Best TV Season Finale (Possible Spoilers)

[Vocenoctum]

It was intended to be the series finale...Until the show got picked up by a different network and they suddenly gave Willow a big power boost and got Buffy res'd

IIRC, they were picked up before the airing though, possibly before the filming, but my memory is not what it ever was...

 

[John Crichton]

It was intended to be the series finale...Until the show got picked up by a different network and they suddenly gave Willow a big power boost and got Buffy res'd

I don't believe that is entirely accurate. Joss has been quoted many times as saying that Tara was supposed to die in season 5 but he kept her around because he loved the character so much (with Willow). He purposefully pushed it back a season and the whole dark Willow storyline with it. So I'm fairly certain he knew there would be a season 6. Willow's power had been building over time and I don't think it was that big of a power boost and Buffy was always going to come back.

 

[Capellan]

Best ending ever, though, goes to Blake's 7. If you've seen it, you know. Wow. It was the first time I sat and just stared at the screen, trying to figure out what had just happened. A friend, who had already seen it just sat next to me on the couch and addressed my speechlessness with a simple "Yeah. I know."

Best. End. Ever.

Of course, there was a novelised continuation that kinda ruins it, but I like to pretend that never happened

 

[John Crichton]

Is there anywhere I can catch Blake's 7 reruns? I've heard that Farscape apes it at many key places and have curious for some time...

 

[WizarDru]

Is there anywhere I can catch Blake's 7 reruns? I've heard that Farscape apes it at many key places and have curious for some time...

Only if you have a PBS station that might be carrying it in syndication, unfortunately. That's where I caught them. It features special effects that aren't much better than a traditional BBC (read: Dr. Who) series of the early 1980s. But it was ahead of its time in its writing, and the aspect of Blake's 7 that Farscape most resembles is that it features a bunch of characters on a starship they essentially stole from a corrupt empire, and none of the characters trust or like each other...in point of fact, some try to kill each other over the course of the series. One of the most brilliant episodes was one where the shuttlecraft became trapped by a gravitic anomaly, with two of the characters desperately racing to unburden enough weight off of the ship to break free...and the cat-and-mouse psychological game that ensues when the backstabber and the craven realize that throwing one off of them out the airlock would be enough weight to allow the ship to escape. Then the real fun begins.

 

[Richards]

Ah yes, Blake's 7 was a great show. In an RPG sense, it was a real "let the dice fall where they may" kind of show, as simply being one of the main characters was no guarantee that you wouldn't be killed off. It really helped notch the tension up a bit, once you were forced out of the "well I know he's going to escape somehow, there's no way they'd kill him off" mindset.

It had really well-thought out characters (hey, when you're dealing with BBC special effects budgets, you're much better off putting most of your effort into having great characters ), and one of my favorite villains ever, Servalan (in a "love to hate her" kind of way). I also liked the fact that the bad guys weren't science fiction aliens, but rather a corrupt Earth government.

And I agree with previous statements that it had a GREAT final episode and a rotten subsequent novel that tried to undo the final ending.

Johnathan

 

[Napftor]

Gawd, I loved Millenium. The last season bit, but everything up until then was amazing. Anyone know when/if that will hit DVDs?...

How right you are! I'm certain you can find the 2nd season finale on Ebay. There were a number of Emmy-promo cassettes floating around. These were videos sent to the members for Emmy consideration. The tape has two eps--the last two of season two in fact (the one with the devils in the donut shop is the other one--"Somehow Satan Got Behind Me"). As for DVDs, there is some scuttlebutt that FOX is indeed releasing the first season on DVD this year. Depending on its sales, the other seasons will be released as well.

And the listed Star Trek season finales have been my fave's as well. Start buying those DS9 dvd sets to watch them again and again!

 

[WizarDru]

The tape has two eps--the last two of season two in fact (the one with the devils in the donut shop is the other one--"Somehow Satan Got Behind Me"). As for DVDs, there is some scuttlebutt that FOX is indeed releasing the first season on DVD this year. Depending on its sales, the other seasons will be released as well.

Wow, I forgot about that episode. It was freaking brilliant. Especially the whole 'coffee' thing.

 

[S'mon]

Favourite finales - the last ever ep of Blake's 7, of course. Also the season 1 finale of Buffy, my favourite Buffy ep. That was before she could trash multiple vamps at once - Buffy seems to have gone up a lot of levels during the course of the show.

 

[Hopping Vampire]

one of my favorites is the Simpsons Season Finale when Mr. Burns was shot.... that was classic