Finales You Loved and Those You Hated

[Sylph]

So tonight Lost comes to a close and many newspapers/magazines brought up many famous finales from the past: St. Elswhere existing only in a snow globe of an autistic boy, M*A*S*H, where the war ended and everyone got to go home, the breaking of the fourth wall on The Cosby Show, The O.C., where everything came full circle, The Sopranos ()...

So what are some finales you loved and some you absolutely hated?

[dm.]

As far as finales go, I find it that I have different finale expectations from every show.

The worst finales I've seen, in terms of quality, were: That '70s Show, which suffered greatly from the loss of their two stars, and not even the finale could save the season which I wish I had never watched; Will & Grace (really don't know why we would think that the main couple not speaking for a couple of years would be a good thing + the return of Leo).

As far as irritating but good finales go, this is a good category for Angel. The show was just setting up something new, and it all just felt way too rushed. It left with so many questions left, and I just don't like it one bit. Buffy also falls in this category, but it ended a bit better than Angel.

The good finales (that I haven't wasted that much time thinking about, but just liked it because I stuck around with the show during its entire run) include Friends, Frasier, Alias, Charmed and Gilmore Girls.

Dead Like Me had a very good finale despite the fact that it was canceled too soon, and I even liked the movie. The ending of Veronica Mars didn't really have a huge resolution, but I didn't expect it anyway since it never really does end, you know, what Veronica was doing. The ending of Ally McBeal was tolerable, and it was actually a good finish after what the last season turned into.

That said, I don't really think there is a finale that I absolutely hated or loved to no limit.

However, it's different how I feel about the finale now and how I felt about it when it was actually happening - the premature ending of Dead Like Me and the half-resolved mysteries of The Tribe used to torture me for weeks because they left me very mad.

[Khan]

IMO, the two-part finale more-or-less saved what had been a lackluster final season of KNOTS LANDING. I mean, if they'd been smarter about it, they would've reintroduced Abby and Val at mid-season, and then used the rest of that time to accomplish what they tried to, hurriedly, in the final two hours. But, OTOH, out of the four big primetime soaps - DALLAS, DYNASTY and FALCON CREST being the others - KNOTS' farewell was the most satisfying for its' audience.

Conversely, the final moments of "St. Elsewhere" had to have been some of the most self-serving and arrogant ever on TV. You don't ask your audience to invest six years of their time in a show, only to tell them in the end that it was all a figment of some autistic kid's imagination.

[Gray Bunny]

I thought the finale of Roseanne was very good, although the explanation of some things I didn't care for. I liked that she explained that Dan actually died after his heart attack, and that the final season was mostly a figment of her imagination (other than the fact that Darlene had her baby and it almost died). But then to go on and say that a lot of what we saw throughout the 9 seasons had actually been altered (i.e. Jackie was gay, Darlene was originally with Mark while Becky was with David) didn't seem quite right. I kind of make my own explanation and basically say that everything after Darlene & David's wedding (when Dan had his heart attack) was all fiction, but everything before that was correct.

I think Melrose Place's ending was okay, although I wish they had gone with their original plans to bring back a lot of the original cast, but they scrapped those plans when some of them wanted too much money to come back. Damn egos.

The Nanny was also a great ending. Everything tied up nicely. It's always bittersweet with family sitcoms when the family moves out of their house on the last episode. Growing Pains did the same. I'm sure there were others too.

[Ann_SS]

Six Feet Under was the best series finale that I have ever seen. I bawled like a baby as Claire said goodbye to her family with Ghost Nate at her side and then sobbed uncontrollably as we saw the deaths of the main characters. Beautiful. Alan Ball is a genius.

[Cheap21]

Angel didnt get a finale. Show got cancelled, which is why things felt rushed...it wasnt intended to be ended there

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I always loved the Cheers finale. The Mary Tyler Moore Show finale too...

Last year, I thought ER had a classy and fitting finale.

[DRW50]

Best finales:

Mary Tyler Moore. Just about perfect.

Bob Newhart Show. Fantastic. Brilliant. I just loved Emily making everyone sing "Oklahoma" so she wouldn't cry.

The Nanny. It was funny, moving, and sweet, and true to the characters.

China Beach. They really pulled it together after a poor (yes, we know everyone was miserable and screwed up and that Vietnam was hell...thanks for telling us another 500 times!!!) and negative third season. The only real miseries were the poor writing for Frankie, and yet more overdose of McMartyr. That was balanced out by all the brilliant moments involving KC.

Six Feet Under. I loved it. I have mixed feelings about seeing them all die but I still thought most of the episode was fantastic, especially David finally finding peace, and the goodbye between Ruth and Claire.

Alice. Everyone got a happy ending and the show came full circle. There was real emotion.

Golden Girls

Worst:

Seinfeld. Empty, smug, and pointless, like the show had been for the last 3-4 years it was on the air anyway.

Oz. The show just felt tired by then.

Quantum Leap

Star Trek: Enterprise...I loved TNG, I really did, but which show was ending exactly?

Just There:

Sopranos. The same "why am I here" pointless ambiguity that made up the last years of the show, dead-end, boring characters long since abandoned by a writer who only stayed on because HBO kept offering him more money.

Sex and the City. A copout ending -- these women were no longer believable as friends, Samantha/Smith were dull, Miranda was given an ending which had her scrubbing Anne Meara in some sort of huddled misery, like a very depressing German opera. Carrie/Big were been there, done that.

Buffy. The show should have ended when they graduated high school.

[Khan]

Back in the day, I hated "Sex and the City." Yet, as I mentioned in the "Sex and the City 2" movie thread, I absolutely enjoyed the movie. I've no idea why, either, since it was clear that the movie was made more for those who'd followed the series than those who didn't.

[BadZoe]

So many finale's I can't remember. But for the few I do.

Six Feet Under- Loved it! I lose interest after the first season but pick it up every now and again but everyone going 6 feet under was perfect. It was FINAL.

Buffy, I liked it. Sunnydale turning into a grand canyon is fitting of a mouth of hell with an army of vampires under it. A movie would be nice but all the Vampires are now way too long in the toooooooth and Sarah Michelle Gellar and Joss Whedon probably hate eachother so much they will (most likely) never work together again.

Angel, was good for what it was, by the end they had killed off all my favorite characters: Cordelia, Wesley, Fred.. Where was there to go.

[Ann_SS]

But seeing the deaths of the main characters was in keeping with the balance of life and death theme that was woven throughout the season. Ball is a master storyteller. He rarely lost track of the characters, their issues, and the fall out of every death that occurred in almost every episode.

Ruth reassuring Claire and sending her on her adventure was breathtakingly beautiful. Talk about love. I started crying then. David finally finding his place realizing that he wanted to own the family business was also a wonderful moment. Claire saying goodbye, telling the boys how she thought that Keith was hot in his uniform, the first time she saw him made me laugh. Of course, I started to sob when she took their picture and told Ghost Nate that she didn't want to leave and he said that she did. Then Sia's Breathe Me accompanying Claire driving away and the characters seeing the people they loved before dying made the show a classic. Okay, I'm tearing up so I'll stop now. I have only been able to watch the finale twice time. I cried so much each time that I do not think that I can watch it again for many years to come. There have been other good series finales, but none have ever been so satisfying, painful, and emotional for me.

[Sylph]

How is that so?

[Sylph]

The film was terrible. Absolutely wretched, completely abandoned the tone of the show.

Actually, it was exactly the opposite. The film was made for the masses.

[EricMontreal22]

Have to agree with everyone else--Six Feet Under's finale was basically perfect for the show.

I didn't mind Buffy's finale, though it shoulda ended with Season 6 (even the fact that the season 6 Big Bag was actually one of their own--Willow--seemed fitting for the last year). Angel's was ok, but too sudden I agree, still I kinda like the idea of it ending with them still fighting (for some reason Dollhouse's finale reminded me of it)

I agree about how awful Seinfeld's was. I also didn't like Sex and the City's--I know people will disagree, but to me it seemed to be saying that after 6 years of us being told you don't need a man in your life to complete you--if you've got friends, etc, they pair EVERYONE up! The movie took the tone of the finale and made it even worse--utter crap.

[Huntress]

Yes, Six Feet Under was the best finale for me as well.

Other good ones were ER, O.C., Dawson's Creek, and Third Watch (even though I still think that TW should have lasted longer).

Finales I felt indifferent about were Melrose Place and Beverly Hills, 90210. While I enjoyed the last season of Melrose Place, the finale felt too rushed. The finale of Beverly Hills, 90210 was just as boring as seasons 9 and 10.