Worst series finales?

I finally managed to watch the end of Friends the other week. It was better than I expected. I thought it could have been done even better, but I wasn't disappointed. Anyway, that got me to thinking what of the TV shows I have watched had the worst final episode(s)? So in no particular order, my three worst series finales are:

Quantum Leap
I absolutely loved Quantum Leap. It was my favourite TV show of all time until a certain series about a space station came along, but the ending was poor. I realise that they got the cancellation notice rather late on, but surely they could have done something more than just put some words up and dashed all the fans' hopes of seeing him get home?

Voyager
I really didn't like Voyager and wonder why I watched it for so long, so I am unsure whether they could have done a good ending.

Angel
Again the cancellation came rather late, but I was most annoyed with the way it ended.

I'd be interested in what finales people disliked (and I suppose liked as well)

Not that I ever watched "Xena" myself...

But I was left pretty unimpressed with that series' end. In a way it kind of undid a lot of the moral lesson the show had long established (that no matter how bad you've been there is always the hope/chance for redemption if you work hard enough at it).

Worst that I've seen - I hated the final episode of DS9 - what an anti-climax.

Best that I've seen - the final episode of Blake's 7 - bleak, depressing and true to the spirit of the show. SHocked the hell out of me first time I saw it.

I actually loved the way Angel ended - was quite in the spirit of the show IMHO. I quite prefered it over the Buffy ending.

Have to agree on Voyager - duh

I have a feeling no one will say Babylon 5.

I didn't like D'Argo's death in Farsape. It seemed like a cheap way to get us all emotional or something, like "Ok, we're done with this show, let's kill off a major character but not the two humans." Blech.

All the shows that never even got to have a season finale. I hate when an arced show is cancelled with no notice and no finale, leaving everything hanging.

All the shows that never even got to have a season finale. I hate when an arced show is cancelled with no notice and no finale, leaving everything hanging.

Click to expand...

Dark Skies and Space: Above and Beyond are two shows that never got a proper ending.

Xena certainly didn't end well. The last season was pretty disappointing in general. I think they exhausted their creativity or something. The whole "move forward in time 20 years" thing was pretty stupid. All the old/cool characters like Joxer and Autolycus were gone / too old, etc. Boooo.

Hercules ended ok, though.

I actually loved the way Angel ended - was quite in the spirit of the show IMHO.

Click to expand...

Agreed!

I quite prefered it over the Buffy ending.

Click to expand...

I can't even remember the Buffy ending, but the Angel ending stays with me.

Angel
Again the cancellation came rather late, but I was most annoyed with the way it ended.

Click to expand...

I loved the way Angel ended. It strongly kept the theme that the fight never ends in the pursuit of redeeming oneself. It's a message Angel gave Faith in season four, and it played out right to the end of the show. It wasn't a standard run-of-the-mill "Gee, we won, we beat the bad guys!" ending, and I like it for it.

In no particular order:

Star Trek: Enterprise

Angel (awful -- but then, so were the last few episodes)

Xena: Warrior Princess -- ended too soon, too abruptly... the episode itself wasn't bad, but it made me feel a little bitter.

Quantum Leap -- again, the episode itself wasn't bad, but the last 10 seconds left me feeling bitter, too.

I realize this is restating a few opinions already but:

* Quantum Leap
For reasons stated above.

* Farscape (I consider the Peacekeeper Wars the finale)
I agree with GKE's reasoning, I thought that part was weak. There were other loose ends that weren't tied up, and the ending seemed pretty hoakie to me. I realize, they had to basically take what was planned for an entire season and squeeze it into 3 hours of airtime, but still....

* Enterprise
Ovall, a disappointing show period. I sorta liked Season 1. Seasons 2 and 3 sucked (IMO), but Season 4 got me believing again. TERRIBLE finale though. Lame use of using characters from the more popular series (TNG) and also lame use of killing a major character just to get people to feel emotional (as was done in Farscape). I would argue it was done in even a worse way in this finale though.

* X-Files
OK, we all kinda knew Mulder and Scully would get together. But the whole finale was basically a recap of a shitload of events that were never planned to be a smooth story arc in the first place (as Chris Carter has many times admitted). It couldn't be anything but a mess since they tried to pull so many unrelated and unplanned things together. Lame death of the Cigarette guy who looked like a hillbilly in his last scene was a pretty lame way to end what was for many the most recognizable non-main character of the show. Survey Says: Anticlimatic.

* Seaquest DSv
Not sure if this series had a TRUE finale or not, but man did it sure go downhill after Roy Schneider left. That last season with Michael Ironside was pretty bad. The last episode was BRUTAL. Watch the first couple episodes of the series then that one, and look at how it is really a different show.

To be fair, X-Files was such a mess those last few seasons that it was literally impossible to make a satisfying season finale.

I have to say Enterprise.

Well I didn't watch Enterprise after Season 1, but from what I've heard it's finale takes the Golden Raspberry, hands down.

I loved the end of Angel - I thought it perfectly summed up the season, and was the ideal "open resolution" ending. Thematically everything was wrapped up, but there's always room to go back later if you want to.

While the Voyage finale was crap, the whole series was too, so it doesn't stand out. The DS9 finale was a let down though, very anti climactic.

I'll agree that Dark Skies got the shaft. I loved that show, and in the days before I had the internet, I had no idea it had been cancelled. I waited ages to see what was going to happen next, before a mate broke the news to me! So sad.

Actually, all I can think of for this was the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, in which they all lived happily ever after... but there we go. I've skipped the Voyager and Enterprise endings because I heard how naff they were. Remember All Good Things? Now that was how to end a show...

Ooooo I've got a good one.

I thought Magnum PI had a pretty bad series finale now that I think about it. What a letdown of a truly great show.

Actually I didn't mind the end to Magnum. With him rejoining the Navy and finding his daughter, the series had come full circle for him.

It would have been worse if they had ended it with the seventh season, with Magnum dying, like they were going to do!

It would have been worse if they had ended it with the seventh season, with Magnum dying, like they were going to do!

Click to expand...

Hah, that's funny. I could have sworn that WAS the series finale. I was a kid when that show went off the air, and don't remember that last season or the finale you described. OOPS!

It would have been worse if they had ended it with the seventh season, with Magnum dying, like they were going to do!

Click to expand...

Hah, that's funny. I could have sworn that WAS the series finale. I was a kid when that show went off the air, and don't remember that last season or the finale you described. OOPS!

Click to expand...

They managed to convince Tom Selleck to come back to do a 13-episode eighth season. There are some good episodes, including an Indiana Jones spoof (remember Selleck almost was Indy, but was contracted to Magnum and couldnl't do it). In the last episode, he finds his lost daughter and rejoins the Navy, and it ends with Rik getting married, and bottling it when he has to say "I do"!

So it was a decent finale after all.