Favorite TV Series Fanale Ever?

In this Thread we explore the fanales we love to hate. Which were your favorites?

Cheers brought tears to my eyes. Newhart was fun.

Second Vote for Newhart.

The finale to Babylon 5, titled “Sleeping in Light”

“Well look at that, sun’s coming up.”

I’d vote for Newhart. It came completely out of left field.

The final episode of The Prisoner, for all its failings, was ambitious to say the least. And I found it entertaining.

Oh, yeah. Definitely Newhart. I don’t think anyone could have seen that one coming. “Emily? Wake up. I just had the strangest dream…”
:smiley:

I thought 3rd Rock from the Sun was pretty good, especially the rerun version where: Mary was abducted. The News Radio finale was pretty good and the ending was priceless. I also thought The Cosby Show had a good finale.

How about The Fugitive?

Dr. Kimble catches the One-Armed Man!
And beats the SHIT out of him!

I thought the Mad About You ending was great. They had Janine Garafolo as the Buchman’s daughter and they brought back Cindi Lauper. It was sweet, sad, well written, inspired and very, very moving.

Newhart was brilliant. I liked the St. Elsewhere finale too.

Favorite still has to be MASH.

I agree with the prevailing sentiment for Newhart, but I too enjoyed the final episodes of The Prisoner and St. Elsewhere.

I would have added Magnum P.I. if they would have just ended it a year earlier with the show that was supposed to have been the final episode.

TV

I liked the final Friends episode.

I didn’t actually see it, but knowing it was filmed and aired convinced me, finally, that (besides syndication) The Horror was finally over.

Newhart was one of the funniest things I ever saw, but I’ll still go with MASH

I thought the final episode of MASH was pretty lame, other than the final scene between Hawkeye and BJ, which I think is what everyone remembers. But if you thnk about the rest of that episode… blech. Klinger stays in Korea. Uh huh. Hawkeye goes nuts. Uh huh. Whatever. Aside from that last bit flying away in the helicopter, it was completely unmemorable.

My vote goes for Newhart. Audacious, funny, and perfect.

Star Trek TNG was good. I liked Newhart also.

I missed the re-edited ending of Third Rock from the Sun. Why would they change it? I thought it worked out wonderfully.

I watched a documentary on the show that spoiled a little bit of it, but although I haven’t seen it, I’m pretty sure the finale of MASH is probably one of the most powerful searies fanales ever. The few scenes I did see of it were heartwrenching.

The final episode of The Kids in the Hall wasn’t the best, but I enjoyed it and liked how they ended a lot of their skits. And that final shot with Belini was hilarious.

The last episode of the anime The Irresponsible Captain Tylor is also one of the best endings to a series I’ve ever seen.

#1 - Newhart

#2 - Babylon 5

#3 - Star Trek: The Next Generation

Honorable mention to St. Elsewhere and the Season 5 ending to Buffy.

For what little TV I watch it would have to be Blackadder goes Forth. For a comedy series to end that way was quite unexpected.

Did you Americans ever see a UK Sci-Fi show called Blakes 7? That show actually had TWO ‘final’ episodes. They made season 3 thinking it would be the last season, with a final episode that neatloy wrapped up several ongoing plotlines. Then, surprisingly the show was picked up for a 4th season. The final episode ended abruptly with a scene that’s still shocking more than 20 years later.

Similarly, the Red Dwarf episode Back to Reality was written as a ‘final episode’ (although it turned out not to be).