Everybody loves television. If you don’t, you’re lying and if you’re not lying then why are you reading an an article about television? Either way, week after week, hundreds of millions of people tune into their favorite televisions shows.
Each year, a select few series must come to an end – either by their own choosing or because of cancellation. In a series finale, writers are forced to find a way bring together everything that viewers have seen in the past seasons and provide a conclusion that leaves fans feeling justified for investing so countless hours watching over the years.
Due to the recent Lost series finale outcry, we put together a list of the top television series finales – not the best ones, not the worst ones, but the ones that make you say, “WTF?”
While I’m sure that many finales could fit this bill, we’ve narrowed it down (using an extremely complicated and nerdy mathematical formula) to the top ten. Some finales that were considered, but not included are Roseanne, The X-Files, Felicity, Veronica Mars, Twin Peaks, M*A*S*H (yes, M*A*S*H) and the aforementioned Lost series finale.
Although, with over 1,700 comments (and counting) in our Lost finale explanation piece, it does appear that maybe I should amend this article and include it as an honorable mention.
Be warned, if there are now-canceled TV shows that you plan to watch on DVD or Blu-ray, this article contains MASSIVE spoilers about what many would consider the most critical episode in a television series entire run.
You have been warned…
In any case, sit back, relax… and get ready to say, “WTF?”
10. Life On Mars (US): “Life Is a Rock”
WTF? It’s literally about life on (the way to) Mars.
What better way to start off a WTF list then with an Americanized version of a popular British television show. While the U.K. version of Life on Mars was a brilliant series, the U.S. version paled in comparison. This was never more obvious than in the terrible series finale.
The story of Sam Tyler, a modern-day police detective, who gets hit by a car in 2008 (2006 in the U.K. series) and wakes up in 1973 was a brilliant premise. The mystery of the series was whether or not Sam Tyler actually traveled back in time, is dead or simply in a coma.
After 17 episodes (that’s 1 more episode than the U.K. series had), it was revealed that Sam Tyler had not actually traveled back in time, nor was he was dead or in a coma.
As it turns out, Sam Tyler was actually an astronaut on the first manned mission to Mars, sleeping in a hibernation chamber. The chamber was equipped with computer software that helped the astronauts dream about whatever they wanted. Unfortunately, Sam Tyler’s computer screwed up and thus created the world of 1973.
Suffice to say, this is nowhere near the brilliant ending of the original version. While I won’t spoil it for you, I will tell you that the U.K. version of Life on Mars was voted the #1 greatest TV ending of all time.
You can check out both the terrible U.S. ending as well as the far superior U.K. ending, but if you were at all interested in this series on ABC, I implore you to seek out the original version – you won’t be disappointed.
U.S. Ending
U.K. Ending
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WTF:
When I watched this, back in the day, I thought that it was the most amazing sequence ever. The ending shot is recursive. It is a comment on the fractal nature of the Universe. Everything is the same everywhere, some days are bad and somedays are bad, but it is alll just what you make of it.
It would be somewhat helpful to know which series you’re talking about.
I can’t believe there was no mention of Roseanne. That mess was whack!
“St. Elsewhere” is often cited as the best surprise ending of any US TV series (“Newhart” is the other strong contender). “The Sopranos” isn’t too hard to figure out: Tony got whacked in the diner. “The Prisoner” finale makes perfect sense if you catch Leo McKern’s inflection in the opening voiceover: he’s not telling Patrick McGoohan “you are Number Six”, he’s answering his question “who is Number One?”: “*you are*, Number Six”. He was never actually in The Village, the whole series is what is playing out in his mind might happen to him as he drives to tender his resignation.
bollocks
I liked the end of the Sopranos. With Tony’s lifestyle, it shows that he cannot relax. He always has to be suspicious of anyone and everyone he does and doesn’t know. They focused on the guy that kept looking at him, and when he got up to go to the bathroom. They focused on Meadow trying to park her car, building up to the possibility of something happening to her. If you’re an avid viewer of the show it was actually very suspenseful. And that last moment when you hear the bell ring and Tony looks up. Was it Meadow coming in? Was it someone coming in to put an end to Tony? Or did life just go on for the family? I guess the viewer gets to draw his or her own conclusion…
End of the Sopranos….Tony gets whacked live with it
Yes. Tony gets whacked….Precisely because he wasn’t being as careful as he should be.
And the end of ANGEL ! Did you see the end of Angel ?! I couldn’t believe my eyes, such a great show and such a bad end ….
Bad?! It was brilliant! I actually think it was a ballsy, very Whedonesque move, to end a series on such an open cliffhanger. It’s an invitation to let the viewer’s imagination run wild, which is an exception in the TV world where we’re a little too used to the opposite: usually the writers feel the need to leash our imagination by explaining everything. Now if you really need to know what happened next, go read the Angel comics.
to me, the most wtf tv ending of all time was the traumatic last episode of MK: Konquest. i mean, come on! shao khan killing off both heroes and villains and making lord rayden kneel before him? what were they thinking, man? it was so traumatic when i was 15 that i promised myself to never watch another series passionately
The ending of Sopranos was the best episode of the series. It was a perfect ending. =)
Sopranos: Tony, the egomaniac that he is, wins. He survived it all, yet, death is all around him, and as the camera cuts all over, he is watching.. every last inch of the place, just incase… always having to look over is shoulder, never really safe, yet, such a huge ego, and so powerful, he sits there with his family. Careless and happy. His wife lives in riches, his son get’s a fancy job, all based on Tonys “business”… meanwhile, Tony, the target of many, is in plain site, worrying about Onion rings, while Meadow drivers her fancy car that she can’t even park… All is happy in Soprano land… or is it? He’ll never be able to let his guard down. The guys in the corner? The couple? That man at the bar? The person who just barged into the Diner?
Well the finale of Quantum Leap makes more sense given Sam’s desires to set things right. I personally dislike lists like this because they skim over the episode. It was set up, but Bellisarius went heavy-handed at the end just to make sure there was no one that didn’t understand that the entire series was based on Sam’s sub-conscious and his understanding right from wrong.
The people that slam the final season of Roseanne, they also miss the point, given the fact that the season starts out with Dan having a major heart attack. They could’ve played in straight, but they didn’t they went down a dythymic/borderline world with Roseanne and how would she cope with this very, very major blow.
Hey what about the Twin Peaks finale? No one ever mention the WTF we all experienced when watching that. It made absolutely no sense and didn’t actually explain anything.
That’s the beauty of David Lynch’s genius. Actually, the entire series is one big WTF moment and I wouldn’t want it any other way… except that I’d love more David Bowie in there.
Clearly whoever made this list hasn’t seen Neon Genesis Evangelion.
You forgot “House”..aweful ending!
The ending of the sopranos is very easy:Is all about family…That’s why he pull the song “Dont stop believing” of journey…Because of everything he have in the all series the only thing that he still have is his family…Not a bad ending like everyone says…Of course if you understanding