After watching the last episode of The OC last night, I started thinking about really great series finales. As the last episode of a show, there's a lot of pressure to resolve everything, sum up the show as a whole and leave the audience with something satisfying and memorable. Many shows fumble the ball a bit on one or more of those goals, but some really deliver.
Personally, my favorite series finale is without a doubt the finale of Six Feet Under. The whole episode was great, but it ended with what is without a doubt the best montage I've ever seen (which may not be saying much, I'm not a big fan of montages). A series so defined by death ends with the deaths of each of its principle characters, broken up with snippets of their lives until they die and bits of present-day Claire driving off into the unknown, all playing out to an extended mix of Sia's Breathe Me. We see life going on, weddings, children, picnics, work and the last moments of each character's life. It ends with Claire dying at the age of 102, surrounded with photos of her family and loved ones. In terms of satisfying resolution, you really don't get much better than that. The finale really sums up what the series was all about: everything ends. It's not good or bad, happy or depressing, it just is. The same as the finale.
So what shows do you guys think went out on a high note?
I heard the Will and Grace series Finale was pretty great but I never did get to see it. Sad panda.
I liked the series finales of Star Trek TNG, DS9, and Voyager.
I have yet to see the series finale of Enterprise or Quantum Leap.
I also need to see the last episode of Futurama.
Friends did a fine job piecing things together and showed that they'd be friends wherever but that they needed to move on. Started with Rachel coming into the city as a little snobby baby with no clue how to support herself and ended with her moving to paris because she's all grown up and even has a kid and a sense of responsibility.
I have yet to see the Charmed Series Finale too. And lord knows when the Simpson's series finale will be >_>...
So I guess my vote goes to......*thinks*..... Star Trek Deep Space 9. I mean it begins with the Emissary and it ends with the Emissary. Perfect. (Though TNG began with Q and ended with Q, and I liked it a LOT, I don't think it summed things up quite the way DS9 did.)
My favorite is probably the final episode of Newhart. The final scene is him waking up in bed with his wife from The Bob Newhart Show (that show constantly had scenes of them talking in bed) describing the show Newhart as a dream he just had. For any fan of either or both shows, it was the perfect way to end the series.
The final episode of Enterprise (much like the entire series) was awful.
Best series ender imo was Quantum Leap. They left it open for another run or movie. I loved the entire last season of Leap though. Recently, Friends, Everyone Loves Raymond, 70's Show...all great enders.
I loved the finale to Seinfeld. It rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, but I thought the ironic ending with the characters, and just how different it was from how any normal sitcom would have ended, made it great.
I wasn't aware that Futurama had a closing episode. What happened in it? Maybe I've seen it before.
I liked the Seinfeld finale as well. I thought it was really funny how they brought back all of the old character that they had crossed.
Thinking back, I don't really know how many series finales I have watched, but I don't think it is very many. I really liked the ending to Buffy, the Vampire Slayer though. I thought it was much more satisfying than what could have been the series finale (the season before it changed networks).
I also thought the show Dead Like Me had a great closing episode. It was canceled way too soon, but ultimately, that felt OK because of how it ended. It remained humorous and touching right up through the very last moments. In some ways I wanted it to go on forever, but in other ways I was thankful that the show ended without being corrupted by forced story lines and the inevitable bad writing which creeps into many shows that run for too long.
I know it probably sounds cheesy, but I was a fan of Dawson's Creek during Season One, and when I found out it was ending (back in 2003) I managed to catch every episode when they aired them on USA leading up to the finale.
I'm not sure that I really liked the finale, but for some reason it made more of an impact on me than the finales of most shows.
I wasn't aware that Futurama had a closing episode. What happened in it? Maybe I've seen it before.
I liked the Seinfeld finale as well. I thought it was really funny how they brought back all of the old character that they had crossed.
It's an unofficial finale. Since there are new episodes coming (...eventually :-/) and the cancellation was rather sudden they didn't make a real, total closer. You might have seen it- it's the one where Fry switches hands with the Robot Devil so he can play the Holophoner again and impress Leela. It's a great episode- one of my favorites.
I guess my favourite would probably be angel or maybe futurama, buffy wasnt a bad finale considering the giant screw up that was multiple slayerettes.
Angel's finale was fantastic. The last shot of the demon horde (complete with dragon!) approaching gave the sense that as much as had already happened in that episode, stuff was just going to keep getting worse and that's a pretty unusual way to wrap up a series.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I am no longer on MTGS staff, so please don't contact me asking me to do staff things. :|
I loved the finale to Seinfeld. It rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, but I thought the ironic ending with the characters, and just how different it was from how any normal sitcom would have ended, made it great.
Yea it was great.:)
I think the finale to Grey's Anatomy last year was pretty intense, and left people hanging till the show began back.
It's an unofficial finale. Since there are new episodes coming (...eventually :-/) and the cancellation was rather sudden they didn't make a real, total closer. You might have seen it- it's the one where Fry switches hands with the Robot Devil so he can play the Holophoner again and impress Leela. It's a great episode- one of my favorites.
Oh yahh now that I think about it I did hear that. That was a great episode. I love Futurama and can't wait till it comes back?
Babylon 5's finale, Sleeping in Light, all the way. No explosions, no battles, the only death has been known to be coming for nearly two seasons. It's peaceful, and poignant, and poetic... it wraps up the greatest Science Fiction series perfectly. (And I don't throw terms like 'greatest' around lightly.) Only a show whose plot was entirely conceived before even the pilot film could wrap everything up so sublimely.
Angel's was pretty good. Though it made me sad that all the humans were dead. Gunn was still alive but mortally wounded. If Angel hadn't ended then I think he wouldn't have been so and that Wes would have probably been rezzed some how. I have to say Enterprise had the least satisfying finale ever. My only consolation was that Riker and Troi were the ones on the holodeck. I was so in love with both of them when I was a kid.
Like Mikey, I love the Six Feet Under finale. It was really...intense. I'm not sure what emotion it evoked, but there was definitely something.
And, I think it's the only ending that would have worked for the series as well. Anything else would have been wrong.
Hadn't ever seen an episode of Six Feet Under a day in my life, but i'll be damned if i didn't hit HBO when Claire started driving away from the front of that house. I stopped to see, and what i saw was the most powerful montage ever.
ANd i am a fan of montages. Mikey said it well though-- everything ends and the show stated it perfectly. Though tear-jerking it was.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The Legendary Storyline Poster--- Ixidorsdreams (yeah, it was me ;))
My personal favorite has to be the Seinfeld series finale. For a show that prided itself on being about 'nothing' the last episode really showed, how it really was about 'nothing'. Also I really love how the last conversation Jerry and George in the jail cell is the same one they had in the Restaurant in the first episode.
Nobody liked the Oz series finale, I thought it was very good.
I think Highlander had the worst, but mainly because the seventh season was terrible besides the first 2 or 3 episodes which could of fit into the end of the 6th season
The one that stands out to me is the MASH finale. It just makes me feel so sad for some reason that i can't help but like it It just brings home that the end of a war means the loss of almost a family for most people fighting it.
Too true, Too true. 'Goodbye, Farewell & Amen' is my favourite. Brings tears to my eyes everytime.
I'm actually surprised to see so many last episode Seinfeld enthusiasts. I, too, enjoyed the finale and I know there are a lot of fans of the show were disappointed. The button conversation was great as well. Great ending.
I hated the final of Sienfield. Worst Ending ever, like DBZ that was a bad one too. I was disipointed in Quadem Leap's ending, it was to soon. I think they needed to do one more season as a how it looked a "Spirit for God". Then he goes home in some way later to help Al again. That would of been a way better ending. Hopfuly we get a reuine movie, I am crossing my fingers.
My favorite and agree 100% Star Trek the Next Generation best ending ever.
Also M*A*S*H was a good one too.
Personally, my favorite series finale is without a doubt the finale of Six Feet Under. The whole episode was great, but it ended with what is without a doubt the best montage I've ever seen (which may not be saying much, I'm not a big fan of montages). A series so defined by death ends with the deaths of each of its principle characters, broken up with snippets of their lives until they die and bits of present-day Claire driving off into the unknown, all playing out to an extended mix of Sia's Breathe Me. We see life going on, weddings, children, picnics, work and the last moments of each character's life. It ends with Claire dying at the age of 102, surrounded with photos of her family and loved ones. In terms of satisfying resolution, you really don't get much better than that. The finale really sums up what the series was all about: everything ends. It's not good or bad, happy or depressing, it just is. The same as the finale.
So what shows do you guys think went out on a high note?
Archatmos
Excellion
Fracture: Israfiel (WBR), Wujal (URG), Valedon (GUB), Amduat (BGW), Paladris (RWU)
Collision (Set Two of the Fracture Block)
Quest for the Forsaken (Set Two of the Excellion Block)
Katingal: Plane of Chains
I liked the series finales of Star Trek TNG, DS9, and Voyager.
I have yet to see the series finale of Enterprise or Quantum Leap.
I also need to see the last episode of Futurama.
Friends did a fine job piecing things together and showed that they'd be friends wherever but that they needed to move on. Started with Rachel coming into the city as a little snobby baby with no clue how to support herself and ended with her moving to paris because she's all grown up and even has a kid and a sense of responsibility.
I have yet to see the Charmed Series Finale too. And lord knows when the Simpson's series finale will be >_>...
So I guess my vote goes to......*thinks*..... Star Trek Deep Space 9. I mean it begins with the Emissary and it ends with the Emissary. Perfect. (Though TNG began with Q and ended with Q, and I liked it a LOT, I don't think it summed things up quite the way DS9 did.)
My favorite is probably the final episode of Newhart. The final scene is him waking up in bed with his wife from The Bob Newhart Show (that show constantly had scenes of them talking in bed) describing the show Newhart as a dream he just had. For any fan of either or both shows, it was the perfect way to end the series.
The final episode of Enterprise (much like the entire series) was awful.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=519290
I liked the Seinfeld finale as well. I thought it was really funny how they brought back all of the old character that they had crossed.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=150363
I also thought the show Dead Like Me had a great closing episode. It was canceled way too soon, but ultimately, that felt OK because of how it ended. It remained humorous and touching right up through the very last moments. In some ways I wanted it to go on forever, but in other ways I was thankful that the show ended without being corrupted by forced story lines and the inevitable bad writing which creeps into many shows that run for too long.
I'm not sure that I really liked the finale, but for some reason it made more of an impact on me than the finales of most shows.
Co-Host, In Contention Podcast / Yo! MTG Taps! Podcast
In Contention
Yo! MTG Taps!
Twitter.com/AffinityForBlue
It's an unofficial finale. Since there are new episodes coming (...eventually :-/) and the cancellation was rather sudden they didn't make a real, total closer. You might have seen it- it's the one where Fry switches hands with the Robot Devil so he can play the Holophoner again and impress Leela. It's a great episode- one of my favorites.
Angel's finale was fantastic. The last shot of the demon horde (complete with dragon!) approaching gave the sense that as much as had already happened in that episode, stuff was just going to keep getting worse and that's a pretty unusual way to wrap up a series.
For TNG v DS9 final definally TNG. DS9 final was too social based. TNG final, now that is philosophy at it's finest.
Yea it was great.:)
I think the finale to Grey's Anatomy last year was pretty intense, and left people hanging till the show began back.
The Peacekeeper Wars was also amazing. Farscape rules, what more can be said?
Oh yahh now that I think about it I did hear that. That was a great episode. I love Futurama and can't wait till it comes back?
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=150363
Trades
Articles
Winner of SSC 1 & ">3 & 6
Not only was "All Good Things" one of the best TNG episodes ever, it is one of the best television episodes ever.
And, I think it's the only ending that would have worked for the series as well. Anything else would have been wrong.
ANd i am a fan of montages. Mikey said it well though-- everything ends and the show stated it perfectly. Though tear-jerking it was.
I think Highlander had the worst, but mainly because the seventh season was terrible besides the first 2 or 3 episodes which could of fit into the end of the 6th season
Le Gambit @ Aether did this banner
[NYC Dark Knights]
join today
Too true, Too true. 'Goodbye, Farewell & Amen' is my favourite. Brings tears to my eyes everytime.
Behold, the power of :symu:!
Ask Me About:
The Epic World
You'll Be Glad You Did
Not That There's Anything Wrong With That
My favorite and agree 100% Star Trek the Next Generation best ending ever.
Also M*A*S*H was a good one too.
Pinkie is the Best!
Trade list: http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=361168