[Aimee]

Arrested Development is one of the best. I was sad to see the show end, but, what an ending. I was totally "satisfied and smiling" (that's what she said) with the way they ended it. Everything got wrapped up.

Seventh Heaven is definitely one of the worst. I saw last year's "finale" and only read the spoliers on the real one. Wow, what a sap-fest.

[greenbunny]

OT: I've never seen SFU, but I just downloaded the song you guys mentioned and love it. Thanks!

gina, I can see your point about the somewhat inevitable nature of Angel...but I'm still pissed at Joss for killing Fred. I can't stand how he keeps offing the only good, pure characters. He already did it once with Tara, and to do it again really bit the big one.

[CindyLouWho]

Best: St. Elsewhere, Newhart, SATC
Worst: Seinfeld

[Kay]

I forgot about Newhart. That was a good one too.
The Wonder Years!!! That was such a nice ending too.

Six Feet Under is still the best I have ever seen. I still think about it from time to time. Thanks for asking what song that was at the end, I meant to find out and never did.

I cannot think of anyone I really hated besides Seinfeld. There are some that are better than others but no one that I hated more than Seinfeld. I never did see the finale of Roseanne. I stopped watching the show a couple of years before it ended. I did hear it was a bad one too.

[lawyerlee]

SFU was definitely the most satisfying finale I can think of. It was perfection. :)

[young lioness]

I don't blame any of you at all, but I totally shouldn't have come into this thread.

DH and I are currently catching up on Arrested Development (we only have 3 episodes left), Angel (I think we are on Season 3), and will soon start Six Feet Under and I feel like I know too much now...but that's my own fault for coming in here.

*****************************

I was really disappointed with some of the aspects of the Alias finale. Jack was my favorite character and even though he sacrificed himself, I'm pissed that he died.

[HeatherFL]

I Best so far for me is Six Feet Under. It was sad and beautiful at the same time. We saw how everyone died in the future and the last shot of a very old Claire dying surrounded by all the pictures was beautiful.

Really agree on this!

I didn't watch Seinfeld, but I also heard it was terrible...I'll have to think on worst, but Carinvale comes to mind.

~H.

[msnicolea]

I didn't like Dawson's Creek's ending, but I wanted Joey with Pacey--we just didn't get a good scene of them finally coming together--just that lame couch scene months/years later. boooooooooooooooooooo

I had forgotten about St. Elsewhere--GREAT finale!

And 90210's was pretty good--just watched it again this week. ;->

[Sophia]

I stopped watching many of the shows mentioned befoer they had their series finales, and others I never watched at all.

Best: SATC, Friends, Newhart, Mary Tyler Moore (now that's old school!)

Worst: Seinfeld, hands down. I can't even enjoy the reruns now.

[Anna Low]

Loved:

Frasier
King of Queens

Liked:

Cheers
MASH

Hated:

Seinfeld

[sdianems]

Loved the ending of:
Newhart (great)!

In the middle about:
St. Elsewhere

Anyone care to jump in with a brief snyposis of the Roseanne finale? I don't remember (didn't Dan have a heart attack in the last season, and they won the lottery)?

[tenofcups]

I guess I stop watching most shows before their finale. Of the ones that I can remember watching, these stand out:

Best:
MASH
Mary Tyler Moore (yes, Sophia, that is old school!)
Charmed
Newhart (though I would have forgotten about it if so many hadn't already mentioned it)

Worst:
Sex and the City: I was SO disappointed that Carried ended up with Big; all the other characters had grown and developed during the series and she was right back where she started
Will and Grace: ugh, just ugh.

I remember hearing how awful Seinfeld was, but I'd stopped watching the show long before.

And Friends was just ok. The whole Ross/Rachel thing was just so done by then.

[Tanya]

Anyone care to jump in with a brief snyposis of the Roseanne finale? I don't remember (didn't Dan have a heart attack in the last season, and they won the lottery)?

The last couple years after they won the lottery were all "fake"/stuff Roseanne wrote about (remember how she was starting to write?). Basically, Dan really died with the heart attack and everything after that was fantasy. The show was great, but that really sucked. Isn't that was happened on Dallas, too?

[lauren f s]

I hated the Roseanne finale! It still confuses me as to what was real and what wasn't :confused:

[kam]

The last couple years after they won the lottery were all "fake"/stuff Roseanne wrote about (remember how she was starting to write?). Basically, Dan really died with the heart attack and everything after that was fantasy. The show was great, but that really sucked.

For me it was actually good that they brought it back down. I despised the last season (when they won the lottery) and half the episodes (where they would meet different characters now that they were rich) felt like an acid trip without a plot. I guess that's why I liked the finale because it brought some reality back to the show (which was severely lacking).

LOVED Newhart, MASH, Cheers. Also liked Family Ties.

I was disappointed in Angel and Buffy (for the reasons listed by greenbunny).

[jrdhbunny]

Worst: The X-Files
Such a load of steaming poo. Well, except for the kissy-kissy in the jail and the spooning in the final scene. :p

Best: Arrested Development (but I wish there hadn't been a series finale at all!)

[angel17]

Best: Friends. Ross and Rachel belonged together!

Worst: Dawson's Creek. Joey and Dawson belonged together!! You are the FIRST person I've ever seen that felt the same way - I hated that Joey was with Pacey - hated it!!

Best - Agree with Cosby Show, Buffy and Newheart.

edited to add:
Liked - Alias...they had strayed so much in the last year but they managed to tie it all up. Sad that Jack died but they did leave a little hook for a future series with Sydney & Vaughns genius daughter and possible 3rd generation of spies

have to come back - I watch entirely too much tv but I'm drawing a blank right now...

[ysolde]

How did the Cosby Show end?

[ginastorm]

I think it ended with Theo graduating from college and Denise announcing that she was pregnant. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[Tanya]

For me it was actually good that they brought it back down. I despised the last season (when they won the lottery) and half the episodes (where they would meet different characters now that they were rich) felt like an acid trip without a plot. I guess that's why I liked the finale because it brought some reality back to the show (which was severely lacking)...

I agree, I couldn't stand the show after they became rich--I think ratings took a dive, too, so maybe that's why they wrapped it up that way? I wonder if that was planned out from the beginning.

[yby1]

Best: Mary Tyler Moore Show

Worst: The X-Files

[whos that girl]

Loved... Cheers, Family Ties, Star Trek TNG.

I'm hoping I can add Stargate SG-1 to this list.

[Rosebud]

Best: Six Feet Under, the Christmas Special finale of the British The Office

Disliked: Gilmore Girls

[Adaya]

I think it ended with Theo graduating from college and Denise announcing that she was pregnant. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Yup, you're right.

It was so sweet though. At the end of the hectic graduation day, Cliff and Claire had a tender, quiet moment and he wanted to show her that he had finally fixed the doorbell. He pressed the button and then a jazz song played and they danced liked they always do and then danced off the set into the audience. The rest of the cast was there and everyone was cheering and clapping.

I just boo-hooed!

[jrdhbunny]

Best: Six Feet Under, the Christmas Special finale of the British The Office

Disliked: Gilmore Girls

Ooo- yes- the Christmas special of the British The Office was wonderful! Every time I hear Erasure now I feel all warm and fuzzy!

[Lauren23]

Liked:
Seinfeld (I thought it was perfect for the show.)
Friends
SATC
Everybody Loves Raymond

Hated:
Full House
Arrested Development (Guess I'm in the minority here, but I really did not like how they ended the series. It tainted the whole thing for me.)

And there were a lot more shows that had just "okay" endings that really did nothing for me, like Fraiser and The King of Queens.

[fastlayne224]

I forget, how did Full House end? For the life of me, I cannot remember!

[msnicolea]

Oh--I forgot about Everybody Loves Raymond--I thought that was a very sweet finale.

[kugrrly]

Full House ended with the family deciding to all move out of the house. Michelle who had amnesia(from falling off of a horse) regains her memory, and the family decides to remain living in the same house.
It was so dumb. There was like 5 million people living in that house.

sad to say I know this. In the summer I watch a lot of kid shows.

[ginastorm]

I always wondered how much the Full House house was worth since it was in San Francisco and large enough to house all those people!

[Southlooper]

Liked:
M*A*S*H
Gilmore Girls
Frasier

Liked except...
SATC - I was unhappy that Carrie ended up with Big. I wish she met someone in the end.

[betsyboop]

I don't know if this really counts as a series finale because I think it was just supposed to be a season finale and then the show got cancelled, but the ending of My So Called Life still bugs me to this day:mad: It was such a cliffhanger!

[JamBray]

Best -
Friends
SATC
Ed - Loved the ending, but was so sad for the show to end.

Worst -
Will & Grace - Sooooo unrealistic and dumb
Seinfeld

[mgrace]

Best:
Family Ties
Cheers
Frasier
Gilmore Girls

Worst:
Seinfeld
7th Heaven (um yes, I watched both finales)
Northern Exposure


Jack and Jill was good too, as was Reba.

[MsPeachy]

Best: Star Trek: Voyager - I love happy endings and this was one of the best.
Wonder Years

Hon Mention: I liked the Dawson's Creek finale because I wanted Joey with Pacey instead of whiny Dawson.

Worst: X-Files, Angel & La Femme Nikita - They were all cop out endings that didn't do justice to the series as a whole.

[suzubeane]

I never realized before now how many show endings I just don't know about! I certainly never realized that the finale of Rosanne was so convoluted with some of the previous season having been deemed a fantasy.

I'm surprised how many people liked the finale of MASH; maybe it's because I'm older than the average here and remember the show from it's early years, but I was disappointed. The finale seemed like two one hour episodes rather than a wrap up. As a PP posted, the whole first hour focused on Hawkeye's break down, and then the second hour was like another episode.

I liked the finale of Seinfeld - I thought it was a great way to incorporate all the varied and bizarre characters who had been on the show throughout the years.

I also thought the finale of Newhart was inspired (again, being old enough to more closely associate Newhart with his first TV wife, Suzanne Pleshette.)

[vwinkel]

I hated the ending of Felicity at first, but after some time away I liked it. I like that they gave an alternative ending to what might have happened for each relationship. For me the love triangle was there from the start and I liked/disliked each guy at one time or another so seeing how it would have worked out for both relationships was nice.

[imagirliegirl]

I never watched Seinfeld but I did watch the finale because of all the hype and I thought it sucked so much.

This is going to make me a dork but I loved the Dawson's Creek finale (hooray for Joey picking Pacey!). And, of course, Friends.

[Tanya]

Jack and Jill was good too, as was Reba.

Oooh, how did Jack and Jill end? No one I know ever watched that show, but I really liked it.

I'm still peeved about missing the finale of Savannah. It was that trashy show in the 90's with the redhead from Just the Ten of Us who was the maid's daughter but really was the rich guy-whose-house-she-lived-in's daughter. Her best friend was also dude's daughter, blonde and named Reese, saved herself for marriage but her fiance was really sleeping with redhead. When I was in HS, I had the VCR all set up to tape the series finale (it only lasted a season), but Mom came along and turned it off on accident. Arrgh. Anyone want to fill me in?;)

[vwinkel]

Worst: Angel. They killed off all the lovable characters in a pointless battle that accomplished nothing, then had the rest of them go kamikaze in what I assume was intended to imply the group's destruction. For years they had this big mission, then just tossed it all away. Plus, it was beyond pathetic that they wrapped up the Buffy love triangle in an episode that only showed a random blonde extra shaking her butt in a club with her back turned.

I actually liked the Angel finale. I was saddened by Wesley's death but, let's face it, he was heading there for quite awhile. I thought they left things a little open with the ending--sure, it looked like they were outnumbered by the legions of hell and Gunn only had a few minutes before bleeding out, but didn't it often look like that? I just loved Angel's "Personally, I wanna slay the dragon" line. Classic.

And in that same vein, while I wasn't totally in love with the Buffy finale, I thought it was pretty good. Activating all the Slayers at the same time was way cool (loved the little girl playing baseball), and I was thrilled that they found a way to let Buffy live and have a (semi) normal life.

How in the world did I forget about these two shows? For Angel, I wasn't crazy about the ending, but I know that Joss likes to kill off characters for shock value, and he thought he had more episodes to tie things up, so I was expecting that. IMO, I thought it was good that he ended it on the same note as he started it. Fighting the fight. The series had been alluding toward this elusive huge fight and why wouldn't they come out of it just like they did all the others? In my mind, I think all of the slayers that were activated came to their rescue and fought with them. I kept wondering when they were going to show up. I don't think the Angel cast died at all.

As for Gunn - I felt that he would be turned into a vamp somehow. I know it goes against things that he stood for, but that's just me.

The Buffy love triangle ending was pathetic (although Spike and Angel on the scooter was hilarious). Whether she was shooting damn Scooby Doo or not, SMG should have been there on the finale. David Boreanz showed up for the Buffy finale. However, reading the behind the scenes info, I think Joss did the best he could with the timeline he was given.

I liked the Buffy ending, even though I wasn't ready for the show to end.

[ignutzz]

gina, I can see your point about the somewhat inevitable nature of Angel...but I'm still pissed at Joss for killing Fred. I can't stand how he keeps offing the only good, pure characters. He already did it once with Tara, and to do it again really bit the big one.
JW likes to do this a lot. He killed off Wash in Serenity, which can only mean, if we get another movie/series, Kalee is next.

With the exception of the stupid Buffy triangle "resolution" I really loved the Angel ending. ("Can you pick out the one word there you probably shouldn't have said?" :D)

---------

I really like the Veronica Mars ending. Even though it left everything hanging a la Angel, I still really like the hints it gave as to the direction of the characters. At the very least, I imagine that VM ditched Piz and went back to Logan. :p

[suzubeane]

Am I the only one who didn't like the Friends finale? Parts of it were good, but the Ross/Rachel story line was not at all believable. As if he'd let her take his kid to another continent ... please!

[jesseybell]

It is amazing how many series finales I don't remember

I did love the Cosby show
I hated Seinfeld. Roseanne was crappy (I caught it way after the fact - I didn't really watch the last season)

I am the only one on the face of the planet who didn't watch M*A*S*H (and I wa 12 years old at the time)

I was a little iffy about the friend's finale.

Dawson's Creek - didn't love too much. I wanted Joey and Dawson.

Ripe and new - I did like the Gilmore's Girl finale

SATC - They did a good job of wrapping it up. I just hated the whole storyline that last season with Barishnikov (okay, butchered that spelling). Though I do really hope the reunion movie comes to fruition.

[maggieb]

Best: SATC...I loved how it was wrapped up in a nice little package and tied with a bow. I was thrilled that Carrie and Big ended up together.

Worst: Seinfeld...hands-down.

I was upset with the Sopranos finale as soon as it ended, but now that's it's over I can't imagine it ending any other way.

[lauren f s]

I'm still peeved about missing the finale of Savannah. It was that trashy show in the 90's with the redhead from Just the Ten of Us who was the maid's daughter but really was the rich guy-whose-house-she-lived-in's daughter. Her best friend was also dude's daughter, blonde and named Reese, saved herself for marriage but her fiance was really sleeping with redhead. When I was in HS, I had the VCR all set up to tape the series finale (it only lasted a season), but Mom came along and turned it off on accident. Arrgh. Anyone want to fill me in?;)
Oooh! I loved that show!! My friends and all would all watch and gossip about it the next day. I missed the finale too. :(

[cosmic]

I missed a lot of Charmed episodes. Is there anywhere online where I can watch them?

[nylons73]

Best
Newhart - no series finale even comes close. This was funny and brilliant!
Cosby Show - I was majorly boo-hooing too!

On the fence:
I remember liking the Cheers finale but can't remember it
M*A*S*H

Worst
Seinfeld - loved how they got all of the characters in, but after all of the hype, I thought that there were 1000 other ways they could have written a script which brought all of the old characters back.

Wish I would have seen the SFU finale. I watched the show for 2 seasons but stopped. I do remember most of the characters however and it sounds like everybody really liked they way they wrapped things up.

[Goddess Tiff]

I enjoyed Friends. Roseanne was just weird. I just saw the Fresh Prince finale the other day again and it was pretty good. Dawson's Creek was decent - thank goodness Joey didn't end up with whiney Dawson and his enormous fivehead!! But I still wanted a better Joey/Pacey scene.

[Pghchic]

Loved

Six Feet Under
Sex and the City


Hated
Will & Grace
Sopranos

[cocoa_femme]

Jack and Jill was good too, as was Reba.
I don't remember...how did Reba end?