Best Series Finale

[Hamdinger]

Newhart

Greatest ending in TV History. Utterly brilliant.

Indeed it was!

[Kensei]

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

I wouldn't go that far. I'm sure it was confusing to many but its been analyzed to death and I read a very detailed explanation someone did somewhere on the web about how the smoke monster was going to use Jack for its next incarnation and continue to be the guardian of the island, just as it had done with Locke. Meanwhile in the other timeline, everyone (well, almost everyone) got to go to Heaven together. Now that's an ending everyone hopes for in real life, right? And also, the fight between Jack and the Locke impostor/smoke monster atop the cliff was awesome. But yeah, I actually do sympathize. Confusing as hell!

[Kensei]

Been wracking my brains for other ones. I was huge into "Miami Vice" which premiered while I was in high school. From what I remember of the finale, Crocket and Tubbs became disillusioned with being cops because of whatever happened in their final adventure and instead of parting ways they took off together into the sunset in Crocket's Lamborghini, which he was actually stealing because it was a confiscated car that the department allowed him to use as part of his cover. Basically, it ended with a bromance.

[Kensei]

Almost forgot "Kung-Fu"! David Carradine's Caine had scoured the wild west for his long lost half-brother for three seasons, getting into adventure after adventure in which he spread helpful eastern philosophy to the good guys and kicked the butts of countless bad guys. He finally found his brother (who was a bit of a con man and usually in some kind of trouble) and helped him out of some major jam in a three-part arc that led to the finale. In the end, after having bonded as brothers, after all that effort Caine chose to continue his roaming and ended the show with a heartfelt bow and a walk out the door.

Major nod to the show, Samuel L. Jackson in "Pulp Fiction"- "Basically I'm just gonna walk the earth... you know, like Caine in 'Kung-Fu.'"

[The Beast Of Yucca Flats]

In no particular order:

The Wire
Superman: The Animated Series
Newhart
The Young Ones
Breaking Bad
Party Down
Batman: The Brave & The Bold

[BaneofKings]

Well, because I'm too busy watching too much TV at once the only finales I've seen are:

Merlin (Fairly good for what had mostly been an average show at best)
Stargate Atlantis (decent but could have been a lot better. Amazing show though, and the best Stargate series)
Firefly (Are we counting Serenity in this? Either way it was excellent)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Pretty good)
Robin Hood (The BBC one. Like Merlin, a fairly average show but this still managed to be a fairly entertaining finale for what it's worth)
The Escape Artist (Technically a mini-series, but still very good)

The only shows that I'm getting anywhere close to reaching the finale on are Life on Mars (The far superior UK Version - currently on Season 2) and Battlestar Galactica (I'm making good progress through Season 3. I know pretty much everyone said the finale was horrible but I still remain optimistic given it's my favourite show).

[Enigmatic Undead]

Farscape The Peacekeeper Wars was pretty satisfying.

[Jorge]

I thought The Wire finale was damn near perfect. I also remember enjoying the Burn Notice series finale.

The Wire and The Shield. Everybody else is just playing TV.

[Jorge]

I wouldn't go that far. I'm sure it was confusing to many but its been analyzed to death and I read a very detailed explanation someone did somewhere on the web about how the smoke monster was going to use Jack for its next incarnation and continue to be the guardian of the island, just as it had done with Locke. Meanwhile in the other timeline, everyone (well, almost everyone) got to go to Heaven together. Now that's an ending everyone hopes for in real life, right? And also, the fight between Jack and the Locke impostor/smoke monster atop the cliff was awesome. But yeah, I actually do sympathize. Confusing as hell!

I wasn't confused. I wanted answers to a ton of mysteries that weren't explained. And yes, I know some folks are just fine with not having those mysteries explained. I was one of the boatload that wasn't.

[Jorge]

I really liked the series finale to Fringe

I did too. Nice bit of real atonement and resolution.
Fringe had flaws but is still one my favorite genre shows ever.

[Mac01]

for what it was worth and despite its flaws (clark beating darkseid by flying in to him) I enjoyed the smallville finale, where after 10 seasons got to see clark put the suit on and fly....

but one of my favorite series "sitcom" finales has to be That 70's Show with the countdown to the 1st of January 1980.
and my favorite series "drama" finales has to be the wire or the shield

[T.D.]

The Shield immediately springs to mind. What a finale.

There are subplots and characters over the course of the series that I didn't quite connect with (particularly anything to do with Aceveda; never was a fan of the actor), but it's probably the single strongest example of a TV show that was able to sustain one, serialized story over the course of the entire run while still balancing a case-of-the-week type structure. And it all comes to head in the final episode, which is just jaw-droppingly great.

Other favorites:

Angel - Great, tragic character work that typified the bleak-but-hopeful tone of the show.

The Wire - Hands down the best show I've ever seen. The finale draws everything together perfectly (I just prefer the finales of S3 and S4 better overall).

Scrubs - Technically they continued with the pseudo-spinoff "Scrubs: Med School" as season 9, but the ending of season 8 was the true finale, bringing the series and the character of JD thematically full-circle.

I like the Lost finale quite a bit too, while still acknowledging its faults. I never really thought there were too many mysteries desperately in need of explanation, so the way the Locke vs. Jack conflict came to a head was great and epic, and Jack's overall character arc was beautifully resolved. I really love the final 10 minutes (even if it's a bit self-congratulatory and overly reverential).

[saiths]

breaking bad. everyone else go home.

[saul_on_the_road_to_damascus]

I wouldn't go that far. I'm sure it was confusing to many but its been analyzed to death and I read a very detailed explanation someone did somewhere on the web about how the smoke monster was going to use Jack for its next incarnation and continue to be the guardian of the island, just as it had done with Locke. Meanwhile in the other timeline, everyone (well, almost everyone) got to go to Heaven together. Now that's an ending everyone hopes for in real life, right? And also, the fight between Jack and the Locke impostor/smoke monster atop the cliff was awesome. But yeah, I actually do sympathize. Confusing as hell!

The other time line wasn't another time line at all but purgatory or the place wher ethe dead go before they realized they were dead and accepted that it was time to move on. The only confusing part about it was Jack and Julliettes son

[arosenbarger]

Series' endings should be the love letter to the show itself. Not everything has to be wrapped up in a nice puffy bow, but the finale had to keep the "thesis" of the show, for lack of better word, while not being the undercutting the characters are their journey. I get that this topic, like any other topic is purely based in personal tastes...

That being said, the endings I have loved as a pop culture/movie/comic geek;

Newhart - just left field sort of awesome.

Breaking Bad - Just a damn well written show and the ending satisfied.

Scrubs - the original, Season 8 finale.

MASH - Obvious reasons.

Sopranos - I personally think this ending was genius - for the sole purpose the viewer can interpret if Tony lived or died, and pending on your judgement he did. David Chase he didnt want an ending showing that crime did or did not pay -and I think the move was ballsey (others could label indecisive) to allow the ending open to viewer interpretation.

Angel - Joss Whedon goes balls-to-the-wall.

WORST
Dexter - its the opposite of the Sopranos. They didn't didnt want the anti to win or lose and couldnt decide.
LOST - the creators said they went for an emotional ending - yes. I threw something at my tv due to their cop out season.
How I Met Your Mother - its called MIMYM - not How I want to date someone who's not your mom.