Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Your Turn

Yesterday marked the 15th anniversary of the ending of Seinfeld. What did you think of the way the show ended? What was the best or worst any show was sent off to the sunset? The last episode of Lost was pretty hard to take.

76 comments:

Erin B said...

I don't have a worst in mind, but I loved the ending of "Six Feet Under." It really worked for me.

MontanaMarriott said...

I never liked Seinfeld, so meh, lol

The Real Dragon said...

Never saw it

figgy said...

Worst! After so many years of shows that just blew me and my friends (we had years of fun watching them together) away, that series finale was a terrible letdown.

But then, no one can bat 1.000.

Merlin D. Bear said...

Honestly? Worst ending ever?
It's a tie, IMHO...between the series finale for "The Colby's" where Fallon walks onto a spaceship in the desert, and the series finale for "Dynasty"...where in the middle of the usual family fight, 4 of the main characters are shown falling off a balcony and then it became a freeze shot as they rolled credits.
(Albeit they did come back with a TV movie later to offer closure)

Staple611 said...

SFU was probably the best ending I've ever seen to any television show, ever.

I bawled my eyes out for the last ten minutes, and still today, when I hear that song, I tear up. I loved the Fishers :(

The Dude said...

Best ending was Newhart, when Dick Loudon wakes up as Bob Hartley in bed with Emily, like a dream sequence from the Bob Newhart show.

KPeony said...

@The Dude YES! That was the best finale. I completely forgot about it too

KPeony said...

I think Heroes had a terrible ending, but that's because it was cancelled

sparklynan said...

I never loved Seinfeld. Got annoying. Favorite ending to a series? St. Elsewhere...turns out the hospital and all its characters were created by a boy with autism who stared at a snowglobe. Worst? Angel. They did a pretty good job, but had to wrap up the series last minute with like 3 episodes. Basically hell opens up and we show them charging into a battle with all the demons ever. I'll forgive it because Joss had a lot of other stuff on his plate. Including Firefly.

Unknown said...

St. Elsewhere was the worst.

Groggy said...

I used to love Seinfeld, still do in syndication. But the way it ended was pretty awful, though not as awful as the last episode of the Sopranos.

Topper Madison said...

Best: M.A.S.H.

Jane said...

I really enjoyed Friday Night Light's finale. Seinfeld's was awful but still a flawless show.

JoElla said...

I think SFU has ruined us for series endings. It really was one of the best endings I have ever seen.

Newhart also was brilliant.

Stinkers IMO, Seinfeld, Friends, Sopranos and maybe Private Practice.. (besides the little heart rollercoaster stopping)

Lynne said...

I agree: the Newhart ending with Emily and Bob in bed was the best ending ever.

The Seinfeld ending was good, because I liked the idea that these characters were not fit for society outside of New York. However, there were a bunch of shows during the last season dealing with germophobia and similar problems. I thought the perfect ending would have been having all of them committed except Kramer, and Kramer would become their caretaker.

loveless said...

The worst? Lost. They kept promising everything will be explained. It wasn't. I felt duped & cheated. Stat least Joss Wedon could keep long story arcs true to the plot and characters. After that Lost finale, I promised to never get that attached to a network show again. The best? Six Feet Under, satisfying and poignant.

iheartgoss said...

I think the worst is whenever a show gets cancelled after the season already aired, because it's never an actual ending. You're just left wondering what could've been. Stargate Universe? Fell in love with it only for it to be cancelled. Stupid Scyfy.

gloaming said...

The Best. Buffy The Vampire Slayer. I still miss it....

The worst. Lost. (although I loved the very last scene) But I saw it coming considering the last two series.

Maja With a J said...

I agree with Six Feet Under having one of the best finales ever. They seriously could not have tied everything up any better than they did. I didn't mind the Lost finale itself, I thought they kind of did what they had to do in order to finish it up...it was unfortunate that so many questions were left unanswered but I guess that is part of the myhtology of that show (I'm rewatching it right now on Netflix and I have to say, I am, catching a lot of things that I missed the first time around so I don't know, maybe the finale will feel different this time...).

I am also rewatching Twin Peaks at the moment and I do recall being quite disappointed with their last episode. I'll keep you posted on that one...*L*

TV Junkie said...

At the time, I was as ticked off as everyone else about The Sopranos finale, but now that some time has passed I can appreciate the brilliance of it!

Maja With a J said...

I win at typing.

SusanB said...

Agree with Newhart being the best.

I hated the ending of the Sopranos. Thought it was a huge copout.

Never liked Seinfeld's show, although I like his standup. The characters were all too annoying. If it's a comedy, I HAVE to like some of the characters in order to continue watching it.

Bleu said...

I loved the spoof meme that the ending to Lost was all a bad dream of Vincent's (the dog). Enty himself might have posted it at the time, I can't recall: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmaykBtOpcM

BTownGirl said...

Second Friday Night Lights for an excellent one! I love Seinfeld so, so much but that ending...meh. Now I'm going back to whining about whether or not we're ever getting another season of Curb.

Erin B said...

Reflecting back on worst ones, I remember being disappointed with "Alias" but mostly because they found out about being canceled & then had to quickly pack a bunch of stuff into a couple episodes. Kind of like what was mentioned above for "Angel." It was decent, but some things were dropped in order to wrap up what they could. I loved that show & felt like it was a disservice to it. I thought "Lost" would be different since they set an end date years ahead of time so they had a target, but it didn't matter.

Gayeld said...

@TheDude. +1000000000000000000000000000000. Best ending ever.

Gayeld said...

I couldn't stand Seinfeld. The last ep was no better or worse than any of the others.

Lil P said...

How many people checked their cable connection at end of sopranos? It wasn't until I read an essay online that I understood where they were going with it

Kelly said...

I agree that MASH and Newhart were the best. I really loved the Lost finale because I knew it was too late to answer any questions. It made me cry. Seinfeld was and still is awesome, but that finale was awful!
Oh, and I loved The Sopranos ending!

michelelala said...

I liked the "Cheers" finale; the bar just closed.

figgy said...

I actually liked the Sopranos ending...but then I like ambiguity.

nevermindthat said...

The Best ending was 24; the worst was The Sopranos, the whole reflection moment and then fade to Blackness left me a little disappointed.

MAC said...

I actually liked the Seinfeld ending. It showcased how all the characters were self absorbed and like someone else said, not fit for society outside of their bubble, which is what the show was kind of about for all those seasons. The end with them in the cell having an inane conversation that they have already had was pretty classic.

And I must be off, because I really liked the Lost finally...

Poppymann said...

The best is a tie between Newhart and trailer Park Boys. LOST was the worst.

Mala Propism said...

Newhart for sure the best ever. MASH was excellent. Still waiting to see if HIMYM lives up to all of the years of buildup.

Turkish Taffy said...

Hands down the best last episode of any show ever was "Monk"!!! I cry my eyes out every time I see it.

Bacon Ranch said...

I liked the ending because they brought back all of the memorable characters (the virgin,boob girl,soup nazi,deported guy) Ha, you can tell that they were so memorable that I don't recall their names on the show.
At least they didn't try to drag out the series. They saw it had hit it's peak and bailed out.

AndrewBW said...

Most show endings are bad, but Seinfeld was the worst. Lost was bad too. And the ending of M*A*S*H is terribly overrated.

Snapdragon said...

The Xena: Warrior Princess series finale was so bad/disappointing that it caused many die-hard fans to bail on the fandom.

One of the best in my recollection was the Star Trek: The Next Generation. As epic as a feature film, IMHO.

Seachica said...

I hated the Monk ending. I felt like the Trudy storyline never resolved well.

Newhart -- absolutely the best ending ever. MASH was up there also

marlolovespaty said...

Seinfeld had a great ending compared to others...Like The L Word, Lost and The Sopranos. It's sad what they did to the Sopranos. Was such a great show.

DewieTheBear said...

Loved that it stayed true to the spirit but Larry David was right - the pre-finale clip show was too much of a pile-on given the finale was a bit of a "blast from the past" of greatest-hit bits on its own.

Sad that it's been off the air so long. Still the greatest sitcom of all time.

Claritysk said...

I never got into the show really. It was so full of negativity and hate it was hard to stomach. I did see that they went to prison, which was a fitting ending though.

Lost was a terror. God I loved that show. Currently I'm hooked on once upon a time

Jason Blue Eyes said...

The Seinfeld finale was true to the characters. They were 4 people who only gave a fuck about themselves throughout the series. What were they going to do in the finale? Hug and get mushy? I liked that they stayed assholes right to the end.

Maja - I LOVED that last Twin Peaks episode. The thing was, it wasn't supposed to be a series finale -they thought ABC would give them another season. Season 3 was supposed to have Cooper as BOB throughout.

Unknown said...

Seinfeld was ehhhh to me, when it ended I didn't even watch (I was in highschool).....finally saw it years later and it was just okay.
Best ending to me? Dawson's Creek, I have a soft spot for that show , and I loved it.
I also loved Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Loved it, and have it recorded on VHS (ha!)
Worst ending? Scrubs sucked to me because I loved that show, and they strangled it to death instead of letting it die peacefully.
And I am still mad that they just left Pushing Daisies hanging like that....that show was awesome, and didn't even have a chance. (Grumble, grumble)

Jason Blue Eyes said...

But, to those that didn't like the Seinfeld finale, they did sort of make up for it when Curb did the Seinfeld reunion a few years back.

AKM said...

@Maja and JBE - I just rewatched "Twin Peaks" this spring and I totally agree. I remember hearing that also about Season 3, but as it stands now for anyone new, it's a total cliffhanger downer. And then the movie was a prequel. Thanks a lot, David Lynch! Boo.

I liked "Seinfeld" when it was on, and now I catch reruns and wonder what the hell we were all thinking. So overrated, and not a redeemable character one.

"Cheers" DID end well, and it was nice that Shelley Long came back for the last few episodes.

I still get sad watching the slapped-together "Pushing Daisies" ending.

"House M.D." had an interesting ending.

AKM said...

Oh, and big BtVS fan here, too. Didn't care much for the whole last season, though.

Elissa said...

@SusanB, I can't even count the number of shows that I've said that about; I have to like at least ONE character to keep watching! Agree that Newhart was the best finale every, and that the ending to Monk sucked. Liked the ending to Buffy, but hated most of the last season.

One of my favorite finales ever was (what ended up being) the last episode of Leverage. It wasn't an outstanding episode, but the way it yanked the emotions by having all but one of the 5 major beloved characters die, then revealing that that flashback was a lie that Nate was telling to the authorities was quite the ride.

Meli said...

The Golden Girls series finale still makes me cry :,(

Unknown said...

Agreed six feet under had a great end.....

Unknown said...

Agreed six feet under had a great end.....

Turkish Taffy said...

I haven't seen any love for "Frasier" here yet.
I loved the wedding and gasped when he landed in Chicago.

Jeneral said...

I hated all of the Seinfeld characters so I loved that they ended up in jail. Sopranos was the biggest letdown for me. The writers really lost it in the last couple of seasons and the finale showed they had nothing left. They basically said, hey fans, you figure it out. The end is whatever you want it to be. Six Feet Under was very satisfying, as was Friday Night Lights. I also liked the Sex in the City finale. Too bad they had to go and ruin it with those shitty movies.

AKM said...

Good call, Meli! How could I forget the Girls?! Dorothy running back in the house a million times, heheheheh. And telling them that they would always be her sisters. LOVE those four! I sometimes still can't quite believe that Betty is the only one left.

Unknown said...

I was disappointed with the Frasier finale. I didn't care much for Charlotte so that's probably why. I really liked the endings to The O.C. and Smallville.

Maja With a J said...

@AKM & JBE - I didn't know there was supposed to be a season 3...I really wish there had been! I know I'm probably alone in this, but I kinda liked "Fire Walk With Me" *L*.

Ms Cool said...

Best series ending - Spartacus.,

Angela said...

30 Rock had an amazing closure a few months ago. It fired on all cylinders, they kept some fantastic jokes, the finale dealt with cast members not seeing each other anymore because they were just work friends

And I can't understand the hate for the Sopranos finale. It's obvious that David Chase is telling us that we know now all we need to know about the characters. They won't change anymore. Sure, there could be some new stories, new fights but the gist of it has already been told, and it actually doesn't matter to tell what happens next, even if we cut to black in the middle of a potentially dramatic scene that entices us. Tony, Carmella and A.J. may be dead, but the show was definitely killed (and with them all its characters) at the moment you expected the least.

Jason Blue Eyes said...

Maja - I liked it too - it had some powerful scenes in it. I actually made the mistake of watching it before they revealed Laura's killer on the show. Me stupid.

AKM said...

@ Maja & JBE - Oh, I liked it too, for what it was. I just would have REALLY loved some kind of a sequel as well. Kyle's definitely said that it shall never be b/c he thinks he's too old, among other reasons, I guess. Still, maybe it's better that the show left us too soon rather than jumping the shark? I don't know.

Alita said...

@spandragon - right with you, TNG finale 'all good things ...' (still remember the title :) was brilliant .. and on a scifi bent, Battlestar Gallactica finale was terrible!

MC said...

I loved Lost! There were loose ends, but I felt very emotionally satisfied.

OKay said...

I liked the way Seinfeld ended. I know everyone was expecting some big, great "thing" and that probably explains all the backlash against it, but I thought the ending was perfect and true to the show.

NaughtyNurse said...

The Seinfeld finale was HORRIBLE, and as a huge Mad About You fan, I was pretty disappointed in how it ended, too--Janeane Garofalo as their daughter was a poor choice. MASH might be the best finale ever created.

MadLyb said...

I didn't like the way it ended. Fans didn't need some moral conclusion. We loved the characters just as they were - severely flawed, but lovable.

rflairfan1 said...

Seinfeld finale when it aired was horrible. Just went back and watched the entire series and the finale was alot better than I remembered. I can't think of any I hated though. I do think Tony Soprano died in the finale.

SCat07 said...

I remember being disappointed because it felt like something was missing (I realized later it was the laugh track or audience). It just wasn't as funny as the show itself was. Meh.

Alita said...

@AKM totally with you on that - I loved BtVS but that last season was horrible. Xander became a mopey git, and the whole thing was just miserable. At the end it was ridic - they're standing at the hellmouth hole and Xander jokes about Anya's death and then getting frosties or something? Stupid. I think Whedon was focused on Angel - now that was a good ending, even though it was canned and they only had a few episodes to wrap it up!

califblondy said...

Newhart was great. ER was also good. I liked St. Elsewhere too, but I just loved that show. Seinfeld sucked and my family still debates the Sopranos finale.

Candyland said...

I didn't read the comments, but I thought the finale was lame. Not terrible, but not good. Just lame. I'd like a donut top'while I'm guarding the store in a chair, thank you very much!

PugsterMom said...

I was going to say Newhart was best ending ever and I'm glad to see others agree.

Seinfeld ending sucked.

Nyan said...

Agree with all who say Newhart had the best ending EVER!!!

IMHO, Seinfeld would've been an awesome show, if they would've dumped Seinfeld from the cast. I loved the rest of the cast, but, Seinfeld just annoyed the CRAP out of me. He's just so overrated and seriously not funny. Again, IMHO :)

AuntJess said...

I also never cared for Seinfeld. Worst series endings: Roseanne, Quantum Leap and Medium. Best: The West Wing, MASH, The Shield.

AKM said...

I totally forgot about my "QL"! Yeah, not a good ending. It was abundantly clear that Sam wanted to go home, so how could it be that he WAS, in fact, the one in control of his leaping and/or going home?! Made no sense.

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