Best and worst TV series finales

I just rewatched Cheers' "One for the Road," which I count as the very best series finale in television history. Every loose end was neatly tied up, the characters faced real problems and their solutions weren't predictable but were very real. Furthermore, it really ties your heart in knots.

That got me thinking about other options for the list of best finales, which then led to worst. I think you've got to break it down to two types of shows: those that ended on their own accord and those that were canceled before they had the chance.

Cheers fits the bill as the best for the first category. M*A*S*H's ending was a bit too solemn for me, but it did a good job ending things and fit the series. And though I haven't seen much of the series, The Fugitive's finale is classic.

Among shows to end too quickly, Arrested Development impressed me with how it tied up everything so neatly while remaining funny.

Seinfeld's my favorite show, but that finale was awful. I know LOST's finale drew very mixed reviews, but I've never seen an episode of that show. And That 70s Show embarrassed itself with its entire final season, but the finale was particularly bad. But I think X-Files should take the cake as worst intentional finale because they never should have made those last two seasons.

Twin Peaks is the easy answer for finale that came too abruptly, but My So-Called Life is the show I really wanted more of at the end.

 

I liked the "Cheers" finale, but my vote for the best ever is "Newhart."

 

Isn't that the one where a 10-year series ends up having been all a dream? That's the type of thing that would piss me off.

 

If you had watched and understood the series during its run, and remember Mr. Newhart's past, you would call it the most brilliant ending ever. And it was.

 

Easily. Barney Miller's ending was pretty good too. The MASH finale had its moments too but the whole show had sucked for years before that point.

 

Agree on Cheers.

Loved "The West Wing" and "Friday Night Lights" finales.

 

1a: Cheers

1b: Sopranos

 

Thought the Wire had a good finale ... wrapped everything up nicely.

I agree with Versatile. The Seinfeld finale was total garbage.

 

Newhart was brilliant. I really liked the Everybody Loves Ramond finale as well.

I thought the Cheers finale was too busy. I liked it, but there was too much going on.

The Seinfeld finale sucked.

 

The Shield - Vic Mackey escapes prosecution but in "winning" he:

Brings about the murder / suicide of Shane's family
Betrays his only remaining friend/ally in Ronnie and sees him hauled off to prison
Is disgraced in front of all of the officers in The Barn
Loses any chance of seeing his family ever again
Gets chained to a desk to write reports for three years for a boss who would gleefully send him to prison for improper punctuation

LIVING DEATH

 

M*A*S*H was terrific.

+1 on The West Wing.

And I know many hated it, but I loved the finale of Lost. Jack's death march made things a bit dusty, I admit.

 

I trust the consensus on this. Looked it up, and most people seemed to love it.