Spoilers TV Shows with Great Endings

[Bedrockgames]

Sopranos isn't for everyone. I love it but they're all awful really.

That is kind of the point of it I think. The show humanized them and tried to be entertaining but periodically would remind the viewers just how awful they were

 

[Ryujin]

It's a dark show.

Seen the Wire or Justified?

Justified definitely ended well. Then they brought is back for a reprisal season.

 

[Ryujin]

No, neither.

I get a similar vibe from them.

"Justified" isn't as dark, though the lead protagonist is definitely on the morally ambiguous side, much like a noire novel. Given that the books it's based on are basically modern noire, that's reasonable.

 

[rem24601]

from what I remember the Mortal Kombat TV series ended in a way that left me satisfied. it wasn't a happy ending by any means. the series was a prequel to the video games, and featured a trio of plucky young heroes trying to overthrow the evil overlord. the series ended with the overlord retaining his power, and the plucky heroes dying or being tormented. the evil underling they had gone to for assistance, and had trusted, betrayed them, regained the power he had had stripped from him in the beginning of the show and was the primary villain of the original video game.

 

[Riley]

This is the correctest answer.

The classic British sitcoms which made it to the U.S. in the 70's/80's had a pretty high rate of good endings.

Black Adder did it especially well. I wonder if they had not come up with that ending, might they have written another season at some point?

I'd also praise Fawlty Towers and The Young Ones for their decisive, and deserved, endings.

 

[Morrus]

Black Adder did it especially well. I wonder if they had not come up with that ending, might they have written another season at some point?

They all die at the end of every season.

 

[Bedrockgames]

They all die at the end of every season.

I think Edmund survives season three (George dies though). The ending for the fourth season did feel different from the other season endings in that it turned sentimental unexpectedly. Purely from a humor standpoint, I like the season one ending (though it is not as funny of a season overall as teh others). But I remember season four having an impact when I first saw it (also I think the WWI setting just lent itself to that kind of ending)

 

[Riley]

They all die at the end of every season.

Blackadder did not die in his third series finale! He was promoted.

The (other) difference I meant re: the Forth finale is that it was a poignant ending which spoke to the larger experience of the actual victims of WWI. The previous Blackadders' deaths had been personal, and more purely comic.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

I liked the end of The Young Ones. It was definitely decisive. Deserved on the other hand...

A deserved ending is one that is built towards.

The end of The Young Ones was fitting. I think it was just the sort of ending that Rik Mayall and co. were inevitably going to do. Something very final and very out of the blue. But the show bounced around like a pin ball machine. It didn't build toward any specific thing. The ending that happened... it just happened.

 

[Clint_L]

You are not bad, you just have bad taste

No honestly I can get why one might not get into it. Especially not if you watch it years later. Back then it was revolutionary TV, today it might seem outdated in a lot of ways. Also deconstruction of mafia genre is nothing new today.

We have two episodes left in rewatching the series (my kid wanted to see it) and while it is good, my hot take is that it is highly overrated. The seasons are pretty formulaic, there are still “episode of the week” shows that are a holdover from network television, there is very little character development. As the critically beloved “male mid-life crisis” shows go, there are far better series.

It was ahead of its time, but I’m finding the last season a depressing slog.