Best and worst TV series finales

Another vote for Newhart. Even the crew didn't know the details of the finale, because they smuggled Suzanne Pleshette onto the set for the scene. Best line, though, was Bob Newhart telling her she should wear more sweaters, a tip to Newhart co-star Mary Frann.

TV Guide voted it the most memorable final scene in TV history.

 

I loved The Wonder Years finale. I cried as a kid when I found out Jack died so soon afterward. And Daniel Stern's narration at the end is cheesy in an awesome way.

Roseanne was the worst. They tried to write themselves out of the corner that was the final season. It somehow made it worse.

 

Agree on both counts. The genius of the Wonder Years finale was that they timed it straight to the end of high school, so it was easy for everyone to identify with the idea of going out in the world on your own and leaving behind everything you were familiar with.

 

All of the above are the reason The Shield series finale gets my vote for best ever.
However in that closing scene where its nighttime and he picks up his gun before locking his desk, in his eyes you could see the wheels turning in his brain for a new scheme he could pull off.

Agree on the Cheers series finale being up there in the top three.
The Sopranos series finale, despite having it end with a cut to black, was tremendous as well.

I'm a huge MASH fan and I'm mixed on that series finale. Although it brought things to a nice conclusion, Alan Alda/Hawkeye was a little over the top with the breakdown and the realization that it wasn't a chicken, but a baby.

 

Although I loved the series, I'm tempted to put the '24' finale among the worst ever. The series got less believable as it went along and with Jack looking up to the satellite to thank Chloe in the final season was brutal.

 

Among the best---Buffy - All she ever wanted was to be a "normal" teen and in the end there are no more villains to fight so she and her friends plan to go to the mall
NYPD Blue - Andy is the boss and is a more mellow Andy than he was when the series began, but he still has that spark of the old Andy

 

Adored the end of "Friday Night Lights." The boys touching J. Street's name on the wall on the way out of the locker room was the first many things that got me.

 

I liked the "Frasier" finale.
I'm a rare "Seinfeld" fan in that I actually kinda liked the finale. It certainly wasn't the funniest episode by any means, but in a show about nothing, they all landed in jail for doing nothing. I thought that aspect was great.
For worst, I go with "Knight Rider," the 1980s version. What should have been the finale wasn't; the actual finale was terrible.

 

On both of these lists, The Shield is ranked way too low..


TV Guide Network 2011 list of most unforgetable finales. I cannot find the list, I found an out of order incomplete list on a message board, so here's that list in order:
1. MASH, 2. Sopranos, 3. Mary Tyler Moore, 4. Newhart, 5. Cheers, 6. Lost, 7. Seinfeld, 8. Six Feet Under, 9. Roseanne, 10. Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, 11. Wonder Years, 12. St. Elsewhere, 13. Dallas, 14. Sex & the City, 15. Magnum PI, 16. Dawson's Creek, 17. Frazier, 18. Friends, 19. Arrested Development, 20. The Shield, 21. The Hills, 22. The X-Files, 23 (not listed), 24. Family Ties, 25. Will & Grace

A 2009 Mania.com list of 10 Unforgettable TV Finales went like this:
1. The Fugitive, 2. MASH, 3. Six Feet Under, 4. Sopranos, 5. Battlestar Galactica (sci-fi version, not 80s version), 6. Angel, 7. The Shield, 8. Star Trek: Next Generation, 9. St. Elsewhere, 10. Dallas.

 

Yeah, forgot Carson, the last two shows were great.

 

The dream part was a very funny play off the infamous Dallas storyline.

I'm on board with Newhart as the best finale ever.

The final M*A*S*H was overrated, overhyped crapola.

 

Mary Tyler Moore was an excellent one, too.