It’s always disappointing when a favorite television show ends, but series finales give the writers and actors the opportunity to wrap things up in a memorable and satisfying way. Some series finales are classics in their own right: for example, the final minutes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show are famous almost half a century later, and the song “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary” has become inexorably associated with that episode.
Unfortunately, some shows go too far in an effort to signal that the series is over for good. Those kinds of shows break the audience’s trust at the last second with unnecessary violence or ridiculous situations that make the entire show infamous for not landing the plane properly.
Below you’ll find 7 examples of TV shows that went too far with their endings, and will forever live in infamy as a result.
7) The Entire Town Is Blown Up At The End of Little House On The Prairie
Little House on the Prairie was a cultural phenomenon during the 1970s, running for nine years and spawning a one-season spinoff called Little House: A New Beginning. Unfortunately, its ending is famous for the wrong reasons.
In the final episode, the residents decide to blow up Walnut Grove rather than allow greedy tycoons to take over the town, and the series ends with everything exploding. The sentiment behind this decision is understandable and is likely even more relatable today than it was in 1983 when the episode aired.
However, this ending was heartbreaking for fans who had stuck with the series for nine long years, only for it to end in such a violent and permanent manner. Additionally, Michael Landon’s decision to blow up the sets partially out of anger that the show had been canceled seems silly now that Netflix has announced a reboot of Little House on the Prairie. That legacy material could’ve come in handy.
6) Seinfeld Ends With Everyone In Jail
Seinfeld’s series finale is widely considered to be one of the worst endings to a popular show in ever. Like Little House on the Prairie, Seinfeld ran for nine seasons before ruining everything in its final episode. This controversial series finale culminated with Jerry, Kramer, Elaine, and George in jail for breaking a “Good Samaritan law” by filming someone getting robbed instead of trying to help.
The concept wasn’t funny, and it added insult to injury to know that if this hadn’t been the series finale, the group would have been out of jail and back in New York City in the next episode, without any explanation of how they got out of trouble. Sadly, since this was the last episode, the final impression viewers got was of their favorite characters behind bars, which was no way to end a beloved comedy series.
5) Dinosaurs Ends With Dinosaurs Going Extinct
Dinosaurs was a cute ABC show about a family of dinosaurs who acted like humans, including a baby dinosaur who often responded to others with the catchphrase, “Not the Mama!” A lighthearted series like this should not have ended on the depressing note that it did.
When Dinosaurs ended, the writers followed popular scientific theories about why dinosaurs died out by having an asteroid hit the Earth and kill everybody. That might be scientifically accurate, or at least plausible, but it isn’t the way to end a popular TV show. The ending meant that the family of dinosaurs viewers had fallen in love with all died, and it left people feeling depressed, like the time they’d devoted to the series had been wasted.
4) ALF Ended on a Frustrating Cliffhanger
Image courtesy of NBC
ALF was a victim of premature cancellation. The sitcom about a family who adopts an alien who crash-lands on Earth ran for four seasons before NBC decided not to greenlight a fifth. This is unfortunate because it meant that ALF’s fate would never be resolved.
In the final episode, ALF was captured by the US government. Had the series gone ahead, season 5 would have addressed what happened to him and how the family helped free him. Instead, the show ended with ALF in government custody, where he undoubtedly underwent unethical scientific “testing” because he was considered inferior to humans. This cruel ending is not worthy of a sitcom that used ALF’s alien status to make people laugh.
3) St. Elsewhere Was All A Dream
Image courtesy of MTM Enterprises
St. Elsewhere was a groundbreaking medical drama in many ways, but its final episode went way too far. In the final minutes, the series revealed that everything viewers had been watching for the past six seasons was a fantasy created by a non-verbal autistic boy — and that kindly Dr. Westphall was actually a janitor at the hospital, whose son had been imagining him as a doctor.
This ending reinforced stereotypes about non-verbal autistic kids that were common at the time, as well as canceling out everything that had come before. It made a mockery of the past six years, leaving viewers frustrated and angry that they had wasted their time. In many ways, this ending ruined a successful TV show, despite being considered a classic twist. Fortunately, it was partially reversed when two characters crossed over in two episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street, proving that they were indeed doctors.
2) Game of Thrones Destroys Daenerys’ Character, Then Kills Her
HBO
The final season of Game of Thrones is generally considered weaker than the rest for a variety of reasons, but what it did to Daenerys Targaryen in the final episodes is unforgivable. This popular character, a liberator and warrior, was turned into a violent mass murderer for no apparent reason. Of course, violence and fatal battles were a big part of the series’ premise, but it didn’t work with Daenerys because her bad behavior came out of nowhere.
It made matters worse that Daenerys spent the penultimate episode on a killing spree, only to be killed herself in the finale, by her lover (and nephew) Jon Snow. This massive and unnecessary addition to the body count left viewers feeling unsatisfied and angry about having invested time and energy in Daenerys and the series in general.
1) How I Met Your Mother Reveals The Mother’s Identity… Only To Kill Her
Image courtesy of 20th Century Fox Television
How I Met Your Mother‘s central mystery was the identity of the mother. The entire series was being told to the children as a prelude to explaining how Ted met their mother, and viewers debated who the mother would ultimately turn out to be.
The solution to this mystery should have led to a satisfying conclusion, but it didn’t. While many people predicted Robin was the kids’ mother, she was revealed to be only their stepmother: their real mother had died of cancer shortly after the kids were born. This ending was as ridiculous as it was depressing, leaving viewers feeling let down rather than excited about how the series wrapped up.
What series finale do you think went way too far? Leave a comment and join the conversation at the Comic Book Forum.