Best series finales

[outofplace]

I have to agree with the others that enjoyed the West Wing finale, but thought it should have been two hours.

MASH was perfect for the show, but I can see the people who did not like the direction of the show toward the end not liking it. It is still my favorite finale. The long kiss goodbye between Hawkeye and Hot Lipps was classic. Perfect final moment together for those two characters, funny and sweet and just long enough. I can still picture the expression on Col. Potter's face.

HATED St. Elsewhere. I felt the "it was all in somebody's mind" idea was much more appropriate and effective in Newhart.

The Sci-Fi geek in me loves the finale of Star Trek: Deep Space 9. They wrapped a lot up, but it wasn't all neat and tidy. Very fitting for the show.

I enjoyed The Next Generation at the time, but that really wasn't the end with the movies.

 

[User 1019]

Friends.

*ducking*

 

[Chef]

Cheers.

"I am the luckiest son of a ***** on the face of the earth."

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

I still have the big button they gave out for the Cheers finale, when tens of thousands of people went down to SkyDome to watch it on the JumboTron.

I got in a big fight with my then-girlfriend that night. Then she blew me.

In other news, I must stop typing out loud.

Time to visit Interior Monologues 'R Us.

 

[Boobie Miles]

Anyone think, based on the expectations, it'll be impossible for Sopranos to make this list in a few weeks?

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Newhart and nothing else is even close...

Cheers was OK. The Cosby Show was ruined when Bill came on at the beginning and pleaded for people not to riot in the wake of the Rodney King verdict.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

Good ones:
1. Cheers
2. Newhart
3. The Wonder Years

I'm indifferent on The Cosby Show and Friends.

Bad ones:
1. Roseanne
2. Seinfeld
3. Dawson's Creek

Good ones:
1. Newhart
2. Six Feet Under
3. Freaks and Geeks

I'm indifferent on The Cosby Show and Friends.

Bad ones:
1. Seinfeld
2. MASH
3. St. Elsewhere

 

[The Shocker]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

 

[Michael_ Gee]

No love for Mary Tyler Moore or Barney Miller final episodes?

 

[Starman]

M*A*S*H and Northern Exposure were pretty similar finales -- pretty good episodes, nowhere near as good as the show had been in its prime, but also exhibiting all the reasons the series had gone downhill.

 

[Chef]

Am very anxious for the Scrubs series finale........the Will and Grace finale was too sketchy.

 

[Double J]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned "The Fugitive" (a QM Production), the first-ever series to have a specific final episode. When it aired, it blew the Beatles and Ed Sullivan out of the water and became the highest-rated broadcast in American TV history to that time.

"Tuesday, August 29 - the day the running stopped." (narration by William Conrad)

 

[JBHawkEye]

"Cheers" was the best.

"Seinfeld" was one of the worst.

 

[Clerk Typist]

Double J, congrats for mentioning "The Fugitive." Wasn't it a two-parter on a Monday and Tuesday? Couldn't have been more dramatic. In 1967, this just wasn't done. Plus running it in August, after a summer's worth of reruns, and as the last network telecast before it went into syndication.

 

[steveu]

Wonder Years was fantastic, if not a bit unexpected. Kevin saying his dad died two years later and he and Winnie didn't become a couple after all was a surprising ending.

As far as sheer entertainment, though, Newhart wins hands down.

"Uh, honey... you really oughta wear more sweaters." I was just roaring with laughter.

 

[HejiraHenry]

I got in a big fight with my then-girlfriend that night. Then she blew me.

Well done.

 

[HejiraHenry]

I enjoyed the Studio 60 finale .. or, at least, the finale up to this point (The 4 a.m. Miracle).

 

[Write-brained]

Good ones:
1. Cheers
2. Newhart
3. The Wonder Years

I'm indifferent on The Cosby Show and Friends.

Bad ones:
1. Roseanne
2. Seinfeld
3. Dawson's Creek

I completely disagree on The Wonder Years, and so would most of the cast. The network chose at the last minute to discontinue the show so the writers had to quickly cobble together a series finale.

From what I remember, the finale went like this: "This is what happed to Wayne, this is what happened to my hippy sister, this is what happened to my mother and my dad died."

Cheers was one of my favorite shows of all time but I can't remember what happened in the finale.

 

[Bubbler]

I still have the big button they gave out for the Cheers finale, when tens of thousands of people went down to SkyDome to watch it on the JumboTron.

I got in a big fight with my then-girlfriend that night. Then she blew me.

In other news, I must stop typing out loud.

That post made me laugh harder than any on SJ in a long time.

 

[Bubbler]

The Prisoner is not the best finale, but it's definitely the most ****ed up.