Best TV Finales

So, I had the misfortune of watching the final episode of How I Met Your Mother this week, and whilst not being a die hard fan I was keen to see how it ended. It was complete rubbish. Now, this may be my own fault and I should have anticipated this but it got me thinking, what have been the best (and worst) TV finales out there?

Recently I've seen the finales to Dexter and Breaking Bad. Dexter was also rubbish, but that was mainly down to the entire final season being absolute gash whilst the Breaking Bad finale was not outstanding on it's own, it tied up all the stories nicely and gave a satisfactory ending and was generally a good way to end the show.

The best finale I've seen though was Life on Mars. Great ending to a great show. And, surprisingly, two comedies in The Office and Scrubs (we'll ignore season 9) also gave very enjoyable endings.

So, over to you. What's the best fina

Spoiler:

I am assuming you are referring to the UK Life on Mars and not the disaster that was the US version?

In terms of a finale what do we look for, all the loose ends tied up or an ending left open to interpretation?

Personally I enjoyed the Dexter ending but then I also enjoyed the ending to Lost
My top three would have to be, in no particular order though:
Fringe
Breaking Bad
The Wire

Dexter was awful. The original planned ending sounded a lot better but got changed after the guy in charge left.

Breaking Bad was good. I like the fact that nobody really came out of it with any kind of happy ending. I suppose Skylar and Walt jr. had the best ending. Jesse will probably be scarred for life.

Nikita was an underrated show. They cut down the final season to six episodes and done them really well.

Surely Blackadder has to be mentioned among the greatest TV finales?

The ending to The Wire is brilliant - basically shows that there is no end to the war on drugs and that history will keep repeating itself.

I also liked the ambiguity of the ending of The Sopranos.

Definitely the UK version of Life on Mars! Haven't seen the US version, but from what I've heard it's probably not worth my time.

To be fair, I quite liked where Dexter himself ended up but the fact the entire final season was absolute dross sort of ruined it and the fact no-one else got a decent conclusion it was poor. What was the ending originally planned to be Nick? I'd never heard anything about that.

Can't believe I forgot Blackadder. Great finish.

The ones that spring to my mind are;

The wonder years - great sentimental ending that tied up the years that followed

Millenium- brilliant open ending with some sense of hope

Frasier - Once again a nice happy ending for all of the characters

Seinfeld - even though the double finale was awful, the very last scene was great where the very first scene from the first episode was played out again. It truly was a show where nothing happened and the characters never had any growth.

The Office, with the xmas specials. Brent and Tim finally finding love.

The HIMYM ending left me absolutely livid - I hated it

Malcolm in the Middle was pretty good, did the whole sentimentality thing pretty well whilst still being a funny episode. Not sure I particularly enjoyed the Wire mainly because Season 5 was a bit of a mess.

Only Fools and Horses should have been brilliant, when the Trotters walked into the Nags Head after making their fortune that should have been it, however they undid all their good work by making some truly painfully unfunny subsequent episodes.

As Stella says The Office was brilliant.

Agree on Malcolm in the middle. Highly underrated series.

Breaking Bad I think has to be up there perhaps not for the final episode itself as the best episode was the third last episode with the standoff etc but just how unlike so many series that initially impress but then peter out, Breaking Bad just improved and improved as the series went on.

Friends is always one that however many times you've seen it on Comedy Central etc that it still gives you a warm fuzzy feeling inside as they close the door.

For the old school sci-if fans, Blakes 7.

Six Feet Under- I'll maintain until I'm blue in the face that this was the greatest TV series ever and the finale was no exception to that

I really feel for whoever has to right the last episode of Dr Who

The MASH finale is deserving of mention.

Couldn't get behind the Frasier finale as didn't believe the love interest between Frasier and the woman he'd settled for. Throughout the series' there were more believable relationships than the one he (possibly) ended up in.

Seinfeld...amazing to think that 90 million people watched that episode when it was aired. I agree with Adam that it was massively disappointing.

Spaced...still love that show and wished they'd made more but sincerely hope they don't as it would ruin something brilliant.

Galted wrote:The MASH finale is deserving of mention.

Agreed.
Moonlighting was very good IIRC. The set being dismantled on screen and the characters talking about being cancelled by the network.
The Prisoner - was it a great ending, or was it just barking mad?

JuliusHMarx wrote:

Galted wrote:The MASH finale is deserving of mention.

Agreed.
Moonlighting was very good IIRC. The set being dismantled on screen and the characters talking about being cancelled by the network.
The Prisoner - was it a great ending, or was it just barking mad?

Time to wheel out my anecdote about the time I saw the guy who played BJ Hunnicut at Glamis Castle...

I once saw the guy who played BJ Hunnicut at Glamis Castle.

Lost!

superflyweight wrote: 

I once saw the guy who played BJ Hunnicut at Glamis Castle.

Never thought I would say this, but that is worse than your Teenage Fanclub golf zinger.

Rowley wrote:

superflyweight wrote: 

I once saw the guy who played BJ Hunnicut at Glamis Castle.

Never thought I would say this, but that is worse than your Teenage Fanclub golf zinger.

You'd be surprised how many times I've used that anecdote to chat up the ladies, jeff. Time it right with a Lionel Richie number on the gramophone and they're like putty in my hand.

Hoggy_Bear wrote:Surely Blackadder has to be mentioned among the greatest TV finales?

100%

Hoggy_Bear wrote:Surely Blackadder has to be mentioned among the greatest TV finales?

Which one? Goes Forth?

DAVE667 wrote:Couldn't get behind the Frasier finale as  didn't believe the love interest between Frasier and the woman he'd settled for. Throughout the series' there were more believable relationships than the one he (possibly) ended up in.

Yer I agree. Although they did tie it up pretty well, it probably would have been better if he had been offered a lucaretive job some where and took it. She did fleece up for $10K FFS.

Michael Scotts farewell/ finale was also pretty damn good on the US Office.

I also quite liked the Home Improvement finale if anyone remembers that!

Adam D wrote:Michael Scotts farewell/ finale was also pretty damn good on the US Office.

Very true Adam, as was the end to the whole series, but you probably haven't seen that yet so will avoid the temptation to spoil it.

Some good ones mentioned. A few of my favourites which haven't been mentioned are the end to The West Wing, as it captured how things had gone full circle.

The last episode of the Thick of It was really good, in particular Glenn Cullen's resignation, and Malcolm Tucker finally being silenced.

One from a while back which probably a lot of people haven't seen/don't remember was the last episode of This Life.

The Young Ones was a pretty good ending, having them drive of a cliff, through Cliff, Blackadder as has been said was superb.

Only Fools & Horses' three christmas specials would have been a perfect ending, BUT they decided to write some more, which were tbh, really crap.

Watched the HIMYM finale earlier in the week and as a big fan of the show I was very disappointed with how this ended. They wasted an entire final season on the one weekend of Barney and Robins wedding and then to spilt them up just one episode after they finally tied the knot didn't work.

We waited 9 seasons to see Ted finally meet the mother and then have that big pay off ruined in a moment was a massive anti climax. So after all, the show wasn't about how Ted met the mother of his children and more about how he finally got to together with robin...again disappointing!

I look forward very much to the last ever episode of Dr Who, when it finally comes.

Having watched the first ever episode back in 1963 (no, I didn't hide behind the sofa) and loved it for many a year in my childhood and adolescence, I now find it is more famous for no other reason than being Dr Who than for its stories and Science fiction credentials.

Frankly, I couldn't give a toss who the next doctor will be, or how famous the last one has become.  Just give us some good stories and really scary monsters, for Chrissake...!!

Anyway... rant over.  The subject is Best TV Finales.  Let's get onto that.

Of course, Blackadder Goes Forth is the ultimate.  It displayed the horror and futility of war to perfection no matter what people like Max Hastings (who, without war, would lose his means of earning a living) say.

I thought the long running Waking The Dead series ended well.  All the loose ends were tied up and we saw how everybody was going to move on.  It ended with handshakes, smiles all round and nobody in any angst.... Not even Boyd.  Perhaps there was a teaser thrown in to suggest a return run when Sue Johnson said "Let's agree to meet up again one day".   But I don't think it will happen.

As for the final word in any series, perhaps Dennis Potter did it best.  Dying from aggressive pancreatic cancer, which gave him a short time to live, he devoted his final days to writing Karaoke and Cold Lazarus almost as a self epitaph.  

I loved Dennis Potter series such as Pennies From Heaven (which was a breakthrough part for Bob Hoskins) and The Singing Detective. (ditto Michael Gambon). Perhaps Blackeyes wasn't so good, but he did write excellent scripts and whatever shortcomings his last series may have had, you have to admire his devotion to his art and the way he went out.  The show must go on.

Even when you're terminally ill.

The Fourth Lion wrote:I look forward very much to the last ever episode of Dr Who, when it finally comes.

Having watched the first ever episode back in 1963 (no, I didn't hide behind the sofa) and loved it for many a year in my childhood and adolescence, I now find it is more famous for no other reason than being Dr Who than for its stories and Science fiction credentials.

Frankly, I couldn't give a toss who the next doctor will be, or how famous the last one has become.  Just give us some good stories and really scary monsters, for Chrissake...!!

Anyway... rant over.  The subject is Best TV Finales.  Let's get onto that.

Of course, Blackadder Goes Forth is the ultimate.  It displayed the horror and futility of war to perfection no matter what people like Max Hastings (who, without war, would lose his means of earning a living) say.

I thought the long running Waking The Dead series ended well.  All the loose ends were tied up and we saw how everybody was going to move on.  It ended with handshakes, smiles all round and nobody in any angst.... Not even Boyd.  Perhaps there was a teaser thrown in to suggest a return run when Sue Johnson said "Let's agree to meet up again one day".   But I don't think it will happen.

As for the final word in any series, perhaps Dennis Potter did it best.  Dying from aggressive pancreatic cancer, which gave him a short time to live, he devoted his final days to writing Karaoke and Cold Lazarus almost as a self epitaph.  

I loved Dennis Potter series such as Pennies From Heaven (which was a breakthrough part for Bob Hoskins) and The Singing Detective. (ditto Michael Gambon).   Perhaps Blackeyes wasn't so good, but he did write excellent scripts and whatever shortcomings his last series may have had, you have to admire his devotion to his art and the way he went out.  The show must go on.

Even when you're terminally ill.

Happy Easter, Lion.

Think you're spot on about Dr Who. I too remember the first episode. Sadly, too clever by half and self serving these days. One person who has never got sufficient credit for the success and longevity of that programme is Patrick Troughton. A very fine actor who took over so well from William Hartnell. If Troughton had bombed when given the title role (and no one envisaged anyone other than Hartnell being the Dr when the series was first made), that would have been that and those who today debate the merits of Ecclestone / Tennant / Smith / Capaldi etc would have to find something else to do.

Back to the subject of finales and you're so right to emphasise the aspect of the show going on. This has never been better illustrated than in the final commentary (ok, it was on radio and not tv but I know the OP JDizzle won't mind) of John Arlott from the final Ashes Test of summer 1980:
''That's the end of the over. 69/2 and after Trevor Bailey, it'll be Christopher Martin-Jenkins.''
A totally understated but wholly appropriate sign off. For all his masterly writing and shrewd observations, Arlott knew and simply conveyed what was most important of all to him and many others - the game and its never ending nature.