Television Series FInales, the best and worst.

I had started this post as a summation of the two series finales of very significant television series, Lost and 24, however in the time it has taken me to pull my thoughts together other people have written on the two episodes and series expressing my same opinions, and after more than a week having passed I figured there was no point in adding my thoughts (for the record, I liked Lost's finale, and while I did not dislike 24 it seemed more like a season-ender than series-ender).

Instead I thought I would list some of the better (and worst) series finales that I have seen. Other people have done this too, but hey it is my blog and this is what I feel like writing about. So, my not-exactly-top-five list.

Best Series Finales

1) The Fugitive - I remember this because my parents let me stay up to watch it, that''s how big  deal it was, I was eight years old and all I really remember about it was that it was something that I should see. In the series David Janssen played Dr. Richard Kimble, a man falesly convicted and sentenced to death for his wife's murder. On his way to death row the prison train he is on derails allowing him to escape. Kimble then spends the next five years hunting down his wife's real killer, a mysterious one-armed man, will evading police as well as his dogged pursuer Lt. Philip Gerard. 

     In the series finale, which was spread over two parts, Kimball tracks down the real killers and chases the mysterious one-armed man up a tower in an amusement park where, after a savage fight, he confesses to Kimble that he did indeed kill the doctor's wife. The confession seems in vain though when the one-armed man falls to his death after being shot by Gerard. An accomplice though winds up confessing on Kimble's behalf and his is exonerated of all charges. The series ends with Kimble walking out of a court house past two policeman as William Conrad, who had provided a voice-over commentary for the entire series says "Tuesday August 29th: The day the running stopped".

    The series finale of The Fugitive became the most-watched television episode and stayed on top of that lofty list until the Super Bowl became a thing. "The Judgement Part Two" whic is the title of the second part is still in the top 25 of all-time most-watched TV episodes and ranks #15 for most-watched series finales. The Fugitive gets my #1 spot because it was the first big finale and delivered a satisfying and definitive end to it's run.

2) M*A*S*H - "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" -  The Korean War "comedy" series ended in 1983 with what is still the most-watched series finale in television history. Clocking in at over two hours trying to sum it up is impossible. In my opinion though this is not just one of the best series enders in TV history, but possibly one of the best two hours of television ever created. You can watch this episode without having seen an episode of the regular series and still get a lot from it, the whole story has the feel of a feature film and reintroduces characters as they (and the audience) say goodbye to each other.

     Watched by over 100 million people the final episode of M*A*S*H remains the second-mot watched television broadcast getting nudged by the Super Bowl this year, just barely, but impressive considering that there were far fewer televisions (and people) in 1983 then there are now. As Finales stand, "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" is still the most watched in TV history (by comparison Lost, with it's near Super Bowl level hype, only clocked in at #55). 

In terms of quality, closure and overall satisfying endings this should probably be at the top of the list, but loses out in my opinion because The Fugitive was first and because all they had to do to come up with a way to end M*A*S*H was to end the war.

3) Six Feet Under - "Everyone's Waiting" - An HBO series set in a funeral home, Six Feet Under followed the Fisher family as they ran their family business. Each episode started with a death and the stories revolved around those deaths to a certain degree. An ensemble drama that lasted five years we follow the ups and downs, highs and lows, joys and sorrows of all the people in this family as they face death in a way that most people do. Critically acclaimed the series or its actors won a total of nine Emmy Awards. 

     In the series finale entitled "Everyone's Waiting" Claire Fisher is offered a job in New York which she accepts, only to find out that the company subsequently went under. A vision of her brother Nate (who had died in the episode before) encourages her to go and move to New York anyway. After a touching farewell party Claire gets into her car and drives into the sunrise as we cut to a montage of scenes showing nearly every major characters eventual death. Set to a song called Breathe Me by Sia,  this sequence provided an emotional and satisfying coda to the series, giving everyone closure. The last thing we see is Claire Fisher as an old woman surrounded by pictures of her family (she was a photographer in the series) her eyes old and clouded with cataracts. While she is unable to see her pictures you imagine that her mind is filled with the images of her family. The last Fisher to die, the final scene shifts back to that moment that started the montage, her driving into her new life. There is a brief moment where you think that Claire has caught a glimpse of the future.

     I have to admit, I cried at the end of this one, it was that beautiful.  TV Guide ranked "Everyone's Waiting" as #22 in its list of the top 100 TV episodes of all-time and is cited in many places as one of the best series-finales of all-time. The reason it only ranks #3 on my list, despite the effect it had on me, is that it did not stand alone the way M*A*S*H did. The last 10 minutes of this series, in my opinion, influenced the ending of Lost and kind of lessened it (Lost) a little.
WARNING!!! DO NOT PLAY THIS VIDEO IF YOU DO NOT WANT THE END OF SIX FEET UNDER SPOILED FOR YOU!!!!!

4) Newhart - "The Last Newhart" - This series was Bob Newhart's second extremely successful comedy series, the other being The Bob Newhart Show. In Newhart Bob Newhart plays Dick Loudon, a do-it-yourself book author who moves from New York to Vermont to run a small bed and breakfast in an town that is never named. Loudon soon discovers that he is surrounded by oddballs, a role which is tailor made for Newhart and his "solo-straight man" routine. With a deadpan style and a kind of stammering, astonished delivery,  Bob Newhart's comedy was all based on showing other people's absurdities. He did this to great effect in The Bob Newhart show where he played a psychiatrist who was surrounded by oddball patients.

    Anyway, to truncate the series finale, Loudon is hit in the head with a golf ball after a series of events have lead him to declare that he is leaving Vermont. Newhart wakes up in his bed with his TV wife The Bob Newhart Show saying he just had the strangest dream where he lived in Vermont and was surrounded by a bunch of weird people and that he was married to "a beautiful blonde". Newhart's TV wife, played by Suzanne Pleshette (who had one of the great sexy, throaty vices of all time) dismisses the dream as the product of eating too much Japanese food. The scene, and the series, ends with Bob telling his wife "You should wear more sweaters" something that his Newhart TV wife Joanna (played by the late Mary Fran) was famous for doing. The ending was very funny for me having been a fan of both of Bob Newhart's series and for being a great parody of the Tv pseudo-drama Dallas which wrote off an entire season as being one character's dream.

     TV Guide voted the end of the series as one of the most unexpected moments in TV history. It was good, funny, gave everyone closure and then reminded you that the whole thing was a farce to being with.

5) The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson - 1992 - Yes, not really a series finale in the traditional sense, but still an ending worth talking about. I have to admit this probably would not have been on my radar had it not been for this past years Leno/Coco/NBC debacle. Carson's departure from the Tonight Show desk was the epitome of class, which I guess he could afford since he was not forced out of his job as both Leno and Conan O'Brien were. Carson's run as host of the Tonight actually ended over two nights. In the next-to-last episode Carson had Robin Williams and Bette Midler on as guests (two of his favorite guests). Williams was, well, Williams and was very funny. Midler sang "One more for My Baby", a performance she won an Emmy for, and the normally unflappable Carson teared up.

    The last night was the kind of highlight show you would expect, the studio audience was filled with friends and family of people who worked on the show. In the end, just as Jack Parr did before him, Carson sat on a stool and addressed his audience.  His last words as host took me some time to find, if they are not exact, well, don't blame me, but he said “And so it has come to this: I, uh, am one of the lucky people in the world; I found something I always wanted to do and I have enjoyed every single minute of it. I want to thank the gentlemen who’ve shared this stage with me for thirty years. Mr. Ed McMahon, Mr. Doc Severinsen, and you people watching. I can only tell you that it has been an honor and a privilege to come into your homes all these years and entertain you. And I hope when I find something that I want to do and I think you would like and come back that you’ll be as gracious in inviting me into your home as you have been. I bid you a very heartfelt good night.”

Classy speech from a class guy. I can only hope go out on as good a note.

I am going to save my worst five for another article, because I have work to do and this is already too long.