Best Series Finale

[Kensei]

I remember being quite pleased with the final season and then finale of "NYPD Blue." I was a pretty loyal viewer of that show and had always thought they should do a serial killer plot that played out over several episodes. Lo and behold, in their last season they did it. And then Andy Sippowitz (Dennis Franz), who had suffered so many tough blows throughout the series that one wondered how he could have survived them all, ended up in command of the precinct. Nice.

And on the subject of cop shows, I vaguely remember the finale of the original "Hawaii Five-O." Steve McGarret's series-long arch nemesis Wo-Fat is finally behind bars. But then- surprise surprise- the final shot is of him in his cell pulling a file out of his shoe. Funny.

[Flash Gordon]

THE WIRE is the greatest show, so I have to go with that.

[SocializingMogo]

All Good Things wasn't an ending, this is why it wasn't so great. It was a showcase about what makes TNG so great.

Also, the Enterprise finale was Demons/Terra Prime, which was awesome too. (These are the voyages never happend).

The Breaking Bad finale certainly was one of the best finales in recent history. But I didn't like how Walter got everything he set out to do from the beginning.

I'm also a big fan of The Shield's finale. It was a big punch in the stomach but everyone got what they deserved.

[Kensei]

Anyone for "Lost," or was it just too damn weird and confusing? I never watched that show while it was on but recently watched it on DVD in a weeks-long marathon. I have to say I loved it, but had only a lukewarm reaction to the finale. It was ok, but could have been better.

One of my favorite shows of all time was "Kolchak: The Night Stalker." It did not truly have a finale, it just ran for one season and didn't get picked up again. But if its final episode could be considered a finale, it offered what was easily the cheesiest and most fake looking monster of the entire season. It was titled "The Sentry," about a giant subterranean lizard played by someone in a rubber suit so goofy looking it was just ridiculous. I mean, the show obviously had a low budget, but some of its creature-of-the-week villains were pretty cool and not one of them came even remotely close to the awfulness of that giant lizard. Oh well, fond memories anyway.

[SocializingMogo]

Anyone for "Lost," or was it just too damn weird and confusing? I never watched that show while it was on but recently watched it on DVD in a weeks-long marathon. I have to say I loved it, but had only a lukewarm reaction to the finale. It was ok, but could have been better.

The Lost finale negated huge parts of the show so no, I didn't like it at all.

[Basara]

"The X-Files"- though it might not have been the greatest ending ever for a series, it did end with one of the best spoken lines that it possibly could have. "Maybe there's hope."

And then, unfortunately, the characters had one more appearance in a rather bad movie that didn't fit with the show at all.

Which reminds me of how Firefly got the reverse, with a cancellation without even showing all the episodes that had been filmed before DVD sales got the fans a good movie that pretty much wrapped up the River Tam storyline. And, of course, the Serentity can't just peacefully fly off into space in one piece.

As an ending, Serentity did serve as a nice farewell to this band of misfits, even though it doesn't quite match the requirements of this thread.

[SocializingMogo]

"The X-Files"- though it might not have been the greatest ending ever for a series, it did end with one of the best spoken lines that it possibly could have. "Maybe there's hope."

Didn't the show end upon the words "The invasion will begin 12.12.2012"?

[md62]

Newhart

Greatest ending in TV History. Utterly brilliant.

Agree 100% !

[Crimson Knight]

Angel had an amazing ending

Also 30 Rock, it was hilarious and heart-warming

Futurama and King Of The Hill had beautiful series finales as well.

Overall, I'd say 30 Rock, I guess

Do you mean the Futurama finale, where the Robot Devil gets Frys' hands, or the end to the latest Season?

At one point, after all, the former was the series finale, and right now, the second is.

[Kensei]

Didn't the show end upon the words "The invasion will begin 12.12.2012"?

Not those exact words but yes, that was the message relayed by the Cigarette Smoking Man just before he was blown to hell in the next to the last scene.

[j9ac9k]

In reference to shows that have been mentioned here:
-- I thought The Next Generation finale was SO Picard-centered, that it took away a big part of the show for me, which was the ensemble. Just popping in on their possible futures or what have you, was not as satisfying as if they had all taken part in the adventure *together.*
-- Breaking Bad's actual final episode to me seemed a bit perfunctory - where all of Walt's ducks were lined in a row and we just saw him knock them down. (if you were to include the last 4 or 5 episodes, then it would blow everything else out of the water)

Some shows, like the "X-Files" had already lost so much steam by the time it ended, that it was anti-climactic when it ended.

"Babylon 5" was great, "M*A*S*H*" was great, "Cheers" was great, "The Wire" was great. "Angel" was *awesome.* (the scene in the alley was great, but don't forget Wesley's final "farewell" to Fred/Allyria)

"Scrubs" hasn't gotten any love here, mostly because what I consider the "final" episode wasn't its actual final episode. But the final "real" season of that show was great how it took the whole season to wrap up everyone's story.

Special shout out to "The Fugitive" and "The Prisoner" -- talk about the yin/yang of providing closure to a story!!

There's a reason nobody's mentioned "The Sopranos" ...

I have no answer of my own though .....

[Carabas]

I like some of these suggestions... (Angel and Alias particularily).

I'm going to add
- Blackadder Goes Forth
- Farscape (if you include The Peacekeeper Wars)
- Blakes 7
- Avatar: The LAst Airbender

[pro]

Anyone for "Lost," or was it just too damn weird and confusing? I never watched that show while it was on but recently watched it on DVD in a weeks-long marathon. I have to say I loved it, but had only a lukewarm reaction to the finale. It was ok, but could have been better.

The Lost finale pretty much ruined what had been a great series up until then.

[Step]

Do you mean the Futurama finale, where the Robot Devil gets Frys' hands, or the end to the latest Season?

At one point, after all, the former was the series finale, and right now, the second is.

The end of the latest season.

Both were pretty amazing season finales, I liked "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings" more as an episode, but I think "Meanwhile" worked better as the finale.

[dupersuper]

Can it be a 4 way tie?

The West Wing
The Next Generation
Deep Space Nine
M*A*S*H