Twin Peaks.
Cooper (grinning maniacally at the image of BOB in the mirror): How’s Annie? How’s Annie?
Nooooooo!!!
Joanie and Chachi got married; Tom Bosley broke the fourth wall and thanked the viewers.
Although, technically, that wasn’t the last episode; there were four episodes that ABC didn’t air until the summer following the finale.
I like to joke that, given the show’s continuity problems, especially with dates (Margaret had not met her future (ex-) husband when Colonel Potter took command in September 1952; she was engaged while the 1952 Summer Olympics were taking place; she was already divorced on 12/31/1950), they should have ended the series with the beginning of the Korean War.
I still wonder why nobody brought up the fact that the mugger had a gun, so it made more sense not to do anything.
Short of killing off the four of them, that was the one thing I was hoping they wouldn’t do - find some way to make it look like all of the people that got involved with them would end up “better” than they were (and they did - after all, they didn’t end up in prison).
Supposedly, David Chase wanted something like three minutes of blank screen (possibly with music, the way Monty Python & the Holy Grail ends), but one of the unions (DGA?) wouldn’t allow that.
I also agree with the people who complain about Roseanne, St. Elsewhere (it should have ended with the previous season’s ending, where the hospital was being torn down), Star Trek: Enterprise (especially as it’s the only TV series that is canon in the new movies’ universe), and Quantum Leap.
The worst offender, in my opinion, was Blake’s 7…
although Terry nation has said that it was meant to be a cliffhanger and most of the characters didn’t actually die.
One thing about the Newhart finale: there was a The Bob Newhart Show reunion show not too long afterward, that takes place the next day - and retcons the fact that they had moved (to Oregon?) in the last episode of the original series.
In the end, Larry, Daryl, and Daryl are elevator repairmen in Bob’s office building.
It was a meh show and not the intended ending, but Alphas went out with a bang…
[spoiler]Bad guy Parrish set off a mutation bomb that was going to kill some huge number of normals while creating and enhancing Alphas. It went off, apparently killing every character except Gary, who was left howling amid the body count.
I assume that some number of the cast would have survived with their powers changed, but as it is… they finished up dead.[/spoiler]
“Sledge Hammer” Yeah okay the finale was the first season ending cliffhanger but it never got addressed when the series got renewed for a second season, and so they wimped out and made the second season all about events that occurred before the bomb went off and destroyed the city. Hell, even a DREAM like they did in “Dallas” would have at least been a good joke.
“Happy Days” How about Officer Kirk showing up with Arnold and Chuck and saying that he just solved two of the most baffling missing persons cases in television history?
“All In The Family” It SHOULD have ended when Meat Head and Gloria moved to California because “Archie Bunker’s Place” was terrible.
WKRP—I think the above poster Annie Xmas hit it on the head brilliantly!
“The Sopranos” Actually I hear talk of a theatrical release so we have a couple of options. The lights come up in the restaurant and Tony and his family notice that there had been a power failure. OR…in the tradition of “Dallas” while the screen is black after about 30 seconds we hear an alarm clock and Tony wakes up in bed after dreaming that most of his crew had been wiped out by Phil Leotardo’s gang.
“Lost In Space” Dr. Smith eats the giant carrot and gets super human vision and plots a course to get the family back to earth.
FWIW, I think Angel ended in just the right spot. The villain from day one, Wolfram and Hart, had been vanquished. All of Angel’s human helpers were dead (or getting there soon). Whatever Angel’s story is after that point, it won’t be a plucky little supernatural detective agency squaring off against the law firm from Hell.
Count me amongst those who look at Enterprise’s finale as something to be de-canonized. Not only did the episode crap all over the Enterprise characters, it also pooped all over the TNG characters! When “The Pegasus” aired originally, there was no way Riker could have found time for holodeck hijinks and chats with Troi during what was going on. I can’t understand why they didn’t just set this framing bit aboard the Titan (the ship Riker was set to command as of Nemesis) and give him some compelling reason to be holo-dicking-around.
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles did not end on a good note. Then again, this could be because season 2 was “throw everything against a wall and see what sticks”. There was literally a plot wall in the season. Some dude from the future came through, scribbled a bunch of nonsense on a wall and that became the various storylines they chased. Except right in the middle (and with a huge break in between episodes) we got a lengthy and boring trip into Sarah’s psyche. The wrap up sucked, especially how a couple of characters were killed off just so they could be brought back at the final second.
Boston Legal was pretty good although I would have left out the takeover by the Chinese. And if they were going to come back to Nimmo Bay they should have actually come back instead of using an obvious green screen.
I would have ended Kings differently. Rather than having Silas back on the throne and David on the run, I would have had David made king somehow and Silas on the run plotting revenge.
Wasn’t technically a series finale. The producers of The Sarah Connor Chronicles were lead to believe that a third season was definitely going to happen. So built things up to a massive cliffhanger that remains unresolved.
Here’s the plan for the would-be season 3: http://io9.com/5349566/sarah-connor-chronicles-season-3-would-have-featured-a-surprising-comeback
I always felt that Tony had an anxiety attack of the sort that drove him to visit Dr. Melfi and he had merely blacked out in the diner. That would have dovetailed nicely with the pilot episode.
Will you please move to my world and write all of the final episodes ever?
Thanks in advance.
The end of Dinosaurs was… needlessly depressing. Look, it was a show about dinosaurs, we knew they were going to die. A semi-comedic abrupt meteor nuking the place would have been fine and appropriate. What I didn’t need to see was watching a man comfort his infant son and lie to him that they’re all going to be fine as they starve to death due to a global-warming caused endless winter.
I’d definitely change Charmed so it ended with season 7. Season 8 should have never happened, with the exception of the last few minutes of the last episode.
I would have changed Supernatural so it ended at the end of season 5, but with Sam stuck in hell instead of being free.
I was going to mention beast machines, but the only way to fix that show is to toss it into the depths of a volcano and start over.
House should have ended with him walking along the beach after driving his car through Cuddy’s house.
I would agree with most of this, except W&H being vanquished. IMHO, the point of the ending, and really the whole series, was that the fight against evil never ends. W&H is always there (remember, earth is “the home office,” as Holland showed Angel in “Reprise”), and there’s no happy ending where Angel wins his redemption. Redemption is an ongoing process. “If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do.” He’s given up his destiny to keep fighting the good fight, no matter the odds, no matter the cost. “All I wanna do is help. I wanna help because, I don’t think people should suffer as they do. Because, if there’s no bigger meaning, then the smallest act of kindness is the greatest thing in the world.” Hence, “Let’s get to work.” It all fits, and it may be the infuriatingly perfect series ending ever made.
Amen to this. That was one of my most favorite shows growing up and to me the ending couldn’t have been more sad. 
God bless you always!!!
Holly
I would’ve ended The Practice with Alan Shore vs. Joey Herrick in some way.
Someone (I don’t know who) suggested that Star Trek: Enterprise would’ve been improved if it turned out that it was the “Mirror, Mirror” universe.
I’ll double Amen Dinosaurs. Loved that show. At the time that was the only show that my entire family liked and would willingly watch together.
I was fine with the ending though.
I’m Ok with Losts’ ending. It wasn’t great and the million questions they asked but never asnwered is still annoying as hell. I just wanted more. I wanted more answers and more info. Like where the hell did mother come from?
If they made a spin-off with Hurley and Ben in charge I would totally watch and probably get all annoyed all over again but I’d still watch.
If I recall the second season was set a few years before the explosion. This would have been before Hammer and his partner teamed up. I also think this was supposed to be the final episode and the producers had to scramble when it was renewed. I was amused by it and prefer it to a dream story line. I think they were joking withthe audience by giving a big wink and moving on.
Okay. Let me work up some rage.
First off, the show was named Justice League, which of course is shorthand for The Continuing Adventures of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and about 50 Other Guys They Keep Around for Tax Purposes. We can all agree on that, right? Okay.
Second, the show’s longest-term villain was Lex Luthor. Whom everybody hates, on account of him being hateful.
Bearing that in mind: the show’s final story had Luthor, in an attempt to resurrect Brainiac because he, Luthor, is a selfish asshole who cares only about himself, accidentally resurrecting Darkseid, who wants to destroy the Earth because he’s an evil god and that’s what evil gods do. Luthor and his few remaining allies warn the League of the mess they’ve created. Most of the villains want to help defend the Earth against the imminent invasion because, hey, Earth is where they live, where their mothers & boyfriends & kids live, where all their STUFF is. But Luthor only wants revenge on Darkseid for keeping Brainiac from him. Hearing this, the natural thing to do is for Supes, Bats, or Wondy to cold-cock the motherfucker and dump him in the brig. But instead they let him come fight.
Okay. I can deal with that. “The enemy of my enemy is my ally.”
But here’s the problem. The League fights their valiant but hopeless battle. Wonderful. Long-lost friends return for Earth’s darkest hour. Grand. That’s how it should be. This is the Supes/Bats/Wondy & Company show, after all. But after Supes finally takes off the kid gloves and unleashes his all on Darkseid, the writers choose to show him as being completely impotent to harm the god of evil, and instead have Luthor not merely rescue Supes but deliver the death blow to Darkseid.
It was just… frustrating. They’d already done the “Luthor saves the world” bit once before,for one thing. But more importantly it turned Justice League Unlimited into the Luthor Show. In a way it validated every arrogant, selfish boast Luthor had ever made.
It would have been more satisfying, methinks, if one of the League’s original seven had delivered the smackdown. You wouldn’t want to kill the Big Three, but Shayera, I think, would have been a perfect candidate. Her Nth metal mace was already established as being uniquely powerful, and if she’d died in the process it would have been the final act of redemption for her betrayal earlier in the show.
But no. Dwayne McDuffie was addicted to irony, so addicted that he forgot who his protagonists were.
Not quite true. The Beast Wars story had ended satisfactorally; they should have left things as they were with those characters. It’s just … annoying … when stories aren’t allowed to end organically 
but rather are dragged onward until everything that was good in them is gone.
Actually I’d be okay with that show ending with getting shanked in prison.
The ending was acceptable for, if nothing else, the scene with Donna: “No, Ms. Moss, this is your office!” 
Oh, don’t get me started on St. Elsewhere. I hate the snowglobe ending with the fiery passion of a thousand suns. Hate it. And in case you missed it, I hate it.
What they should have done is “Newharted” it:
Scene: Kirk’s quarters. Kirk wakes up in bed and turns on the light. Spock is in bed with him!
“Spock, it was so… weird! There was a Klingon, and an android, and a woman with a funny accent and great cleavage… and the captain was… completely bald!”
“Like you are, without your toupee?”
“SHHHH! That’s an order!”
By the time of the finale, I couldn’t care less. Killing Tara at the end of Season Six was the unforgivable jump-the-shark moment.
Thanks!
Sure I will. How much do I get paid.
I’m glad you people liked it. I worked in as many references as I could think of.
Beast Machines
I loved this show. You find me another show with a mechanical gorilla meditating in a zen garden designed like a circuit board. I loved all the weird spiritual aspects of the show. I can’t remember how it ended.
Quantum Leap
I was satisfied with the ending. As somebody else already posted, my understanding was that Sam chose not to go home. It would be completely in character for him to keep saying “I’ll just do one more leap to help somebody, then I’ll go home.”
I agree. The god/bartender made it clear that Sam could go home if he felt he’d done enough, but he also made it clear that all the leaps so far were easy ones - what lay ahead was much tougher. Sam chose to keep leaping. Proper ending, IMHO.