Worst Finales in TV History

Made in America

The finale was famous, or perhaps infamous, for cutting to black when Tony looked up to see whoever had entered the diner he and his family were eating at. This controversy made for a lot of jokes about the series but as time passed, people began warming up to it. Still, viewers are left to wonder what really happened to Tony, and with James Gandolfini's tragic death, that's a question that will probably remain unanswered for ages.

Changing Nature

A fun, whimsical family comedy concludes with Earl getting put in charge of an eco-friendly initiative, but instead he botches it up and sets off a new ice age, killing all dinosaurs. In the show's final moments, the Sinclair family promises to be together no matter what happens. To be fair, the finale does teach the lesson that nature is fragile and we must protect it, but seeing characters you know and love suffer a slow, cold death must be traumatizing for children.

The Last One

The series finale reveals, in headscratching fashion, that the entire show, with its characters and stories, happened within the mind of an autistic child. While it might seem innovative at the time, it also means that viewers got invested in total phonies.

Mirror Image

In the finale, Sam has a conversation with a bartender, implied to be God, who tells Sam he always had the power to return home. With that, Sam takes what was likely the leap that would take home, but suddenly an epilogue text reveals that Sam never returned home, effectively cheating him out of his happy ending. This happened because the producers suddenly found out Quantum Leap had been cancelled right after filming had wrapped up.

Finishing the Hat

To be fair, the finale had to handle a wedding, a murder trial, a funeral and a new baby at the same time, but it gave the impression that it focused in too many characters instead of the main quartet. Desperate Housewives was already catching flak that it was pulling drama after drama out of its butt to stabilize its audience, but season 8 was the point where everyone realize the show had nowhere to go but to end. Susan, Gabrielle, Bree and Lynette pack their bags and leave Wisteria Lane, hopefully to get some sense of peace and normality they desperately need, but there will always be secrets to keep.

It's Time

Considering its lackluster viewership, it's a miracle Weeds actually aired for eight seasons. Nancy's efforts to provide for her family end with her personal life and familial relationships in shambles. Much like Desperate Housewives, Weeds realized only had nowhere to go but end, and so it ends with Nancy and loved ones sharing a quiet moment in the porch.

Into that Good Night

The final season already caught flak by turning the Conner family into multimillionaires, shedding their original characterization. The finale then reveals that the whole final season was in fact a journal entry written by Roseanne, and Dan really died from his heart attack in the previous season finale. Viewers felt betrayed that everything that happened was just a sham.

The End

Lost has garnered a reputation of generating more questions than answering them, and the finale was no different. The "flash-sideways" were in fact the afterlife and the characters were supposed to solve their personal issues before moving on, or whatever. By the end, the viewers were just as lost as the characters.

Last Forever

Ambitious in its scope and masterful in its execution, How I Met Your Mother was praised for taking its premise to the most hilarious extreme possible. However, the entire final season was an agonizing slog to Barney and Robin's wedding, only for the finale to reveal that they got divorced after a few years. Also, the whole premise amounts to nothing when the titular mother, Ted's beloved wife, died years before Ted started narrating the story to his children. To add insult to injury, the whole story was just Ted's way of asking his children permission to date their Aunt Robin again. The ending was planned from the very beginning, so you either respect the creators for sticking to their original vision or hate them for not considering the fandom's opinions on the matter. At least, there is the alternate ending.

Remember the Monsters?

Some seasons were better than others, but by the final season you'd be hard-pressed to find an even remotely positive discussion about the show. Dexter endures the death of his beloved sister Debra. After killing the culprit, Dexter finds himself challenging everything he believes in. With the premise of a serial killer that kills criminals that escape justice, Dexter made viewers question their own morals, and fans debated about what should happen to Dexter in the end. Does he finally get what's coming to him or does he live happily ever after with his family? Nope, instead he declares himself to be a danger to his friends and family, so he condemns himself to a pathetic and lonely existence as a lumberjack.

Thank You

The final season suffered from weak pacing, a rush to solve the characters' stories and the lack of a primary antagonist. This culminates in a finale that sees the death of Bill for stupid reasons, and Sookie hooks up with a guy whose face is not shown. Calling Sookie a feminist icon is a bit of a stretch, but she randomly settles with a guy just to give viewers the impression of a stable love life after her relationships with Bill and Eric went to crap.

Daybreak

Originally praised as one of the best shows of its generation, Battlestar Galactica ends with an unsatisfying death for a memorable antagonist and many questions unanswered. The protagonists colonize a prehistoric Earth and make the rather idiotic decision to dump all their technology into the sun, even if they could use it to make their lives in the new Earth easier. Also, Six and Baltar are indeed agents for a higher power, that doesn't like being called God. Very few sci-fi franchises can mix space opera with religious and mystical tones, but Battlestar Galactica is not one of them.

The Finale

All the antics the main quartet has pulled come back to haunt them in the finale, with the protagonists getting put on trial and every supporting character and guest they have wronged testifying against them. With all said and done, Jerry and his friends are sentenced to one year in prison. Many viewers were upset about the uncharacteristically serious way to end the series, especially when the protagonists are sent to jail by people who are even more selfish and depraved than they are.