Worst T.V. Series Finales

[redmarvel]

MSN put out a list of their 7 worst...

The Sopranos (2007)
Seinfeld (1997)
St. Elsewhere (1988)
Angel (2004)
The X-Files (2002)
Star Trek Voyager (2002)
Quantum Leap (1993)
Gilmore Girls (2007)

http://entertainment1.sympatico.msn.ca/TV_Guide/Interviews/Features/Articles/070612_worst_finales_RS

what do you think are the worst?

I think Dark Angel (was there even a Finale) and Sliders should be added to the list.

 

[Harlekin]

Angel's finale was friggin' brilliant. Seinfeld's perfectly captured the mood of the show. Haven't seen the Soparnos' yet.

 

[enterthemadness]

Invasion. Ended on a cliffhanger, and doing that is stupid.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

It seems like that list is simply an idiot's view of cliffhanger finales. "Oh noes, they ended without spelling everything out for us! LAME!!!" Frankly, the Angel non-ending was great because the show is all about a never-ending theme. Angel will always be fighting evil because, as he says in the series, "if nothing we do matters, all that matters is what we do 'cause that's all there is." There's no greater goal for him, there's just the constant struggle for redemption, which he'll never attain because he doesn't really believe he's worth redeeming himself. The series is built on a catch-22, so a cliffhanger is basically the only satisfying ending it could hope for.

Ironically, Sliders isn't on there, even though that's one of the classic examples of how to botch a cliffhanger ending magnificently. What a horrible finale. Although I guess that's fitting since, by then, the show itself had become pretty horrible.

 

[amazingfantasy15]

Angel and Quantum Leap don't belong on that list both endings were great. Angel for the reasons listed above. Quantum Leap was great too, epsecially the last "title cards" saying Dr. Sam Beckett never made it home, I really liked that.

 

[04nbod]

Frankly, the Angel non-ending was great because the show is all about a never-ending theme. Angel will always be fighting evil because, as he says in the series, "if nothing we do matters, all that matters is what we do 'cause that's all there is." There's no greater goal for him, there's just the constant struggle for redemption, which he'll never attain because he doesn't really believe he's worth redeeming himself. The series is built on a catch-22, so a cliffhanger is basically the only satisfying ending it could hope for.

The angel finale frustrated me to no end but i think you got it in one. They did dangle the idea of the prophecy that he would become human and the whole buffy relationship never reached a satisfying conclusion. But to see the hoards of hell bearing down on the few of them left was amazing. It was dark and seemingly hopeless and it was wonderful for that and a great contrast to buffys optimistic 'i'm not alone' ending

 

[Prognosticator]

Invasion. Ended on a cliffhanger, and doing that is stupid.

A show's finale doesn't really count if it's sacked after 1 season.

 

[Prognosticator]

The problem with the Angel finale was the show sat on the brink of "will they/won't they" cancel it, and by the time they canceled there wasn't proper time given (or permission from the thugs at the WB) to give it a longer two-hour finale.

It's so stupid, it was teamed perfectly with Smallville on Wednesday nights that year, and ratings were probably third or fourth best on the WB at that time??

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Not so. The show was canceled long enough beforehand that the series finale was exactly what the showrunners wanted. Whedon and various others have said as much in interviews.

The angel finale frustrated me to no end but i think you got it in one. They did dangle the idea of the prophecy that he would become human and the whole buffy relationship never reached a satisfying conclusion. But to see the hoards of hell bearing down on the few of them left was amazing. It was dark and seemingly hopeless and it was wonderful for that and a great contrast to buffys optimistic 'i'm not alone' ending

Exactly. It was exactly what the show needed as Buffy's "adult sister" show. Buffy gets the happy ending where everything turns out all right; Angel gets an eternity of torment culminating in seeming doom because it outgrew those silly illusions that everything would be all right long ago.

From what I understand, The Sopranos ending was pretty brilliant for similar reasons. I haven't watched the series, but I've listened to a lot of commentary on the finale, since NPR was covering it way, way too much last week, and it sounds to me like The Sopranos ends with Tony Soprano in a sort of Purgatory--alive and able to enjoy the company of his family, but constantly mired in paranoia and fear that his past misdeeds will tear it all away from him--which is a fitting penance for all of his crimes, I'd say.

 

[redmarvel]

Quantum Leap was great too, epsecially the last "title cards" saying Dr. Sam Beckett never made it home, I really liked that.

See, that's what I DIDN'T like about it... he's doing all this stuff to help people, supposedly guided by some higher power, and he NEVER gets rewarded for his efforts...

 

[Halcohol]

How about Enterprise? The whole finale was leading up to Archer's big speech, which we never got to see, they killed Trip, plus we were supposed to ignore that Riker and Troi were 10 years older? And the whole thing was on the HOLODECK?!?!

 

[redmarvel]

Oh yes, Enterprise was AWFUL... I'd fogotten how bad that one was.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

What whole thing? What, everything that happened on Enterprise was on the Holodeck?

 

[Pink Ranger]

That list is weird, because a couple of those make my list of BEST show finales (St. Elsewhere, Quantum Leap).

Worst show finales include Homicide: Life on the Street (both in terms of the last episode and TV movie). Will and Grace was a bit too aw-shucks for a show that was supposed to be funny. The last episode of Oz was a letdown, but I think that was more a function of it being unduly cancelled.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Farscape had an awful finale before The Peacekeeper Wars came along.

 

[FreeRadical]

Star Trek: Voyager was bad. Watch the show for 7 years with all the reset-button episodes, then they reach home and it's over, no aftermath or anything.

Enterprise was worse. They had Riker fit into a ten-year old starfleet uniform.

 

[blind_fury]

Seinfeld

 

[Harlekin]

Eh, there's little that beats Roseanne's ending in suckitude, which kinda made it awesome in a way.

 

[FreeRadical]

The finale of Angel was the hordes of hell about to attack Angel and co, then......

'Thank you for watching the past 5 years etc, etc'

Excellent.

 

[Sawyer]

MSN doesnt know ****. How bout all those shows that ended WITHOUT an ending? Reunion. Firefly. Veronica f***ing Mars. Tru Calling. They dont know anything. Angel's finale rocked my face off.

 

[Gilpesh]

Angel, Quatum Leap, and Sopranos are up there for being too bleak.

Seinfeld and St Elsewhere for being too perfect.

And Gilmore Girls and Voyager cause they were too happy.


They should have just called this "Seven Series Finales we don't agree with cause we wanted something else."

 

[Lighthouse]

I didn't like the Seinfeld one, but maybe thats just because I didn't like Seinfeld.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Seinfeld and St Elsewhere for being too perfect.

Explain to me the logic behind this. Did the people who made this list basically go, "We could never have come up with such a great ending in a million years, so the fact that the show's writers did means it must suck"? Are they actually penalizing the writers of those shows for being less mediocre than they are?

 

[wiegeabo]

Quantum Leap was great too, epsecially the last "title cards" saying Dr. Sam Beckett never made it home, I really liked that.

That's what I hated about it. All that work Sam put into it, and all the time we spent watching suffer towards his final reward, and it never happens.

At least Sam did go out like the hero he is. Sacrificing himself for his best friend. But he couldn't have gotten what he wanted most either?

And what ticks me off even more is that the final episode wasn't supposed to be the final episode. It was just supposed to be a season finale. In season 6 we were going to learn that everything in the first five seasons were just practice. The leaps were going to get a lot tougher from season 6 on.

 

[TheDemon'sHead]

Eh, there's little that beats Roseanne's ending in suckitude, which kinda made it awesome in a way.

I rather liked the Roseanne ending. It was a creative way to wrap up the series on a very poignant note.