Good Endings and Not So Good Endings
Posted By Kathleen David on March 10, 2009
A number of TV series are finishing up this year. Currently ER is getting the most ink but there are a number of other series that are hanging up their hats this year. Peter and I were talking about the endings to series both good and bad and speculating what the best ending for the series we like might be.
We started watching Monk because we both like the body of work of Tony Shalhoub that we had seen. He was an actor’s actor. I had met him once years ago when he came to see his sister in a play I was stage managing. Both Peter and I weren’t sure how they could do a series with the premise of an ex-cop with a series of OCD issues and maintain it over time. But a fine cast and good writing will out. This year Monk finishes up its seventh season which is currently slated to be its last season. Peter thinks, and I agree, that the last episode should be that Monk finally solves Trudy’s murder and finds some peace in that. The writers have jerked us around on this subject a couple of times but it would be nice to have an answer as Monk goes off into the Sunset touching each parking meter along the way.
We got into Scrubs late in the game. Peter started watching it while exercising since it was on before the repeat of the Daily Show on Comedy Central. After watching it for a while, it grew on him and we started watching it together. It is a lovely little series with a find ensemble cast and good writing. It was suppose to be done last season but got a little bit of a reprieve this year on another network. So far it has been good and there have been episodes that reminded me of the better days on the series. And anything that uses Muppets has my attention. But I think it is time for JD and the gang to ride off into the sunset.
Battlestar Galatica is down to its final two episodes. Overall I have found this series very satisfying. It has had some twists and turns that have made it a fun roller coaster ride. It also has been frustrating at points but I let that go because their explanation is pretty good to great in the end. My biggest bug-a-bear right now is Starbuck and I want to know what happened to her before the series is over. That is the one loose end I want tied up. Peter pointed out the obvious ending which the pipework has been laid for. The end of the series is the end of the ship. The series is called Battlestar Galatica. In two weeks we will know all or at least more than we know now.
Boston Legal was always a fun series and the ending of it was one of the more logical endings to one of the most illogical law firm series to air on Network TV. There are people who are going to remember William Shatner for Denny Crain before they think of Kirk now. It was an excellent ensemble cast that seemed to challenge each other to be better actors. The additions to the cast brought the bar up even higher but everyone cleared it.
Stargate Atlantis was a mess after Stargate finished shooting and I don’t think it ever right itself. Which was kind of sad for me since I liked the cast a lot and they had a good writing staff. I just felt like they had to rush their way to a conclusion and there were too many characters left with serious loose ends. They honestly had more characters than they knew what to do with.
Then there are the cancelled series which leaves you with more questions than answers. The two I will miss the most out of all the series cancelled are Eli Stone and Pushing Daisies. Both shows were out there in a good way. Both had strong writing staffs and interesting storylines that were going somewhere. I wish each had been given the time to at least wrap up their stores and give us a good ending but it was not to be.
So what do you think was the best and/or worse ending to a TV series? I am honestly curious. I’ll tell mine later so not to color anyone’s opinion.
I am grateful for good endings that leave me with fond memories of the show.
Unlike a lot of people, I loved the ending to the Sopranos. For me, it was the perfect note for the series to go out on. Arrested Development had a great (if much to soon) finale as well. I also liked the endings of both Buffy and Angel, even though I felt both series faltered a lot in their later seasons.
Farscape still comes to mind as one of the worst ‘endings’ ever. Even if we did get a continuation later with The Peackeeper Wars.
But for me, no ending will ever be worse than Deadwood. I’ve never been more upset about a show’s cancelation. Knowing that Milch even had a solid plan for the next season and that he had from the beginning saw it as a four arc/season show, makes the fact that it finished at the end up season three all the more painful.
Best ending, MASH. They did it in a great sendoff way, fairly well wrapping all the little subplots and allowing everyone their own time in the spotlight. And Newhart with the dream sequence ending was great.
Worst… Firefly, killed off before it could really fly, so much was set up for the next season and it was just dropped. Farscape for the non-ending before being corrected later.
Best and worst in one classic hit; Blake’s 7. (Almost a dead heat with The Prisoner though. Both engendered a huge cry of “WTF was that!” though possibly from differing ends of the emotional spectrum). Round off the trifecta with an honourable mention for “One Foot in the Grave”.
Cheers.