Best and worst TV series finales

That Dinosaur ending is great. As I was a child when the show aired, I didn't realize until recently how "adult" the kid show was. Lots of political commentary--including the finale being about protecting the environment.

Also enjoyed the Terriers finale, which someone else mentioned. But the creator has said it was not meant to be open-ended--no way they take the left-turn to Mexico.

 

This one gets a lot of votes, but for some reason (and I was a really big MTM fan), it never did as much for me. It was solid, but not memorable.

"Newhart" is the gold standard. "Frasier" was solid. "The Wonder Years" was a really well-done conclusion to one of my favorite shows of my youth.

 

Another one I just thought of is "The Cosby Show." It was real classy to see Cliff and Claire dance their way off through the "fourth wall" and through the stage doors.

 

Jericho. Didn't last nearly long enough.

 

Actually "The Wonder Years" was NOT timed to the end of high school -- ABC canceled it somewhat unexpectedly during its sixth season, so it ended in the summertime between Kevin's junior and senior years in HS. I guess the original plan was that they were going to go one more season but ratings sagged and ABC pulled the plug.

The writers/producers have said in interviews they always planned to have Jack die shortly after Kevin graduated high school but the way things played out, ABC announced the cancellation in midseason when there were only two episodes left to be shot, so they had to slap the disclosure of Jack's death onto the end as a footnote.

 

Very true.

 

I'm just glad Jericho was able to tack on a few episodes after it was "cancelled."

 

you know, i watched the finale not all that long ago, too. the first half hour was fantastic ... i still think the second half hour was pure shit. the writing seemed lazy.

 

M*A*S*H will always get my vote for best finale.

 

M*A*S*H was one of the first long-running shows on TV to have an official "sendoff episode" -- although actually I guess the MTM show in 1977 was really the first.

Before then, when shows went off the air, they just went off the air. There were no "sendoff episodes" for "I Love Lucy," Andy Griffith, Dick Van Dyke, any of the classic comedies of the 1960s.

 

Friday Night Lights, for its realistic character growth, its emotional resonance, its creative risk-taking.

LOST wins the title of worst, not because it lacked answers!!! but because the entire sixth season was so poorly constructed, and the out Lindeloff and Cuse wrote for themselves was so incredibly lame. Every single story ever can end "And then they all went to heaven."

 

Gilligan's Island was another one that simply faded away, only to have the series conclude through various TV movies years after the original series went off the air.