This is topic The Best/Worst series endings and premiers in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.


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Posted by Occasional (Member # 5860) on :
 
Lets hear it people. Tell me those shows that you have seen that were among the best premiers and the worst endings, or vise-versa.

The Worst ending was "Farscape" and "Sienfield."
The Best ending was "Deep Space Nine."

The Best premier was "The X-Files."
The Worst premier, I haven't decided as usually they don't continue. Maybe I will have to call it the worst premier of a good show.
 

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Posted by Foust (Member # 3043) on :
 
Best Premier: Homocide: Life on the Street
Worst premier: Star Trek TNG

Best Finale: Babylon 5
Worst Finale: Star Trek TNG
 

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Posted by Yozhik (Member # 89) on :
 
Worst Finale: Star Trek Voyager (and the Chakotay/Seven romance was NEVER believable)

Best Finale: Star Trek TNG

Best Premiere Episode: Firefly
 

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Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
 
Maybe a better worst start category would be Worst Pilot. A lot of series', they don't even show the pilot because it's not good.

They did show the pilot for Law and Order, it was the sixth episode. It's really not good at all. They yell all the time... Even Michael Moriarty!
 

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Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
 
Best Finale: Tie, Buffy and Angel.
Worst Finale: Seinfeld.

Best Premier: Space: Above and Beyond
Worst Premier: Dunno.
 

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Posted by Taalcon (Member # 839) on :
 
Best Pilot: Six Feet Under
 

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Posted by Human (Member # 2985) on :
 
Best Pilot: The West Wing
 

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Posted by drumsntolkein (Member # 6095) on :
 
Worst premier: My Big Fat Greek Life...

Sorry but with all the hype from the movie it was kinda disappointing
 

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Posted by Jill (Member # 3376) on :
 
Best Finale: Frasier (I hardly ever watched the show, but I did see the finale and loved it) and Angel

Best Pilot: Firefly (not the one they ended up using as the first episode, but the real two-hour pilot FOX aired after they cancelled the show) and Friends
 

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Posted by Alexa (Member # 6285) on :
 
Worst Ending: MACGYVER! This dwarfs Seinfeld, Star Trek, or any of the other ones mentioned. There was so much buzz leading up to this episode. I always said the best way to end the series would have been to have him and Murdock have one final showdown in which they take each other out, Holmes/Moriarty "The Final Problem" style. Heck, even an ordinary episode would have been great. But what do we get? His long-lost son? His cheesiest inventions? Riding off into the sunset on a motorcycle in his jeans and leather jacket with a tear in the eye and Pete waving him off? The puke-stain this left on the series ruined my best childhood memories.

Best Ending: TWIN PEAKS. Oooh, scary. Mysterious. Moody. Classic Lynch. Nothing has ever topped it. I'll never again see an owl or hear the word "doppelganger" without feeling a chill up my spine.

[ July 12, 2004, 12:17 AM: Message edited by: Alexa ]
 

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Posted by Bekenn (Member # 6602) on :
 
Best Pilot: Battlestar Galactica (the new one) or Firefly
Worst Pilot: Babylon 5

Best Finale: Babylon 5
Worst Finale: Can't think of anything right off
 

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Posted by Carrie (Member # 394) on :
 
The only one I can think of is

Best Finale: DS9. Has to be.
 

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Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
 
I kinda thought the DS9 finale was pretty poor. But I didn't really like the direction the show had taken by that point.

Best Premiere: Firefly
Best Finale: Mash

Worst Finale: So many of them are so bad, how many can I choose? Heck, you could even make this a "worst final season" where you're waiting for a beloved show to die and be put out of its misery.
 

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Posted by UofUlawguy (Member # 5492) on :
 
Best finale: Star Trek TNG. Runner up: M*A*S*H

Worst finale: You know, I really haven't seen many series finales. But for some reason, I still don't know why, I watched the Dallas finale, even though I had never really watched the series itself. I knew who J.R. Ewing was, and Bobby, and recognized some of the other characters, but I certainly wasn't invested in the show. But I did watch the finale. It was super-cheesy. Especially the very end, where the helpful "angel" who has been showing J.R. what the world would be like if he had never been born (a la It's a Wonderful Life) turns out to be the devil instead.
 

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Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
 
I'm glad someone else finally said M*A*S*H I was beginning to feel very old and dated that I considered it my favorite series finale.

Farmgirl
 

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Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
 
TNG Pilot -- laughably bad. I'm ashamed to enjoy it so much.
TNG Finale -- TNG would have been twice as good if you got rid of all the episodes dealing with time travel and the holodeck. This episode was no exception.

Voyager Pilot -- it was horrible, and it really paved the way for a horrible series. Janeway was the WORST. CAPTAIN. EVER. So, you are breaking the Prime Directive. Ok, why are you doing that? So that you can strand your ship and crew on the other side of the galaxy? Good thinking.

Voyager Finale. It was the finale you would expect from that show. :puke:

B5 Pilot -- It wasn't bad. Certainly not as bad as TNG. But boy, am I glad they got rid of the man-Dellen. She scared me! It also makes me laugh that they pilot characters with virtually identical characters in the show. 2nd in command -- hot, tough chick. Doctor -- world-experienced black doctor.

B5 finale -- there were two of them. There is the finale that they showed at the end of season 5 (where Sheridan's clock winds down), and the finale at the end of season 4. The one at the end of season 4 is the *real* finale -- they showed it at the end of season 4 because they thought that there wouldn't be a season 5. That's the one where they show what's going on in 10, 100, 1000, 10000, 1,000,000 years. They were both good finales, but I far prefer the one at the end of season 4.

Farscape finale -- There wasn't one. Oh, it ended, but there was no finale. After promising there would be another season, SciFi channel pulled the plug. What was supposed to be a season-end cliff-hanger became the worst end of a series ever. Kinda.

[ July 12, 2004, 11:15 AM: Message edited by: mr_porteiro_head ]
 

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Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
 
There are some other terrible finale's.

Alf (like Farscape, promised another season so they left it with a cliff hanger that has never been rectified)

Star Trek TNG (About the 5th time travel episode of the last season with 0 continuity between all the futures)

The Prisoner (What the @#$@#$ was that supposed to mean, and what 60's drugs were the writers on anyway?)
(The season ender of Andromeda may be just as bad)

However, the worst one of them all was from from a BBC Sci-fi epic--Blake 7. Hey, lets kill everyone off for no apparent reason.

The best ending? There have been some great ones.

The Newhart SHow (The one in New Hampshire)!!!
St. Elsewhere!!!
but I must agree, the B5 Endings are the best.
 

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Posted by Erik Slaine (Member # 5583) on :
 
(Psst, Dan: The Prisoner was Number One....)

And, probably, some really good drugs!
 

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Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :
 
Wow, Dag, I didn't think anybody remembered Space: Above and Beyond. I loved that series.
 

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Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
 
AAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've been slowly watching through all The Prisoner episodes over the past few months and now you've gone and spoiled the ending for me.

I hate you.
 

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Posted by Erik Slaine (Member # 5583) on :
 
There's only Thirteen episodes.

Been spreadin' 'em out?
 

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Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
 
Actually, the finallie that annoyed me most was to John Doe. It wasn't the worst, but it annoyed me more than the others.

I really liked that show.
 

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Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
 
Best Pilot: A UPN show about a cop possessed by dead spirits.

I can't even remember the name of the show and it didn't last for more than two episodes, but it actually had me spooked.

-Trevor
 

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Posted by blacwolve (Member # 2972) on :
 
*sighs*

Sleeping in Light (the one with Sheridan) was the B% finale, and was always supposed to be. It's confusing because it was filmed at the end of Season 4, which is why Ivanova is in it, when they weren't sure if they were going to get another Season. Deconstruction of Falling Stars (the time one) was filmed to take it's spot, when they found out they would have another season. That's why Ivanova isn't in it, it was technically a 23rd episode, and thus wasn't in her contract for 22 episodes.

<----Babylon 5 geek
 

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Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
 
Erik,

A friend of mine in Waterloo has the series on tape. 3 episodes a tape, I borrow one whenever I'm in Waterloo. Which isn't exactly often. One fo the reasons I started watching it is that I knew I could finish it and not have to continue with the addiction.
 

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Posted by Erik Slaine (Member # 5583) on :
 
Aw, Man! I'm sorry! It doesnt' really spoil anything, however. Everyone should be at least a little confused after watching it.

My favorite episode is still Many Happy Returns.
 

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Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
 
I'm terrible at remembering the names of the episodes. I haven't seen them all but I think I've actually only got 2 or 3 episodes left, so probably just one more tape. My favourite was the one with the woman who was trying to kill Number 6 all the time

Which one was Many Happy Returns?
 

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Posted by Erik Slaine (Member # 5583) on :
 
He wakes up one day with the village deserted. He constructs a raft and makes it back to England eventually.
But in the end, he is right back where he started.

I love plots like that.
 

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Posted by Taalcon (Member # 839) on :
 

quote:

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Alf (like Farscape, promised another season so they left it with a cliff hanger that has never been rectified)

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Wow, Dag, I didn't think anybody remembered Space: Above and Beyond. I loved that series.

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Wow, Dag, I didn't think anybody remembered Space: Above and Beyond. I loved that series.

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Is it out on DVD? I saw the last episode (saxon75 was dead on about that), but never saw how several plotlines were wrapped up (the UN coup attempt, etc.).

That series was great. You had to be willing to forgive some cheese, but in general it was one of the better sci-fi series. Except the part about riflemen/pilots. I never understood that.

But I think that's where they got the idea for Wraith Squadron in the X-Wing series.

Dagonee
 

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Posted by AvidReader (Member # 6007) on :
 
The real question is, will Farscape: Peacekeeper Wars fill in the blanks for the end of Farscape?

I'm so excited about Farscape being back, I'm actually going to break down and get cable.

edit: Hey, look! There's a whole thread about Farscape.

[ July 12, 2004, 07:10 PM: Message edited by: AvidReader ]
 

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Posted by Bekenn (Member # 6602) on :
 
S:AAB is, unfortunately, not out on DVD. I hope that it will be at some point, because it was an excellent series.

mph: The B5 season 4 finale is not and was never going to be the series finale. Sleeping in Light (which was shown at the end of season 5) was always going to be the last episode, but it was filmed at the end of season 4 because there was every reason to believe that there would never be a fifth season. Then, at the very last minute, TNT came through and provided the show with a season 5, so they had to pull Sleeping in Light and film a new season finale (Deconstruction of Falling Stars) in its place.

So B5 ended exactly where it was supposed to, and all was well.
 

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Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
 
Pooka, I'm not going to blame you for that. TNG probably should have stopped 2 or 3 seasons before it finally did. In fact, most shows hand on a few years longer than they should.

Except for the ones that end to soon.
Firefly
 

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Posted by Ben (Member # 6117) on :
 
seriously Alexa, how often do you hear "doppelganger" as it is. whenever i hear that word the only thing it does to me is impress me that my conversation partner was able to work that in there somewhere.
 

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