It is of endings that I wish to speak...

[kipron]

What are your favourite series finales on TV? Which ones did you find disappointing? And which ones merely made you go 'meh'?

Here is my woefully incomplete, completely subjective list:


Awesome (tissues highly recommended!):

• Babylon 5 - Sleeping in Light
• M*A*S*H - Goodbye, Farewell and Amen
• Neon Genesis Evangelion - The Beast That Shouted I At the Heart of the World

Disappointing (*Warning* Highly infuriating. May incite rioting.):

• Star Trek Voyager - Endgame
• The X-Files - The Truth

Meh (the concepts were good, but IMHO the execution didn't pack enough punch):

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Chosen
• Star Trek DS9: What You Leave Behind

What would your lists look like?

Oh, and also a poll (see top of the page).

[Shr'eshhhhhh]

My favourate endings were,

B5- The only work of television drama that actually made me cry.

Blake's 7- The most logical and yet unexpected ending to a brilliant show.

Quantum Leap- Once again brought a lump to my throat.

The Prisoner- I can't believe that people actually expected a straight forward explanation. It still made sense if you paid proper attention to it.

Least.

Twin Peaks- not because of the last episode (which was brilliant) but because the show was shot in the head just as it was getting interesting again.

Crusade- same as above really.

DS9- Just like the show itself, a total mess and a wasted opportunity.

Return of the Jedi- (Oh I know it's not TV but it is a series and more people have seen on the small screen than at the theatres) the first two films made were masterpieces of popcorn cinema. Great characters, imaginative settings, and plots that actually took chances. Jedi is muppets, teddy bears and reworked plot elements from the previous two films. A total let down. (only eclipsed by the prequels)

[Jan]

Strangely, I can only remember 5 series endings. I'm sure there were probably others but I don't remember them.

Babylon 5 - The best, most fitting farewell in TV. Arguably, though, only for those who already knew and loved the series.

M*A*S*H - Also awesome and more accessible to casual viewers.

Star Trek - The Next Generation. Okay, I guess. Seemed confusing.

Buffy - Okay. Probably would have been more meaningful if I'd followed it more carefully.

Dark Shadows (yes, I'm that old) - A cliffhanger episode with a lame 'ending' voiced over.

I also almost remember that Northern Exposure had a good ending episode but I hadn't followed that series very much.

Jan

[Dr Maturin]

<<Star Trek DS9: What You Leave Behind>>

I cry during the last ten minutes every time. During that package at the end, when Miles finds the little soldier on the ground...man. I love that show.

[Ranger1]

Originally posted by Z'ha'dumDweller
<<Star Trek DS9: What You Leave Behind>>

I cry during the last ten minutes every time. During that package at the end, when Miles finds the little soldier on the ground...man. I love that show.

OMG thats the only show (and i love trek) that i was like "thank god its done".

For me the only best ending i can think off is B5 (yes,i cried like a little girl).

Star Trek TNG = same as Jan,was a bit confusing but i was sad it was ending.

[Von Bruno]

Best of Times/Worst of Times

Favorite Finale:

"Star Trek: The Next Generation." Their last episode ("All Good Things") perfectly bookend their first ("Encounter at Farpoint") as well as summating the series itself. It was pretty much perfect.

Worst Finale:

"Dallas." A warped "It's a Wonderful Life" affair. It centered around the Devil showing JR what life would have been like for everyone had he not been born. It ended with a cliffhanger wherein we hear a gunshot but are left to guess as to JR's fate.

[Von Bruno]

Originally posted by Shr'eshhhhhh
My favourate endings were,

B5- The only work of television drama that actually made me cry.

Blake's 7- The most logical and yet unexpected ending to a brilliant show.

Quantum Leap- Once again brought a lump to my throat.

The Prisoner- I can't believe that people actually expected a straight forward explanation. It still made sense if you paid proper attention to it.

Never saw "Blake's 7." "Quantum Leap," I liked it but honestly I never really followed the series during its first run. I've caught a few installements in re-run (which has caused me to regret not seeing it first run). And I loved "The Prisoner!. I've never had a problem with that show's series' ender.

The series finale of "Babylon 5" is a mixed bag for me. I too shed a tear at the end (then again I'm sucker for emotional moments) but their were a point or two that disappointed me as well.

[Von Bruno]

Originally posted by Shr'eshhhhhh
Least [Favorite Endings].

Twin Peaks- not because of the last episode (which was brillant) but because the show was shot in the head just as it was getting interesting again.

Crusade- same as above really.

DS9- Just like the show itself, a total mess and a wasted opportunity.

Return of the Jedi ...

"Twin Peaks," never saw it. "Crusade," I don't count. It was cancelled before it even aired and was not allowed to go the distance (I've hated TNT ever since).

"Deep Space Nine." The last good (if not great) "Star Trek" series. What you say about DS9 is, in my opinion, more appropriately directed at "Voyager" and "Enterprise."

"Return of the Jedi." Another one I don't count in this catagorey. I will say, in general, I liked it a lot but agree with you that it got a tad too cutsy. So far I've loved the prequel movies and feel they absolutely live up to and are on par with ANH and TESB.

[Ariake]

Hmm...

My favorites have been:

Babylon 5: Sleeping in Light - Not the first time a show has made me cry -- that title goes to the ST:TNG 1st season ep where Tasha died -- I even cried during the commentary by jms.

Star Trek: The next Generation: All Good Things... - I also agree that this is the best finale for a series. -- I loved SiL, don't get me wrong, but I think that AGT did a better job of bookending the show. I think my whole issue with SiL is that Ivanova was in it, and knowing about the "fight" between CC & JMS has colored me against her since... only in that ep though... and I have to admit that I warmed back up to her after she appreared in Playboy... -- I did not find AGT confusing or misdirected or anything else I have heard about it at all. Having seen every episode of that series at that time, save one 5th or 6th season ep (I've seen them all now), it was literally the perfect ending to that show.

Quantum Leap: Mirror Image - It's been nearly 12 years since May 5, 1993 brought an end to this show. And, knowing that this was not originally intended as a series finale, but rather a cliffhanger, it worked remarkably well as a series finale. It raised the promise of a future movie that, sadly, we are still waiting for. This answered so many questions, and raised so many more, the truly sad thing is that nothing more has been done with this product.

Nowhere Man: Gemini - This series was one of the great mystery/suspense shows of all time IMHO. (24 being the best one around now.) I didn't get to watch every episode because I worked nights, I did do everything I could to rearrange my schedule to watch it. This, B5, & DS9 were my "Must See TV" back in 1995-1996. The other great thing about this show is that it was filmed here in Portland and its surrounding areas... which made watching it with the family fun because you could point out what street thet "really" is or what buidling that "really" is etc. This is another one of those shows I _really_ wish they would finish the story on.

That is all I can think of at the moment, other than the horrible 90210 finale that my wife made me watch. Or the Saved by the Bell: The College Years finale.

Will try and think of some more.

[WorkerCaste]

I'd agree with B5, M.A.S.H. and Quantum Leap. I'd also add one of my favorite quirky endings of all time for a series I really didn't care for all that much -- "Newhart." When he gets "killed" by a golf ball and then wakes up in his bedroom from "The Bob Newhart Show" with Suzanne Pleshette, I was ROFL.

[Towelmaster]

You Are Doing It Again You B*ST*RDS!

I'm the only bloody diehard B5-fan who has not seen the freakin' SIL-episode!!!!!!! And Warner Brothers keeps me waiting for the S5-box, the fiends...

Therefor without including B5-Season5 I would say :

Brilliant ending :

M.A.S.H. 4077. Although I think that the episode where Henry flies back to the States only to be shot down on his way to Tokyo was probably more of an emotional episode for me.

The adventures of Sherlock Holmes, the (BBC) Jeremy Brett-version of the series. Pretty true to the book and a beautiful ending for a man like Holmes. Besides, Jeremy Brett was just awesome as the drugs-smoking, violinplaying mastermind.

I Claudius. Just because you feel for Claudius and because in the and he outsmarts the court-politicians and scheming women after all. I always think of him when I see Vir...

And not to annoy anyone, but if B5 season-4 would have been the last one I would have voted for "Endgame". What more do you want from space-opera?


Bad ending :

Farscape. For obvious reasons. In my opinion just cancelling a show without having ANY regard for the loyal viewers(even if only a few) is not done. It is insulting. At least produce one last show to finish the most important plotlines.

Crusade. Again for obvious reasons.


Meh ending :

Voyager. I liked the idea behind the script but there were too many time-paradoxes left unresolved. The only way they could prevent having two Janeways till the end of time was to have one die a heroic death. Which was fitting but they overlooked all kinds of paradoxes that have been described in SF-literature.

[SpooRancher]

My wife even cried during SiL

It took two years into our marriage before my wife broke down and began watching my DVD's of B5. When she got to the last season, she bogged down in her watching somewhere around "The Corps is Mother..." and didn't pick it up again for a couple of months. When she finally saw SiL, she bawled worse than I have ever seen her tear up during her favorite chick flick. She finally understood everything I had been saying about B5.

And she already knew about jms, as she was a die-hard Marvel fan. Some people just need reminding, I guess.

[Ranger1]

Originally posted by Towelmaster
You Are Doing It Again You B*ST*RDS!

I'm the only bloody diehard B5-fan who has not seen the freakin' SIL-episode!!!!!!! And Warner Brothers keeps me waiting for the S5-box, the fiends...

WTF,youre joking right?

I can't say im envy,the first time i saw it i cried...OMG i cried.

[Towelmaster]

Nope, I'm not joking... I first saw B5 (really SAW it) when I stayed in England with a friend(now my fiancee here in the Netherlands). She taped SciFi-channel but every now and then her daughter would 'sabotage' the video-timer... So she had 80 % of the episodes on video. Of course I bought the video-boxes and now the DvDs. Unfortunately the videobox for S5 was not available anywhere because WB started releasing the dvd-boxes.

To make a long story short, I have seen S1-S4 many many times but of s5 I only have about 8 episodes on tape and I'm waiting for WB to get the hell on with it! Now you also understand why I think it stinks that they will release S5 region-2 only this month, with a gap of over a year between s4 and s5. The first 4 seasons only had a 6 to 8 months gap between their release.

What IS keeping them?

[jolty]

Nowhere Man is without a doubt my favorite season finiale it wrapped up the show perfectly.

Followed closely by the finial episode of Blake's 7. By the way if you haven't seen Blake's 7 it comes highly recommended so long as Brittish accents and truely cheap sets and effects don't scare you. It's one of JMS's main inspirations for B5 and with out a doubt had the best story arch ever seen in sci-fi until B5 came along now it just has the second best of all time. It also boasts my fravorite costumes of all time just for there shear bizzareness. I don't know how will dress in the future but I hope we dress like that.

If you count the Farscape mini series the Peace Keeper Wars as the series finiale I'd say that would be my third favorite.

Fourth would be Sleeping in Light an excellent finale to be sure and quite moving.