List the most shocking or surprising ending to a series that you can remember. Most sitcoms or series end with a graduation or a marriage, but some decide to take a different route. For me the top would have to be the Wonder Years. Kevin doesn't end up marrying Winnie! This blew my mind at the time, and I could never really watch reruns of the show after seeing that episode. Also the finale of The Young Ones was surprising...even if it did fit with the series upon reflection (the whole cast died in a fluke bus over the cliff accident).
St. Elsewhere usually gets a mention in these. How about Farscape? (although there's a min-series currently in development) Seinfeld's was surprising in that it sucked so bad...
dont forget "the prisoner"! i heard that at its time even english press wrote about its "obscure" ending a great serie
At the time I was mad, but looking back, I now appreciate it. Very appropriate for the entire series.
I originally thought the same. But then I've caught the whole last season in reruns recently, and realized they all sucked pretty much, so it shouldn't have been as surprising as it was. The show went about 2 seasons too long, IMO. Newhart is a great answer. Freaks and Geeks' ending was surprising, in that the best show on tv was cancelled out of nowhere.