# Shows that are good, despite not having a finale **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 9, 2016, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-are-good-despite-not-having-a-finale/754390 "2016-05-09T13:30:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-are-good-despite-not-having-a-finale/754390/41 "2016-05-14T21:52:25Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > It is probably a good thin that [John Doe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Doe_(TV_series)) ended when it did, because where they were going was IMHO suboptimal. > > (this spoiler is in the link) > > Make that someone who looked like John’s friend. The villain unmasked in the finale was actually just a Phoenix member with some fancy facial reconstruction. Turns out, the Phoenix believed Doe was the Messiah and its members were actually protecting Doe from a second group, which wanted him dead. The truth: Doe was injured in a boating accident. That mark on his chest? A scar left by a piece of shrapnel from the explosion. His Überbrain? A by-product of transcending his body during a near-death experience, traveling to a spiritual plane where all the universe’s questions are answered > > [Hijack] > The Fugitive has to be one of the first shows to have an actual finale, right? > [/Hijack] > > Brian “The Fugitive” was one of the most famous and widely watched (a two parter) series finales but there were a couple before. “The Cara Williams Show” 1964-65 revolved around two divorced people working for the same company who got married despite a company ban that employees couldn’t be married to each other. So there were perpetually situations about how “Frank just happened to stop by my house at 9PM to borrow a cup of sugar”. The last episode had the company rescinding their policy. > **[The Cara Williams Show (TV Series 1964–1965) - Trivia - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057739/trivia/?ref_=tt_ql_2)** > > The Cara Williams Show (TV Series 1964–1965) - Trivia on IMDb: Cameos, Mistakes, Spoilers and more... The last episode of “Sgt Bilko” in 1959 had Colonel Hall finally catching Bilko running a scam, putting him and his gang behind bars where he could watch them on closed-circuit tv and say “as long as I am the sponsor, this show will never be cancelled”. Bilko added a “that’s all, folks”. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2016, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-are-good-despite-not-having-a-finale/754390/42 "2016-05-18T23:21:47Z")
[quote=“Shagnasty, post:16, topic:754390”] Alf, the lovable alien cat fancier, was captured by government officials that said they were going to torture him before they dissected him in the last epsisode before the show was cancelled. THE END [/QUOTE] Remember ALF? He came back. In TV movie form. And none of the original cast came back with him because making the original apparently traumatized them all so much. > [@bobo\_blesinger](#): > > Gilligan’s Island > [@Moriarty](#): > > They did a TV movie. Long story shot: they got off the island, hated returning to civilization, and were happy when they all got on a boat and ended up marooned again. > [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > And it happened like two more times (they made at least three TV movies\*!\*) At some point they built a resort on the island and spent their time running it. Then they got launched into space in the cartoon spinoff Gilligan’s Planet. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2016, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-are-good-despite-not-having-a-finale/754390/43 "2016-05-18T23:45:40Z")
I agree with **Pushing Daisies** and I’ll add **Joan of Arcadia** to the list. IIRC, for **Law and Order** , they were all hanging out at a bar when Anita got a phone call from her doctor. We don’t know what was said but she returned to the party tearfully happy. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-are-good-despite-not-having-a-finale/754390/44 "2016-05-19T03:47:51Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > _Dead Like Me_ didn’t have an official finale, but the final episode left the series in a satisfying place, with George accepting her role as a Reaper. The follow-on movie was unnecessary. It also sucked. > [@Sir\_Prize](#): > > Pushing Daisies. I still miss it. And just to complete the trio ( same creators ), _Wonderfalls_. One abbreviated and charming season, but they at least knew the end was coming and managed to satisfyingly wrap up the season story line on the fly. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-are-good-despite-not-having-a-finale/754390/45 "2016-05-19T13:22:16Z")
> [@Declan](#): > > Actually I was fine with the way it ended, to go further in my opinion would have been outside the scope of a tv show. Or at least out of the scope of _that_ show. I mean, it went from a very nervous post-apocalyptic show, to one where the town was re-integrated into modern society, more or less, and became less about the little town and its denizens vs. the world, and more about the wider struggle between corrupt corporatism and legitimate government. Jericho season 3 would have had to have been something like a guerrilla war/cloak and dagger type show, but they’d already told Cosentino that they weren’t going to do that sort of thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-are-good-despite-not-having-a-finale/754390.md?page=2)