I honestly have a feeling Lost will come out as a dream, purgatory type ending I dont watch the show but if thats the set up by the end I would be pissed and I;'m not a fan.

The best season finale's are where everyone dies. Thats what made the Blackadder the fourths one so great (I'll ignore the 2 TV specials filmed a decade later)

The Red Dwarf one was pretty decent as well. (althou I don't think they intended for it to be the final ever episode).

What else? Life on Mars even thou its a bit of a cop out. Worst ever one was Dallas. JR getting visited by what seems to be the Devil!! WTF, I was only 9 and even I knew that was idiotic.

I loved Life on Mars's finale. It just felt right and like there was no other way it could be.

Sports Night was one of those shows where they didn't know if they were coming back or not, I believe. There were certain things that I felt they didn't wrap up enough, but for the most part it was really satisfying.

7th Heaven just had the WORST series finale I've ever seen.

I find it hilarious that you can almost always predict the main plotline for a sitcom's final episode.... I can't even number how many times I've seen a sitcom end with the family moving out of the house they lived in for the entirety of the series. Of course, I suppose I can kinda understand that... Since sitcom is short for "situation comedy", one could say that moving away from the house you've been in for forever changes your "situation" and therefore gives a good way to end the show.

I thought Touched By An Angel's finale was pretty good, though now it has me really wanting to see Monica doing the whole Supervisor thing.

Quantum Leap's series finale was a good episode on its own, but as a finale it sucked. "Dr. Sam Beckett never returned home." What the hell? YEEEESH.

Joy

What about it was bad? Just bad acting or the whole plot concept was weird?

I agree. The God character TOLD HIM that he leaps where he wants!! Surely he could go back home and then go back to leaping, since he knows how it works, now. It could be like a job...

Off the top of my head the best finales:

Newhart - It was genius to tie it all into his 70's sitcom
MASH - It just lent itself to a good finale as the war ended and they all had to leave
Mary Tyler Moore Show - Everybody gets fired... except Ted.


The worst finales are the shows that don't get a true send off... The A-Team, Futurama, Gilligan's Island... those piss me off. It's usually because they get canned unexpectedly, but I think networks owe it to their fans to cap off a series. Also, there are a TON of decent, but not great finales... Friends, Cheers, Buffy, Everybody Loves Raymond, Alias, etc...

But, here's my worst of those shows that got an ending:

Seinfeld - I get the concept, but the best thing about Seinfeld is that the characters did shitty things and never had to pay for it... and they never apologized for it. It's what I liked about the show. It's one of my all time favs, but the ending was not fitting. But, to be fair... Seinfeld was the opposite of MASH. It did not lend itself to having a great ending. In a series with no touching moments, special weddings, etc... it would be tough to craft a good ending with this one. It would have had to be something Newhart like... out of left field and not sappy, but I can't think of anything either.

X-Files - The series had fell so apart in seasons 8 and 9 that by the time the finale came around I hardly cared anymore. The finale should have been so much better considering the type of show it was, but it didn't deliver.

Six Feet Under's final 10 minutes are about the best 10 minutes of television I've ever seen. Amazing way to end the series. Plus, Sia's "Breathe Me" is one of my favorite songs so that makes the finale even greater.

Buffy's finale was a bright spot in a mediocre season, but I wouldn't put it in my top ten eps of the series. Angel had a much better finale, and it had a better final season too.

1. It didn't resolve ANY issues from either past seasons, or past main characters.

2. They didn't have any past characters. Not even Simon.

3. They ended it without any information on what was going to happen. They were getting ready to leave on a road trip.

Maybe they figure they'll be resurrected again like last time. It happened once before. 7th Heaven really is kind of like a Jesus analogy. Died once, came back, then went away again.

Cheers is the king of classy series finales. All others should follow its example.

I also agree. It was ridiculous!


Best:

Newhart
Angel
Dukes of Hazzard - It was a happy-go-lucky show, and it ended in a happy-go-lucky manner. Even if it was canceled when it was still a ratings hit. Plus, Boss and Rosco were written with depth in the final episode. Always a plus in my book.


Worst:

Alias - Didn't like the final direction of the show, character-wise.
Quantum Leap
Angel
La Femme Nikita - Very convoluted.


Angel's finale was both great and terrible at the same time. Very well-written, but, they went too far by killing off so many main characters.

Biggest series ending unresolved cliffhanger (besides Angel's): Carnivale

Didn't they only kill off 1 of the main characters in the series finale?

Killing off bad guy main characters don't count.

Lindsey was one of the most complex members of Wolfram & Hart. I really didn't like what they did with his character in the finale. .... spoilers in white.....


Killing him in the finale the way they did, just flew in the face of all the character development that had happened with him. Given that the show (and Buffy) involved vampires and other assorted demons (Anya) seeking redemption, it was just jarring and disappointing. Gunn was supposedly dying at the end. And Wesley was my favorite Angel character. Killing him, and presumably Gunn, after killing off Cordelia and Fred, was just too much.

Spoilers if you are still catching up on the show.

Well gun was in the first draft, but they changed it. I think he would have survived, had the show gone on.

I maintain badguy main characters don't count. Lindsey was a douche. (I thought it was an awesome death, myself.)

Best:

Raymond (Perfectly fitting for the show)
Six Feet Under (Just Brilliant)
Friends (Not their best, but a decent end)

Worst:

I really can't think of any off the top of my head...Roseanne's finale sounds soooo bad though.

I think Friends was pretty good. Not the best, but it ended as predicted. They didn't quite pull it off though.

Alias' was very good. I mean, it hit all the bases a finale should have, the only problem is they should have spent 17 episodes padding that finale out, not the last 9 cramming it all in. It should have been a two parter at very least.

That's what I felt with Alias too, good finale but the episodes leading to it felt rushed.