8 Best Television Finales
A list of some of my favorite TV finales
We’re right in the thick of things ending right now. Kids in school are breaking for summer. Lots of people are graduating from high school or college or grad school. And it’s time for season finales of television shows. This year, a few notable shows are having their series finale. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel has wrapped after five seasons. Succession just gave us an incredible end after four. And there’s a good chance that was the last Ted Lasso that we’ll be seeing under that title.
To commemorate those shows ending, here is a list of some of my favorites, in no particular order. Obviously lots of spoilers here, so skip any shows that you may still want to watch!
Succession: “With Open Eyes” (May 28, 2023) - Can you call a show that just ended one of the best finales of all time? When it’s Succession, I think you can. Jesse Armstrong promised us an answer to the title of the show, and he delivered an incredibly powerful episode, filled with drama to the very end. I am still gathering my thoughts about what we saw on Sunday night, but goodness. The writing never faltered in this show, and I am so impressed that over four seasons, each one got progressively better. That is an amazing feat, and then to wrap it up with two outstanding scenes showing the love and hatred between the Roy siblings? Perfection.
Seinfeld: “The Finale” (May 14, 1998) - In the 90’s you were a Friends person or you were a Seinfeld person. You could like both, but you probably fell pretty hard to one side or the other, and I was definitely a Seinfeld guy. The final season is not one of the strongest ever (though “The Burning” still cracks me up), but the sheer spectacle of the finale is so impressive. I know this is a controversial finale to throw in right at the top of this list, but I don’t care. It was a cultural phenomenon and I don’t know if there was a satisfying way to end that show. But to bring back almost every minor character of note for a trial because they did nothing? That’s just some fun TV right there.
The Office: “Finale” (May 16, 2013) - This is a show that I have a lot of complicated feelings about. It is one that I think about so often and it has some of my favorite television moments ever, but it was also a product of the “let’s make fun of an offensive thing by saying that offensive thing on a TV show that will be out there forever.” But all that said, it’s a show that ended a decade ago and is still very much in the zeitgeist. The show balanced humor and heart throughout its 9 seasons (or at least through the last 8 seasons - season 1 is pretty rough), and the finale did that beautifully. Andy’s line, “I wish there was a way to know you were in the ‘good old days’ before you actually left them,” can instantly make me cry. And Pam’s, “There’s a lot of beauty in ordinary things” final line could be one of the best last lines of any television show ever.
M*A*S*H: “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen” (February 28, 1983) - To have created a show that lasted for 11 seasons and still managed to have one of the most watched finales of all-time is an incredible feat, and it is well-earned. It is hard for me to imagine a show creating something as impactful as the chicken scene on broadcast television today. It is an absolute marvel. And the stone GOODBYE in the final shot is one that even people who haven’t watched the show are familiar with. Essentially a movie, this is television at its finest.
Better Call Saul: “Saul Gone” (August 15, 2022) - I was a latecomer to Better Call Saul. I was a huge fan of Breaking Bad, and because it wasn’t that, I wasn’t interested. But when my son, who shares my taste in television entirely, suggested that I needed to watch it, I gave it a try, and goodness, I am glad I did. While Better Call Saul isn’t nearly as action-packed as Breaking Bad, it is probably a better show overall. And I definitely think the series finale for this prequel topped Breaking Bad’s. Jimmy/Saul is on trial for his many, many misdeeds (spanning both shows) and rather than perpetuating the schtick that he’s perfected, he owns up to everything. The whole final season of Better Call Saul is some masterful television, and the finale is an amazing ending. The final shot of Kim and Saul sharing a smoke is just an all time rad moment.
Newhart: “The Last Newhart” (May 21, 1990) - I don’t remember a lot about Newhart. I remember laughing at “I’m Larry, this is my brother Darryl and my other brother Darry.” And I remember the finale. The “it was all a dream” trope should never work. It’s like the laziest kind of deus ex machina you can imagine, but tying it back to Bob Newhart’s The Bob Newhart Show was a level of genius that somehow really did work. It was shocking and funny and they committed fully to the bit, even changing the end credits. I don’t know if there will ever be something quite as shocking and funny as that finale.
The Good Place: “Whenever You’re Ready” (January 30, 2020) - Michael Schur is someone whose work I will watch automatically. He has created some of my favorite characters, and I love his work. And as much as I love the finale to Parks and Rec, my favorite of his finales is definitely the end of The Good Place. He somehow managed to make a show about philosophy and the afterlife incredibly accessible and poignant, and then wrapped it all up in a way that absolutely wasted me. Every character got exactly the send-off I would have wanted, and I think about Chidi’s explanation of the wave going back into the sea all the time.
BoJack Horseman: “Nice While It Lasted” (January 31, 2020) - I have written a little bit about the final episode of BoJack (and some day I may devote some time to really going into the themes of the show as a whole), but “Nice While It Lasted” was a stunning final episode to an incredible, if underrated, show. BoJack gets a temporary pass from prison to attend Princess Caroline’s wedding. Despite the show having a rather huge cast, and the final episode also including a lot of additional characters, the only people who actually speak in the finale are the primary cast of BoJack, Mister Peanut Butter, Todd, Princess Caroline, and Diane. It wraps up a lot, while allowing the characters a sense that there is more to come. And in a world where most shows about a bad man end on a close up of that bad man, this one ends on a wide two shot of BoJack and Diane. It is both an amazing ending and a gorgeous bit of television.
What are some of your favorite finales? Let me know in the comments!
I loved the Six Feet Under series finale. We didn’t watch it in the 2000s, but it was one of our pandemic binges. The final episode was extremely satisfying -- i cried and felt happy simultaneously.