Is there anything worse than when your favorite TV show comes to an epic conclusion and you have to find something new to watch? How about when the ending sucks? The worst TV show endings leave a rotten taste in your mouth when it’s all said and done. After sacrificing hours of your free time and investing in the characters and storylines, nothing stings worse than a series finale that fails to live up to expectations. When it comes to the worst TV show endings it will often depend on your personal opinion. There are many fantastic TV shows that have had endings that divided fans, with some loving the way the series finished and others hating it, such as The Sopranos and Seinfeld. Then there are shows like Game of Thrones and Battlestar Galactica where the majority of watchers agree things went out on a low point. As 2022 draws closer to the end of the year, many popular TV shows like Better Call Saul, Killing Eve, and Ozark have finished up, which got us thinking about the best and worst TV show endings. While the best endings are great, it’s much more interesting discussing the worst, especially when many are polarizing within the fan base of the show. So here are some of the worst TV show endings that caused fans to riot. Worst TV Show Endings of All Time HBO Game of Thrones
Let’s start things off with one of the most controversial endings of the past decade. Over the course of the first six seasons, creators by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss managed to faithfully adapt George R. R. Martin’s books while injecting the show with their own personalities. Game of Thrones had been building slowly towards an epic finale before the final two seasons went from ten episodes to seven and six as the showrunners tried to wrap everything up in a neat bow. The final season suddenly turned Daenerys into the big baddie and ruined the complex and interesting storytelling that had been a hallmark of the show. It also didn’t help that every main character somehow got their story arcs wrapped up in the space of six episodes of television that included some woeful dialogue and plotting. It is one of the worst TV show endings of all time and ruined what was one of the best fantasy series ever made. Will & Grace
Not many fans enjoyed the way Will & Grace ended. The hit comedy about the friendship between a gay man and a heterosexual woman won a heap of Emmy Awards and was critically and commercially praised for its handling of homosexual and straight relationships. Unfortunately, all the goodwill built up throughout the eight seasons was washed away in the last episodes. A rift between Will and Grace ended their friendship for 20 years until they reconciled when their grown children met at college. People just weren’t digging the time jumps and the way everything serendipitously worked out. Thankfully for fans of the show, Will & Grace got a second life and was revived for three more seasons that saw Will, Grace, and their kids living under the same roof and creating a much more accepted finale. Angel
The Buffy the Vampire spin-off Angel was always a much darker and more serious take on the supernatural world created by Joss Whedon. The titular character moved to Los Angeles after his doomed romance with Buffy where he worked as a private detective while battling the forces of darkness. The final episode of the series wasn’t bad but left fans wanting more. As the gates of Hell are opened and all manner of evil creatures invade L.A., Angel and his crew were forced to make one last stand, with the episode ending as the foursome engaged in the final battle. Not seeing the battle or the conclusion miffed many loyal viewers, although Whedon did create a comic book that served as a more complete ending for those who wanted some closure. Seinfeld
The funniest show of all time was let down by a compilation-type finale that saw the main characters, Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer on trial for refusing to help a man in trouble. It’s basically an hour-long clip show reminding you of how great the show was without adding anything new. Fans expected much more from creators Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, and many see the Seinfeld reunion that occurs during the seventh season of Curb Your Enthusiasm as a way of the two making amends for this poor episode of television. Dinosaurs
This four-season series from the 90s was about a family of anthropomorphic dinosaurs and what they got up to in their daily lives. Using puppets created by Jim Henson’s team, the show was a moderate success with an ending that really brings you down. Main character Earl Sneed Sinclair realizes he is part of the reason why the Ice Age is coming and apologizes to his family about ending the world but promises things will be ok in the end. As we all know, the dinosaurs became extinct because of this event, which makes the series finale quite depressing. Although it was meant to be used as a lesson for humans about what could happen if we don’t look after the environment, it ended up being a rather sad end to a great series that got real quick. Roseanne
Roseanne Barr became a breakout star with this sitcom loosely based on her life. The first eight seasons follow the trials and tribulations of the Barr family. The series received rave reviews and had millions of viewers, but it all got turned on its head during the ninth season. Roseanne and Jackie win the lotto and use the money to help others while Roseanne and her husband Dan reconcile and decided to stay together after a brief separation. In the final episode, it is revealed everything that happened during season eight is actually a figment of Rosanne’s imagination. She didn’t win the lotto and her husband Dan actually died from a heart attack he suffered at the end of season eight. Many of the other main character’s relationships were also changed, and not for the better. In 2018 the show was revived and almost everything that happened during season nine was forgotten. All the original cast returned, with Dan alive and well, although the Conner family did not win the lottery. The show was well received and renowned for a tenth season until Rosanne said some disparaging remarks about one of President Barack Obama’s senior advisers. This caused the cancellation of Rosanne and the creation of an entirely new show, The Connors. This show centered on the rest of the cast, with Rosanne written out of the show via an opiate addiction. The Connors is currently in its fifth season and still going. Battlestar Galactica
It’s hard to know what the creators of Battlestar Galactica were thinking when they came up with the show’s terrible ending. The three-part ending that brought about the close of this much-revered science fiction series has a lot going on that doesn’t really make much sense. There’s a lot of talk about God, Kara “Starbuck” Thrace returning from the dead and being an Angel, Hera Agatha being Eve, and the show ending some 150,000 years in the past, even though it appears to be the present. While religion had always been part of the show, never had it manifested itself as much as it did in the finale, leaving many fans feeling underwhelmed. Quantum Leap
Dr. Sam Beckett is a physicist who jumps through time occupying people’s bodies and helping them right their wrongs. It sounds a bit mundane but Quantum Leap was a massive hit in the 90s and turned Scott Bakula into a star. Throughout the five seasons, Beckett does his best to help those he encounters as he travels through time hoping to make it back home. The ending of the series didn’t fill viewers with much joy, as a title card revealed that Beckett never made it home and continued jumping through time until his final days. Bleak. Gossip Girl
This series about rich kids in New York was a big hit with millennials. Across six seasons the main characters dealt with a multitude of scandalous revelations from the mysterious “Gossip Girl” until the titular menace was revealed to be Dan Humphrey. The fact that many of the major plots and scandals impacted Humphrey in a negative way makes the series finale revelation of him being behind everything quite unbelievable. He also went on to marry Serena, the target of his attacks during the early seasons, which was another head-scratcher that had fans piling in on the dodgy ending. Dexter
The ending of Dexter is one that caused much outrage when the serial killer series finally came to an end in 2013. While the first four seasons about vigilante killer Dexter Morgan (Michael C Hall) are incredible television, things started to go south during the final four seasons, with the finale of season eight really annoying fans. Not only does Debra Morgan get killed off with little fanfare, but Dexter seemingly kills himself when sailing his boat into the eye of a storm, only for the final credits to reveal he is alive and well, working as a lumberer in Astoria, Oregon. The ending felt like a bit of a copout and not what fans wanted. To make up for it, a one-off season set ten years later was released in 2021 that put the show and the character of Dexter to bed permanently. Lost
The number of twists and turns throughout Lost meant it was always going to be hard to wrap the show up in a taunt one-hour finale. What we got after six seasons about a group of people on a mysterious island battling unseen forces was an ending summarizing that all the characters were actually dead and in purgatory. In the series finale, the main characters are all reunited so they can “move on” together into the afterlife. After such an incredible run, Lost missed the landing by a long shot and ended up being talked about more for its disastrous finale than the amazing writing and acting that proceeded the final episode. Two And a Half Men
This is a horrible show even without the bad ending, but somehow it was a massive success. Charlie Sheen basically playing himself, a rich playboy more concerned with his next drink or one-night stand than his bumbling brother and nephew that live with him really connected with viewers. After Sheen took potshots at executive producer Chuck Lorre, he was written out of the show and killed off-screen at the end of season nine. While he doesn’t actually appear in the final episode of season 12, it centers around whether Sheen is really dead or not, with the final moments of the episode confirming he was actually alive, although he was then killed when a piano falls on him. Sheen hated the ending, as did many fans, and it remains one of the worst endings to any TV show of the past two decades. How I Met Your Mother
The whole premise of this show was the main character Ted Mosby telling his children the tale of how he met their mother. But by the time the series got to its final episode in season nine, most people had lost interest in the plot and the reveal that Ted had married Tracy McConnell, who died of a mysterious illness, didn’t inspire any joy. Then there are the final scenes showing him going to ask out his good friend Robin, who had recently divorced Barney, that made no sense and really stuck the knife in. The backlash to the ending was so severe that producers of How I Met Your Mother included a recut ending on the DVD version, leaving out all the stuff about Ted and Robin ending up together. It still doesn’t make the finale any better. Chuck
The spy comedy Chuck was a massive hit for NBC. Although viewership waned during the final seasons, the Chuck fanbase was rabid and loved anything and everything to do with the show. But when you have such dedicated fans, the slightest misstep can cause backlash, as was the case when the final episode aired in 2012. At the heart of the series was the relationship between Chuck and Sarah, which was thrown out the door when Sarah gets a case of amnesia and forgets everything about her relationship with Chuck. The two must work together as Sarah slowly begins to remember parts of who she is, although by the time the final episode rolls around she is still not sure what is happening. Chuck tells her the best way to remember is with a kiss, and the two embrace as the screen fades to black. Did Sarah remember? Are they still together? These questions and more were left unanswered, angering fans who took to social media to post their disgust with how it all finished up. House
Some people really enjoyed the kind-of happy ending that occurred with the final episode of House. The rest couldn’t believe what they had just witnessed. It appears that House had died in a fire, with the episode even including a funeral scene, before it’s revealed he faked his death so he could spend time with mate Wilson before he dies from his terminal illness. While it’s nice of House to go to so much trouble, once Wilson passes away he will no doubt have to face the authorities with the threat of jail time, leaving his medical career in tatters. This might not be a big deal for House, but it makes for a frustrating way to end the series. True Blood
Depending on your thoughts about the love triangle between Sookie Stackhouse, Bill Compton, and Eric Northman will influence how you reacted to the final episode of True Blood. For those hoping Sookie would choose old flame Bill or vampire great Eric, the finale would have been a major disappointment. Sookie ended up with neither, instead, she can be seen pregnant with an unidentified man as her new lover in the final scenes as she celebrates Thanksgiving with some of the show’s favorite characters. While calling this the “worst TV show ending of all time” is a bit of a stretch, many fans of the show were disappointed Sookie ended up with a bloke we knew nothing about. Bill’s death, while sad, was probably the right way for his character arc to end, especially as it was at the hands of Sookie, his one great love. The Sopranos
This is a controversial that divided fans of The Sopranos. Mob boss Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) has managed to survive a brutal gang war but knows the FBI is closing in. Heading to a diner with his family, he sits at a booth with his wife and son, waiting for his daughter to arrive as Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” starts playing. A shady character enters the dinner and as Tony’s daughter Meadow opens the door to the dinner, the bell rings and Tony looks in that direction. The screen then cuts to black and the credits begin to roll in silence. After six seasons across eight years, fans of The Sopranos were left in shock about the way the show ended. The ambiguity of the ending drove some fans wild as they demanded an explanation, while others saw it as a fitting way to end the show, with Tony either dead or always being forced to look over his shoulder for the rest of his days. If you’re still not sure what happened, creator David Chase finally admitted Tony was killed in a podcast he did with Variety. Sorry to those who hoped he survived.
See more about - The 20 Best Shows To Binge Watch
Is there anything worse than when your favorite TV show comes to an epic conclusion and you have to find something new to watch? How about when the ending sucks? The worst TV show endings leave a rotten taste in your mouth when it’s all said and done. After sacrificing hours of your free time and investing in the characters and storylines, nothing stings worse than a series finale that fails to live up to expectations. When it comes to the worst TV show endings it will often depend on your personal opinion. There are many fantastic TV shows that have had endings that divided fans, with some loving the way the series finished and others hating it, such as The Sopranos and Seinfeld. Then there are shows like Game of Thrones and Battlestar Galactica where the majority of watchers agree things went out on a low point. As 2022 draws closer to the end of the year, many popular TV shows like Better Call Saul, Killing Eve, and Ozark have finished up, which got us thinking about the best and worst TV show endings. While the best endings are great, it’s much more interesting discussing the worst, especially when many are polarizing within the fan base of the show. So here are some of the worst TV show endings that caused fans to riot. Worst TV Show Endings of All Time HBO Game of Thrones
Let’s start things off with one of the most controversial endings of the past decade. Over the course of the first six seasons, creators by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss managed to faithfully adapt George R. R. Martin’s books while injecting the show with their own personalities. Game of Thrones had been building slowly towards an epic finale before the final two seasons went from ten episodes to seven and six as the showrunners tried to wrap everything up in a neat bow. The final season suddenly turned Daenerys into the big baddie and ruined the complex and interesting storytelling that had been a hallmark of the show. It also didn’t help that every main character somehow got their story arcs wrapped up in the space of six episodes of television that included some woeful dialogue and plotting. It is one of the worst TV show endings of all time and ruined what was one of the best fantasy series ever made. Will & Grace
Not many fans enjoyed the way Will & Grace ended. The hit comedy about the friendship between a gay man and a heterosexual woman won a heap of Emmy Awards and was critically and commercially praised for its handling of homosexual and straight relationships. Unfortunately, all the goodwill built up throughout the eight seasons was washed away in the last episodes. A rift between Will and Grace ended their friendship for 20 years until they reconciled when their grown children met at college. People just weren’t digging the time jumps and the way everything serendipitously worked out. Thankfully for fans of the show, Will & Grace got a second life and was revived for three more seasons that saw Will, Grace, and their kids living under the same roof and creating a much more accepted finale. Angel
The Buffy the Vampire spin-off Angel was always a much darker and more serious take on the supernatural world created by Joss Whedon. The titular character moved to Los Angeles after his doomed romance with Buffy where he worked as a private detective while battling the forces of darkness. The final episode of the series wasn’t bad but left fans wanting more. As the gates of Hell are opened and all manner of evil creatures invade L.A., Angel and his crew were forced to make one last stand, with the episode ending as the foursome engaged in the final battle. Not seeing the battle or the conclusion miffed many loyal viewers, although Whedon did create a comic book that served as a more complete ending for those who wanted some closure. Seinfeld
The funniest show of all time was let down by a compilation-type finale that saw the main characters, Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer on trial for refusing to help a man in trouble. It’s basically an hour-long clip show reminding you of how great the show was without adding anything new. Fans expected much more from creators Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, and many see the Seinfeld reunion that occurs during the seventh season of Curb Your Enthusiasm as a way of the two making amends for this poor episode of television. Dinosaurs
This four-season series from the 90s was about a family of anthropomorphic dinosaurs and what they got up to in their daily lives. Using puppets created by Jim Henson’s team, the show was a moderate success with an ending that really brings you down. Main character Earl Sneed Sinclair realizes he is part of the reason why the Ice Age is coming and apologizes to his family about ending the world but promises things will be ok in the end. As we all know, the dinosaurs became extinct because of this event, which makes the series finale quite depressing. Although it was meant to be used as a lesson for humans about what could happen if we don’t look after the environment, it ended up being a rather sad end to a great series that got real quick. Roseanne
Roseanne Barr became a breakout star with this sitcom loosely based on her life. The first eight seasons follow the trials and tribulations of the Barr family. The series received rave reviews and had millions of viewers, but it all got turned on its head during the ninth season. Roseanne and Jackie win the lotto and use the money to help others while Roseanne and her husband Dan reconcile and decided to stay together after a brief separation. In the final episode, it is revealed everything that happened during season eight is actually a figment of Rosanne’s imagination. She didn’t win the lotto and her husband Dan actually died from a heart attack he suffered at the end of season eight. Many of the other main character’s relationships were also changed, and not for the better. In 2018 the show was revived and almost everything that happened during season nine was forgotten. All the original cast returned, with Dan alive and well, although the Conner family did not win the lottery. The show was well received and renowned for a tenth season until Rosanne said some disparaging remarks about one of President Barack Obama’s senior advisers. This caused the cancellation of Rosanne and the creation of an entirely new show, The Connors. This show centered on the rest of the cast, with Rosanne written out of the show via an opiate addiction. The Connors is currently in its fifth season and still going. Battlestar Galactica
It’s hard to know what the creators of Battlestar Galactica were thinking when they came up with the show’s terrible ending. The three-part ending that brought about the close of this much-revered science fiction series has a lot going on that doesn’t really make much sense. There’s a lot of talk about God, Kara “Starbuck” Thrace returning from the dead and being an Angel, Hera Agatha being Eve, and the show ending some 150,000 years in the past, even though it appears to be the present. While religion had always been part of the show, never had it manifested itself as much as it did in the finale, leaving many fans feeling underwhelmed. Quantum Leap
Dr. Sam Beckett is a physicist who jumps through time occupying people’s bodies and helping them right their wrongs. It sounds a bit mundane but Quantum Leap was a massive hit in the 90s and turned Scott Bakula into a star. Throughout the five seasons, Beckett does his best to help those he encounters as he travels through time hoping to make it back home. The ending of the series didn’t fill viewers with much joy, as a title card revealed that Beckett never made it home and continued jumping through time until his final days. Bleak. Gossip Girl
This series about rich kids in New York was a big hit with millennials. Across six seasons the main characters dealt with a multitude of scandalous revelations from the mysterious “Gossip Girl” until the titular menace was revealed to be Dan Humphrey. The fact that many of the major plots and scandals impacted Humphrey in a negative way makes the series finale revelation of him being behind everything quite unbelievable. He also went on to marry Serena, the target of his attacks during the early seasons, which was another head-scratcher that had fans piling in on the dodgy ending. Dexter
The ending of Dexter is one that caused much outrage when the serial killer series finally came to an end in 2013. While the first four seasons about vigilante killer Dexter Morgan (Michael C Hall) are incredible television, things started to go south during the final four seasons, with the finale of season eight really annoying fans. Not only does Debra Morgan get killed off with little fanfare, but Dexter seemingly kills himself when sailing his boat into the eye of a storm, only for the final credits to reveal he is alive and well, working as a lumberer in Astoria, Oregon. The ending felt like a bit of a copout and not what fans wanted. To make up for it, a one-off season set ten years later was released in 2021 that put the show and the character of Dexter to bed permanently. Lost
The number of twists and turns throughout Lost meant it was always going to be hard to wrap the show up in a taunt one-hour finale. What we got after six seasons about a group of people on a mysterious island battling unseen forces was an ending summarizing that all the characters were actually dead and in purgatory. In the series finale, the main characters are all reunited so they can “move on” together into the afterlife. After such an incredible run, Lost missed the landing by a long shot and ended up being talked about more for its disastrous finale than the amazing writing and acting that proceeded the final episode. Two And a Half Men
This is a horrible show even without the bad ending, but somehow it was a massive success. Charlie Sheen basically playing himself, a rich playboy more concerned with his next drink or one-night stand than his bumbling brother and nephew that live with him really connected with viewers. After Sheen took potshots at executive producer Chuck Lorre, he was written out of the show and killed off-screen at the end of season nine. While he doesn’t actually appear in the final episode of season 12, it centers around whether Sheen is really dead or not, with the final moments of the episode confirming he was actually alive, although he was then killed when a piano falls on him. Sheen hated the ending, as did many fans, and it remains one of the worst endings to any TV show of the past two decades. How I Met Your Mother
The whole premise of this show was the main character Ted Mosby telling his children the tale of how he met their mother. But by the time the series got to its final episode in season nine, most people had lost interest in the plot and the reveal that Ted had married Tracy McConnell, who died of a mysterious illness, didn’t inspire any joy. Then there are the final scenes showing him going to ask out his good friend Robin, who had recently divorced Barney, that made no sense and really stuck the knife in. The backlash to the ending was so severe that producers of How I Met Your Mother included a recut ending on the DVD version, leaving out all the stuff about Ted and Robin ending up together. It still doesn’t make the finale any better. Chuck
The spy comedy Chuck was a massive hit for NBC. Although viewership waned during the final seasons, the Chuck fanbase was rabid and loved anything and everything to do with the show. But when you have such dedicated fans, the slightest misstep can cause backlash, as was the case when the final episode aired in 2012. At the heart of the series was the relationship between Chuck and Sarah, which was thrown out the door when Sarah gets a case of amnesia and forgets everything about her relationship with Chuck. The two must work together as Sarah slowly begins to remember parts of who she is, although by the time the final episode rolls around she is still not sure what is happening. Chuck tells her the best way to remember is with a kiss, and the two embrace as the screen fades to black. Did Sarah remember? Are they still together? These questions and more were left unanswered, angering fans who took to social media to post their disgust with how it all finished up. House
Some people really enjoyed the kind-of happy ending that occurred with the final episode of House. The rest couldn’t believe what they had just witnessed. It appears that House had died in a fire, with the episode even including a funeral scene, before it’s revealed he faked his death so he could spend time with mate Wilson before he dies from his terminal illness. While it’s nice of House to go to so much trouble, once Wilson passes away he will no doubt have to face the authorities with the threat of jail time, leaving his medical career in tatters. This might not be a big deal for House, but it makes for a frustrating way to end the series. True Blood
Depending on your thoughts about the love triangle between Sookie Stackhouse, Bill Compton, and Eric Northman will influence how you reacted to the final episode of True Blood. For those hoping Sookie would choose old flame Bill or vampire great Eric, the finale would have been a major disappointment. Sookie ended up with neither, instead, she can be seen pregnant with an unidentified man as her new lover in the final scenes as she celebrates Thanksgiving with some of the show’s favorite characters. While calling this the “worst TV show ending of all time” is a bit of a stretch, many fans of the show were disappointed Sookie ended up with a bloke we knew nothing about. Bill’s death, while sad, was probably the right way for his character arc to end, especially as it was at the hands of Sookie, his one great love. The Sopranos
This is a controversial that divided fans of The Sopranos. Mob boss Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) has managed to survive a brutal gang war but knows the FBI is closing in. Heading to a diner with his family, he sits at a booth with his wife and son, waiting for his daughter to arrive as Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” starts playing. A shady character enters the dinner and as Tony’s daughter Meadow opens the door to the dinner, the bell rings and Tony looks in that direction. The screen then cuts to black and the credits begin to roll in silence. After six seasons across eight years, fans of The Sopranos were left in shock about the way the show ended. The ambiguity of the ending drove some fans wild as they demanded an explanation, while others saw it as a fitting way to end the show, with Tony either dead or always being forced to look over his shoulder for the rest of his days. If you’re still not sure what happened, creator David Chase finally admitted Tony was killed in a podcast he did with Variety. Sorry to those who hoped he survived.
See more about - The 20 Best Shows To Binge Watch
Is there anything worse than when your favorite TV show comes to an epic conclusion and you have to find something new to watch? How about when the ending sucks? The worst TV show endings leave a rotten taste in your mouth when it’s all said and done. After sacrificing hours of your free time and investing in the characters and storylines, nothing stings worse than a series finale that fails to live up to expectations.
When it comes to the worst TV show endings it will often depend on your personal opinion. There are many fantastic TV shows that have had endings that divided fans, with some loving the way the series finished and others hating it, such as The Sopranos and Seinfeld. Then there are shows like Game of Thrones and Battlestar Galactica where the majority of watchers agree things went out on a low point.
As 2022 draws closer to the end of the year, many popular TV shows like Better Call Saul, Killing Eve, and Ozark have finished up, which got us thinking about the best and worst TV show endings. While the best endings are great, it’s much more interesting discussing the worst, especially when many are polarizing within the fan base of the show.
So here are some of the worst TV show endings that caused fans to riot.
Worst TV Show Endings of All Time
HBO
Game of Thrones
Let’s start things off with one of the most controversial endings of the past decade. Over the course of the first six seasons, creators by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss managed to faithfully adapt George R. R. Martin’s books while injecting the show with their own personalities. Game of Thrones had been building slowly towards an epic finale before the final two seasons went from ten episodes to seven and six as the showrunners tried to wrap everything up in a neat bow.
The final season suddenly turned Daenerys into the big baddie and ruined the complex and interesting storytelling that had been a hallmark of the show. It also didn’t help that every main character somehow got their story arcs wrapped up in the space of six episodes of television that included some woeful dialogue and plotting. It is one of the worst TV show endings of all time and ruined what was one of the best fantasy series ever made.
Will & Grace
Not many fans enjoyed the way Will & Grace ended. The hit comedy about the friendship between a gay man and a heterosexual woman won a heap of Emmy Awards and was critically and commercially praised for its handling of homosexual and straight relationships. Unfortunately, all the goodwill built up throughout the eight seasons was washed away in the last episodes. A rift between Will and Grace ended their friendship for 20 years until they reconciled when their grown children met at college. People just weren’t digging the time jumps and the way everything serendipitously worked out.
Thankfully for fans of the show, Will & Grace got a second life and was revived for three more seasons that saw Will, Grace, and their kids living under the same roof and creating a much more accepted finale.
Angel
The Buffy the Vampire spin-off Angel was always a much darker and more serious take on the supernatural world created by Joss Whedon. The titular character moved to Los Angeles after his doomed romance with Buffy where he worked as a private detective while battling the forces of darkness.
The final episode of the series wasn’t bad but left fans wanting more. As the gates of Hell are opened and all manner of evil creatures invade L.A., Angel and his crew were forced to make one last stand, with the episode ending as the foursome engaged in the final battle. Not seeing the battle or the conclusion miffed many loyal viewers, although Whedon did create a comic book that served as a more complete ending for those who wanted some closure.
Seinfeld
The funniest show of all time was let down by a compilation-type finale that saw the main characters, Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer on trial for refusing to help a man in trouble. It’s basically an hour-long clip show reminding you of how great the show was without adding anything new.
Fans expected much more from creators Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, and many see the Seinfeld reunion that occurs during the seventh season of Curb Your Enthusiasm as a way of the two making amends for this poor episode of television.
Dinosaurs
This four-season series from the 90s was about a family of anthropomorphic dinosaurs and what they got up to in their daily lives. Using puppets created by Jim Henson’s team, the show was a moderate success with an ending that really brings you down. Main character Earl Sneed Sinclair realizes he is part of the reason why the Ice Age is coming and apologizes to his family about ending the world but promises things will be ok in the end.
As we all know, the dinosaurs became extinct because of this event, which makes the series finale quite depressing. Although it was meant to be used as a lesson for humans about what could happen if we don’t look after the environment, it ended up being a rather sad end to a great series that got real quick.
Roseanne
Roseanne Barr became a breakout star with this sitcom loosely based on her life. The first eight seasons follow the trials and tribulations of the Barr family. The series received rave reviews and had millions of viewers, but it all got turned on its head during the ninth season. Roseanne and Jackie win the lotto and use the money to help others while Roseanne and her husband Dan reconcile and decided to stay together after a brief separation.
In the final episode, it is revealed everything that happened during season eight is actually a figment of Rosanne’s imagination. She didn’t win the lotto and her husband Dan actually died from a heart attack he suffered at the end of season eight. Many of the other main character’s relationships were also changed, and not for the better.
In 2018 the show was revived and almost everything that happened during season nine was forgotten. All the original cast returned, with Dan alive and well, although the Conner family did not win the lottery. The show was well received and renowned for a tenth season until Rosanne said some disparaging remarks about one of President Barack Obama’s senior advisers. This caused the cancellation of Rosanne and the creation of an entirely new show, The Connors. This show centered on the rest of the cast, with Rosanne written out of the show via an opiate addiction. The Connors is currently in its fifth season and still going.
Battlestar Galactica
It’s hard to know what the creators of Battlestar Galactica were thinking when they came up with the show’s terrible ending. The three-part ending that brought about the close of this much-revered science fiction series has a lot going on that doesn’t really make much sense. There’s a lot of talk about God, Kara “Starbuck” Thrace returning from the dead and being an Angel, Hera Agatha being Eve, and the show ending some 150,000 years in the past, even though it appears to be the present.
While religion had always been part of the show, never had it manifested itself as much as it did in the finale, leaving many fans feeling underwhelmed.
Quantum Leap
Dr. Sam Beckett is a physicist who jumps through time occupying people’s bodies and helping them right their wrongs. It sounds a bit mundane but Quantum Leap was a massive hit in the 90s and turned Scott Bakula into a star.
Throughout the five seasons, Beckett does his best to help those he encounters as he travels through time hoping to make it back home. The ending of the series didn’t fill viewers with much joy, as a title card revealed that Beckett never made it home and continued jumping through time until his final days. Bleak.
Gossip Girl
This series about rich kids in New York was a big hit with millennials. Across six seasons the main characters dealt with a multitude of scandalous revelations from the mysterious “Gossip Girl” until the titular menace was revealed to be Dan Humphrey.
The fact that many of the major plots and scandals impacted Humphrey in a negative way makes the series finale revelation of him being behind everything quite unbelievable. He also went on to marry Serena, the target of his attacks during the early seasons, which was another head-scratcher that had fans piling in on the dodgy ending.
Dexter
The ending of Dexter is one that caused much outrage when the serial killer series finally came to an end in 2013. While the first four seasons about vigilante killer Dexter Morgan (Michael C Hall) are incredible television, things started to go south during the final four seasons, with the finale of season eight really annoying fans.
Not only does Debra Morgan get killed off with little fanfare, but Dexter seemingly kills himself when sailing his boat into the eye of a storm, only for the final credits to reveal he is alive and well, working as a lumberer in Astoria, Oregon. The ending felt like a bit of a copout and not what fans wanted. To make up for it, a one-off season set ten years later was released in 2021 that put the show and the character of Dexter to bed permanently.
Lost
The number of twists and turns throughout Lost meant it was always going to be hard to wrap the show up in a taunt one-hour finale. What we got after six seasons about a group of people on a mysterious island battling unseen forces was an ending summarizing that all the characters were actually dead and in purgatory. In the series finale, the main characters are all reunited so they can “move on” together into the afterlife.
After such an incredible run, Lost missed the landing by a long shot and ended up being talked about more for its disastrous finale than the amazing writing and acting that proceeded the final episode.
Two And a Half Men
This is a horrible show even without the bad ending, but somehow it was a massive success. Charlie Sheen basically playing himself, a rich playboy more concerned with his next drink or one-night stand than his bumbling brother and nephew that live with him really connected with viewers.
After Sheen took potshots at executive producer Chuck Lorre, he was written out of the show and killed off-screen at the end of season nine. While he doesn’t actually appear in the final episode of season 12, it centers around whether Sheen is really dead or not, with the final moments of the episode confirming he was actually alive, although he was then killed when a piano falls on him. Sheen hated the ending, as did many fans, and it remains one of the worst endings to any TV show of the past two decades.
How I Met Your Mother
The whole premise of this show was the main character Ted Mosby telling his children the tale of how he met their mother. But by the time the series got to its final episode in season nine, most people had lost interest in the plot and the reveal that Ted had married Tracy McConnell, who died of a mysterious illness, didn’t inspire any joy. Then there are the final scenes showing him going to ask out his good friend Robin, who had recently divorced Barney, that made no sense and really stuck the knife in.
The backlash to the ending was so severe that producers of How I Met Your Mother included a recut ending on the DVD version, leaving out all the stuff about Ted and Robin ending up together. It still doesn’t make the finale any better.
Chuck
The spy comedy Chuck was a massive hit for NBC. Although viewership waned during the final seasons, the Chuck fanbase was rabid and loved anything and everything to do with the show. But when you have such dedicated fans, the slightest misstep can cause backlash, as was the case when the final episode aired in 2012.
At the heart of the series was the relationship between Chuck and Sarah, which was thrown out the door when Sarah gets a case of amnesia and forgets everything about her relationship with Chuck. The two must work together as Sarah slowly begins to remember parts of who she is, although by the time the final episode rolls around she is still not sure what is happening. Chuck tells her the best way to remember is with a kiss, and the two embrace as the screen fades to black.
Did Sarah remember? Are they still together? These questions and more were left unanswered, angering fans who took to social media to post their disgust with how it all finished up.
House
Some people really enjoyed the kind-of happy ending that occurred with the final episode of House. The rest couldn’t believe what they had just witnessed. It appears that House had died in a fire, with the episode even including a funeral scene, before it’s revealed he faked his death so he could spend time with mate Wilson before he dies from his terminal illness.
While it’s nice of House to go to so much trouble, once Wilson passes away he will no doubt have to face the authorities with the threat of jail time, leaving his medical career in tatters. This might not be a big deal for House, but it makes for a frustrating way to end the series.
True Blood
Depending on your thoughts about the love triangle between Sookie Stackhouse, Bill Compton, and Eric Northman will influence how you reacted to the final episode of True Blood. For those hoping Sookie would choose old flame Bill or vampire great Eric, the finale would have been a major disappointment. Sookie ended up with neither, instead, she can be seen pregnant with an unidentified man as her new lover in the final scenes as she celebrates Thanksgiving with some of the show’s favorite characters.
While calling this the “worst TV show ending of all time” is a bit of a stretch, many fans of the show were disappointed Sookie ended up with a bloke we knew nothing about. Bill’s death, while sad, was probably the right way for his character arc to end, especially as it was at the hands of Sookie, his one great love.
The Sopranos
This is a controversial that divided fans of The Sopranos. Mob boss Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) has managed to survive a brutal gang war but knows the FBI is closing in. Heading to a diner with his family, he sits at a booth with his wife and son, waiting for his daughter to arrive as Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” starts playing. A shady character enters the dinner and as Tony’s daughter Meadow opens the door to the dinner, the bell rings and Tony looks in that direction. The screen then cuts to black and the credits begin to roll in silence.
After six seasons across eight years, fans of The Sopranos were left in shock about the way the show ended. The ambiguity of the ending drove some fans wild as they demanded an explanation, while others saw it as a fitting way to end the show, with Tony either dead or always being forced to look over his shoulder for the rest of his days.
If you’re still not sure what happened, creator David Chase finally admitted Tony was killed in a podcast he did with Variety. Sorry to those who hoped he survived.
See more about - The 20 Best Shows To Binge Watch
See more about - The 20 Best Shows To Binge Watch
