Styles Bitchley wrote:Hmm. I forgot to mention the Lost finale, which I found to be a disappointment. Others have said they like it though. For me, it just confirmed that the writers - just like the audience - didn't actually know where their story-lines were taking them!
have to agree.........seemed thrown together....not a big fan of the white light solves everything ending.
I hated the Lost finale, too. It seemed like such an easy way out of a complicated series that wanted the audience to believe it had all the answers. For this reason, I don't think the show has much re-watchability.
I guess I'm in the minority on the Newhart finale. I didn't like it. I always liked Newhart better than the Bob Newhart Show so I didn't like the dream idea. Suzanne Pleshette is awesome, though. I just thought the other characters on The Bob Newhart Show were annoying.
As for the Magnum finale, parts of it I liked and parts of it I didn't like. I posted my list of likes/dislikes in the forum for Resolutions part 2.
The really good finales that I remember are MASH, St. Elsewhere, Newhart, Monk and Magnum, PI. But the all time greatest finale, IMO, was back in the 1960s...the Fugitive! (OK, OK...I am old!!!...lol)
SPOILERS FOR THE CASTLEFINALE BELOW (edit - ConchRepublican)
I could post my comments here or on the CASTLE thread but I think the CASTLE finale was pretty good but the ending was a little unexpected. The talk on the internet was that the finale would end in such a way that the show could not come back in a different form and they did it. I really thought Beckett and Castle were dead at more than one point but the last scene from "7 years later" where they are both alive with kids did pretty much wrap it up...at least for me. I still would have loved to see a continuation of the show with Castle as a PI having had Beckett written out completely and/or even killed off.
Hi Guys,
I would like to add the finale of Perry Mason. Dick Clark played the last murderer of the series, a screenplay writer. Set in the actual studio used for Perry Mason, the producers cleverly made the last episode into a sort of yearbook for cast and crew.
All the behind scenes talent were shown onscreen during the police investigation. The last scene with Della, Paul and Mason was nicely underplayed.
By the way, one episode of the series was shot in color but isn't available in the rerun package. I saw it maybe 25 years ago when TBS ran it in a one off.
Also memorable was the last episode of Nichols, the James Garner starred cult western. Garner is murdered in it.
Due South's last episode was fine too. An outstanding series little known in America but big in Canada and Europe. It was a CBS/Canadian co-production about a Mountie assigned to Chicago and ran for three years.
Hill Street Blues. Dennis Franz turned the initially tiny part of dinosaur cop Norman Buntz into a star making comet that launched him into NYPD Blue. He stole the last year of the show from the series regulars. The series ends with the now exiled Buntz leaving the station, which was only just reprieved from the wrecking ball.
It was time for the series and Buntz to leave.
Last edited by Luther's nephew Dobie on Tue Jul 12, 2016 3:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
I just watched the finale to Quantum Leap for the first time. I just loved it. I thought it pulled off a bit of a magic trick by closing just enough of the story while leaving just enough out their for fans and viewers' imagination as well. Both sad and joyous all at the same time. A really subtle ending to that show.
Aside from Magnum (of course), my favorite finales were Newhart and Star Trek: The Next Generation. (Ok, call me a dork.) The three Enterprises converging at once was way cool. IMHO, the MASH finale didn't live up to the hype and some of the storylines were dumb. The actors were showing their age and Loretta Swit's hairstyles were pure 1980's. They would be unacceptable by 1950's nursing standards, and never would be allowed in the military.
Mrs. Higgins wrote:Aside from Magnum (of course), my favorite finales were Newhart and Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Those would be my two picks as well. There's no topping the Newhart ending. There was actually a callback to the final episode of Newhart on the rarely seen "The Bob Newhart Show 19th Anniversary Special" (1991). It picks up the morning after Bob wakes up in bed with Emily. He keeps mentioning the crazy dream he had about owning the inn to the rest of the cast. SPOILERS At the end of the special, as he is about to get on the elevator in his office, the doors open and Larry, Darryl, and Darryl are in it. Bob says something like "I think I'll take the stairs" and that's how it ends.
Star Trek TNG had a great ending. DS0 had a pretty strong ending too. A bit more bittersweet befitting the grayer tone of the series.
Honorable mention: Breaking Bad and the last episode of Superman the Animated Series.
Mrs. Higgins wrote:Aside from Magnum (of course), my favorite finales were Newhart and Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Those would be my two picks as well. There's no topping the Newhart ending. There was actually a callback to the final episode of Newhart on the rarely seen "The Bob Newhart Show 19th Anniversary Special" (1991). It picks up the morning after Bob wakes up in bed with Emily. He keeps mentioning the crazy dream he had about owning the inn to the rest of the cast. SPOILERS At the end of the special, as he is about to get on the elevator in his office, the doors open and Larry, Darryl, and Darryl are in it. Bob says something like "I think I'll take the stairs" and that's how it ends.
Star Trek TNG had a great ending. DS0 had a pretty strong ending too. A bit more bittersweet befitting the grayer tone of the series.
Honorable mention: Breaking Bad and the last episode of Superman the Animated Series.
Yes, most all of those mentioned plus St. Elsewhere, oh, even though I wasn't a huge fan and didn't start watching until I binged on a few episodes the last weekend of the series; I also liked the ending to Mad Men with the "I'd like to teach the world to sing" Coke idea formulated by a almost beaten by life Don Draper at a 60's hippieish California meditation seminar.
well I look back on this topic and it's been 5 years since i posted in it. A lot has changed since then. Some finales that have resonated since:
Breaking Bad.........not sure it shouldn't be the best. Unreal how good that show was and the finale (though somewhat predictable) was worth it.
Mad Men......eh. Loved the show, but really didn't dig the final episodes/finale. Some nice strings were tied up, but Draper in a commune left me scratching my head.
Boardwalk Empire....great show and can't complain much about the finale. Could've kept on watching this one.
Seaver41 wrote:well I look back on this topic and it's been 5 years since i posted in it. A lot has changed since then. Some finales that have resonated since:
Breaking Bad.........not sure it shouldn't be the best. Unreal how good that show was and the finale (though somewhat predictable) was worth it.
.
I agree Seaver41 that Breaking Bad should be noted and up near the top.
Did anyone watch the Rizzoli and Isles finale last night? I did and I thought it was a little weak. I really did not know what to expect but it was a little mushy and left a lot of things open-ended. Some articles say that they might try to reboot the show in the future. In any event I sure don't put it up there with the best of the finales I have seen. But I sure liked the show!
