"The Worst Series Finales of All Time"

[JW]

Variety's list of the worst series finales:

https://variety.com/lists/worst-series-finales-ever/1235346338/

[M-D November]

While it's hard to argue most of the selections, I disagree with the presence of "Quantum Leap" on this list, as the episode in question was never intended to be a series finale, but ended up being one because NBC was dicks and the only thing the EPs could do was slap a hastily-prepared title card on the end of the episode (so hastily, that their protagonist's name is spelled wrong).

While I agree with "Scrubs" actual finale being on the list, I feel like that should exist in its own category, because had ABC not insisted on the 9th season, the 8th season finale (literally titled "My Finale", FFS) would have gone down in history as one of the best sitcom finales of all time.

[Kevin M.]

On Mon, Aug 29, 2022 at 10:21 AM M-D November <mdnov...@gmail.com> wrote:

While it's hard to argue most of the selections, I disagree with the presence of "Quantum Leap" on this list, as the episode in question was never intended to be a series finale, but ended up being one because NBC was dicks and the only thing the EPs could do was slap a hastily-prepared title card on the end of the episode (so hastily, that their protagonist's name is spelled wrong).

While I agree with "Scrubs" actual finale being on the list, I feel like that should exist in its own category, because had ABC not insisted on the 9th season, the 8th season finale (literally titled "My Finale", FFS) would have gone down in history as one of the best sitcom finales of all time.

As you said, many of the finales listed were merely, as with Quantum Leap, Lois and Clark, and Scrubs, final episodes of a season of shows not renewed. I don’t fault them as much as the ones written as a series finale. 

Almost as bad was my favorite series “Moonlighting” which took a basic episode then slapped a few minutes at the end to give the illusion of a finale. No finale at all would’ve been better. MacGyver did the same only worse with just a 30 second voiceover. 

I’d list Star Trek Voyager’s finale as among the worst. It took six posthumous novels to really explore what it would have meant for the crew to return to their own Galaxy and the aftermath of everything they did to, for, and with the Borg.

Also on the list should be the entire final season of The West Wing, which bore little to no resemblance to the first several years of the series and offered only the most superficial character resolution… some characters were changed entirely to the point even the actors admit they were lost in how to portray them. Between that and the death of a cast member, the finale was basically the characters as mindless zombies. 

I disliked the series Dinosaurs but for what the show was, the finale was superb and extremely daring for a show of that time.

The reboot of Battlestar Galactica was so poorly written that there was no hope that the series finale would be good, so it probably scores points for not being as bad as it could have been. 

We’ve been rewatching House the last couple months (annoyed they didn’t secure the rights to the theme song for streaming distribution). Once the series had the “Survivor” season where House picked a new team, the series suffered a catastrophic decline. So although the finale was bad, by that point the whole series was bad. 

On Sunday, August 28, 2022 at 5:50:35 AM UTC-4 JW wrote:

Variety's list of the worst series finales:

https://variety.com/lists/worst-series-finales-ever/1235346338/

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Kevin M. (RPCV)

[Diner]

The critiques of Northern Exposure and Scrubs are criticisms of the final seasons, not the final episodes, and thus should not be on the list.

As for the others, well, my reaction to the Gilmore Girls finale was WAY different.

And as one of the commenters noted, the final Castle was one of those "what the hell just happened?" moments.

[M-D November]

It's interesting that you mentioned "Star Trek: Voyager", because if I was going to put a Trek series finale on this list, it'd be the one from "Enterprise", wherein Rick Berman said one final 'f**k you' to the fanbase by embedding the events of the finale - the decommissioning of the NX01 and the founding of the Federation, so you know, only some of the most important events to take place in Trek canon - into the TNG episode "The Pegasus" as a Holodeck program for f**king Will Riker.  Say what you will about "Enterprise", the show improved greatly in its 4th & final season, and deserved a better finale.

The "Voyager" finale was, strangely, satisfying in the moment - Borg are destroyed, ship and crew get home safe, Harry Kim is still a f**king Ensign, etc. - but it doesn't survive when examined after the fact.  Still better than ENT's finale, tho.

On Monday, August 29, 2022 at 5:12:56 PM UTC-4 Kevin M. (RPCV) wrote: