Worst series ending concepts

[wingsandsword]

I forgot how Night Court ended.

The whole gang broke up as their lives went in different directions, Christine was elected to Congress as a Represenative, Mac quit his job as a clerk to go to Film School, Harry was offered a position as a professor at a law school (but after much debate turns it down, at least for now, to stay a judge), and Bull was abducted by aliens (the last shot was of bull and two diminutive little guys who were aliens in disguise beaming out). I don't recall what happened to Dan or Roz, but I remember that each of the characters got something new in their life and the gang all went their own ways, generally on to something better (or at least the chance to do something more when they're ready).

 

[Wycen]

The whole gang broke up as their lives went in different directions, Christine was elected to Congress as a Represenative, Mac quit his job as a clerk to go to Film School, Harry was offered a position as a professor at a law school (but after much debate turns it down, at least for now, to stay a judge), and Bull was abducted by aliens (the last shot was of bull and two diminutive little guys who were aliens in disguise beaming out). I don't recall what happened to Dan or Roz, but I remember that each of the characters got something new in their life and the gang all went their own ways, generally on to something better (or at least the chance to do something more when they're ready).

Dan was the sex addict? Didn't he get his own spin off show?

 

[wingsandsword]

Dan was the sex addict? Didn't he get his own spin off show?

No, John Larroquette got a show of his own right afterwards, "The John Larroquette Show" which ran for 3 seasons, where he played a recovering alcoholic who was manager of a bus station in New Orleans. The character he played was very similar in personality and behavior to Dan Fielding (as well as being a New Orleans native like Fielding, and Larroquette himself), and he tried for a "Night Court" feel with his show, but it never quite became as popular.

He meant his character on his show to be semi-autobiographical since he is a recovering alcoholic from New Orleans himself, and apparently the very dark tone of his show (the motto of his show was a sign over his character's office "This is a Dark Ride") was at his insistence.

 

[trancejeremy]

IIRC, in Night Court, Dan chased after Christine, hoping to eventually win her over. Harry got like a dozen different offers of things to do, including touring with Mel Torme. But he stayed a judge.

I thought Dan Laroquette's character on his own show was quite different. Sarcastic and troubled, yes, but much less lecherous and much much nicer.

 

[Wormwood]

Uh, you did notice the whole like hour-long episode after the clip show, right? Not that it was great either, but still.

The finale *was* chock full O' clips. So much so that the pejorative "clip show" is well deserved.

And I'm sorry to threadjack, but the two BEST series finales would have to be the final "Newhart" and the film "Serenity".

 

[TwistedBishop]

The Seinfeld finale was basically a clip show, it just lacked the actual flashbacks. We saw the classic characters, doing their classic bits, nothing new.

The fact this was the finale aired after they did a whole hour of clips before it only compounded the error.

Edit: I should add that the whole going on trial thing, and ending up in jail, was fun. The problem was that new content was very minor, existing as just a vehicle for the parade of past guest stars.

Re: Millennium's X-Files episode, it should be noted that Plan: Zombie was not the official group plan. The show makes mention of the Millennium Group splitting up, and how Team Zombie decided to take it upon themselves to cause the apocalypse by this means. And hey, how many zombie movies have we seen where one zombie starts the infection that ends the world? It could work! But yeah, I agree, it felt odd after the seasons of Millennium to go out with such a small event. However, I personally loved Frank and his daughter driving away into the sunshine at the end of Season Three. That season was a mess in general, but I was happy to see those two end on an upbeat tone.

 

[swordsmasher]

dude..you've heard the speech

Star Trek: Enterprise had a finale that was actually an insult to fans. The entire episode is told as a Next Generation episode featuring Riker and Troi, as Riker plays a historic holodeck file reenacting the last mission of the Enterprise NX-01 as a subplot to the TNG episode "The Pegasus", set 10 years after the main body of the series, we see a main character die a meaningless death, and we get a glimpse of the signing of the charter of the Federation itself (the day NX-01 was decommissioned, thus it was never a Federation Starship so Enterprise-D can be the fifth Federation Starship Enterprise), but just as Archer is about to give a speech that Riker and Troi have talked about being incredibly historic (they had to memorize it in grade school, sort of the Federation version of the Gettysburg Address), it fades out.

and goes a little something like this: "Space, the final frontier...." and goes into something about being the "voyage of the starship enterprise" and then he talks about "seeking out new life, and new civilizations" and ends it brilliantly by saying "to boldy go where no man has gone before"

it was met to thunderous applause due it's shortness, and the fact it was quite to the point. Vulcan's everywehre were baffled by it's simpleness yet complex eccentricities, that thier whole philosphy of IDIC was born from that speech. lol

 

[Psychic Warrior]

ACtually, it improved greatly once he got it

I assume you are being sarcastic. MASH, in Alda's hands, became one of the most depressing shows ever, devoid of any of the black humour that filled the early seasons (and movie).

 

[Vigilance]

and goes a little something like this: "Space, the final frontier...." and goes into something about being the "voyage of the starship enterprise" and then he talks about "seeking out new life, and new civilizations" and ends it brilliantly by saying "to boldy go where no man has gone before"

it was met to thunderous applause due it's shortness, and the fact it was quite to the point. Vulcan's everywehre were baffled by it's simpleness yet complex eccentricities, that thier whole philosphy of IDIC was born from that speech. lol

That's why they couldn't show the speech. It reminds Berman that there was Trek before TNG. He hates that.

Chuck

 

[nothing to see here]

Whoa whoa whoa there, monkeyboy. St. Elsewhere's ending, while lame in and of itself, gets a free pass from me for collapsing the ENTIRE TV UNIVERSE under it's own cosmological/ontological baggage. You gotta love it just for that.

I'm gonna go with Millennium. Three seasons of soul-numbing horror, and he just drives off into the sunset with his daughter? Even lamer was the reprise of Millennium in the form of that X-Files ep where they brought Frank back, and the Millennium Group's master plan involved a bunch of zombies or something. So undignified.

Actually Millennium could better be described as two seasons of soul numbing horror followed by one season of warmed-over X-Files grap. It was one of the most unsatisfying TV conclusions ever. Kinda like kissing a pretty girl after a first date and finding out that she actually has no teeth.