# good riddens friends or AWFUL series closers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 7, 2004, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-riddens-friends-or-awful-series-closers/243950 "2004-05-07T02:38:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-riddens-friends-or-awful-series-closers/243950/1 "2004-05-07T02:38:00Z")
Well colour me underwhelmed at that weak one hour series closer to Friends. watching the episode I kept thinking “That’s it?” I wasn’t expecting greatness but something of interest may have helped. Cripes. Anyway ebnough of my belly aching, The real question is, “In your oppinion, what is the worst of the series closing episodes out there?” ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-riddens-friends-or-awful-series-closers/243950/2 "2004-05-07T02:43:36Z")
I thought the Firneds finale was adequate. Worst series finale? _Roseanne_ is kind of up there (but that whole season sucked, so at least the finale expalined why). _St. Elsewhere_ - I can’t make up my mind if it was realy cool or absolutely horrid. ---
**Author:** ![Dignan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dignan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dignan)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-riddens-friends-or-awful-series-closers/243950/3 "2004-05-07T02:51:43Z")
I haven’t watched _Friends_ in four or five years (at least I don’t remember watching it), but I tuned in for the last half hour. Is Courtney Cox pregnant in real life? She didn’t look as thin as normal, and it appeared as though the camera work and wardrobe choices were done to “hide” her. Overall, it seemed like the ending was predictable. Did anyone not expect that to happen? OK, the writers threw a little curve in by having her get on the plane at first, but then Ross gets home and listens to his answering machine. Gee, wonder who it could be. I imagine it made fans of the show happy. It was a better ending than _Seinfeld_. Everything was wrapped up in a nice little bow, and followed the formula the show has always followed instead of just relying on a clip show. All of that said, does anyone else get an uneasy feeling seeing 40-year olds trying to look trendy? Everyone on that show sure has aged. ---
**Author:** ![Kaotic\_Newtral](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@Kaotic\_Newtral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaotic_Newtral)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-riddens-friends-or-awful-series-closers/243950/4 "2004-05-07T02:59:08Z")
> [@Dignan](#): > > IAll of that said, does anyone else get an uneasy feeling seeing 40-year olds trying to look trendy? Everyone on that show sure has aged. I’m with you **Dignan** …I had a hard time not staring at Phoebe’s neck. They seem to have aged a _ton_ in the last few years. I also noticed that Cortney Cox(sp?) seemed to have been pregnant, it was kind of hard to miss. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-riddens-friends-or-awful-series-closers/243950/5 "2004-05-07T02:59:12Z")
I thought it was predictable, and I was kinda of wishing for Ross to die in a Taxi cab accident, but that means Phoebe would be hurt too. The best moment, for me, was the Foos-ball table and " Are you going to buy another one?" That was harder for me to deal with than the predictable ending. I think the best overall series ending show, for me, was **MASH**. I cried like a little girl when Hawkeye flew off in the chopper and saw the rocks spellling out “Goodbye” ( or whatever) below. ---
**Author:** ![Lt\_Engineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90ced4/32.png) [@Lt\_Engineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lt_Engineer)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-riddens-friends-or-awful-series-closers/243950/6 "2004-05-07T03:00:34Z")
Quick question. I tuned out of friends a few years ago. Where was Ross and Rachels baby? I thought they were pregnant a few years back? Sorry for the dumb question, but thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-riddens-friends-or-awful-series-closers/243950/7 "2004-05-07T03:09:45Z")
> [@Lt Engineer](#): > > Quick question. I tuned out of friends a few years ago. > > Where was Ross and Rachels baby? I thought they were pregnant a few years back? > > Sorry for the dumb question, but thanks in advance. There were a few passing references to Emma as being at Rachel’s mom’s house, but she didn’t appear in the episode. I’ll also cast my vote for “meh.” ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-riddens-friends-or-awful-series-closers/243950/8 "2004-05-07T03:10:03Z")
I was vaguely watching the Today show this morning and they mentioned that Courtney Cox is pregnant. I didn’t intend to watch the finale tonight - but then I was reading and it was on so I sort of paid attention to it. I thought that maybe I just missed Ross & Rachel’s kid somewhere in the episode, but I guess I didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-riddens-friends-or-awful-series-closers/243950/9 "2004-05-07T03:28:25Z")
> [@Dignan](#): > > . Is Courtney Cox pregnant in real life? She didn’t look as thin as normal, and it appeared as though the camera work and wardrobe choices were done to “hide” her. Yes, Courteney is indeed pregnant. Sadly, I’m not the father. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-riddens-friends-or-awful-series-closers/243950/10 "2004-05-07T03:31:04Z")
> [@Lt Engineer](#): > > Quick question. I tuned out of friends a few years ago. > > Where was Ross and Rachels baby? I thought they were pregnant a few years back? > > Sorry for the dumb question, but thanks in advance. Thank you for asking! My mom and I were yelling “where’s the baby??” the whole time. What was she going to France for? “meh” indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-riddens-friends-or-awful-series-closers/243950/11 "2004-05-07T03:38:13Z")
As someone said it was a hell of a lot better than the Seinfeld ending. Also, worst series ending ever was Buffy. I like to pretend like it never existed and the show was just cancelled. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-riddens-friends-or-awful-series-closers/243950/12 "2004-05-07T03:56:25Z")
I was never a friends fan, but I was forced to tune in for this piece of “history”. What kind of lame shit was that? Girl and boy end up having life-changing conversation at the terminal, as she’s about to go to France? I think Socrates made up that story line. I’ll give the writers a bit of credit though, they managed to not offend anyone. Too bad they managed to not entertain anyone either. I also loved how they used the words vagina and feces as punchlines, seems the 13 YO audience was getting antsy. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-riddens-friends-or-awful-series-closers/243950/13 "2004-05-07T04:06:05Z")
“The X-Files” had an absolutely PATHETIC series finale. They go to all the trouble of bringing back David Duchovny, then waste everyone’s time with what was essentially a freakin’ CLIP SHOW! I thought “Star Trek: TNG” had a wonderful series finale. The show really didn’t have a lot of mythology, and what little it did have came in the form of Q, so bringing him back for one more chance to irritate Picard was a great way to frame the ship’s seven years of adventures. “NewsRadio” had a finale that was, well … it was surprising that they wrote an episode with any finality at all. This was precisely the kind of show that just runs and runs, and then one day they just don’t make any more episodes. There’s usually no finale so much as there is an episode that just happens to be the last one of the last season. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-riddens-friends-or-awful-series-closers/243950/14 "2004-05-07T04:09:53Z")
> [@kingpengvin](#): > > Well colour me underwhelmed at that weak one hour series closer to Friends. watching the episode I kept thinking “That’s it?” I wasn’t expecting greatness but something of interest may have helped. Cripes. > > Anyway ebnough of my belly aching, The real question is, “In your oppinion, what is the worst of the series closing episodes out there?” Now I’m waiting for Raymond to… :wally ---
**Author:** ![seriousart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@seriousart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seriousart)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-riddens-friends-or-awful-series-closers/243950/15 "2004-05-07T04:21:23Z")
Well, guess I’m the only one who didn’t hate it. Actually thought it had some decent moments. Especially the self-referencing moments like Chadler commenting on how cheap the apartment was and Joey asking if the apartment had always been purple. Certainly Friends has gone downhill in a big way. Probably starting back when Phoebe had her brother’s kids. That said, I thought they did a pretty good job wrapping things up, in their own, predictable way. Of course my expectations have been systematicly lowered over the years, too. Seeing the clip show, however, is a nice walk down memory lane when this used to be a really sharp and funny show. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-riddens-friends-or-awful-series-closers/243950/16 "2004-05-07T04:45:23Z")
I think the best part of the show was when you think the boyfriend did it but then you find out… What? I’m the only one that watched _CSI_? I did flip over to _Friends_ during the commercial breaks and I didn’t see anything to convince me to keep watching. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-riddens-friends-or-awful-series-closers/243950/17 "2004-05-07T05:20:47Z")
Overall, I was satisfied. They didn’t ruin any relationships or end up in jail or any other ridiculous nonsense. The only complaint that I have is that it felt very disjointed – like 3 little mini-plays all going on at once. On the 20/20 (?) special last night one of them said that their favorite episodes are when they’re all together, like the poker game, Thanksgiving dinners and the trivia game for the apartment episodes, which I agree with. By the time they got everyone together at the end, that’s when it finally clicked. And yeah, I cried (shut up!). For me, the worst series finale ever was _Mad About You_. I hated that they had Paul have an affair (WTF??!!) and Jaime turn bitter and nasty and their kid turned out to be a snot-mouthed bitch who hated her mother. These characters were way too cool to have cheated and raised an obnoxious child. It didn’t make any sense with the reality that had been the series for all those years, and it completely destroyed the integrity of characters I’d grown to love. I choose to pretend it was one of those “alternate universe/what if” episodes and never really happened except in a nightmare that one of them woke up from as the credits were rolling. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-riddens-friends-or-awful-series-closers/243950/18 "2004-05-07T05:36:59Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > Overall, I was satisfied. They didn’t ruin any relationships or end up in jail or any other ridiculous nonsense. The only complaint that I have is that it felt very disjointed – like 3 little mini-plays all going on at once. On the 20/20 (?) special last night one of them said that their favorite episodes are when they’re all together, like the poker game, Thanksgiving dinners and the trivia game for the apartment episodes, which I agree with. By the time they got everyone together at the end, that’s when it finally clicked. > > And yeah, I cried (shut up!). > > For me, the worst series finale ever was _Mad About You_. I hated that they had Paul have an affair (WTF??!!) and Jaime turn bitter and nasty and their kid turned out to be a snot-mouthed bitch who hated her mother. These characters were way too cool to have cheated and raised an obnoxious child. It didn’t make any sense with the reality that had been the series for all those years, and it completely destroyed the integrity of characters I’d grown to love. I choose to pretend it was one of those “alternate universe/what if” episodes and never really happened except in a nightmare that one of them woke up from as the credits were rolling. Ahh, I loved the final episode of **Mad About You**. Because in the end, they fell in love again. I caught the last 30 minutes of Friends tonight. It was nice and predictable and comfortable. Not anything people will remember years from now…or even weeks from now… ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-riddens-friends-or-awful-series-closers/243950/19 "2004-05-07T06:05:48Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > Ahh, I loved the final episode of **Mad About You**. Because in the end, they fell in love again. They should never have fallen out of love in the first place, let alone cheated. ☹ It was just a complete character assassination. (Why yes, I’m still bitter, why do you ask? ;)) ---
**Author:** ![Darkhold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@Darkhold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darkhold)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-riddens-friends-or-awful-series-closers/243950/20 "2004-05-07T06:06:55Z")
> [@](#): > > For me, the worst series finale ever was Mad About You. I hated that they had Paul have an affair (WTF??!!) and Jaime turn bitter and nasty and their kid turned out to be a snot-mouthed bitch who hated her mother. These characters were way too cool to have cheated and raised an obnoxious child. It didn’t make any sense with the reality that had been the series for all those years, and it completely destroyed the integrity of characters I’d grown to love. I choose to pretend it was one of those “alternate universe/what if” episodes and never really happened except in a nightmare that one of them woke up from as the credits were rolling. What? I don’t remember Paul having an affair. Sure he left her but it wasn’t because of another woman. Jaime turning bitter was silly though. And the whole point of it was that Mabel LOVED her mother they just fought a lot when she was growing up. (understandable if she was as strong willed as Jamie) She also recognized it was her mother that was the stronger one for kissing Paul after the premiere of her first movie. As for the finales I don’t know what everyone is expecting. I’ve yet to see one that was so good my jaw was on the floor. If anything I’m happy if they’re just good shows. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-riddens-friends-or-awful-series-closers/243950.md?page=2)