No.

Quantum Leap

Can't find a YouTube video but Sam going back to visit Beth to fix Al's marriage at the cost of returning home chokes me up every time.

Off the top of my head:

• Babylon 5
• Deep Space Nine
• MASH
• Person of Interest
• Angel
• Parks and Rec
• Community

^ i was just going to say Parks and Recreation as well. the way they jumped time and showed us how they all turned out was so endearing to a series that gradually caught me off guard and came to love when all said and done.

even though i wasn't faithful to the show, i do remember Will & Grace had a particularly fun and heartfelt, if i remember correctly ending.

none whatsoever! i was working in Finance at the time. i was on some business trip somewhere in the mid-west (Iowa, perhaps), i believe.

a bunch of us went to the hotel bar, got a little tipsy and everyone in the place was watching the 2-hour finale (1st hour was the clip show, which was fantastic, especially when Green Day's 'Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)' comes on at end).

when the actual hour long finale was over, i remember EVERYONE being so disappointed and to this day i can watch every single episode, quote entire lines and speeches from almost every single episode many times over, but when i see the 2-part finale coming on, i watch anything else.

it was and still is excruciating and deviated from the entirety of what this show was ALL about. they took a show where every episode, save for maybe the show within a show episodes and Kramer going to LA 2-parter, was about nothing and turned the finale into an actual 2-part story.

sure, they brought back nearly every memorable guest star from some of the most beloved episodes, but that wasn't nearly enough to make the Seinfeld series finale remotely watchable more than the one time, when it aired. and this comes from a die hard Seinfeld fan who falls asleep almost every night to watching the 2 episodes that play on the CW or "channel 11" from 11pm-12am EST.

That's why most final episodes fail for me. There's this idea that WE'VE GOT TO DO SOMETHING BIG! Something that justifies all those commercials pumping up "The very final episode of BIG FAT GUY ever!"

That's why agree with you on something like Mad Men or Breaking Bad ending so well. They didn't deviate from what we already loved about the shows, just brought them to a natural conclusion.

Here's the alternate ending to QL's finale ("Mirror Image") if you're interested:


BTW, I used to *hate* the series finale of QL ("they screwed over the faithful fans who tuned in for years waiting for Sam to get home!" I thought), but over the years it's grown on me. Sam's sacrifice at the end really is a powerful coda.

exactly. And that’s why I defend The Sopranos ending to this day. There was no deviation, no big event, revelations. Most of that happened in the episodes prior, at least the killing. So when it faded to black I was totally fine with it and relieved in a way. Because it wasn’t some big event, it wasn’t dramatic, it just ended, how it began...a show about a very troubled family, in many ways, in the mob.

The episode itself was really good but the final title card is still devastating for me when I see it and even more devastating the first time I saw it when I was 12 and always wanted Sams next leap to be the leap home...

^ that was a tough pill to swallow. But at least Al got a good end.

A couple from my childhood are Family Ties and Wonder Years, two of the only shows I hold dear to this day. The Family Ties finale was special because the cast was brought out for one last curtain call. I was especially moved by Fox and Baxter's affection and all the people saying "Goodbye" over the credits. I remember watching this when it first aired 32 years ago and being gutted.
Wonder Years was also very poignant despite the feeling that the finale was rushed and pat, as if the cancellation of the show had come as a surprise (which I believe it had) and that everything had to be wrapped up hastily by way of narration and all cast members coincidentally gathering in the same place.

I think it's a very rare and indeed difficult thing for a show to have a good finale. It's like survival of the fittest. First the show has to be successful enough to have a few seasons. Then most of the time TV shows either go on for way too long and lose sight of what made them successful or are unceremoniously canceled leaving the show with no ending or even worse, a cliffhanger with the show runners expecting another season. Then the finale has almost insurmountable odds of somehow providing closure of years of story telling and characters. No matter what they do it's impossible to please everybody. I think there are very few show finales that are highly regarded.

Because if the thread I googled the best series finales and was surprised at how many shows I started watching, actually enjoyed at point, but abandoned the show before the finale. I guess, unless a show really catches my attention and becomes “must see tv” I have a tendency to bail long before the show ends.

Over the last 20 years or so my tv watching has really dried up and it’s rare I watch a series through to the end.

LOST - Jack and his father talking at the end. Penny and Desmond.

Some that haven't been mentioned that I thought were great are Friday Night Lights and Boardwalk Empire.

Yeah, that is one of the most amazing hours of television in the history of the medium.

After watching for five years it's so hard to watch, but at the same time it's so touching and heartwarming. How many shows have a finale that is both heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time?

Not a line of dialogue is off. The performances are perfect. The direction, amazing.


And now, with the passing of Mira Furlan, when I watch it I'm REALLY going to have a hard time NOT tearing up.

The funny thing is I tweeted to JMS about 6 months ago and told him that it still gets me, even though I know what's coming, and I try to keep it together.

His response? "Mission accomplished."

It had a 2 hr finale movie "Freefall" that aired on a Sunday or Monday

I did not cry but it was sad watching it end after 5 seasons and it also closed the book on the 80's too.

Too bad they could not get Jan Hammer back to do the score.

People downplay the TNG finale because the movies would follow...but, do we really want to remember the TNG movies? This was as perfect finale as a television series could get. This Hugo award winning episode has an ingenious sci fi plot that gives everyone of the cast a chance to shine. It both closes the book and leaves it open-ended at the same time. It's jaw-dropping that it was penned in only 2 weeks.

Come on, try not to tear up at this:

For me it's the finale of Chuck.

Yeah, the TNG finale is fantastic. One of the best overall episodes of Star Trek in general.

Part of me does wish the TNG movies never happened. Although I will gladly take the movies over Star Trek: Picard.

Icing on the cake, but with “The Deconstruction of Falling Stars” we really were lucky enough to get two great series finales.
Sleep In Light, Mira

This gets me every time, and it isn't even the most emotional scene in the episode. Not even close...

i'm sorry. i have to ask. what is this from? i know a Star Trek series related finale. but, which one. I never watched any...

Person of Interest
Six Feet Under
Parks and Rec
Alias
Frasier
Breaking Bad
Star Trek: TNG

Deep Space Nine.

Just made me misty right now. And note that in the script, it gives the subtext for Susan's line: She hasn't said his name in 20 years.