Best and Worst Series Finales

[Rakehellion]

Default Best and Worst Series Finales

I thought this said "Best and Worst Selfies." I'm oddly less interested in this thread.

 

[Richard N]

Not the absolute best but certainly great was St. Elsewhere.

 

[boomhower]

Worst: Seinfeld
Best: Battlestar Galactica

 

[MetalMat]

Worst: Homeboys in Outer Space, Lost, Alf

 

[ForumMaster]

i really liked the finale for Fringe. really tied most things together.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Best: Torchwood -- Children of Earth (this was originally the series finally before Starz put out a new season).

Worst: Carnivale....but more because it left on such a cliffhanger then was cancelled.

 

[PottedMeat]

The Shield had the best ending of a show in recent memory.

yep.

Spoiler

poor ronnie

 

[JPS35]

Some of the best:

1. MASH - Greatest Ever
2. The Original Magnum PI finale
3. Newhart
3. Cheers
4. 24
5. The Cosby Show
6. Battlestar Galactica (new series)
7. Johnny Carson
8. Moonlighting
9. Fringe
10. Friday Night Lights

 

[Arkaign]

From online reports, looks like we can safely add Dexter to the 'bad finale' list.

I'm thinking that endings are tough to write for some reason. Even in films they're rare. Some of my favorite film endings :

The Departed
Fight Club
Terminator 2
Memento

 

[MiataNC]

....I'm thinking that endings are tough to write for some reason.

I think a lot of shows that become popular run well past the point that the original concept expected them to. Great shows that begin with a great premise lose focus over time, and the individual character arcs eclipse what made the show great to begin with. The end result is a show that is nothing like what they started with.

One of the most disappointing shows for me in recent memory is Burn Notice. What started as a fun show about a spy using his talents to help people (think modern A-Team) turned into a dark boring mess in the final two seasons. The series finale was complete crap, and the only saving grace is a possible spin-off (going back to the roots of helping people ) with Bruce Campbell.

 

[kyrax12]

I think a lot of shows that become popular run well past the point that the original concept expected them to. Great shows that begin with a great premise lose focus over time, and the individual character arcs eclipse what made the show great to begin with. The end result is a show that is nothing like what they started with.

One of the most disappointing shows for me in recent memory is Burn Notice. What started as a fun show about a spy using his talents to help people (think modern A-Team) turned into a dark boring mess in the final two seasons. The series finale was complete crap, and the only saving grace is a possible spin-off (going back to the roots of helping people ) with Bruce Campbell.

Yea the season finale for BN was a mess. It would have been better if the couple had died though.

Running through the explosion was BS.

 

[shortylickens]

Enterprise was a lousy show, but it got an even worse finale.
Go read one of the 5000 forums dedicated to it.

Shame too cuz TNG and DS9 had excellent endings. In fact the TNG movies were shit by comparison.


Deadwood was OK, but they had planned to do a 4th season so it wasnt as awesome as I would have liked.

 

[shortylickens]

Best, Newheart and Sledgehammer.
Worst is far too many to list.

Newhart

Sledge Hammer

 

[AstroManLuca]

Best series premiere: Battlestar Galactica
Worst series finale: Battlestar Galactica

 

[dr150]

Worst: Lost

Absolute worst: Lost

Writers should've been publicly executed: Lost

I would agree with this.

The jerking people around for years concept is strong with this show.

 

[zinfamous]

I am posting in this thread because I quite enjoyed the OP's use of "maudlin."

 

[zinfamous]

Enterprise was a lousy show, but it got an even worse finale.
Go read one of the 5000 forums dedicated to it.

Shame too cuz TNG and DS9 had excellent endings. In fact the TNG movies were shit by comparison.


Deadwood was OK, but they had planned to do a 4th season so it wasnt as awesome as I would have liked.

Deadwood certainly felt unfinished, but the show is still worth the ride.

I guess one problem with a potential satisfying ending:

Spoiler

The audience would probably want Hearst dead in some way but obviously that can't happen because, well, history. Regardless, more closure would be better than anything

 

[GagHalfrunt]

One of the most disappointing shows for me in recent memory is Burn Notice. What started as a fun show about a spy using his talents to help people (think modern A-Team) turned into a dark boring mess in the final two seasons. The series finale was complete crap, and the only saving grace is a possible spin-off (going back to the roots of helping people ) with Bruce Campbell.

Yep, the finale was okay, but the last couple of seasons were way out of character for the show. It started fun and turned depressing. I felt the same way about the X-Files. It was a good show when they were chasing the alien of the week, but once it got into the over-arching plot lines of Mulder's family and government conspiracies it sucked seeds. Whenever shows turn away from the basic chemistry that made them good in the first place it doesn't work out. You can introduce new characters and settings, but you have to maintain the same tone.

 

[TwiceOver]

If you are like me and consider the end of E.R. as being when Anthony Edwards (Mark Green) left the show, then that was a fantastic ending.

The Shield had a good ending, fitting, appropriate to a point.

Weeds... Ohh god what a horrible show. 2 really promising seasons and 6 full of shit. The funny part is that I was plowing through them on Netflix and then came to the final episode of I think season 6 where

Spoiler

she gets shot in the head

and thought "Perfect, I can live with that as an end". But no, there was another 2 seasons. Then

Spoiler

her and Andy fucked on the spot where her dead husband (Andy's brother) died

and I just lost it. Fuck that show.

 

[zinfamous]

Weeds... Ohh god what a horrible show. 2 really promising seasons and 6 full of shit. The funny part is that I was plowing through them on Netflix and then came to the final episode of I think season 6 where

Spoiler

she gets shot in the head

and thought "Perfect, I can live with that as an end". But no, there was another 2 seasons. Then

Spoiler

her and Andy fucked on the spot where her dead husband (Andy's brother) died

and I just lost it. Fuck that show.

I stayed with Weeds because Doug is hilarious and Nancy Botwin is hot.

None of the seasons were as good as the first two, but even some of the bad seasons had their moments. The gypsie season was, by far, the worst.

The 1.5 hour flash forward ending was just....bad.

 

[techs]

Buffy had probably the best because despite the show running for so long it tied up the loose ends and the hero actually escaped her destiny.

Except for the deus ex machina of the magic axe that turned them all to slayers.

 

[Slew Foot]

Then, if the new technology not thrown away, you end up with a Half Life (2) situation: You've got a gravity gun, a rocket launcher, grenades, and a grenade launcher, yet a locked wooden door is an impenetrable obstacle. Oooookay then.

Halflife, fallout, same thing

 

[Insomniator]

Best: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Worst: LOST

 

[zinfamous]

wasn't TNG finale just a masturbatory clip show? I remember little about that final episode and I watched it fairly recently.

 

[nickbits]

Best:
Six Feet Under

Worst:
Lost
Sopranos
BSG