10 TV Shows With the Best Series Finales of All Time

Dan Clarendon

We’ve listed the series finales that live on in television infamy; now it’s time to go from one extreme to the other and showcase the best of the best finales. While so many other television series ended with frustrating storylines — or never got a chance at any sort of resolution at all — the shows below ended on a high note.

Our worst-of list included Star Trek: Enterprise; this best-of list features a Star Trek show that did its swan song much better. And while Enterprise’s Scott Bakula had the misfortune to appear in two of our picks for the worst-ever finales, our picks for the best include two shows starring Ted Danson, the lucky fellow!

10
The Good Place
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The Good Place

2016–2020

As NBC’s The Good Place entered its afterlife with “Whenever You’re Ready,” its characters exited theirs, bidding heartfelt goodbyes to the others who made the Good Place bad and the Bad Place good. With the characters giving up their immortality, we’re reminded that it’s not the length of a life that gives it meaning, and that an endless life would be an unfulfilling one. In other words, when it comes to our own mortality, we should all just “take it sleazy.”

9
Star Trek: The Next Generation
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Star Trek: The Next Generation

1987–1994

The stakes in “All Good Things…” are no less than the survival of humanity, as Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) must solve a puzzle in three timeframes to stop an anomaly from stopping life on Earth before it begins. That timeline-skipping premise, though, gave the writers of the Next Generation the chance to bring the plot of this syndicated sci-fi series right back to where it started, with the Enterprise’s first mission. (Plus, it gave Picard the chance to show the Q Collective just what humanity is capable of.)

8
The Wire
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The Wire

2002–2008

“–30–” is named after the mark journalists use to indicate the end of a story, and the finale’s closing montage provides codas for the The Wire’s characters with the dispassionate eye of a reporter. Carcetti (Aidan Gillen) becomes governor, Valchek (Al Brown) replaces Daniels (Lance Reddick) as commissioner, Kenard (Thuliso Dingwall) gets arrested, Bubbles (Andre Royo) enjoys sobreity, Dukie (Jermaine Crawford) uses heroin. In other words, the people of Baltimore continue living their lives, upholding or beholden to the power structures the HBO series explored all along.

7
Schitt’s Creek
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Schitt’s Creek

2015–2020

“Happy Ending” was just that for the denizens of this unfortunately named town, and we’re not just talking about the unexpectedly erotic massage David (Dan Levy) gets before his wedding. As the Rose family moves onto new chapters of their lives, they embrace their town as a haven of belonging, not the backwoods purgatory they once saw it as. Off screen, Levy won three Emmys for this CBC comedy’s finale — one for his performance, one for his writing, and one for his co-directing — which just makes us “wig” out.

6
Hannibal
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Hannibal

2013–2015

At the end of this NBC series, Hannibal the Cannibal (Mads Mikkelsen) and FBI profiler Will (Hugh Dancy) took the plunge — literally falling over a cliff in one another’s arms — after defeating serial killer Dolarhyde (Richard Armitage) in a bloodbath that Will calls “beautiful.” (Shippers will tell you that Will’s pursuit of Hannibal was always more of a romantic fixation, and this episode brings that subtext tantalizingly close to the surface.) Then comes another twist of the knife: an after-credits scene in which Hannibal’s psychiatrist, Bedelia (Gillian Anderson), is faced with a dinner that was once her leg.

5
Friends
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Friends

1994–2004

Between the “phalanges” and the feels, Friends went out in “The Last One” with all the ridiculousness and romance we’d come to expect from the NBC sitcom, with Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) and Ross (David Schwimmer) getting together for good, Monica (Courteney Cox) and Chandler (Matthew Perry) getting twins and a new house in the ‘burbs, and the whole group getting one last sip at Central Perk.

4
Cheers
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Cheers

1982–1993

The will-they-won’t-they tension between Sam (Danson) and Diane (Shelley Long) seemed to reach a romantic conclusion when Diane returned to Boston in “One for the Road,” the series finale of this NBC comedy. But that would be the easy way out. Instead, Cheers depicted a more honest end for Sam and Diane, in which she returns to Los Angeles alone and Norm (George Wendt) helps Sam realize that he’ll always come back to his “one true love.” (Hint: it’s where everybody knows your name.)

3
M*A*S*H
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M*A*S*H

1972–1983

Still the most-watched scripted TV episode in American television history, “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen” gave CBS’ long-running war comedy-drama a sentimental sign-off, with a departing Hawkeye (Alan Alda) spotting the “GOODBYE” that B.J. (Mike Farrell) spelled out in stones on the helicopter landing pad. But the double-length episode also honed in on the horrors of war: Hawkeye uncovers repressed memories of a refugee baby’s death, and Charles (David Ogden Stiers) is devastated by the deaths of a P.O.W. musician group.

2
Breaking Bad
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Breaking Bad

2008–2013

There should be no doubt about how cunning a kingpin the once-lowly Walter White (Bryan Cranston) has become by “Felina,” the thrilling finale of this AMC masterpiece. He uses laser pointers to scare the Schwartzes into setting up a trust for his son, he poisons Lydia (Laura Fraser) with her own coffee sweetener, and he rigs a machine-gun surprise for the neo-Nazi gang leader holding Jesse (Aaron Paul) captive. But Walt also becomes self-aware, at long last, telling Skyler (Anna Gunn) that his meth-making scheme went from a necessity to a thrill for him.

1
Six Feet Under
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Six Feet Under

2001–2005

What other series finale shows how the main characters kick the bucket? But HBO’s Six Feet Under is, of course, a show about death, so it’s only fitting that viewers would see flash-forwards of the lives and demises of the Fisher & Sons Funeral Home workers and their loved ones. Morbid? Maybe. Oddly reassuring? Maybe! The montage, set to Sia’s “Breathe Me,” also depicted death — in some cases, at least — as a gentle transition guided by the spirits of those who predecease us.

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  1. P

    PurplePizza

    You forgot one of the most creative series finales in Newhart. That ending was one of the greatest finales of all-time.

    1. G

      GoldSubmarine

      It was one of the dumbest.

  2. P

    PurpleAnchor

    Can't believe you guys didn't include "Newhart."

    1. G

      GoldSubmarine

      Stealing a much-maligned gimmick from "Dallas" doesn't get you on a "best of all time" list.

      1. G

        GoldCar

        Yeah except in the Dallas version, it was still Bobby and Pam. Whereas in Newhart, it was his wife from the Bob Newhart Show.

      2. R

        RedCupcake

        You must be joking. The "gimmick" of dream scenarios resolving plot points goes back hundreds of years before silly Dallas used it. As David points out in his comment here, the twist was that they brought back Suzanne Pleshette. It was an incredibly fun - and funny - ending to the show for so many fans who were also fans of the original Bob Newhart Show, which was pretty much everyone I would guess. Best finale ever, hands down.

  3. O

    OrangeStrawberry

    No Newhart no perspective no list

  4. P

    PurpleScooter

    You guys forgot the first TV series that actually ended its series!

    "The Fugitive" starring David Janson as The Fugitive. It was the day the running stopped!

    Best Ever Period!

  5. F

    FranA

    I thought St.Elsewhere was the most imaginative. Not on the list??

  6. P

    PurpleCocktail

    One of the best series finales I ever watched was Fringe. Absolute perfection!

  7. O

    OrangeRaindrop

    I absolutely agree with #1 on this list! Six Feet Under was the most beautiful ending to a series I’ve ever seen!

  8. R

    RedQuill

    Newhart and Seinfeld are two of my favorites.

  9. C

    CyanController

    Without including the Newhart finale there's no way this can be considered a legitimate list.

  10. R

    RedCoffee

    I don't know how many people actually watched the show, but one of the best (or most hated, depending on your viewpoint) recent endings to a show came on CW's "In the Dark" when (spoiler alert)... the lead character rode off into the sunset after getting away with a brutal revenge murder. I thought it was the "perfect" ending, because throughout the series the character was incredibly selfish and constantly brought death and mayhem to those around her while she generally suffered few long-lasting repercussions for her actions.

  11. R

    RedLobster

    I can't believe that you didn't include "The Fugitive." !!!!!!!!!

  12. O

    OrangeMagnet

    Picky, picky, picky.

  13. O

    OrangeBasketball

    No Newhart? Give me a break.

  14. R

    RedApple

    Newhart and St. Elsewhere

  15. R

    RedLobster

    I SO agree with you! The two-part episode called "The Judgment."

  16. G

    GoldChilli

    This list is missing the 3-part finale of "Home Improvement". A beautiful finish with Tim and his crew willing to end their show with class rather than sell out to pandering number-mongers, Jill faced with a trying decision between home and a dream job (Even Wilson can't help!), and the boys reminiscing over eight years of laughter and love.

  17. C

    CyanDog

    Can't believe the Fraser finale wasn't on the list. A classy show for its entire run and an unexpected ending

  18. B

    BlueFan

    What about Parks and Recreation? It was a more happy ending homage of the Six Feet Under finale.

  19. G

    GoldSubmarine

    The MASH final was 2.5 hours. That's quintuple-length of a regular episode, not double-length.

  20. O

    OrangeBasketball

    Oh and also St Elsewhere.

  21. O

    OlivePaw

    On such a list I'm sure there are many that chime in with some of their favorites. Not to be outdone, where the heck is "Justified"?.