Best Finales for a scripted TV Series*

There have been a lot of terrific "finales" and some that weren't so great for TV shows. I'm speaking to shows that actually had a conclusion to the run of the show.

 

Newhart!!

 

Anything but The Sopranos or Seinfeld.

 

That's the one I'd choose as well.

 

Freaks and Geeks
MASH

 

The Fugitive. Greatest show ever. Not the best written ending and some inconsistencies, but still, the most riveting finale of all time. And show at the end of August, after the rerun cycle!

 

St. Elsewhere.

Can't find the finale yet but here's the NewsRadio parody.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKwnPBmDuHI

 

Not a fan of Newhart....but I'd pick that.
And not a fan of Mash but found that to be excellent as well.

Some people have said Six feet under...but I've never seen the show

 

Mash and Cheers both had final episodes that closed off the series nicely.

 

Newhart.

 

How bout this?

Well, as a kid I will never forget watching the MASH finale with family. My sisters were in tears.

However, these days, I think best finales go to many Anime series, such as: Cowboy Bebop (Epic), Samurai Champloo, and many others.

 

I loved Freaks and Geeks, but it left me feeling like Firefly at the end. Too sudden. Don't want to give any spoilers, though!

 

Did see that one, my friend made me watch who was a huge fan and explained the brilliance of it. Reminds me about a different show finale altogether, The Sopranos.

 

Northern Exposure. One of the best finales. They managed to tie up all the different story lines in a 10-minute montage at the end, to the song "Our Town" by Iris Dement, with no dialog at all.

 

Star Trek: The Next Generation 2-parter, giving us some idea of where the characters were going, a final reckoning with Q (who started the series), and no false notes. It was Berman's to lose...and he p*ssed it all away in the films.

Roseanne. Don't scoff, they actually explain the final season sensibly, and Roseanne retains some well-deserved gravitas.

Quantum Leap - okay, forget for a minute that it didn't tell you what you knew already about Sam's relationship with The Almighty, and forget that it didn't take you where you - and he - wanted to go. Still a poignant send-off to a series that was written to wrap up in a to-be-scheduled tv movie...that NBC reneged on. (I always wanted to see it tie-in somehow with Bakula's character on the Enterprise finale...and all it would have taken was for him to step up to that Federation podium, and have Al pop in, and say, "Get ready to leap, Sam!")

I don't have to bring up St. Elsewhere, M*A*S*H or Newhart, because they go without saying.

But, why hasn't anybody invoked The Prisoner yet?

 

Northern Exposure's last was really great.

One that hasn't been mentioned is Twin Peaks. I believe they hadn't officially been canceled when they made the last episode but Lynch was pretty certain it was coming so he came up with cliff hangers never to be resolved for almost all the characters and plotlines. Either a great "screw you" to the network or a failed attempt to get renewed. Or maybe both. And the final scene is a killer.

 

"...where's Annie...!?"

MAN, that one stuck with me for some time afterwards! I had the poor sense to watch it in the dark, just before a late bedtime...

 

The series ended too soon--a very abbreviated season--but the last episode was great!

 

I have been introducing younger people to this show for years now. I am a little disappointed, however, at the second seasons very Lynch style of WTF is going on? The Movie, to me was the most important piece, even though it was a prequel. I don't think I have seen the northern exposure one, I'll look for it on the net! One more note, the special edition release of the pilot for Twin Peaks has a pretty sick instant finale, so to speak. Maybe Lynch was thinking, there is no freaking way this will get syndicated, so lets have some fun with this!

One that hasn't been mentioned is Twin Peaks. I believe they hadn't officially been canceled when they made the last episode but Lynch was pretty certain it was coming so he came up with cliff hangers never to be resolved for almost all the characters and plotlines. Either a great "screw you" to the network or a failed attempt to get renewed. Or maybe both. And the final scene is a killer.[/QUOTE]

 

I definitely have to agree with this. I just was torn up that the show (as compared to crap like "That 70's show") was terminated after. I do not consider "Undeclared" much of a successor.

These days, with Apatow's fame the executives would have demanded more. Too late, the actors are all stars now!

 

hopefully Life On Mars will be my favorite...

 

That was fast. Ditto.

 

Battlestar frakking Galactica

"I'll see you on the other side." may be one of my favorite moments of the entire series.

 

"M*A*S*H" gets my vote! "Goodbye, Farewell & Amen" was an amazing wrapup for an 11-year run as America's top-rated TV comedy series. CBS gave Alan Alda & co. two-and-a-half hours of prime time to properly tie up all the running storylines for all the characters and the whole cast and crew came through with flying colors. This episode stood for many years as the single-highest prime time TV episode in U.S. history, and rightfully so!

 

Agreed. And I'd add Deep Space Nine too.