1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Best and worst TV series finales

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Versatile, Aug 2, 2012.

  1. da man

    da man Well-Known Member

    I'm a huge fan of Barney Miller -- if Nick Yemana isn't the greatest TV character ever, he's at least in the top five -- but I can't for the life of me remember the final episode.
     
  2. Huggy

    Huggy Well-Known Member

    Only saw it once - and without looking it up - and as I recall the precinct house was being closed or torn down or something and all the guys were getting moved to different precincts. And I will echo your comment on Nick Yemana, the tribute show they did for him was great. "Barney, Barney, your mother from Clarney...."
     
  3. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Good call on Roseanne.

    The entire last season was a complete abortion.
     
  4. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    West Wing was outstanding. One of my favorites and one of the reasons it is clearly my favorite show of all time.

    M*A*S*H and Battlestar Galactica (Sci-Fi version) are also up there as my favorite shows, but my mixed feelings about the final episodes drag both down a tiny bit.

    I agree that Hawkeye's breakdown was a bit over the top, though there were some wonderful, sweet moments. Hawkeye and Margaret's kiss goodbye. Klinger staying in Korea. The message BJ left for Hawkeye. Lots of moments, but overall just good, not great.

    Most of Battlestar Galactica's final episode was amazing, especially the action sequences. Sending the ships off into the sun. The mix of the music from the new show and the old one. Lots of great stuff. But those last few minutes....they still bug me.
     
  5. turski7

    turski7 Member

    The Shield and Sopranos. The Wonder Years almost made me cry because I was a bit younger than they were and didn't want the show to end. I was so upset, it was my favorite show at the time.
    Looking into my crystal ball, I'll say Breaking Bad will have an epic ending as well.
     
  6. NoOneLikesUs

    NoOneLikesUs Active Member

    Worst aside from Seinfeld? Married With Children. Never got a sendoff. Just ended abruptly.

    Terriers, even though it lasted a season, went out with a perfect open-ended finale.
     
  7. micropolitan guy

    micropolitan guy Well-Known Member

    St. Elsewhere, the whole thing being the autistic kid's thoughts while looking into the Christmas globe.
     
  8. StaggerLee

    StaggerLee Well-Known Member

    I'm in the camp for Lost having a bad ending. I know a lot of people think it was a great ending, but it just didn't answer any questions. Maybe it did and I'm too stupid to see it.

    Another bad series ending (and forgive me, because I had to google it) was Quantum Leap. I loved that show growing up and remember the last episode being a cliff-hanger that just never got resolved. Sam was supposed to finally return home, but he didn't. The ending was just the words "Dr. Sam Beckett never returned home." Apparently the producer was hoping it was just a season finale, but the show didn't get renewed.

    Best, hands down for me, was Cheers.
     
  9. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    I recall "Family Ties" having had a strong finale -- Alex and Mom were at each other's throats because he was leaving for New York and they were both too nervous about it to say anything.
     
  10. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    Beckett did return home in one of the final episodes (second or third to last). I don't remember the exact details, but he and Al got switched up somehow and Al ended up leaping while Sam got to go back home. Then Al was about to get killed, and Sam volunteered to leap to get him even though his wife begged him not to leave, because Al had saved his ass numerous times. Sam saved Al, the Quantum Leap people tried to retrieve him again and failed, and Sam ended up leaping around again.

    The show was one of those that they weren't sure if it would end or get renewed, so it had that weird ending, where Sam finally meets the "unknown force" that was leaping him around, and the "force" tells him he can go home at anytime, but he should think of all the people he had helped.

    EDIT: A correction on that. The one where Sam and Al switch was the premeire of Season 4. A few times, I've seen it rigt before the final episode i syndication, which is why I made the mistake.
     
  11. Riptide

    Riptide Well-Known Member

    Another vote here for "Newhart."

    And Nick Yemana -- played by Jack Soo -- was brilliant.

    So was Abe Vigoda!!!
     
  12. TwoGloves

    TwoGloves Well-Known Member

    Gotta agree on the NYPD Blue finale. Sipowicz came full circle after having so many setbacks and battling so many demons. I hated Seinfeld originally but I love it now. All the former characters coming back was a hoot.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page