The worst TV series finale

[iamraymond]

I agree with OFAH.

Another one is Brassic.. all those hilarious episodes for it to end up with a cheesy ending.

 

[contrex]

The Sopranos
Lost

I thought the ending of The Sopranos was brilliant. It was deliberately ambiguous. I am totally OK with thinking that the final scene shows that, while Tony's life is full of danger, which could come from anywhere, life nevertheless goes on and the viewer just does not get to continue seeing it. The lyrics of the closing song, "Don't stop believin'" fits with this idea. The silent fade to black which is held for several seconds allows people to imagine their own version of what happens next. Or he was killed. Whatever.

 

[C J Snarzell]

Many American TV shows don’t tend to have finales as most are simply not renewed after a previous season has ended. There have been a handful that do have finales but the franchise will continue in another format. The original Walking Dead series ended after 12 years in 2022 with a reasonable ‘final’ episode but it has continued with at least three spin offs involving Rick / Daryl / Negan where they go off for separate adventures.

Blue Bloods had somewhat of a bitter sweet ending at the end of 2024 after 14 years on air. It does continue though under the spin off of Boston Blue with the character of Danny Reagan taking centre stage and his family making the odd guest appearance here and there. Many shows not necessarily American have spawned spin offs but there aren’t any that spring to mind where I can honestly say they are better than the parent show.

One American show I do recall having a grand finale was Miami Vice that I remember watching from my childhood. I always remember the scene when Crockett and Tubbs finally reach the end of the road and throw their badges at a group of Federal agents when they finally uncover the truth that their hard work tackling drugs was being undermined by the government to achieve a bigger agenda to the political landscape. I watched the episode again more recently (I believe it was made in 1989) and despite standing up after all these years, it is a big shaky in production and there were several lose threads not tied up. However there is a really cool scene when they finally part company at the end.

CJ

 

[tbtc]

Game Of Thrones was such a dip in quality it's unbeatable for the purposes of this thread. And (without giving any thing away) the seemed to be no real reason for that. Some programmes run out of budget so have to be brought to a hasty end/ an actor dies IRL requiring a quick resolution/ falling ratings mean the TV station cancels it... There are many reasons for a seemingly botched ending to a show. But in the case of Game of Thrones, none of those things seemed to be the case - it seemed to be growing in popularity, I'm sure they could have kept going much longer. Extra frustrating as the best scenes IMO were those between the battles/ set pieces - the character development with people thrown together by circumstances, the "world building" - so a final series filled with rushed resolutions to slow building plots was a real missed opportunity

Britas Empire? I must have watched dozens of episodes but have no memory of a final episode. Probably for the best, by the sound of it!

Sopranos? I liked the ending, it avoided the pitfalls I was anticipating, nicely balanced - given the years of Tony treading the line between redeemable/ villainous, I think it was only right that it finished without any moral certainty

Stranger Things? Can't complain, really. It was getting increasingly complicated by the "baddie" business (fine in S1 but more and more layers each time), but the endings for most of the main characters felt "real" given what they'd been through (one storyline was certainly a bit botched though)

The Prisoner? I hadn't realised that about the finale - having first watched it in the early nineties I assumed it must have been intended to end like that. The ending does seem a let down, but then it's hard to wrap up shows that have been based on an unresolved tension (you want him to escape each week but not if it makes the whole set up feel a waste of time)

Life On Mars? Similar, I guess, any ending had to come down one side of the tension between things like "time travel"/ "dream" . Having persevered through the American version, anticipating a carbon copy of the final UK episode, but I was glad to see they found a different spin

Lost? I only ever watched the first two episodes - after it finished I saw a lot of chatter online about it so was curious to find what the fuss was about - found a YouTube explanation and assumed it was a spoof, surely no programme could have ended up like THAT? Oh, it did ..

One not mentioned is the Netflix show You. I enjoyed the earlier seasons (for those who don't know it, it's a bit like Dexter in that you have a guy doing terrible things because he can morally justify them to himself, always just about getting away with it). But the last series felt like it was written by a very different pen, far too heavy handed and desperate to be seen to be having a morally certain conclusion, it felt like it was created by someone who hated the original series and wanted to take pleasure in spoiling the enjoyment that others had had. But not as well known as the GoT finale

 

[Ashley Hill]

Are You Being Served. The storyline with Mr Spooner becoming a pop star was a bit far fetched especially as the actor had enjoyed chart success. TBF the standard of writing had dropped after the first couple of series.

 

[Mr. SW]

The Big Bang Theory dropped off after the Sheldon proposing to Amy Scene. It was also already deteriorating by that point. Watching the following series is for completists only and the finale is very weak.

 

[Trackman]

Britas Empire? I must have watched dozens of episodes but have no memory of a final episode. Probably for the best, by the sound of it!

Here it is, starts in the last two scenes, the final one being in a real railway carriage. The commentator in the video isn't happy too!

 

[JamesT]

Game Of Thrones was such a dip in quality it's unbeatable for the purposes of this thread. And (without giving any thing away) the seemed to be no real reason for that. Some programmes run out of budget so have to be brought to a hasty end/ an actor dies IRL requiring a quick resolution/ falling ratings mean the TV station cancels it... There are many reasons for a seemingly botched ending to a show. But in the case of Game of Thrones, none of those things seemed to be the case - it seemed to be growing in popularity, I'm sure they could have kept going much longer. Extra frustrating as the best scenes IMO were those between the battles/ set pieces - the character development with people thrown together by circumstances, the "world building" - so a final series filled with rushed resolutions to slow building plots was a real missed opportunity

Yes, people liked the world building, but eventually you have to start wrapping up storylines.

I think the main thing pushing the end of GoT was the showrunners (and primary writers) Benioff and Weiss wanted to move onto new projects. It was announced they were going to do new Star Wars films, which then didn't happen as they were poached by Netflix.

 

[Bishops]

The Big Bang Theory dropped off after the Sheldon proposing to Amy Scene. It was also already deteriorating by that point. Watching the following series is for completists only and the finale is very weak.

To be fair the final episode is everything ( apart from marrying Amy) that Sheldon ever wanted in life trhoughout the series so i thought it was good they ended on that

 

[BuhSnarf]

Stranger Things? Can't complain, really. It was getting increasingly complicated by the "baddie" business (fine in S1 but more and more layers each time), but the endings for most of the main characters felt "real" given what they'd been through (one storyline was certainly a bit botched though)

Which of the storylines was a bit botched?

 

[Jimini]

To be fair the final episode is everything ( apart from marrying Amy) that Sheldon ever wanted in life trhoughout the series so i thought it was good they ended on that

Yeah, I'd agree with that. If you're in front of the telly now, TLC are showing the episodes leading up to the proposal mentioned upthread. Always enjoy these ones

 

[cb a1]

US version of House of Cards. Enjoyed seasons 1 to 5 and then Kevin Spacey got fired due to sexual misconduct.

They tried to bring it to a conclusion without him. The whole of season 6 was poor and in hindsight wasn't worth the effort I put into watching it.

 

[Crossover]

I think that was another show that suffered with fatigue of just running for too long. There's only so long that the characters and situations they encounter can remain with the confines of the show as imagined before everyone ones out of creative juice. It managed a decent last hurrah but had clearly been running on fumes for a while!

Agreed. It got very samey samey by the end!

 

[BuhSnarf]

Agreed. It got very samey samey by the end!

I'm just glad it finally WAS Lupus!

 

[Tracked]

The Tripods, although technically it got cancelled before the 3rd and final series ...

 

[barringtoncem]

What version of Quantum Leap The Original Or The Remake ?

 

[Bevan Price]

I think that one problem is that those in charge of a series suddenly decide that there will not be another series and the final few episodes are rewritten to terminate the series quickly, but often with an unlikely or awful conclusion.

My other problem is that some series should have had final conclusions years ago, the programmes having become tired, state & repetitive, but the series just drag on, and on, and on, and on.......

 

[johntea]

Not Going Out should have ended after the wedding episode but Lee Mack seems determined to overtake Last Of The Summer Wine! (even before the wedding episode Tim Vine departing was a huge loss)

Talking of Last Of The Summer Wine I'm sure Roy Clarke had it in his mind for Keeping Up Appearances to drag on for years and years but thankfully Patricia Routledge (RIP) decided to call it a day to focus on other projects so it ended about the right time as every episode was essentially the same plot but still amusing enough as everyone knows a Hyacinth Bucket (it's Bou-quet!)

 

[Statto]

Many American TV shows don’t tend to have finales as most are simply not renewed after a previous season has ended. There have been a handful that do have finales but the franchise will continue in another format. The original Walking Dead series ended after 12 years in 2022 with a reasonable ‘final’ episode but it has continued with at least three spin offs involving Rick / Daryl / Negan where they go off for separate adventures.

Blue Bloods had somewhat of a bitter sweet ending at the end of 2024 after 14 years on air. It does continue though under the spin off of Boston Blue with the character of Danny Reagan taking centre stage and his family making the odd guest appearance here and there. Many shows not necessarily American have spawned spin offs but there aren’t any that spring to mind where I can honestly say they are better than the parent show.

One American show I do recall having a grand finale was Miami Vice that I remember watching from my childhood. I always remember the scene when Crockett and Tubbs finally reach the end of the road and throw their badges at a group of Federal agents when they finally uncover the truth that their hard work tackling drugs was being undermined by the government to achieve a bigger agenda to the political landscape. I watched the episode again more recently (I believe it was made in 1989) and despite standing up after all these years, it is a big shaky in production and there were several lose threads not tied up. However there is a really cool scene when they finally part company at the end.

CJ

Speaking of which, Cheers had a big grand finale that was a complete anti climax, the episode itself was 98 minutes long & laboured because of it, they could easily have been shortened that final episode to 60 minutes.

Interestingly sn autographed copy of the script for the final episode was sold to the Bull & Finch Pub, which was the exterior for Cheers, the pub has since been renamed to Cheers Beacon Hill.

 

[Trackman]

Speaking of which, Cheers had a big grand finale that was a complete anti climax, the episode itself was 98 minutes long & laboured because of it, they could easily have been shortened that final episode to 60 minutes.

Bill Clinton (Then POTUS) agreed to be in it, but due to political commitments, couldnt make the slot.

 

[Ashley Hill]

The tribute to the character Coach was a nice touch. Sam straightening the picture of Geronimo that had previously hung in the dressing room of the late Nicholas Colasanto who had played him.

 

[Farang]

A Very Polish Practice, described by Wikipedia as "a 1992 feature-length TV spin-off film from the British satirical comedy-drama series A Very Peculiar Practice." I did try, but couldn't make it to the end due to its bitter and cynical tone.

The final episode of the original series was called Death of a University. Andrew Davies should have left it at that.

 

[Forty29]

I was eagerly awaiting the new series of Trigger Point as I had enjoyed the first few. However, I was sorely disappointed at the rather far-fetched plot and when I got to the end I was left thinking "is that it"?

Me too. I didn't think the acting was up to par the whole series tbh. Felt her literally coming back from the dead looked like a scene from Terminator!