Shows With The Best Freakin' Series Finales Of All Time
This list of the best series finales in television is a somber reminder that no matter how much you love a TV character or a show, in time, they all will end. Your favorite TV couple, your favorite villain, and even your favorite television businesses will all close up shop at some point, and these are the best final episodes of those series that are no longer on the air. And believe it or not, some of the best TV shows ever didn't make the list because they straight up had bad finales.
This list includes the greatest television series finales and the best TV show endings in the history of television, ranked by TV viewers who had a strong reaction - good or bad - to the final episodes of their favorite shows. Some of these TV shows had the highest ranked series finales of all time while others are on the list simply for resonating with their fans. Some series finales, like the final episode of Newhart, are still talked about because people can't believe the show actually ended that way. Others, like M*A*S*H, rank high because they were emotionally fulfilling to the fans who had turned on their TVs and opened their lives to those most loved TV characters week after week, right up until the end. Both The Good Place ending and Schitt's Creek final episode brought satisfying closure to the characters audiences had loved over the seasons.
What show had the best series finale? That's what this list is here to decide. Remember, the top series finales both wrapped up the storylines AND left viewers wanting more. Go easy on the series finales that came as a result of a show being canceled, and see where your favorite series finale and best TV show endings rank.
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- Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn
- Premiered: January 20, 2008
- Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski
- Premiered: March 24, 2005
2005 - Alan Alda, McLean Stevenson, Wayne Rogers
- Premiered: September 17, 1972
- Amy Poehler, Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman
- Premiered: April 9, 2009
- Will Smith, James Avery, Daphne Maxwell-Reid
- Premiered: September 10, 1990
- Charlie Hunnam, Katey Sagal, Kim Coates
- Premiered: September 3, 2008
- Hugh Laurie, Robert Sean Leonard, Omar Epps
- Premiered: November 16, 2004
- Ben Savage, William Daniels, Betsy Randle
- Premiered: September 24, 1993
- Billy West, Katey Sagal, John DiMaggio
- Premiered: March 28, 1999
- Zachery Tyler, Mae Whitman, Jack De Sena
- Premiered: February 21, 2005
- Bob Newhart, Mary Frann, Tom Poston
- Premiered: October 25, 1982
- Ted Danson, Rhea Perlman, George Wendt
- Premiered: September 30, 1982
- Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow
- Premiered: September 22, 1994
- Peter Krause, Michael C. Hall, Frances Conroy
- Premiered: June 3, 2001
- Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, Betty White
- Premiered: September 14, 1985
- Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nicholas Brendon, Alyson Hannigan
- Premiered: March 10, 1997
- Timothy Olyphant, Walton Goggins, Nick Searcy
- Premiered: March 16, 2010
- Fred Savage, Jason Hervey, Olivia d'Abo
- Premiered: January 31, 1988
- Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton
- Premiered: September 28, 1987
- Tony Shalhoub, Ted Levine, Traylor Howard
- Premiered: July 12, 2002
- James Roday Rodriguez, Dulé Hill, Corbin Bernsen
- Premiered: July 7, 2006
- Johnny Carson, Ed McMahon, Skitch Henderson
- Premiered: October 1, 1962
- Tim Allen, Patricia Richardson, Earl Hindman
- Premiered: September 17, 1991
- Ed O'Neill, Katey Sagal, Christina Applegate
- Premiered: April 5, 1987
- Anthony Edwards, George Clooney, Julianna Margulies
- Premiered: September 19, 1994