I finally had a chance to watch Monk’s series finale and I must say it was quite good and the best one I can think of right now. Which series finales do you consider the best?
This subject has been done before, but no reason not to bring up what I think was probably one of the all-time best, if not THE BEST series finale: Six Feet Under
The last 5 minutes or so of that finale show was a “movie” unto itself, and truly a beautiful and satisfying end to a fantastic series. I still get choked up thinking about that episode and the last five minutes.
Newhart of course.
I was one who thought that the MASH series finale was very well done (I know many don’t agree with me on that) while I thought that Fraiser went out on a whimper, its final episode was a big disappointment…
BBC’s The Office: Xmas Special - Small victories for all the beloved characters: David Brent got an honest laugh, and Tim and Dawn finally went for it. Awesome finale.
Ditto.
There can be only one! 
“All Good Things,” the finale to Star Trek: The Next Generation, was quite good. Even better than the next two ST movies, I’d say! “Endgame,” the finale to ST Voyager, was probably among the best five episodes of the entire series IMHO.
Gotta be The Shield.
I gotta agree with this. I was horrified, but enthralled. Everything was summed up, but not completely resolved.
I can’t think of any other show that I felt ended on as good as a note as its peak (I never saw Newhart for some reason).
I’ve been disappointed by just about every series finale: Will & Grace, Friends, Sopranos, Six Feet Under (I am the only one seemingly who didn’t like it), Roseanne, Seinfeld, Sex and the City.
And there are so many shows that I gave up long before they ended (ER, for example).
I loved the way Sex and the City ended. It was upbeat, hopeful and all the ladies ended up with the relationships they deserved.
Out of all the series I’ve watched over the years, it’s sad that this is the only one that felt right.
Newhart
I’d like to see the final episode of One Foot in the Grave again. I only saw it in bits and pieces, but from what I can gather, the main character, who has been a royal pain in the ass for the entire series, is killed. The very end is a musical montage of all the indignities he’s suffered while the music is End of the Line by the Traveling Willburys.
The best finale I think I’ve seen is Babylon 5, the way they set it up in the future, they really wrapped up the series. A lot of other finals are just a last episode, leaving the impression the events go on, we just don’t see them anymore.
But in Babylon 5, they destroyed the station! That’s it, it’s over.
Since I’m too late, I’ll third The Shield, which would be my #1 choice. I’m also probably the only one anywhere who was happy with the finales of The Sopranos and Seinfeld.
Definitely not the only one on The Sopranos. But I’m a fan of ambiguous endings in general.
Ditto on Six Feet Under - the last 10 minutes were phenomenal (though I didn’t most of the old people makeup was done badly). But dramatically it was very powerful.
Seinfeld.
Ha, just kidding.
Sopranos was brilliant. Still second to Newhart, though.
Yup.
Although, in general, I’m a fan of series finales that don’t really change anything, finalize anything, or wrap anything up. The kind where they just leave it all going, and going, and going… And leave me able to believe that that magical little world I enjoyed so much is still ticking away somewhere, unabated and unchanged…TRM
I thought the finale of Seinfeld was awesome. It was actually rather daring. What, you expected them to walk off into the sunset and live happily ever after? No hugging, no learning.
Arguably, they did that four times.