Some endings stay with you forever. Others… you wish you could forget.
A great series finale is a magic trick. It wraps years of storytelling into one final emotional punch — a goodbye that feels earned. A bad finale? It can sour the entire journey in a single hour.
With Outlander having recently completing its own final chapter, it’s the perfect moment to revisit the finales that nailed it… and the ones that crashed harder than a show on the bubble.
Below is the definitive rundown: the 10 Best and 10 Worst TV finales ever made — the ones fans still celebrate, and the ones they still argue about.
⭐ THE 10 BEST SERIES FINALES OF ALL TIME
⚰️1. Six Feet Under (HBO)
The undisputed champion. A finale so emotionally devastating and beautifully crafted that it’s still the benchmark. The flash‑forward sequence remains one of TV’s most perfect closing montages.
💤2. Newhart (CBS)
A legendary twist ending that became TV folklore. Revealing the entire series as a dream — and Bob waking up next to Suzanne Pleshette from The Bob Newhart Show — was bold, brilliant, and laugh‑out‑loud iconic. A finale that swung for the fences and hit a grand slam.
🎈3. The Leftovers (HBO)
A quiet, haunting masterpiece. It didn’t answer every mystery, but it delivered emotional truth in a way that felt intimate and transcendent.
🧪4. Breaking Bad (AMC)
A finale that felt inevitable in the best way. Walter White’s final choices landed with precision, closure, and poetic symmetry.
🕵️♂️5. The Americans (FX)
A slow, heartbreaking unraveling of a family built on lies. The garage scene alone is enough to cement its place in TV history.
🌳6. Parks and Recreation (NBC)
Warm, hopeful, and deeply satisfying. Every character got a future worth rooting for. A finale that feels like a hug from an old friend.
🍸7. Mad Men (AMC)
Don Draper’s cliffside meditation turning into the world’s most famous ad jingle is one of the most brilliant final shots ever aired.
😇8. The Good Place (NBC)
A philosophical mic drop. Funny, tender, and surprisingly profound — a finale about meaning, mortality, and knowing when to let go.
🚁9. M*A*S*H (CBS)
Still one of the most-watched TV events in history. A finale that balanced humor, trauma, and humanity with remarkable grace.
💍10. Schitt’s Creek (Pop TV)
A joyful, affirming farewell that honored every character’s growth. A finale that leaves you smiling long after the credits roll.
💥 THE 10 WORST SERIES FINALES OF ALL TIME
🐉1. Game of Thrones (HBO)
A cultural juggernaut undone by a rushed final sprint. Character arcs collapsed, logic evaporated, and fans are still processing the whiplash.
🪓2. Dexter (Showtime)
The lumberjack ending that launched a thousand memes. A baffling pivot that felt like a betrayal of everything the show built.
💔3. How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
Nine seasons of emotional investment undone in minutes. Fans didn’t just dislike the ending — they felt blindsided by it.
✈️4. Lost (ABC)
Ambitious, emotional, and wildly divisive. Some loved it, many didn’t. The “were they dead?” debate still rages on.
🚔5. Seinfeld (NBC)
A clever idea that didn’t quite land. The courtroom clip‑show structure punished the characters instead of celebrating them.
📓6. Roseanne (ABC)
A finale that retconned the entire season as fiction. Bold, yes. Satisfying, not even close.
🩸7. True Blood (HBO)
A chaotic ending to a chaotic show. Sookie’s final choice felt like the writers shrugging their way to the finish line.
🌿8. Weeds (Showtime)
A time jump and tonal shift that made the finale feel disconnected from the show fans originally loved.
🎹9. Two and a Half Men (CBS)
A finale that broke the fourth wall, dropped a piano on Charlie, and ended with a “winning!” joke. Enough said.
❓10. Pretty Little Liars (Freeform)
Twists stacked on twists until none of them made sense. The big reveal landed with a thud instead of a gasp.
🎞️ When the Credits Roll
A great finale reminds you why you fell in love with a show. A bad one reminds you how fragile storytelling really is. Either way, finales shape how we remember the journey — the characters, the world, the emotional investment.
As Outlander closes its own epic saga, it steps into a long tradition of shows trying to stick the landing. Did it soar? Did it stumble? That’s the thrill of a finale — you only get one shot.
Your turn:
Which finales made you cheer… and which ones made you want to throw the remote across the room? Drop your picks in the comments.
MOTEVENTURE 
Hey there — I’m Jon. This is Moteventure, my corner of the internet where music, movies, lists, and life all collide. Glad you’re here.