OT - Favorite Series Finale?

[FlamingCarrot]

Cop Rock.

[Wally's Comics]

But if you really understood the characters the way uber fans do then you realise it was the best ending possible.

 

Spoken like a true fanboy.

With Seinfeld I'll be the first to admit it. I'm the original fanboy. I was a fan of the show before it was hip to be a fan of the show. I've seen every episode of Seinfeld. At one point i could tell you just by the episode #, what the show's title was and what happened in that episode....unfortunitly all that knowledge has left my brain. I have a huge Seinfeld stuff collection back at my parents house that I left there when I went to college. I need to buy a frame for my Kramer painting poster....the cheap thing I bought for it keeps breaking apart.

 

 

I wonder if Jerry and the boys will ever get paroled

and put back on the air where they belong!

[supapimp]

the fugitive and X-Files

[Mr. Zipper]

the fugitive and X-Files

 

By the time X-Files was winding down, I had no idea what was going on anymore. That show really lost me in the last season.

[supapimp]

yeah but in the end cancer man got his in a horrible way.....talk about karma.

[minutekev@50]

the fugitive and X-Files

 

 

On your second choice...

[PovertyRow]

OK - I'll just say it. Buffy. OK, I said it. One of the few finales that actually stuck to the feel of the show. And they actually ended on an appropriate up note.

 

Also Angel - love the way they left it open-ended, just in case.

[Paul_Maul]

I have to agree with JC here. St. Elsewhere was my favorite show of all time and I HATED that ending.

Number one, it seems intended purely for shock value. Number 2, it makes no sense because a

pre-pubescent kid could never be imagining the adult goings on of the show. It just seemed very

unsatisfying.

 

As I read this thread I realize I don't like very many series finales. They're always either jarring like

this one, or the predictable Mary Tyler Moore/Friends style teary farewell. They should just go out

on a normal episode.

[supapimp]

i thought the kid had autism?

[Apotheosis]

OK - I'll just say it. Buffy. OK, I said it. One of the few finales that actually stuck to the feel of the show. And they actually ended on an appropriate up note.

 

I actually agree with this one. Not a bad series finale at all. The death of Anya just made it that much better.

 

Also Angel - love the way they left it open-ended, just in case.

 

I missed it Some drunk [!@#%^&^] hit a power poll and knocked the power out on my grid so my DVR stopped recording.

[joe_collector]

It just seemed very unsatisfying.

 

That's the main problem with these "Hahaha, it wasn't real sucker!" endings, as although TV is fiction, no one wants another level of "it wasn't real" end fiction tossed on, as that breaks the spell.

 

I remember reading an example of this, where we were given a long and winding story of love, betrayal and murder, but it was ending with all the plotlines still open and the characters caught in a huge fire.

 

Then we cut to an author burning his manuscript, telling us that the story just didn't work.

 

Now some may find that a "cool ending" but it's a lame, overused trick where the writer is really laughing at the audience, and setting up a whole schtick just to bring off the "it wasn't real' ending.

 

Sad, sad, sad.

 

The finale to St Elsewhere was just the Dallas Shower Scene in a nicer set of clothes.

[supapimp]

The finale to St Elsewhere was just the Dallas Shower Scene in a nicer set of clothes.

 

it was a slap in the face to the fans of the shows.

[Illiterati-migration]

It just seemed very unsatisfying.

 

That's the main problem with these "Hahaha, it wasn't real sucker!" endings, as although TV is fiction, no one wants another level of "it wasn't real" end fiction tossed on, as that breaks the spell.

 

I remember reading an example of this, where we were given a long and winding story of love, betrayal and murder, but it was ending with all the plotlines still open and the characters caught in a huge fire.

 

Then we cut to an author burning his manuscript, telling us that the story just didn't work.

 

Now some may find that a "cool ending" but it's a lame, overused trick where the writer is really laughing at the audience, and setting up a whole schtick just to bring off the "it wasn't real' ending.

 

Sad, sad, sad.

 

The finale to St Elsewhere was just the Dallas Shower Scene in a nicer set of clothes.

 

The way you [!@#%^&^] all over anything anyone likes... man, you must have the biggest bladder in the world.

[joe_collector]

Hey, I liked St Elsewhere, I just thought the "trick ending" was sadass to the extreme.

[Illiterati-migration]

Hey, I liked St Elsewhere, I just thought the "trick ending" was sadass to the extreme.

 

What would you rather see? Bob Newhart waking up next to the entire cast?

[thecomicsheet]

Most last episodes are boring (Friends) or just plain [!@#%^&^] (Seinfield) but Voyager was truely a great fitting end to a series that started out crappy and got much better towards the end.

 

I think Voyager went out very strong, and probably had a few more seasons in it. Too bad... Deep Snooze Nine went on WAYYYY too long and Voyager got cut short.

 

Voyager ended on a high note. I thought it got better each season. I wish they would have done another season or two.

[joe_collector]

What would you rather see? Bob Newhart waking up next to the entire cast?

 

Newhart was the same lame hass trick ending "it wasn't real" format as St. Elsewhere, so where's the choice?

[Illiterati-migration]

What would you rather see? Bob Newhart waking up next to the entire cast?

 

Newhart was the same lame hass trick ending "it wasn't real" format as St. Elsewhere, so where's the choice?

 

(That was a joke, Joe. Unclench! Hell, I think it was a joke when Bob did it...)

 

[s-man]

I watched and loved St. Elsewhere for the longest time and then stopped watching for whatever reason before the finale episode....so I cannot believe that was the ending of it all!! Such a great show though and if it ever comes out on DVD I will certainly pick it up!

 

My favorite finale has to be MASH! Tear jerker all the way! To bad they couldnt have fit Radar in somewhere or even Frank Burns!

 

I didnt see anyone mention FRIENDS....I wasnt a fan, but I thought people liked the way it ended.

 

The Practice finale was the worst ever!! Talk about your promo for the next show that replaces the old show!! They barely showed the original cast and the goodbye scene lasted less then 10 minutes! ABC really dropped the ball on that one!

[lighthouse]

I realize the cast hates it, I happen to really like the finale for The Wonder Years...

 

The cast hates it because they weren't told it was the finale, and the producers just added a final voiceover at the end, so they never had a chance to say goodbye to each other. But in a lot of ways I thought it made the ending even better. It didn't feel like they were trying to wrap everything with a nice neat bow, but at the same time, Kevin had reached a major transition in his life and his years of wonder were essentially over. I thought it really captured the "slice of life" nature of the series, that there wouldn't necessarily be some huge event at the end. Growing up doesn't really happen that way...

 

I hate the Seinfeld finale, especially since they had a perfect ending available to them. The first half of the finale leads perfectly to have the show close with the opening of the tv show pilot. Bring the story full circle and close with the opening of the first show... Few shows work well bookended, but Seinfeld was the perfect show to do it.

 

Friends and Cheers are both just ripoffs of the Mary Tyler Moore finale, which was the first and best of that style. The "all a dream" finales bug me somewhat, but the St Elsewhere one was at least done well. The Frasier finale was a little better, but it's difficult for a farce to have a final episode, and Frasier was the best farce in the history of American television.

 

The second Buffy finale was okay. I liked the fact that it was final. But I thought the current Angel finale was much better. If the show does come back in some form, I hope they do that ending justice.

 

But then again, I thought Sports Night was one of the best shows on television... and I still refuse to watch West Wing because I think Sorkin could have done more to keep it on the air... so what do I know?