 |
By Kevin Fitzpatrick May 16, 2011 |
| 15 | Spider-Man: The Animated Series |
Left on Bad Terms: Spider-Man's "Farewell, Spider-Man"
For a series about Spider-Man, you'd think it would actually...end...with Spider-Man, in the world we'd come to inhabit over five seasons. Instead, even visits from Uncle Ben and Stan Lee himself couldn't salvage the series delving into the fan-reviled clone saga, hopping realities with reckless abandon to stop a Spider-Man corrupted by the Carnage symbiote.
In reality, most of the other Spider-Men appeared to give justification to the numerous "variant" action figures that had been put out over the years with no basis on the storyline.
| 14 | The X-Files |
Left on Bad Terms: The X-Files' "The Truth"
Series creator Chris Carter originally intended for The X-Files to end after five seasons, continuing on in a series of feature films, but was pressured into a sixth and seventh season by the series' incredible popularity.
Fox demanded the additional seasons despite the main storylines being wrapped up, culminating in David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson leaving the series for new leads. And while most everyone (including the Smoking Man) returned, the trial of Mulder ultimately resulted in very little satisfying payoff to the series overarching mysteries, and a second feature film certainly didn't' help matters.
| 13 | Dinosaurs |
Leaving on Bad Terms: Dinosaurs' "Changing Nature"
He killed everybody. Seriously. That was how we ended things. Regardless of how you felt about Baby Sinclair's constant catchphrase "Not the Mama!'," or the series' resemblance to a Jurassic Family Matters, nothing crushed our souls as harshly as watching the realization slowly dawn over Earl that he'd inadvertently caused the ice age that doomed his family and his entire race.
Not that we expected the Dinosaurs to live forever, but yeesh.
| 12 | Battlestar Galactica |
Leaving on Bad Terms: Battlestar Galactica's "Daybreak, Pt. 3"
Battlestar had a great deal of mythology to wrap up by series' end, already heavily weighted down by the stunt storytelling and difficult-to-explain twists that had already gotten us there. And while we got one hell of a battle, fans left ready to go to war with the colonies over the ham-fisted explanation of Kara's random disappearance, "God's" involvement, or the cliche of it being Earth all along.
Not to mention, doesn't the fact that they found Hera (still a "young woman") to be Mitochondrial Eve mean that either she, or all of the Capricans, died relatively shortly after we last saw them?
| 11 | Friends |
Leaving on Bad Terms: Friends' "The Last One"
It was a sitcom that ran on long past its prime. How much could we really have expected of it? Well, for starters, it would have been nice if they had not acted as if the world ends because two characters with whom the group had been friends for over a decade decide to get a new place. Or the awkward and predictable forcing together of Ross and Rachel, whom the show had long established work better as exes.
And leaving us with Joey as a spin-off? For that, we can never forgive.
Assp Irate - Fri. Nov. 4, 2011 at 10:04:36 PM
How does that make you feel? Aaaaannnggrryy!!
This article should be titled "I can't believe other people get paid to write tv shows while I am stuck writing articles about other people who get paid to write tv shows."
Rob Stephens - Fri. Jun. 3, 2011 at 08:40:53 AM
LOST finale was horriffic
The Lost creators' retort to all the ire about the unanswered questions that, "Answers don't matter"is a complete cubic yard of equine fecal matter. If the answers don't matter, why pose and repeatedly draw out the questions. Noone who liked the finale wants' to answer this question.
Kevin Fitzpatrick - Sat. Jun. 4, 2011 at 10:44:19 AM
Agreed
The show owes its success to the mysteries, and the buzz around watercoolers. And while the show DOES make a point that having everything explained in detail wouldn't necessarily be as satisfying as you'd think, there's no denying they chose to piss off a huge portion of the fanbase by ignoring said questions.
Rich Cerzosimo - Thu. Jun. 16, 2011 at 08:37:18 AM
Horrific, indeed!
I didn't realize how 'horrific' it truly was until we were having a discussion with some friends about television series in general. I mentioned that I really wasn't interested in watching television anymore; my wife pointed out that I hadn't liked series television since the ending to LOST. I remember being so dumbstruck by that ending that all I could do was be silent...before finally exclaiming my true dislike! It was rubbish to end it that way...and it's really, seriously soured me to all dramatic/scripted series!
Perry Constantine - Wed. Jun. 1, 2011 at 02:06:26 AM
Happily from another planet
"All the right emotional beats were there, and the relationships between characters were given their proper due amidst the backdrop of an epic (and visually impressive) Apokoliptian invasion. And if you weren't moved by Lois' and Clark's vows, or Jonathan's role in giving his son that final push toward his destiny, you must come from another planet. So what went wrong?" There was nothing visually impressive about the anti-climatic fight with Darkseid and repelling of Apokolips. There was nothing moving about Lois and Clark's vows or the ham-fisted delivery Durance and Welling utilized. And Jonathan's role in giving his son that final push would have been moving...if not for the fact that it's just a rehash of what Jonathan has always said on the show and that this moment should have happened five years ago. You don't have to be from another planet to find these moments absolutely horrid -- you just need to appreciate good writing.
Kevin Fitzpatrick - Sat. Jun. 4, 2011 at 10:40:08 AM
Apokalips Now
You have to take Smallville with a grain of salt. No, it and the finale alike will never be Citizen Kane. But when you keep in mind the handicaps the show has and the schlock they've turned out over the years, what they pulled off in the finale, from a dramatic standpoint was pretty okay. Everyone involved did a decent enough job, and as long as you're not expecting Oscar, or even Emmy-worthy performances, give credit where it's due. And for the record, the way Apokolips was merely pushed away WAS pretty lame. But the visuals alone of the planet, and the fiery skies were pretty impressive in scale..
Ethan Shuster - Wed. May. 25, 2011 at 08:42:07 AM
Another BSG correction...
Yeah, I'm with the people who say you've got the BSG ending wrong here. Hera died as a young woman. The fact that they called her "mitochondrial eve" means she had a kid or kids. What did you think the point of that even was? Oh, and the cliche of "it was Earth all along"? It wasn't Earth all along. We didn't see our Earth until like, the last 20 minutes of the finale. Way to half-ass it. Know, I can understand perfectly if you just don't like the ending. I know many people don't. But I found people's reaction to the apparent involvement of a god funny. We're so used to science fiction being all "religion isn't real" that we all assumed that the constant references to God were all Cylon ********. Turns out it wasn't.
Kevin Fitzpatrick - Thu. May. 26, 2011 at 08:10:48 AM
Hera-sy
You are indeed correct, Hera died as a "young woman." Still, you're not the least bit curious why that is? It doesn't exactly suggest the most natural of death for a human/cylon hybrid. And yes, the real Earth only appeared in the last 20 minutes. But the cliche lies in the surprise notion that BSG actually took place in the past, and "they were our ancestors" all along, and "we're all Cylons." And while there's nothing wrong with the inclusion of religion in the series, even Ron Moore himself acknowledges the use of a deus ex machina to end the story, being too complicated to resolve naturally. Kara's disappearance was somewhat jarring and not given time to flourish. Ultimately, it's just a very polarizing finale, and rightly so.
Michael Kovach - Tue. May. 24, 2011 at 11:16:49 PM
Best Finale Was.....
The Shield. The entire series is amazing and is in my opinion as good or better than any show that gets hyped to no end. The whole thing was paced almost perfectly and from beginning to end the characters are changed about as much as you can realistically manage. Amazing.
Taylor Kennedy - Tue. May. 24, 2011 at 08:31:57 PM
Lost was amazing
Them saying Lost was the worst overall is just insane, sure it did leave alot of questions unanswered, but so what? I can't even explain why but the ending just felt so perfect. The fact that some questions were not answered didn't even matter to me, the ending just felt right.
Kevin Fitzpatrick - Thu. May. 26, 2011 at 08:14:12 AM
LOST the Point
That's the idea, as we mentioned. The point of that finale is the discourse creates, and whether good or bad it's forever going to polarize the fanbase, each of which invest different things. They made a choice to ignore the question-asking fanbase. And they must live with the fans' ire.
Eric Robbins - Tue. May. 24, 2011 at 06:28:37 PM
A sad ending
Isn't a bad ending.
Oblivion - Tue. May. 24, 2011 at 12:24:41 PM
Whatever the case may be...
We can all agree Six Feet Under had the greatest series finale ever. Period.
Kevin Fitzpatrick - Thu. May. 26, 2011 at 08:15:39 AM
Six Feet Over
That's what I hear, anyway. Haven't actually watch the series yet, but it's on my list of shows to catch up with.
Robyn Webb - Tue. May. 24, 2011 at 10:08:34 AM
"young woman" =/= "child"
BSG is on netflix instant view, so it's easy to check the ending. And they call mitochondrial Eve a "young woman", which indicates someone of child bearing age, not a child herself. Way to check your facts there guy.
siyafrica - Tue. May. 24, 2011 at 09:27:40 AM
Finales suck!
Some the finales on this list can be given a pass, like Dawson's Creek and Friends (have to say it), but others deserve awards for being the worst way to end a show. I gave up on Smallville years ago but made a point to watch the finale hoping that the writers would come to their senses and end this drivel in the best way they can. But man was I my initial decision vindicated. The finale was so sloppy and saccharine I couldn't sit through 10 minutes of it at a time, to the point that I didn't finish the episode and opted to read synposes of it instead. And they described a programme that got lost in its own rubbish. Lost just lost the plot when they added time travel to the mix and so by the time they got to the final episode they had too many questions to answer and not enough time. If they had set up an expanded universe to the show it might have helped but they refused to validate many of the theories out there. Fail!
Erik Oldenburg - Mon. May. 23, 2011 at 09:24:58 PM
FAIL ARTICLE
A lot of these are up for serious debate. For instance I never was a big rosanne fan, my mother was so I am familiar with the story. Some time in the first season Dan clears out the basement for her to write in and the last episode reveals that the entire show (from season 1 to the end) was her novel of her life if things had gone the way she'd hoped. I thought this was a pretty clever for a mediocre sitcom. The Friends season finale was great if you're a fan of Friends, just like Friends is only great if you're a fan of Friends. The Sopranos season finale should not be on her because that one is seriously up for debate. Everyone has their own opinion of that finale, I loved it. And the BSG ending. THE ENTIRE BSG SERIES IS ABOUT RELIGION ********S go back and watch the series it is ALL about God. Kara being an angel, or being sent from God kind of fits if you were paying attention. And everyone seems to forget the fact that the Six that Gaius saw and the Gaius Six saw were sent from God too so it wasn't a half baked input in the story. As for the mitichondrial eve she was the very first cylon human hybrid that makes up the humans on that paricular earth... kind of simple.
Kevin Fitzpatrick - Tue. May. 24, 2011 at 05:57:43 AM
FAIL COMMENT
The Friends finale wasn't great. That show went on about 6 seasons too long, so the finale didn't have much hope. And whether or not the Sopranos was good spiritually, it was poorly executed, which led to the mass confusion overshadowing the actual quality. And while Battlestar was always about religion, it was in more subtle ways, with Kara's disappearance among other things being wrapped up too quickly, without the narrative respect the show usually gives. Plus, Mitochondrial Eve was still found to be a child, which presumably implies at least Hera died as a child.
Rich Cerzosimo - Thu. Jun. 16, 2011 at 08:31:23 AM
Enough 'Fail' to go around!
Friends didn't 'go on about 6 seasons too long' if you were a fan of the series. I look back on that series very, very fondly. The ending was perfectly staged about friends/family moving along their own ways after years of being together. BSG was about religion from the start. Period. BSG dropped the mythos ball in some areas...and in other areas the mythos ball was completely dropped...but it stayed true to some very core, certain issues that if you were paying attention from moment-one, you realized at the very end of the series. (not to mention a very, very subtle nod to DNA...if you were able to see it.)
ritchie gilmore - Mon. May. 23, 2011 at 08:06:10 PM
smallville costume
i believe smallville played it safe by not putting him in the suit. given the less than positive result with wonder womans costume.
Kevin Fitzpatrick - Tue. May. 24, 2011 at 05:59:12 AM
Maybe
I think given the ten years of hoakey Smallville things they'd already accepted, we wouldn't have complained about Tom looking a little less than positive in the costume. Not to mention, it was the Superman Returns suit, so it's good enough for a major film release but not TV? Something else was afoot.
Paul Little - Tue. May. 24, 2011 at 07:02:57 AM
Theory
My theory was that it was meant to symbolize early Superman, as that was what the show was about. Think about it: how many people have actually seen Clark Kent? How many people have actually seen Superman? There's a reason why the people of Metropolis called him The Blur- they couldn't see him. There's a reason for the "It's a bird. It's a plane..." catchphrase- people couldn't see him!
Liz Petitti - Tue. May. 24, 2011 at 07:56:40 AM
SUPERMAN
Well, the main point of the final season was to craft the Clark Kent persona so that he COULD show his face in public. Nay, there was some reason they chose not to show the audience Tom Welling in costume. I suspect the answer to come out during Comic-Con, if not sooner.
Perry Constantine - Tue. May. 24, 2011 at 05:49:29 PM
Early Superman?
Originally, it was about pre-Superman. After the five-year mark, it became "how can we do a Superman show without showing Superman?" Plus the constant scraps thrown to fans to keeo them from getting pissed off at how they were butchering the mythos. "You can't be mad, next week we've got the JUSTICE SOCIETY!!" No show has managed to keep fans happy through idiotic distractions while taking a machete to the central character like Smallville.
K. Jones - Wed. May. 25, 2011 at 07:45:03 AM
Smallville Costume
The writer actually got it close. Tom Welling didn't feel he was worthy to wear the costume after befriending Christopher Reeve before his death.
Edson Chilundo - Mon. May. 23, 2011 at 12:46:39 PM
No - Sequel
I love LOST and BSG. But BSG's ending...hell its mythology is borderline insane. Kara is an angel? Sent from where exactly? Isn't it supposed to be sci-fi show? Unacceptable plot resolution. I can't do better, but introducing that storyline to begin with...c'mon! And there's Vision Baltar and Vision Six...they're on the planet 150,000 years later? How will the dinosaur bones be explained? There wasn't any grand meteor! I could go on...yes...I still love the show.
Edson Chilundo - Mon. May. 23, 2011 at 12:45:31 PM
No - Sequel
I love LOST and BSG. But BSG's ending...hell its mythology is borderline insane. Kara is an angel? Sent from where exactly? Isn't it supposed to be sci-fi show? Unacceptable plot resolution. I can't do better, but introducing that storyline to begin with...c'mon! And there's Vision Baltar and Vision Six...they're on the planet 150,000 years later? How will the dinosaur bones be explained? There wasn't any grand meteor! I could go on...yes...I still love the show.
Rich Cerzosimo - Thu. Jun. 16, 2011 at 08:24:13 AM
No 'Grand Meteor'?
How do you know there wasn't a grand meteor/asteroid strike that actually did wipe out the dinosaurs BEFORE the Colonials/Cylons landed? Honestly, I thought that the ending to BSG was perfect...and went along quite well with 'This has all happened before; this will all happen again.'
Brandon - Sat. May. 21, 2011 at 12:06:39 AM
No
**** list. No finale can completely ruin a show. Also, LOST and BSG had perfect finales. They literally could not have been better.