Not Battlestar Galactica, that's for sure.

The final sequence of Lost brought a tear to my eye, for all that the series' denouement was kind of a disappointment.

I'm glad that The mentalist had an upbeat ending.

But the one ending that comes to mind is from a little known French series titled Le mutant, in which a young, powerful telepath manipulates minds to engineer a peaceful society where the masses obey his orders and forego antagonistic behaviour. A small group of people realize that the peace movement overtaking the world's governments is not natural, but the result of mind manipulation, and they do their best to avoid being caught and brain-washed. They fail. The mutant's plan works, and the entire world is forced into his enforced utopia. The end!!!

That was back in the '70s. It was the first time I saw the "bad guy" win!

The ending of Blakes 7 has them all killed and Avon standing astride of a dead Blake waiting for the Federation soldiers to shoot him.

Although it was rushed because the show had gotten a late cancellation notice and they truncated the planned sixth season into just a handful of episodes, I thought the finale of Angel summed up the tone of the series very well, that being to never give up and to keep fighting in the face of adversity, no matter how overwhelming the odds.

How come? I thought the ending where the first faint signals from the Apollo moon landings are picked up by the Galactica's scanners, although there's no one around to see it, was a nicely ambiguous ending. The Galactica was obviously fairly close to Earth, but it was left open as to whether they actually found it or not.

Of course, the follow-up series, Galactica 80, showed that the "rag tag fleet" did indeed find Earth, but that series was rubbish and was very much it's own thing. It's a totally separate thing to Battlestar Galactica, as far as I'm concerned. Much like Joanie Loves Chachi isn't the same thing as Happy Days.


The Wonder Years had a really nice series ending. It wasn't a huge spectacular ending or anything, but it felt right for the show and was drenched in the pathos and sentimentality we associate with it. Kevin Arnold lost his virginity to Winnie Cooper, Kevin's Dad passed away and Kevin's brother took over the family business. Keven and Winnie eventually met and married other people, and the whole thing just felt very satisfying and totally in keeping with the feel of a show that never once jumped the shark and had the good sense to end while it was still great.

I also second the ending of Blakes 7 as one of the best ending to a TV show ever. That totally blew me away as a kid back in 1983 or whenever it aired.

That's what I thought of too!  Such a dark and downbeat ending!

From what I read there was always talk about bringing the show back for another series, but it never happened ( at least in live TV).

Babylon 5 had a nice one, though marred by the disjointed 5th season. Some of the things planed for season 5 were folded into the end of season 4, when it looked like the 5th season wouldn't happen. The telepath and Drakh storylines were held over for potential movies. The final episode was filmed with season 4. Then, Warner Bros. relented and greenlit a 5th season. It ended up with a lot of filler and some shaky execution; but, that final episode really works. Sheridan's extended life is coming to an end and word is sent out to his friends for a final gathering. Vir has fulfilled the prophecy to succeed Londo as the Centauri emperor. Ivanova is a general, still leading, still gruff, still mourning Marcus. Garibaldi has a family and peace. Sheridan stops by Babylon 5, which is being decommissioned and speaks to Zack. Joe Straczynski plays the tech who shuts down the lights. The station is destroyed, to prevent it from being a hazard. Sheridan flies to the rim, and is met by old friends, to see the next plane of existence. It's all very somber and all very fitting.

The Mary Tyler moore Show has a great final episode, as they say their tearful goodbyes. The emotion was honest.

Ashes to Ashes had a good one, which gives us the truth about what happened to Alex and Sam Tyler, in Life on Mars, who gene Hunt really is, and what it all means. The American Life on Mars finale, is complete junk.

The Office had a very good one, in both versions. David Brent, in the UK show, gets a bit of a self esteem boost and romance, and Tim and Dawn finally come together. The American version sees everyone move on, the end of Erin's search for her parents, Andy finding his true calling, Pam and Jim heading off to their future, Michael returns, and Dwight and Angela are surrounded by their friends.

The Prisoner had a memorable, if confusing one. Does the cycle repeat or not? Is it escape or not? It's all left up to the viewer.

One of my most cherished was not the series finale; but, the finale to the Emma Peel years of The Avengers, "The Forget-Me Knot." Emma hands over to Tara King, and says her goodbyes to Steed, as her husband has been found alive and has returned. There is a tearful goodbye, some advice for Tara and we see Emma get into a car with a man, who from behind looks rather like Steed.