Guys, I really enjoy these lists and the addons from everyone here, so I want to keep it going for a bit.
I'm not going to do it every day, but when inspiration hits me.
Now it would be easy to do somthing like, the best series endings, or the saddest series endings. But how about the outright messed up series endings, where things come out of nowhere and punch you in the face, and you think . . . what the hell was that?
So here we go, the Captain's messed up series endings.
As an add on note, at least two of these series tried to fix these episodes by doing a movie or special later on that reversed the ending, but we're not counting those time lines as they came far after the finale.
1) Angel - This was a really angry response to the cancellation of the show. But they tried to placate Whedon by saying "Hey man, maybe we can do a few Angel TV movies. To which he gave a firm middle finger entry and killed all the characters.
In a way it worked and it was the only way to really end a series that was based around the concept of redemption and the unwinnable war against evil. Angel and his crew was never going to be able to fully stop Wolfram and Hart and their plans for an apocalypse. And Angel was never going to hit that point of redemption and regaining his humanity. So instead they decided to do what you should do to that bully that's bigger and stronger then you, Take your best shot.
In then end with so many of the original characters dead and dying, they did as much damage to Wolfram and Hart and gathered in a back alley for one last doomed to failure stand against Evil. The series basically ends with an evil army marching towards out hero and Angel mentioning that he always wanted to kill a dragon.
2) Little House on the Prairie - Growing up for some reason I loved this show. I was such a big fan of Michael Landon and how he played Charles Ingall's this show tried to go dark on occasion and deal with relevant topics. But this episode which ended the series really dealt with the evil that the rich people do to the wholesome family community of walnut grove. Basically the scheming evil railroad tycoon comes to town and buys up all of the property. When the people protest their eviction the army comes to town to boot everyone out. In the ultimate FU the townspeople blow up their homes and only one home survives as the last scene shows a family of rabbits living in the abandoned Ingalls residence.
3) Dinosaurs - I loved this show, it was quirky, they made Sherman Helmsly scary. The baby was awesome and it was a pure comedy about a dinosaur society that acted human. Until the last episode that is. That episode was way ahead of its time, as the Dinosaurs looked forward to a beetle migration that never comes because the factory killed the breeding ground, which caused vines to go unchecked. When the main character tries to kill the vines he ends up destroying all plant life on the planet. To bring back the plant life they decide to make it rain by erupting volcano but that brings Global cooling. The last scene has Earl the father apologizing to the family for basically ending the world as the snow begins to fall.
5) Alf - One of the darkest endings to a sitcom ever. Basically Alf receives a message from two surviving Malmacians (I think that's how its spelled) that they had a new colony world and they were going to pick him up. The Tanners had a very emotional farewell party for him and Alf goes to the rendevous spot. But just as the ship is about to pick him up the Government's Alien Task Force surrounds him and the picture goes to black, and its assumed that he was doomed to experimentation and dissection and eventual death.
6) Dallas - This one is expecially messed up as it was a flip on its a wonderful life. As JR is shown by an angel what life would be without him, JR is shown that he was basically an enormous dick, and the angel convinces JR that everything would be better if he was dead. Then in the most badass but messed up twist ever the Angel reveals himself to be a demon and we see JR put the gun up to his head. and the series ends with a gun shot and Bobby running into the room and saying "Oh my God" before the fade to black.
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How I Met Your Mother - killing her off right after they finally meet, using the story as a way to get Ted's kids permission to ask Robin out on a date. Apparently this is how the series was always intended to end; as the kids were filmed w/ Josh Radnor, Bob Saget narrating and the showrunners early on in the series, so they'd be the same age in the footage when the series eventually ended. I personally enjoyed the twist, but I'm in the minority.
It may not have been the way the series ended, but the MASH finale is still an emotional gut punch to me. Hawkeye's realization that it wasn't actually a chicken on the bus still hits me in the feelings.
They had dealt with a lot of heavy issues in that show over the years and found a great way to inject humour but that last episode really came out of left field on me. Haven't had a TV series affect me like that one did.
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The final season begins with the Connors winning a $108 Million lottery. The season continues to get more and more bizarre, with the theme changing to a Blues Traveler (complete with John Popper) version, weird twists to bizarre locations and themes, including Dan having an affair, and culminating in the twist that the entirety of Season 9 was the fever dream of a madwoman coping with the death of her husband, which was Dan's supposed near-fatal (actually fatal) heart attack at the end of Season 8. Super dark.
Oddly, there is going to be an 8-episode revival coming next year with nearly all of the original cast, so I'm going to assume they will pretend Season 9 never happened.
A fantastic early effort of a show by Phil Miller and Christopher Lord (Cloudy With A Chance, 21 Jump Street (Movie), Lego Movie, Brooklyn 99, Last Man On Earth, etc.), produced by Bill Lawrence (Scrubs, Spin City) starring a super-early Will Forte, prime-era Nicole Sullivan, and a not-yet-over her shtick Christa Miller. Biting writing, great cast and a memorable show, this is a weird one to include as it was only 1 season long.
The show revolves around cloned versions of famous historical figures (Abraham Lincoln, Gandhi, Cleopatra, JFK, etc.) going to a high school for ?reasons? and the hijinks that ensue. At the end of the first season, the show culminates at the Snowflake Ball (kind of a winter prom thing) where the Shadowy Figures, a government group that commissioned the clones, comes to take them away for experiments. Everyone congas into a freezer and are frozen for all time. Fin.
What makes this ending interesting (other than an unresolved plot), is that the show was not brought back for a second season due to unpopularity, but rather because an article in Maxim about the show was read by a parliamentarian in India that depicted the Gandhi character being beaten up by jocks. There was a parliament sit-in to protest the show, and Viacom's CEO became trapped in the MTV India building on a visit with unfortunate timing. They apologized and cancelled the show, and a second season was never greenlit (even Gandhi-less) due to the controversy.
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The Shield - Crooked cop Vic Mackey admits to every crime in the book, including murder, so he can get immunity and a cushy desk job. He’s not allowed to do police work, or anything really, but in the final scene he grabs his gun and runs off... somewhere.
The Shield - Crooked cop Vic Mackey admits to every crime in the book, including murder, so he can get immunity and a cushy desk job. He’s not allowed to do police work, or anything really, but in the final scene he grabs his gun and runs off... somewhere.
His life was ruined. his family was in witness protection, he was taken off the streets, he had no respect among his friends/colleagues. Perfect punishment for all his sins.
Him grabbing the gun and leaving didn't register with me as being anything more than him going home. There was nothing he could do.
2) Little House on the Prairie - Growing up for some reason I loved this show. I was such a big fan of Michael Landon and how he played Charles Ingall's this show tried to go dark on occasion and deal with relevant topics. But this episode which ended the series really dealt with the evil that the rich people do to the wholesome family community of walnut grove. Basically the scheming evil railroad tycoon comes to town and buys up all of the property. When the people protest their eviction the army comes to town to boot everyone out. In the ultimate FU the townspeople blow up their homes and only one home survives as the last scene shows a family of rabbits living in the abandoned Ingalls residence.
Per the agreement with the landowner that the LHOTP sets were built on, upon cancellation or cessation of the series, the land had to be returned to its original state. Landon worked that into the final scene of the series by blowing up the buildings.
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It was a perennial gag in blackadder that all the characters get killed at the end of the season, and the next season starts in a different historical era, different characters. Funny. The last season was set in WWI, and throughout the show the characters are living in a trench on the front, doing whatever they can to avoid actually needing to go into action. The last episode, they finally run out of options, they know it, they know they're going to their death, and you know it too because that's the way every season ends. But it's different than all the others: a gutpunch that you can see coming a mile away, but hits you all the harder for it.
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How I Met Your Mother - killing her off right after they finally meet, using the story as a way to get Ted's kids permission to ask Robin out on a date. Apparently this is how the series was always intended to end; as the kids were filmed w/ Josh Radnor, Bob Saget narrating and the showrunners early on in the series, so they'd be the same age in the footage when the series eventually ended. I personally enjoyed the twist, but I'm in the minority.
Good idea, poor execution. The last episode should have been the last season and not one weekend being a whole season. It would have just gone so much better. That way you would have connected with the mother before she died and coming back Robin wouldn't be so rushed.
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His life was ruined. his family was in witness protection, he was taken off the streets, he had no respect among his friends/colleagues. Perfect punishment for all his sins.
Him grabbing the gun and leaving didn't register with me as being anything more than him going home. There was nothing he could do.
And what Shane Vandrel (not sure spelling) and offing his family in the form of a
mercy killing before ending his own life. Crazy.
Angel continued on in terms of continuity as a comic book, as did Buffy - though things got weird. I loved the last season of the show - I thought it was darn near perfect, including everything about the final episode. At least they were given a chance to end it properly.
As I posted in the opening theme song thread; Degrassi had an epic ending. Death, jail, weddings, raging parties, people cheating, lifesaving... pretty much sums up my high school experience.
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The last season of HIMYM was a complete disaster without any of the charm and humour which made the show popular. Too many episodes were wasted on the wedding where nothing was happening with no time spent at all on the final ridiculous twist.
Seinfeld was always going to be a tough series to wrap up. I didn't hate this as much as some people did and I appreciated trying to have a conclusion and bringing back popular characters, but the whole thing was just odd.
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Originally Posted by PsYcNeT
Clone High
A fantastic early effort of a show by Phil Miller and Christopher Lord (Cloudy With A Chance, 21 Jump Street (Movie), Lego Movie, Brooklyn 99, Last Man On Earth, etc.), produced by Bill Lawrence (Scrubs, Spin City) starring a super-early Will Forte, prime-era Nicole Sullivan, and a not-yet-over her shtick Christa Miller. Biting writing, great cast and a memorable show, this is a weird one to include as it was only 1 season long.
The show revolves around cloned versions of famous historical figures (Abraham Lincoln, Gandhi, Cleopatra, JFK, etc.) going to a high school for ?reasons? and the hijinks that ensue. At the end of the first season, the show culminates at the Snowflake Ball (kind of a winter prom thing) where the Shadowy Figures, a government group that commissioned the clones, comes to take them away for experiments. Everyone congas into a freezer and are frozen for all time. Fin.
What makes this ending interesting (other than an unresolved plot), is that the show was not brought back for a second season due to unpopularity, but rather because an article in Maxim about the show was read by a parliamentarian in India that depicted the Gandhi character being beaten up by jocks. There was a parliament sit-in to protest the show, and Viacom's CEO became trapped in the MTV India building on a visit with unfortunate timing. They apologized and cancelled the show, and a second season was never greenlit (even Gandhi-less) due to the controversy.
Props for bringing up Clone High, it was such a brilliant show. Every episode was great but I especially remember the one where Joan joins the basketball team and JFK becomes confused about his sexuality.
I was devastated not getting a conclusion to the cliff hanger ending. I need to know what happens between Abe and Joan!
Another animated show that ended on an unresolved cliff hanger was Undergrads which aired a year before Clone High. It didn't get great ratings or reviews but as someone who was a first year student at the time I found it hilarious.
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I remember the ending to Alf being pretty damn traumatic (I think I was 9?) and a completely different tone than the rest of the series. On the other hand, I was a bit older for Dinosaurs and totally loved the black humour ending.
It's not a TV show, but the ending to the movie adaptation of The Mist is a huge gut punch.
Forever Knight - a somewhat cheesy nineties show about a vampire who wanted to become mortal again and was working as a cop. When it was cancelled for a 2nd time the creator made the final episode a giant F U, killing off pretty much all the characters and giving a really depressing finish to what had been a fun show.
New List - Twisted endings to TV Series
