One of my favorite TV shows EVER is The Wonder Years.
I watched that show every single week and I was pretty bummed when it was announced it was going off the air.
And that finale…?
It was so sad that just thinking about it right now makes me get a little bit weepy…so I’d have to say that was my perfect ending for a TV show.
Folks on AskReddit talked about what TV show they think had a perfect ending.
Let’s see what they had to say.
1. It’s all good.
“BoJack Horseman.
All the characters got conclusions that they had earned and felt deserved and natural.
Some were happy and some were bittersweet but the show was fair to all of them.”
2. Haven’t heard of this one.
“Cowboy Bebop.
This show is so good I don’t want to think about it.
It wasn’t the ending I wanted (I wanted things to end happily) but it’s the ending that show needed, it was beautiful and sad and I don’t want to think about it.”
3. Great show.
“Six Feet Under.
It was rated one of the best series finales ever.
Final episode was amazing.”
4. Unexpected.
“Travellers.
Had such an unexpected ending.
They managed to conclude with a satisfying ending but still left the door open to a follow up.”
5. Love that song!
“Breaking Bad.
Loved the use of El Paso by Marty Robbins in the finale.”
6. Great writing.
“Avatar: The Last Airbender.
The writers wisdom and their respect for the maturity of their young audience to play sad music over the agnikai between zuko and azula impresses me every time.
It’s a huge scene that’s been built up to for two seasons but the creators want you to know it’s not a good thing that events came to this. I love it so much.”
7. A good one.
“Deep Space 9 had a really good one.
Especially if you followed the characters since season 1 and saw how they all grew and changed over the 7 seasons.”
8. Malcolm in the Middle.
“Malcolm in the Middle.
The amount of planning and work Lois did to get Malcolm to the finish line is astounding.
We need more moms like her.”
9. Satisfying.
“Mad Men.
It’s really subtle but really nicely wraps up Don’s development as a character and even how American culture changed with the times.
Super satisfying.”
10. Awesome series.
“Chernobyl.
The final episode was so awesomely great, even tho it was basically an hour long lecture about what happened.
I promised myself I would watch it again sometime, guess the time came.”
11. Check it out.
“Over the Garden Wall.
The ending was perfect because Wirt comes to the realization, along with Beatrice that what they both did was wrong, and they actively work to fix their mistakes, and it ends in a climatic fight where Wirt doesn’t physically fight the beast, instead rejecting the beast and finding his own path, and that path led him and his brother home.”
12. Ed, Edd and Eddy.
“I remember that final scene actually making me cry.
I grew up on the original series, remember when the new season came out with them at school, and then the finale movie.
It almost hurt to have something that was with me my entire childhood wrap up so definitively.”
13. You cried.
“The Good Place.
Pretty sure I cried.
I love it when they put the story before the ratings. There was more than enough audience to warrant another season, but they decided to plan the best ending to the story instead.
Very well done.”
14. Crazy!
“The Sopranos.
Fun fact: My dad’s friend is the guy they zoom in on at the diner.
He happened to hear about an open casting call in New York, thought, “Hey, I’ve got extra time”, the producers liked his look (he emigrated from Italy to the US in the 90s), and hired him.
He’s still known as “the guy who ‘ended’ The Sopranos”. Afterwards, he and James Gandolfini struck up a friendship and stayed in contact up until Gandolfini’s d**th.”
15. The story of Don Draper.
“Mad Men.
I love the way that Don’s apparent spiritual enlightenment actually turns out to be a way for the ad industry to appropriate the counterculture.
Just as it does with everything else, and as it continues to do with social and environmental movements today.”
16. Spoilers!
“Breaking Bad.
Walter chose his own d**th after he checked everything on his to-do list, giving his family the money, setting Jesse free from the neo-N**is and k**ling them, his last enemies.
No one could k**l Heisenberg except for Heisenberg. He d**s in a meth lab, the place where he felt most alive, and the song, Baby Blue, is a perfect choice. Absolutely stunning show.”
17. All kinds of emotions.
“Scrubs.
God I loved that show. I thought I was going to be alright, until the hallway scene. When he saw Tracy again, I knew I was going to crumple like the tissues I was about to need.
Spent that scene cry laughing. Finally calmed down just in time for the ‘Book of Love’ scene. I was a disaster after that.”
18. Community.
“Community.
You had Jeff finally realize that he’ll never leave Greendale (because he is needed there and tolerates being there) the send-off with Annie and Abed, that second hug he gives Abed like a thank you for everything, the “Drop Dead Fred” kiss goodbye with Annie and the ending scene in the bar where Britta works, everybody cheers and says this is the storyline for season 7.
It makes you laugh, then cry then laugh again. The ending scene of the family playing the “community board game” and realizing they only exist in the commercial…and the disclaimer that Dan Harmon gives.”
19. Intense.
“Burn Notice.
Michael and Fiona faking their d**ths to escape to a secluded cabin to start a new life after 7 whole intense seasons was the cherry on the sundae.”
20. A good one.
“Six Feet Under was the first show that came to mind for me.
So moving and true to the premise.
I loved it and think it really reflected back on the whole series with a flourish.”
21. Remember this one?
“House.
Chase taking over the department was the cherry on top for me. It took the ending from good to perfect.
He can carry on House’s legacy, maybe with a bit more sanity.”
22. Cheers to you.
“Cheers.
One of my all time favorite finales. Great example of a powerful episode without anything major happening at the end. Just life going on as it always has. Cheers is on that list of shows where you could easily apply the “It was Purgatory all along” theory, but that’s kind of the point of the show.
Most of these people are in the place where they expect to stay indefinitely, for better and for worse, and the finale captures that bittersweet feeling perfectly.”
23. It’s a mystery.
“Monk was perfect in setting up one last mystery for him to solve to tie the show up completely.
Make you feel like you’ve been short changed and then give you the ending you were missing immediately.”
24. A tough one.
“The Shield.
So tragic, and not in the way you’re expecting. Perfectly fitting.
For me that show is as close to perfect as anyone has come.
Peaky Blinders is close, as long as they don’t f**k up the final season.”
25. A heart to heart.
“Broadchurch.
Both David Tennant and Olivia Colman had great chemistry and you just wanted them to sit down and have a heart to heart.
And that’s what they did.”
26. Minds blown.
““Newhart. “
Comedian Bob Newhart had a popular 70s sitcom, The Bob Newhart Show,” in which he played a psychiatrist living in a big city, with a beautiful brunette (out-of-his-league) wife played by Suzanne Pleshette. He was the straight man reacting to the eccentric people around him. Show ended, years went by.
He then popped up with a new popular sitcom in the 80s called “Newhart,” where he played an author who retires from New York City to rural Vermont with a beautiful out-of-his-league blonde wife, played by Mary Frann.
She happened to wear a LOT of tight fuzzy sweaters. They purchase an historic Inn, and Bob again plays the straight man to all the eccentric employees and guests. The show was well received and went on for several years.
The last scene of the “Newhart” finale was Bob Newhart waking up from a crazy dream and shaking his wife awake to tell her about it. Wife turns over, turns on the light and and it’s Suzanne Pleshette, and they are on the old “Bob Newhart” set (or facsimile). He tells Suzanne about his crazy dream, and ends with a request she should wear tight sweaters.”
Our 80s minds were Blown.
Now we’d like to hear from you.
In the comments, tell us what TV show you think had the perfect ending.
We can’t wait to hear from you. Thanks!
