TV Finales: Good & Bad

[Drtooth]

On the subject, the Courage finale was epic... we FINALLY got to see his past, see what happens to his doggy parents, why he ended up on the streets, and how Muriel found him.

I didn't see it, but it would REALLY have been something if the final shot was that Doctor saying "Just keep soaking it!" That's how I would have ended it.

Dinosaurs. You never really see anyone die, and considering there's at least one episode that blatantly breaks the fourth wall (A New Leaf) like Muppets usually do, they leave open the idea that the "actors" for the show are alive and well, even if the story is finished.

That was what I call a TOTAL ending. I mean, you can get much more closure than complete apocalypse, right? Message or not, I found it absolutely devastating. A very good ending as an ending, but very depressing.

ALF: Alf is about to leave Earth but the Alien Task Force shows up and captures him. Granted this was supposed to be a cliffhanger season finale but when the made for tv movie conclusion made years later sucked.

Funny someone should mention ALF's finale. Here's why. Remember the Marvel ALF comic book? Well, seems Marvel made their OWN (read non-canonical) ending to the series (just after the show ended, they were still publishing it for a few months after). ALF escapes the Alien Task Force, Ronda and Skip get married, and they all wind up having to live in the Tanner's house. To be honest, I think that was a pretty fun ending, though (again) not canonical.

 

[dwmckim]

Even before reading the first post, upon seeing the thread's title, i was thinking "Twin Peaks" but on the excellent side.

The show had gotten a bit away from where David Lynch wanted it to be by the time he came in to direct it - and he made LOTS of changes to the script. It was not known if it would indeed be the last episode or not. Lynch managed to (a) give a big middle finger to the network if it ended up being the end (b) got the show back to where he envisioned it - and also had lots of great parallels with the very beginning and (c) made me love the show like crazy all over again and hungering for more. It was a horrible finale in that it left you screaming "NO! This CAN'T be the end - there MUST me more to come!"

 

[Libba Yuki]

The Best

LOST- Pure epicness that I honestly felt was the perfect way to end the show. I was worried that the show would slap me in the face with it's finale, and was so happy with what I saw on my screen that night. It was beautiful, spiritual, and just perfect...and I don't care if I'm the only one who felt that way. I wouldn't want it any other way.

Avatar The Last Airbender- Again, very epic and satisfactory. Left me on the edge of my seat, and blew me away.

Firefly- While I would have been happier to see this gem of a show continue on television, I have to admit it was pretty awesome to see Serenity on the big screen. I laughed, I cried, I was on the edge of my seat. Very happy with this ending, even though I still want more.

Boy Meets World-Just a really nice way to end such a great show, I hope we get the whole thing on dvd someday!

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles- Mind-blowing, and IMO a perfect way to end the show and leave the rest up to the fan's imaginations. What a great cliff-hanger, but it also acted as a satisfactory conclusion as well. Still holding out hope for a DTV movie though!

Scrubs- Season 8's finale may not be the official series finale, but to a lot of fans, myself included, it was. And I thought it was really sweet. I got a little teary-eyed when JD gets a flash of what his future could be like, and Dr. Cox's speech regarding him when he didn't think JD was there to hear it. Loved it.

The Worst

Dead Like Me- I couldn't believe how awful the tv movie series finale was, wow was it bad. All the reapers, aside from George, were bastardizations of themselves (don't get me started on Daisy...ugh!) and the plot was mind-numbingly stupid. I did like George's side-plot though, and the very end when she gets her promotion...too bad the rest of it stank!

Xena: Warrior Princess- The whole final season was awful IMO, but the finale took the cake. You could tell the writers were grasping at straws, they should have ended it with the previous season.

Dollhouse- This lacking show had an equally lacking finale, the big twist revealed in the last few episodes had me rolling my eyes with it's "we're just throwing this in there for the sake of a twist, we didn't really give it much thought" reveal (very much like the twist in the season 3 finale of Bones-a twist for the sake of ratings, not for logical or good storytelling). The final episode itself was rushed and lacking, and I found myself not really caring at all. To be fair though, I've always been somewhat bored with this show (overly focused on Echo, who doesn't carry the show that well)-but I imagine I'd be even more disappointed with the finale if I were more invested with the series.

 

[Drtooth]

Scrubs- Season 8's finale may not be the official series finale, but to a lot of fans, myself included, it was. And I thought it was really sweet. I got a little teary-eyed when JD gets a flash of what his future could be like, and Dr. Cox's speech regarding him when he didn't think JD was there to hear it. Loved it.

The TRUE finale was amazing and a great way to end the series. Too bad someone somewhere decided the fans needed another season after all the ends were tied up, focusing on such unlikable vapid and nasty characters. Really, the 9th season was a joke. It was the series's After M*A*S*H* or Joey. Somehow, it rode beautifully into the sunset with a satisfying ending, then ran back before the curtain closed like Daffy Duck, pathetically tap dancing until someone pulled him out with a cane.

 

[Skeeter Muppet]

I think I saw an ending to Gummi Bears, where they finally meet up with and join the rest of their group and they're not alone anymore. It was sweet, as I recall.

More like bittersweet; the Glen Gummis joined up with the Barbic Gummis in the abandoned city of Ursalia, but the Great Gummis had to turn back when they were almost to Dunwyn because they were almost destroyed by Igthorn.

The Best

M*A*S*H: Goodbye, Farewell and Amen. I don't know what else to say about it except...it's probably the only time I"ll hate to see a war end.

Avatar The Last Airbender: So awesome in its epicness, and so epic in its awesomeness.

Newhart: The whole series was just Bob Hartley's dream? Hilarious!

Could Have Been Better:

Heroes: It feels like everything was just too conveniently wrapped up, but I loved how it came full-circle, ending with Claire recording her infinitieth suicide attempt, only this time for TV news cameras instead of home video.

-Kim

 

[Slackbot]

Darkwing Duck. They planned all this amazing stuff for the fourth season, the wedding of Darkwing and Morgana, the return of an even angrier, homicidal Taurus Bulba.... but the series eneded with Darkwing going back to the dinosaur age and getting stuck in a cocoon of maple syrup. this of course, was Disney's fault, as a full 13 episodes would have been 2 episodes over their production cap.

Actually, what happened was that ABC did not renew the SatAM show for a third season, so the shows Disney had planned were never made. Not Disney's fault. I remember being horribly disappointed when I found this out, as I was an active member of the DisAft fan community at the time.

As for classy finales - I see someone got to the M*A*S*H episode Goodbye, farewell, and Amen before me. I don't know what to say about it except that 1) it was amazing, a fitting end to an excellent series, and 2) see it yourself, because describing it will not do it justice. (Incidentally, I use that episode, and Muppet Babies, to explain the "unreliable narrator" literary technique.)

A finale I'd like to see: Moral Orel. I've heard so much about it, how it's a satisfying end to the series, but it's not on DVD. Siiiigh.

 

[Drtooth]

Heroes: It feels like everything was just too conveniently wrapped up, but I loved how it came full-circle, ending with Claire recording her infinitieth suicide attempt, only this time for TV news cameras instead of home video.

If it is, that's because it wasn't supposed to be the finale. NBC pulled the plug just after the series ended. Great politicking from that horrid network, as usual. The same brilliance that killed Conan's chances of getting the Tonight show, which they promised him years in advance. The same politicking that kept the meh Amy Pohler vehicle V.R. Troopers... I mean Jabberjaw... errr... no, I mean Parks and Recreation while kicking the brilliant My name is Earl to the curb. I know Heroes was getting hacky and too reliant on X-Men plot lines and themes, but even that deserved a REAL final season instead of a bunch of lame cop shows EXACTLY the same as each other with mysterious garbage that we ALL know they're going to cancel before we get their big crescendo too.

Not to mention that stupid Jay Leno show devoured the schedule and gave them a bad time slot.

Oh well... at least they didn't paint over the Muppet pipes. We should give NBC that.

 

[HeyButtahfly]

The Best

Boy Meets World-Just a really nice way to end such a great show, I hope we get the whole thing on dvd someday!

I can't bring myself to laud Boy Meets World's finale because IMO the show went on for too long. It should have ended at least a season earlier, because in the last couple seasons the "jump the shark" moments started accumulating.

 

[Old Thunder]

*Thread hasn't been posted in for 7 years*
*Brings it back*

Don't have any bad ones, but here are three great endings to shows I love:

Empty Nest - A spin-off of the Golden Girls and seven seasons later it was still going strong. The ending was one of the most perfect ever - it gave closure to the main characters while still remaining a very funny sitcom. And of course the dog is a main part of the cast... the after credits scene sums that up really well. 10/10

TUGS - "Bigg Freeze" was never meant to be the finale, but even so it became a great ending to such a short-lived show. All the characters are there, winter has come upon them - perfect. Just perfect. 10/10

Cowboy Bebop - I heard a lot about the ending to this show but wow. Just wow. 10/10

 

[Muppet Master]

A really bad one is the Three's Company one.

It wasn't even a true series finale, it acted as sort of a backdoor pilot for a failed spin-off.

There was barely any closer and Larry, a character that had been on the show since day 1, was hardly shown.

Janet was quickly married off to a character she met just 3 episodes ago, Jack hooked up with someone she only met this season, and Terri did absolutely nothing.

Truly a disaster of a finale.