Greatest TV Finales
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Greatest Series Finales: LOST Ep 6.17/18 “The End” wasn’t perfect, but made its final moments count
LOST, Season 6, Episode 18: “The End” Written by Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse Directed by Jack Bender Aired 5/23/2010 on ABC It’s been three years since the LOST finale aired – but people are still bitter, given the Twitter reaction over the Breaking Bad series finale, which saw “The End” detractors flinging turds at Lindelof for no apparent […] More
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Greatest TV Finales: The Thick of it ‘Ep 4.07’ says farewell to Malcolm and company
For four seasons and two specials, The Thick of it, acted as a strange hybrid between The West Wing and The Office. Some might argue that The Thick of it is technically better than either of those shows (this writer included), and the final episode proves why. More
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Greatest Series Finales: Scrubs’ “My Finale” says goodbye to the hospital and looks forward to the future
Opening to Red Hot Chili Pepper’s “Snow”, the audience is treated to a comforting flashback of JD’s (Zach Braff) first day of work at Sacred Heart where he’s verbally accosted by Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley), verbally accosted some more by Dr. Kelso (Ken Jenkins), accused of putting a penny into a sliding door by The Janitor (Neil Flynn), and sexually teased by Elliot (Sarah Chalke). It’s a nice look at how things have progressed on the show in its eight seasons. More
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Greatest TV Finales: The Shield ‘Family Meeting’ brings the Strike Team to “justice”
For seven seasons The Shield displayed some of the most vile people doing increasingly desperate things. As fascinating as it all was there was an understanding, even from the pilot, things just weren’t going to end well for the majority of the characters involved. More
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Greatest Series Finales: 30 Rock Ep 7.13 “Last Lunch” mixes well-earned character beats with lots of laughs
In its prime, 30 Rock was the best sitcom on television. It was whip-smart, expertly paced, and packed with wall-to-wall jokes. It was a satire of show-business and politics, an absurdist workplace comedy, and the story of how one of the all-time great mentor-mentee relationships managed to better both people involved. The show managed to comment on its genre, on its medium, on politics, gender dynamics, and the nature of celebrity with a facile ease and a tongue planted firmly in its cheek. More
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Greatest Series Finales: The Mary Tyler Moore Show Ep. 7.24 “The Last Show” sees Mary’s journey at WJM-TV come full circle
The Mary Tyler Moore Show began in 1970 on the CBS network. The show, itself, was ground breaking. It centered on a single woman who had just went through a bad breakup and was trying to make a name for herself. And she accomplished that throughout the seven years that the show was on the air. More
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Greatest Series Finales: Spaced, “Leaves” is a Wacky and Emotional Ending for this Surreal Sitcom
Before Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Edgar Wright wowed international audiences with their horror comedy Shaun of the Dead, they were part of the Channel 4 sitcom Spaced. This show was one of the first sitcoms to use a single camera setup without a laugh track. Spaced also featured quick hitting pop culture homages almost a decade before Community and blend of dry and surreal humor. However, the show’s greatest strength was its interesting characters who could be simultaneously hilarious and heartbreaking. These endearing characters are what made Spaced an enduring cult phenomenon in both the UK and United States. More
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Greatest Series Finales: Friday Night Lights’ “Always” is a beautiful exploration of family
Friday Night Lights had a unique journey, to say the least. Based on the novel of the same name, which was adapted into a film first, the series premiered in 2007 on NBC to critical praise but didn’t manage to find a significant audience. NBC supported the series, bringing it back for a truncated season two (courtesy of the Writers Strike), but season three seemed unlikely to happen until NBC worked out a deal with DirecTV to cost-share the series, renewing it for season three, and then in one fell swoop, four and five. Because of this rocky road, the creators actually ended up crafting three separate episodes intended to function as series finales, season one’s “State”, season three’s “Tomorrow Blues”, and season five’s “Always”. Many series struggle to create a meaningful series finale. Jason Katims and the Friday Night Lights team made three. More
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Greatest TV Finales: Angel’s “Not Fade Away” is a Strong, Emotional Finish to the Buffyverse
After Season 4’s controversial serial structure and retcon of the entire show up to that point, Angel Season Five was an excellent return to form for the show, especially with the addition of Spike (James Marsters) after Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s cancellation. This season sees Angel and the gang become even more morally ambiguous as they take over the evil Wolfram and Hart law firm while still attempting to fight the good fight. There are some funny episodes, like Ben Edlund’s puppet episode (“Smile Time”), but beloved characters like Cordelia Chase and Fred Burkle died emotional deaths. Before the finale, Spike, Wesley, Gunn, and Lorne think that Angel has become evil again and joined the Order of the Black Thorn. In “Not Fade Away”, Joss Whedon and Jeffrey Bell do an excellent job wrapping up the story arc of Season Five and the whole series’ story. However, what makes this episode a great season finale is its attention to not just the plot, but the major themes of Angel as well. More
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Greatest Series Finales: The Office (UK)’s Christmas Special provides closure without sacrificing authenticity
The Office (UK) Christmas Special Written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant Aired December 26th and 27th, 2003 on BBC One Before Americans swooned over Jim and Pam, viewers in the UK fell in love with The Office’s Tim and Dawn, laughed at the decidedly odd Gareth, and cringed at the odious David […] More
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Greatest Series Finales: Firefly’s “Objects in Space” waxes philosophic and explores River Tam’s place on Serenity
River Tam (Summer Glau) is the last character introduced in the Firefly pilot, but she is the first character who appears in “Objects in Space”. Up to this point (with the exception of gunning down three baddies with her eyes closed in), River has been comic relief and a human MacGuffin for plot purposes. If Simon hadn’t rescued her, he wouldn’t have joined Serenity, and there would be no overarching story for Firefly. However, “Objects in Space” shows how important River is to the crew of Serenity and the show as a whole. More
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Greatest Series Finales: Star Trek: TNG ‘All Good Things…’ is a touching, flawless conclusion to the series
There comes a time when all things must come to a close, and when it happens all one can truly hope for is that this closure in some way lends the satisfaction to assuage the loss. It seems like a strange notion now, when every fictional story has to have an “epic conclusion” whether it be Batman, Lost or Harry Potter, but there used to be a time when one could wrap up a fable by essentially allowing it to continue off-camera. More
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