Spoilers TV Shows with Great Endings

[Juxtapozbliss]

Six Feet Under!

Came to say this. Best ever.

 

[monsmord]

The last episode of the older American sitcom Newhart may have a lock on this (1), and the gimmick probably can't be repeated with such effect. I won't spoil it, but it manages to turn the entire eight season run on its head, and in a way that provides immense fan service. *chef's kiss

(1) Or not, but it has the key to my heart.

 

[Dausuul]

Babylon 5.

 

[Willie the Duck]

Side-topic: Shows that ended really re-enforcing their original theme:
If we can nominate the different endings for Futurama, I'll do the same for Scrubs -- the original season 8 finale was incredibly right for the series as a whole ("And who's to say this isn't what happens? Who can tell me that my fantasies won't come true? Just this once...").

By that token, Malcolm in the Middle did a great job of refocusing the show back to the central theme of growing up 'super-smart' (and how that doesn't solve everything and isn't a goal in and of itself).

Perhaps more darkly (but still appropriate), Dinosaurs ending with their entire society about to go extinct was way more appropriate for a show about anthropomorphic dinosaurs than anyone would have expected from a children's/family show of that era.

Finally (and somehow ending up in reverse-alphabetic order), Bojack Horseman is the perfect finale for that show in that it doesn't provide a sense of closure or wrap everything up with a tight little bow.

Other shows with good endings:
The Americans
Band of Brothers
Fleabag
The Fugitive
Gravity Falls
Justified
The Leftovers
Life on Mars
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
M*A*S*H
The Prisoner
Reservation Dogs
The Shield

 

[deganawida]

Original Magnum, PI
Burn Notice

 

[Ryujin]

Side-topic: Shows that ended really re-enforcing their original theme:
If we can nominate the different endings for Futurama, I'll do the same for Scrubs -- the original season 8 finale was incredibly right for the series as a whole ("And who's to say this isn't what happens? Who can tell me that my fantasies won't come true? Just this once...").

By that token, Malcolm in the Middle did a great job of refocusing the show back to the central theme of growing up 'super-smart' (and how that doesn't solve everything and isn't a goal in and of itself).

Perhaps more darkly (but still appropriate), Dinosaurs ending with their entire society about to go extinct was way more appropriate for a show about anthropomorphic dinosaurs than anyone would have expected from a children's/family show of that era.

Finally (and somehow ending up in reverse-alphabetic order), Bojack Horseman is the perfect finale for that show in that it doesn't provide a sense of closure or wrap everything up with a tight little bow.

Other shows with good endings:
The Americans
Band of Brothers
Fleabag
The Fugitive
Gravity Falls
Justified
The Leftovers
Life on Mars
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
M*A*S*H
The Prisoner
Reservation Dogs
The Shield

Not everyone gets the final episode of "The Prisoner." It's a bit psychedelic, maybe even moreso than the rest of the series. Austin Powers turned it into toilet humour with, "Who. Does. Number. Two. Work. For?!"

 

[TheLibrarian]

Babylon 5 & Supernatural really stuck the ending well. I'd also argue Star Trek: TNG had a really great final episode, even though it wasn't as story arc driven as other shows.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I know people get super-mad about it, but I honestly think The Sopranos had an absolutely great ending, particularly in its ambiguity. It totally worked for me. Tony is dead and alive, just as we feel ambiguously about him and his behaviour and whether we even want him to live.

Angel also had a kind of delightful, energising ending to what had been a pretty depressing last couple of seasons.

Halt and Catch Fire remains, to my mind, one of the best series ever made for TV (weirdly intensely relevant-feeling even though all the main characters are basically my parents' ages), and whilst they really deserved to do two seasons for the '90s, the ending was very strong and very in keeping with the rest of the show.

 

[Dioltach]

Yes, Minister had a perfect ending in that it became Yes, Prime Minister.

Friends did quite well.

Boston Legal was good, if slightly unsatisfactory.

 

[Rabulias]

Not everyone gets the final episode of "The Prisoner."

I find this true for every episode of The Prisoner. My first exposure to The Prisoner was catching the episode "The Girl Who Was Death" about 15 minutes into it on a local PBS channel late one weekend. I was utterly lost but oddly fascinated by it at the same time. I looked at the TV Guide (it was 1985) to see what this bizarre show was, and when it was on again. I have been hooked ever since, but it is not for everyone.