Seriously, WTF. How did they miss the ALF finale? The premise of the entire show was that he had to be hidden because if he was discovered, it was likely he would be experimented on and ultimately dissected in the name of science. The way they ended the show basically says that's what happened. Darkest ending ever.
The 2 characters felt more authentic compared to their big screen counterparts. Banner's first transformation in the pilot is superior to any CGI work.
For it's time it was decent. I looked forward to seeing it as a boy. Years ago I bought the DVD set and watched it 2 times. It is a bit difficult to watch if I ever watch it again. A few years back Metv had it on I saw a few of the episodes but as I said it's hard to watch.
The show was super low budget considering all the other Universal Pictures shows. But for what they had available they pulled off amazing episodes. It was all about the stories and the people. One of my favorite episode was the one about that psychic who could see future events happening. Played by Bill Bixby's ex-wife. If you know, watching this episode becomes truly bittersweet. That 2 part episode with that second Hulk was also fantastic. Or the one with the Meteor that negatively affected Banner's Mutation back to normal. Re-watching that series really makes you appreciate a lot more of the stories like the one about the child abuse with that alcoholic dad who beats his wife and son. The season 2 pilot was also a fantastic story. Where David Banner marries again. This female scientist who works with hypnosis, trying to cure her cancer. A heartbreaking feature-length episode.
@@KRAFTWERK2K6 those were good episodes, the meteor one was about as close to the comic as possible with military like type of personnel and scientists. The first was also good if I recall that title of Banner finding out another like him was many years earlier and a cure was within grasp but not going to spoil what happened next in case nobody saw this episode.
Sadly Bill Bixby passed away. I have read that plans were possible to revive Hulk and continue with at least another movie but with Bixby dying they decided it would be best to not continue. I can't see anyone replacing him in a t.v. movie as Doctor David Banner. I don't think Lou Ferrigno would have liked it either as the two worked together and were friends. Even though we have had 3 different actors portraying Doctor Banner, Eric Bana, Edward Norton and Mark Ruffalo nobody can replace the onscreen presence of Bill Bixby.
I think Bixby was wonderful but come on....nobody can replace him? Even the most recent three (maybe not Norton as he seems a bit harder to be sympathetic, but could be wrong) are completely capable. Bixby got a TV show and a lot of time to be play that character, something none of those guys got since it's always been movies
That 'Dinosaurs' finale disturbed me when I 1st saw it! The scene where they are trying to explain to the Baby that things aren't going to get better put a lump in my throat!
@@kevinlee7678 Great installment! A 2 (or 3!) Parter if I remember! The funniest element (in a dark-humor kinda way!) was how much it paralleled the events of 1st Gulf!
You missed the greatest dark finale of all time, probably because it wasn't American, but the final episode of "Blackadder Goes Forth" was an absolute masterpiece.
Yes, a hilarious riot of a show ends in full historical drama mode because they all get sent off to die by idiotic military brass... which was true to life for far too many soldiers in that war. The quiet fade to a field of poppies really hit home.
I read somewhere that people are suggesting when NCIS: New Orleans ends (or if Scott Backula leaves) they think it would be awesome if Pride says “Oh boy” and leaps out.
To me, the darkest ending was MASH. When they were on the bus leaving the area, they encountered a possible ambush, and a baby started crying. Hawkeye says " Shut that baby up". The mother suffocates her own child to save the bus. I teared up at that moment. A war comedy brought back the reality of war at that moment!
"When the animated Superman returned in Justice League, this plot thread was never revisited." Except, you know, in the episodes where Superman's anger at Darkseid was constantly mentioned as motivating him when Darkseid led the League into a trap with Brainiac. And when it was the motivation for why Dr. Hamilton worked with Cadmus against Superman. And being, in fact, the entire reason why Cadmus existed in the first place. Did someone stop watching JL after the first season?
"You don't know Darkseid like I do!" "We know what he did. How he brainwashed you, used you. Wound you up like a little tin soldier and set you loose on the Earth. CRY ME A RIVER." Yep, they didn't address it at ALL in JL/JLU. /s
@@renaysari6631 it was the finale of "Newhart" where he lived in the Vermont inn with Mary Frann and it was the finale where he woke up and it was Bob Newhart back on The Bob Newhart Show with Suzanne Pleshett. The Bob Newhart Show had already ended way before Newhart aired. They just brought it back briefly.
Angel. For the first time in the series, it was an apocalypse in which it genuinely felt like everyone could die and in the end (as far as the show is concerned), the outcome of the final battle will never be known.
I actually wrote a miniseries on this about Connor, but Angel tells him what happened. How the battle unfolds is told. Unfortunately I have to find another website to put it on. However, making it through the battle is totally feasible. Just a question of just how many make it?
me too :( It is also why that show always left a HUGE impression on me ever since. Back then i had no idea about the concept of "Drama". It was just a great show with a very charismatic lead actor. Also always loved the 3 TV movies as well. All of them are great and a wonderful conclusion of the open ending of the TV show since it was canceled and the last Season was just a lose compilation of "surplus" episodes that didn't make it into the earlier seasons.
@@KRAFTWERK2K6 The writer's strike was the reason that the final season was so short. Also, the studio found the show too expensive to make, and ratings went down, so they used the writer's strike to axe it. It came back as telemovies because Bill Bixby pitched the idea of TV movies of the Hulk to the studio, and got Lou Ferrigno to come back as the Hulk. The studios agreed on the proviso that it include another Marvel superhero, as they hoped that this would springboard more Marvel hero TV series, and be as popular as the "Incredible Hulk" was. So the first one had Thor, the second had Daredevil, and the third one had a girl, even though her superhero name is never said, it hints that it meant to be Black Widow (she is a Russian spy, as well as other clues). More were meant to happen (there was an idea for a "She-Hulk" episode and a "Spiderman" episode, but Bill Bixby's stage 4 prostate cancer diagnosis put paid to that, and was the reason why the third one had the ending it had (it wasn't meant to end with Hulk/Banner's death) , but since Bixby wouldn't be able to do them anymore going forward (due to his cancer treatment) they changed the ending, meaning that the other episode ideas were scrapped.
The fallout of Superman’s evil turn thanks to Darkseid’s manipulation WAS addressed in the Justice League Unlimited show. Fear of Superman’s power and him potentially going Rogue again is the entire motivation behind the “Cadmus” arc , which encompasses the first two seasons of the show.
@@ahabduennschitz7670 that’s not true at all. Fear of Superman’s power and the time he was under Darkseid’s control was professor Hamilton betrayed superman and use Supergirl’s DNA to create a clone for Cadmus. The professor even says so directly when Superman confront him about it. Plus when the evil Superman killed Lex Luthor in the episode of better tomorrow, that’s what inspired Amanda Waller to create the ultramen clone army that she sent to attack the justice league. She told Batman that she was worried that our Superman would start to act like the justice lord Superman. She and the government never started to worry about Superman, until after Darkseid took control of him. The question explains this to Supergirl and green arrow in their team up episode together
The finale of the Desi-Lucy Comedy Hour. The end had come for the marriage of Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. The sadness is so apparent. In between takes Lucy cried.
If I recall correctly, I’m pretty sure Six Feet Under’s finale was pretty dark too. For crying out loud, they showed each character’s death & date of death the last episode
Here's one you missed. When Magnum P.I. (80's version) ended the first time, Tomas Magnum died. The ending scene showed him walking away on white clouds while you can hear Higgins in the background (he was at Magnum's hospital bed) telling him not to leave. Even though he died a hero, fans were very upset. So they brought the series back for 1 more season. They altered the original ending so Magnum was walking away on grey clouds instead. Then when Higgins said don't leave, Magnum turned around, came back, and woke up in the hospital. I loved that series, and while sad that Magnum died, I thought it was a great ending.
@@maggiegarber246 I always took the fact that he never returned home to demonstrate that Sam finally realized he could do more good for the world leaping than being back home.
Yep. They should correct the title by adding "in American Television". Because this is the bleakest ending to any TV series. No where else could you get all the main characters being gunned down and the main character apparently being killed right at the end.
@@OlagGan I heard it was suppose to be a season ending, not a series ending. BTW, did you know the woman Avon shoots toward the end of the episode was played by Paul Darrow's wife?
@@bjbell52 Yep indeed. The only one who really was to die was Blake as Gareth Thomas was fed up with the whole thing I do hope that Vila was to survive as he was my favourite character.
@@drewhunter4821 After the loud sound effect of a machinegun burst, and then the screen goes black? No, the characters didn't live. That was the point of the ep.
@@roberthaworth8991 wrong actually. if you do a bit of research into it, both blackadder and baldrick make it to the first trench, get stuck and then made it back to where they started. its not known what happened after that.
I think that’s why it was so dark - it was a family sitcom that just kinda blindsided us all with a dark reality. a lot of people out there remember watching it at 10ish and being devastated.
in Quantum Leap, the writers have gone to say its not necessarily a bad thing, he didn't go home because he didn't want to, he has come to enjoy saving, changing peoples lives and continues on
It was to build up tension. We were waiting for someone to put a bullet in her head. To me the ending was saying, "This is the Sopranos life... always watching over their shoulders, so business as usual" I never bought that they were killed, since none was shown and no other party could have been assumed to be responsible. It's lazy to just say some random group or hired hitman did it and not reveal it. It's easy to speculate on what we don't know, but in a practical sense, if you really want the audience to believe they were killed, you need to have some tangible indicator.
Alf had one of the most messed up endings in the history of television. By the way if the St. Elsewhere ending meant the shows he mentioned were all apart of the boy's imagination, then so are Cheers and Law and Order along with with all of it's spinoffs/continuations. Now I have to back and watch the entire show.
Lee Joel Beasley- I agree with you 100% i cried for about an hour after i watched the ending lol. But you are correct he did have a smile of relief that it really was over :).
As a kid, when i watched that ending of the third TV movie i was blown away and speechless. Like "oh god NO!! Did this really happen?" That Song that was playing also added to the sadness. The overall mood and Soundtrack was perfect for it. And it also hit me a lot more since one or two years after the german TV premiere of "The Death of the Incredible Hulk"... Bill Bixby died.. :'(
@@KRAFTWERK2K6 That wasn't originally planned as the final one, but the ending was re-written, because Bill Bixby had just been diagnosed with Stage 4 prostate cancer, and couldn't do them anymore, so the ending was re-written to give a definitive end.
I like how you mentioned all the cross-overs in "St. Elsewhere." However, you failed to mention its crossover with the late 70s high school basketball drama "The White Shadow," which was perhaps the most well done (and well placed) of all of them. Thank you for a great video.
The other thing about the Seinfeld ending was that whenever they got together they could talk about anything and they enjoyed being around each other to talk about anything. But as soon as they got locked up with each other where that was all they could do was talk to each other, they found out they had so many conversations they had already talked about everything.
there are photos floating of a rehearsal for an alternate season end of QL where Al and his wife are in the present. Al is staring at a photo of Sam.the next season’s premise being that Sam has started leaping into the future and to rescue him Al would have to become a leaper too
There's audio out there too. It was played for Susan Diol (Beth Calavicci) during a podcast and she confirmed it was authentic. I wish they'd been approved for that season!
Sons of Anarchy’s ending I hated, I was invested in that show until that last few episodes. Don’t even get me started on Game of Thrones last episode! Lol
SoA was a huge disappointment. They quickly went down hill after the 5th season for me. Game of Thrones rushed through many seasons. Dany becoming a mad queen was the endgame. It was there all along that she wasn't quite stable, throughout the seasons. But they rushed her through. GRRM let D&D do GoT only because the guessed the ending right. Every major character arc with the exception of Arya was done dirty.
I thought all the things that happened in the Game of Thrones finale were things that had to happen, but they did such a bad job with the character development leading up to it that it just didn't work. I never understood what the big hurry was to wrap up the series. Another 3 or so episodes in each of the last two seasons and they could have had the same final events seem natural rather than forced.
The Quantum Leap ending was the first time I ever became angry at a series I loved. I never missed an episode and was actually at my aunt’s and made everyone watch it. I became so angry at the ending that I had to go take a walk around the block . It upset me so much that I have never been able to watch reruns of the show.
What's even darker about the MST3K ending is that when they get back to Earth, the first show they sit down to watch is the Crawling Eye, which was the first movie they watched back on episode 1, season 1. Much like Seinfeld's familiar "conversation ending," they ended up back where they started - even though the entire main cast had been turned over by that point.
Absolutely. I'm only 25 but I grew up watching the show with my dad and hawkeye was always a childhood hero of mine. The scene where he breaks down talking to sidney kills me everytime. The one guy that was always together finally broke down.
@@maximusprime3459 Not true clearly, they may have been late to amend it - but Endgame made Falcon into Captain America, which is not a small thing. Then we also have Blade coming up, though I don't expect it to be 1/10th as dark as the first 2 Wesley Snipes movies.
@@maximusprime3459 There's being naive and then there is being informed. I'm informed, you're naive at least if not outright myopic. Sure Disney's historical record with non caucasian characters is far from great, even terrible in places like Dumbo and others in their 'classic' film line up. But you can see them taking steps to change that starting with Princess and the Frog's protagonist, then there is Moana, and at Pixar we have Coco and now Soul. Not to mention the new owner of the Toy Story crew from the end of TS3 is also non caucasian. Of course that is also missing out Black Panther which is really only shelved because of Chadwick Boseman's death - they will probably shoe horn in another equivalent property to make up for it. That being said, I can't stand old films being changed for censorships sake, so I hope they don't change the classic films regardless of the less palatable elements - especially as the remakes are utter shite, every last one of them.
"St. Elsewhere" was the best show with the worst finale. They just wanted a twist ending that people would talk about. They didn't care about a legacy.
I agree, it was very underrated. You knew the Strike Team's remaining members would face justice, but it went to show how much of a son of a bitch Vic was where Ronnie was concerned. And.....(say it with me).....WHY, SHANE, WHY???
QL wasn't just bits of sci-fi, drama, comedy, and romance. It was everygenre you could think of, and more. There's a reason it's been called an anthology by some.
Soap from the 1970s-1980s has a pretty shocking finale. The show was a spoof of daytime soap operas with a mix of comedy and drama and risky issues. The show had a cliffhanger style ending during season finales, as well as the episodes (the narrator would ask questions at the end of each episode similar to the old Batman episodes, except they were silly and comical). For the Soap finale, each loving character was put in a situation that there was really no way out, thus projecting that these loving characters may actually have met their respective violent ends. It’s pretty shocking considering the satirical comical nature of the show. Has anyone else see this?
...I'm late to this comment, but...T-H-A-N-K YOU!! ....The show was supposed to be picked up, to continue from the season finale, but, it got axed, and left EVERYONE in peril...INCLUDING Jessica!!! (I won't mention it, but, I was DEVASTATED at that last...'shot'...)
@@RBS_ If you can find it, there's an episode of the "Soap" spin-off, "Benson", in which Jessica's spirit visits Benson at the governor's mansion. If I remember correctly, Jessica mentions that she isn't actually dead, but in a coma, or something like that. As far as I know, there was never any other following up on the plots from the "Soap" finale.
@@laustcawz2089 ....Oh, I KNOW that Ep, It's actually the ONLY "Benson" Episode I remember! ..But, if she was a 'spirit', it's safe to say the character was 'dead'...It was the VERY graphic way they SHOWED it, that was the 'real' cliffhanger... : (
I grew up on Quantum Leap. Use to watch with my mother. Our first episode was the one when he was a blind pool player. By the time i was in the air force, they were playing the show on syfy. Thats when i fell in love with the show all over again. Lee Harvey is up there with the 2 leap home episodes as my all time favs. My twin sons are 7 and LOVE the show now. Their favorite part is when Sam goes, "TOM!!!!!!!!!." I am a proud Papa.
I know what happened because it hit me hard as a kid. But.. you didn't actually explain the whole Dinosaurs ending. You just... brought it up and moved on. There was a story, an entire plot to describe.
"When this Superman was revived for 'Justice League', there was no trace of this lingering plot thread." That's not true. It formed the whole basis of the first two seasons of Justice League Unlimited.
I did not see the end of Quantum leap as dark or sad. Sam found fellow quantum leapers in the bar and like an angel continued to leap but with the knowledge that his ability to leap is his own and within his control.
Sad as it was he didn't leap home, the moment he leapt back to Beth to tell her Al was still alive, if you had been watching the series since it started (on first run way back in the 90's...), was just 😭😭😭, especially after M.I.A etc
"When Superman TAS returned in Justice League, this plot thread was never revisited" What? It was a huge reason why Project Cadmus became a thing. A reason Professor Hamilton betrayed him. The Son of Darkseid plot had major consequences.
Yeah pretty obvious they never actually watched JL and JLU. I would argue saying that the show didn't really end, it's really just continued into JL and JLU.
@@DarkKnightTrinity Even in the "end" of JLU, they never actually end anything and go with the "and the adventure continues" resolution for the entire DC animated universe. Which makes sense since we've seen glimpses of their distant future. Though they did supposedly kill off a ton of the villains off screen.
I can't see the Quantum Leap finale as dark. I see it more as an optimistic ending. Sam has learned that he can come home any time he chooses - but he decides not to, because he can't give up the power he's been given and that is the power to make meaningful changes in the lives of others......Misspelling aside. I mean, seriously, can you get past the misspelling?
That is what made the show so great! Sam did deserve better, but his love for his friend leads him to sacrifice himself. Picture Al and Beth slow-dancing on their 50th anniversary! Sam would agree that the sacrifice was worth it.
Sam embodied the Biblical saying "Greater love hath no man that this: that he would lay down his life for his friend". Sam never returned home because to do so meant giving up what he was doing - and what he was doing was setting right things that had gone wrong. Sam could never make the decision to give that up. I suppose I'm greatly in the minority on this - but I consider the finale of Quantum Leap to be a masterpiece. And the words at the end......Dr. Sam Beckett never returned home......well......damn, they actually bring a tear to my eye.
And that’s why that last episode is still stuck in my mind all these years later. It was an incredible show and the book about the making of it revealed so much they planned to do.
I did not see the end of Quantum leap as dark or sad. Sam found fellow quantum leapers in the bar and like an angel continued to leap but with the knowledge that his ability to leap is his own and within his control.
Well… dunno... ALF was canceled so technically this is not how the show actually ended. The Incredible Hulk makes a great exception since it too was canceled but was concluded with 3 TV movies. ALF never had that chance… Not even with that ALF movie..... without the Tanners.....
I was thinking the same thing about Family Matters. Laura & Steve were engaged to be married, and then it just ended. I'm still disappointed to this day. 😐👎
You did miss one other finale that I think was very dark and sad - Space - Above and Beyond. The final episode, Tell Our Moms We Done Our Best, killed off almost the entire cast of main characters. Even the main character, West, who spent the entire series trying to find his girlfriend loses her again when they go their separate ways.
@The Film Makers 2004 My comment means, the FANBASE never generally acknowledges the last movie. That is the point I was making so YES, I indeed did watch the *whole* video. Funny how 33 people (and counting) understood that except YOU. Thank you for that smug ass comment. You tried tho.
Yep, I still remember the end of Blake's 7 ... little 11-year-old me desperately trying to work out some way for it not to be as it appeared - rewinding the scene on VHS, counting the shots - but it was inescapable, and Avon's reaction said all you needed to know: game over. It was a dark way to end it - and about a million miles from Star Wars - but somehow it felt true. I'm sure more rebellions end that way than end in victory celebrations.
The Strain. It was such a well made series. And while the actual final scenes were more of a denouement, the deaths of the major characters were Grecian in their tragedy.
Soup Nazi, the "they're real and they're spectacular", Baboo, accidentally deported because of mail misdelivery; not saying the Seinfeld cast were saints, but...
Mortal Kombat Conquest has the darkest finale i ever seen to a tv show. Literally all the good guys die...Its not a very popular show but the ending is definitely worth placing on this video
You know what show I wonder how it’s going to end? The Simpsons. I am 36 and have watched them since I was 10, I will most likely shed tears on the last episode.
@@Dman3827 the show dying has nothing to do with going politically correct, it died years before doing so and let's be honest the Simpsons was never a show with offensive or non PC humour in the first place
The best finale in history was "The Shield". It wasn't a happy ending, wasn't an unrealistic out in a blaze of glory ending. It was an ending that tied up all loose ends with every character getting what they deserved.
Lol I saw a couple of eps of the show but it wasn't quite my thing. But I recently saw the DVD box set in a thrift store, now I guess why, the owner hated the ending too 😁
@@alismith3801 If you watched the American version I can understand. Even though the U.S. version sometimes used the same scripts, it SUCKED. Bad acting and watered down scripts ruined it. Only watch the BBC version staring John Simm and Philip Glenister. Also watch the spin off series Ashes to Ashes.
You nailed it on the double-episode Finale of SEINFELD. Even at the time, I felt it was brilliant. And a proper ending for characters who were so fun to watch and laugh at, but we realized were self-centered, narcissistic, flawed individuals who truly deserved each other.
I always felt like Walter White never intended to rescue Jesse. It seemed to me he wanted Jesse there to die as well, but when Walt saw the state of jesse, he felt sorry for him and decided on the spot to save him.
@@SneedyKetler They did kill Wesley and that was heartbreaking. That scene alone gave every Angel fan a chill. I am not certain who the werewolf is. Gunn is gravely wounded and dying and the rest are ready to die in battle. The idea that Spike and Angel team up as two Vampires with souls and Aleryia fighting with them to still avenge Wesley is drama at its best. Of course, the last line is amazingly charming and lighthearted for such a heavy ending.
I'm mad I didn't think of that one. The finale was kind of rushed because they thought they were going to do another season. They were actually still doing well but the network having anything to do with him trying to renegotiate so they just dropped the series I made them do a finale. Angel is one of my favorite series 2
As a very young child, the finale of David the Gnome on Nick destroyed me. The main characters literally consigned themselves to death while we, along with their best friend, watched the entire thing.
If you think the ending of Angel was dark...Whedon continued it in comic form. Gunn is a vampire, Wesley is forever bound to Wolfram and Hart, LA has been pulled into a demon dimension. Uggh.
@@hughmcgee5655, but does everyone die? Only about 100 orcs, 2 centaurs, 1 giant, and 1 dragon; again a regular vampire, a supercharged vampire, and an ancient demon godking.
Mork & Mindy. The light-hearted Happy Days spin-off ends on a 3-part mini-series where the main characters are pursued by a homicidal alien from Neptune. This leads to Mork outing himself as an alien, which leads to mobs, which leads to Mork & Mindy escaping by accidentally being sent to prehistoric times. When you consider this, the finale of Dinosaurs, & that Full House's final episode had Michelle fall off a horse & get amnesia, it makes you fear for the safety of the characters when you hear an ABC show is ending. Edit: I forgot to mention that "The Mork Report" was the final aired episode of Mork & Mindy, but the "Gotta Run" trilogy was the intended finale.
I think the animated Justice League addressed Superman's brainwashing by Darkseid in one episode. Batman told Superman "He [Darkseid] used you, tortured you, brainwashed you; wound you up like a tin soldier and then set you loose upon the world." And then, being savage, told Superman: "Get over it". 😎
Exactly, and Justice League Unlimited Season 1 also had many plots from the Superman Finale like Supergirl being cloned, Professor Hamilton scared of Superman after being forced to perform surgery on Supergirl and many other plots from the series.
I will say that I loved Seinfeld when it was on tv but I can't watch it now. The characters and their lack of growth bothered me once I saw what great character development there was on shows like Buffy and Angel. After that, I felt cheated by Seinfeld, if that makes any sense. Friends, however, I can still watch it and laugh out loud!
That was where the last episode was great. I'd been telling people for years that every main character in the show was a complete jerk , and everyone insisted I was wrong. Then,....
Quantum Leap's series finale was meant to be a cliff-hanger to be concluded the following season; however, the series was cancelled after the episode was filmed, so the creators hastily put up the blurb that Sam Beckett never returned home. They couldn't even bother to spell the main character's name correctly. Sad ending because it was careless and sloppy.
@Saetre Putting The Shield on lists like these, is like putting A Serbian Film on every Most Disturbing list. They are the easy go to's Maybe someone should make a "Shows That Automatically Make The "List" list.....if it hasn't been done already.
Maybe because the implication of that ending was that things were dark, sure...but more for the REST OF SOCIETY than for Mackey. We've seen what happens when people like him are allowed to continue to roam free and do whatever, (Derek Chauvin, anyone?)
I would have to look up the episodes but the final events of Superman was mentioned at least twice that I recall. Once by Batman during an argument with Superman over helping Darkseid against Braniac. A second time by the Star Labs scientist who betrayed Superman because of those events. He cloned Supergirl in Justice League Unlimited.
Blame NBC for cancelling the show. That was meant to be the end of the season, not the final episode. The next season was supposed to be about Al going to look for Sam.
From what I remember with Superman in the Justice League, They did brought up the issue of him being brain washed. In fact the doctor created Power Girl and attacked the Justice Leagues station.
I really don't think anymore that the ending of THE SOPRANOS is controversial, or a "mystery". The problem with it is - and this really IS brilliant on David Chase's part - that people tend to OVERTHINK that ending, when the truth of it is right smack in front of them. What was it that Haley Joel Osment said in THE SIXTH SENSE? "They don't know they're dead."
The Justice League cartoon did pick up on some of the Superman finale; Superman's former ally Professor Hamilton joined an anti-superhero government agency out of fear due to Superman briefly turning evil. And I didn't mind Seinfeld ending with them all going to jail; what pissed me off was the fact that the majority of the episode was one long clipshow.
I miss quautam leap I watch in reruns all the time I've always wondered the bartender the same actor was in the very first episode so I think he's been with him the entire time
The darkest series finales that I know of are from 80s and 90s kids cartoons in german TV. There was a series about an orphan boy (although they were always orphans, or poor, or had abusive relatives, or all of the above) who just wanted to paint. The boy had a lovely good hearted dog. In the finale he gets evicted at christmas and goes to the church where he fking freezes to death with his dog at his side. The series is called Niklas and it was a kids show.
In the comics Army after him so more like Beast from 20,000 fathoms or Godzilla. Although also inspired by Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde also Frankenstein monster.
I honestly thought it was better than The Sopranos. More focused. Less boring episodes. Interesting historical events and people. Some very compelling characters all around.
What was the best TV finale of all time?
Friends frasier cheers
Mash, Newheart, or St Elsewhere (I'm old school)
The Americans
Cowboy Bebop.
Sons of Anarchy, Longmier, Justified
What about Alf? He was in the woods waiting for the ship to take him home, but he gets captured by the government!!
Just when I forget about that sad time here it is lol I cried so bad.
SPOILERS MY DUDE!!! I was only halfway through season 1...
@@happyplace8452 Oh please! The series is 40 years old.
Seriously, WTF. How did they miss the ALF finale? The premise of the entire show was that he had to be hidden because if he was discovered, it was likely he would be experimented on and ultimately dissected in the name of science. The way they ended the show basically says that's what happened. Darkest ending ever.
@@blackshard641 Wasn't supposed to be the end.
Lou Ferrigno and Bill Bixby were a match made in heaven for television.
yes
yeah, nobody will ever be able to come close to Lou's ability to look mad and flex. Would have been an utter failure without his true thespian skill
What does that mean?
The 2 characters felt more authentic compared to their big screen counterparts. Banner's first transformation in the pilot is superior to any CGI work.
@@tonyfelder1206 Yes, Bix especially was outstanding!
When you think about the lack of believable special effects - Bill Bixby and Lou F. made The Hulk into an amazing drama.
Hulk terrified me at first as a kid then after my brother explained that he was a ‘good guy’ I loved it!
For it's time it was decent. I looked forward to seeing it as a boy. Years ago I bought the DVD set and watched it 2 times. It is a bit difficult to watch if I ever watch it again. A few years back Metv had it on I saw a few of the episodes but as I said it's hard to watch.
The show was super low budget considering all the other Universal Pictures shows. But for what they had available they pulled off amazing episodes. It was all about the stories and the people. One of my favorite episode was the one about that psychic who could see future events happening. Played by Bill Bixby's ex-wife. If you know, watching this episode becomes truly bittersweet. That 2 part episode with that second Hulk was also fantastic. Or the one with the Meteor that negatively affected Banner's Mutation back to normal. Re-watching that series really makes you appreciate a lot more of the stories like the one about the child abuse with that alcoholic dad who beats his wife and son. The season 2 pilot was also a fantastic story. Where David Banner marries again. This female scientist who works with hypnosis, trying to cure her cancer. A heartbreaking feature-length episode.
@@KRAFTWERK2K6 those were good episodes, the meteor one was about as close to the comic as possible with military like type of personnel and scientists. The first was also good if I recall that title of Banner finding out another like him was many years earlier and a cure was within grasp but not going to spoil what happened next in case nobody saw this episode.
for me what made the show great was the reporter hounding him. Jack McGee. Kept the pace up. That and the end credits. So sad. :D
Sadly Bill Bixby passed away. I have read that plans were possible to revive Hulk and continue with at least another movie but with Bixby dying they decided it would be best to not continue. I can't see anyone replacing him in a t.v. movie as Doctor David Banner. I don't think Lou Ferrigno would have liked it either as the two worked together and were friends. Even though we have had 3 different actors portraying Doctor Banner, Eric Bana, Edward Norton and Mark Ruffalo nobody can replace the onscreen presence of Bill Bixby.
Agree, Bill Bixby was brilliant in the roll.
I think Bixby was wonderful but come on....nobody can replace him? Even the most recent three (maybe not Norton as he seems a bit harder to be sympathetic, but could be wrong) are completely capable. Bixby got a TV show and a lot of time to be play that character, something none of those guys got since it's always been movies
Yeah I agree
@@joenobody5913 norton and bill bixby are the best
Bill Bixby/Lou Ferrigno is to all other Hulks what Christopher Reeve is to all other Supermen
That 'Dinosaurs' finale disturbed me when I 1st saw it! The scene where they are trying to explain to the Baby that things aren't going to get better put a lump in my throat!
There’s a 4.5 hour explainer video here on YT that kinda explains why there needn’t be another season.
@@SneedyKetler link?
There was also an episode I stumbled onto about the insanity of war. It elevated the series and deserves to be remembered.
@@robertmatch6550 Nuts to War!
@@kevinlee7678 Great installment! A 2 (or 3!) Parter if I remember! The funniest element (in a dark-humor kinda way!) was how much it paralleled the events of 1st Gulf!
I like the idea that Sam decided jumping around helping people is the right place for him. It does a lot to portray who he is as a person.
It's annoying though because for most of the series he narrated occasionally, implying he had managed to get back.
And since he can time travel if he ever want to go back he can return to the second he jump as though he never left and the experiment failed.
To bad the reboot just got canceled.
You missed the greatest dark finale of all time, probably because it wasn't American, but the final episode of "Blackadder Goes Forth" was an absolute masterpiece.
Yes, a hilarious riot of a show ends in full historical drama mode because they all get sent off to die by idiotic military brass... which was true to life for far too many soldiers in that war. The quiet fade to a field of poppies really hit home.
@@joermnyc opium
My God, yes
Definitely
That is a heartbreaker of a finale!
Came here just to see if Quantum Leap was on here. That ending gets me every time. (But an absolutely amazing episode)
I’m a couple years shy of 40 and I barely remember quantum leap. I always wondered what happened in that story.
Same here. The ending is so bittersweet.
I totally agree. Definitely one of my favorites. The ending will always stick with me.
The ending upset me a great deal. It was one of those finales that ruin the whole series for me.
I read somewhere that people are suggesting when NCIS: New Orleans ends (or if Scott Backula leaves) they think it would be awesome if Pride says “Oh boy” and leaps out.
To me, the darkest ending was MASH. When they were on the bus leaving the area, they encountered a possible ambush, and a baby started crying. Hawkeye says " Shut that baby up". The mother suffocates her own child to save the bus. I teared up at that moment. A war comedy brought back the reality of war at that moment!
Oh man, the Forever Knight finale! Really dark and sad and I was actually depressed for the whole weekend after watching. Nick deserved better!!
Jesus Im still not over that. Everyone dies!
I literally came down to the comments to see if anyone mentioned Forever Knight cos OOF
Amazed that Forever Knight came up here. Remember it bouncing around different networks and playing in syndication on syfy. Miss Lacroix. :)
I adored that show and HATED the finale. I pretend it didn’t happen.
I was shocked when I saw it. It was my brother's favorite show. He loved the ending. "Ended just like a vampire show should." - my Brother.
"When the animated Superman returned in Justice League, this plot thread was never revisited."
Except, you know, in the episodes where Superman's anger at Darkseid was constantly mentioned as motivating him when Darkseid led the League into a trap with Brainiac. And when it was the motivation for why Dr. Hamilton worked with Cadmus against Superman. And being, in fact, the entire reason why Cadmus existed in the first place. Did someone stop watching JL after the first season?
Also the first episode/special, Superman says to Batman something like "it's taken me a long time to get their trust back"
@@allenc9920 Indeed, and it would even be resolved during Justice League Unlimited.
"You don't know Darkseid like I do!"
"We know what he did. How he brainwashed you, used you. Wound you up like a little tin soldier and set you loose on the Earth. CRY ME A RIVER."
Yep, they didn't address it at ALL in JL/JLU. /s
@@JTDK1981 thank you. They obviously don't know what they're talking about
Came to the comments to say exactly this. It is a major part of the Season 2 of JL and followed up even more in JLU.
Best finale ever was "The Bob Newhart Show", when he wakes up next to Suzan Pleshet (sp). Classic.
That was Newhart, his next show, but yes that was great.
YES! YES! YES!
@@RicoBurghFan Yes, I know, hence why the finally was so funny, it was his new shows finally using the old shows set.
@@renaysari6631 it was the finale of "Newhart" where he lived in the Vermont inn with Mary Frann and it was the finale where he woke up and it was Bob Newhart back on The Bob Newhart Show with Suzanne Pleshett. The Bob Newhart Show had already ended way before Newhart aired. They just brought it back briefly.
@@clairefreeman6273 Yes, I know, hence it being funny when he wakes up next to Suzanne Pleshet. Good gravy, I know.
Blake's 7. That ending still reverberates today, 40 years later.
You beat me to saying that - Avon starting to laugh just as the screen goes dark, then (probably?) getting shot, pure black magic.
yeah but blake's 7 story continued in big finish adventures.
Angel. For the first time in the series, it was an apocalypse in which it genuinely felt like everyone could die and in the end (as far as the show is concerned), the outcome of the final battle will never be known.
I actually wrote a miniseries on this about Connor, but Angel tells him what happened. How the battle unfolds is told.
Unfortunately I have to find another website to put it on.
However, making it through the battle is totally feasible. Just a question of just how many make it?
Actually it is because the comics are canon
That lonely man theme at the end of every hulk episode where he walks off alone hit me in the feels as a kid.
me too :( It is also why that show always left a HUGE impression on me ever since. Back then i had no idea about the concept of "Drama". It was just a great show with a very charismatic lead actor. Also always loved the 3 TV movies as well. All of them are great and a wonderful conclusion of the open ending of the TV show since it was canceled and the last Season was just a lose compilation of "surplus" episodes that didn't make it into the earlier seasons.
As a somewhat family guy fan...I loved how they have Stewie do the lonely man walk theme on whatever episode it was hahaha..🍻to that!
@@79lerxst It was even nearly frame-accurate. Especially the intro :) Seth McFarlane seems to be a huge fan as well.
Me too, that theme could quickly fill my eyes with tears.
@@KRAFTWERK2K6 The writer's strike was the reason that the final season was so short.
Also, the studio found the show too expensive to make, and ratings went down, so they used the writer's strike to axe it.
It came back as telemovies because Bill Bixby pitched the idea of TV movies of the Hulk to the studio, and got Lou Ferrigno to come back as the Hulk.
The studios agreed on the proviso that it include another Marvel superhero, as they hoped that this would springboard more Marvel hero TV series, and be as popular as the "Incredible Hulk" was.
So the first one had Thor, the second had Daredevil, and the third one had a girl, even though her superhero name is never said, it hints that it meant to be Black Widow (she is a Russian spy, as well as other clues).
More were meant to happen (there was an idea for a "She-Hulk" episode and a "Spiderman" episode, but Bill Bixby's stage 4 prostate cancer diagnosis put paid to that, and was the reason why the third one had the ending it had (it wasn't meant to end with Hulk/Banner's death) , but since Bixby wouldn't be able to do them anymore going forward (due to his cancer treatment) they changed the ending, meaning that the other episode ideas were scrapped.
The fallout of Superman’s evil turn thanks to Darkseid’s manipulation WAS addressed in the Justice League Unlimited show. Fear of Superman’s power and him potentially going Rogue again is the entire motivation behind the “Cadmus” arc , which encompasses the first two seasons of the show.
It was addressed like a cameo but it never was a relevant plot point
@@ahabduennschitz7670 that’s not true at all. Fear of Superman’s power and the time he was under Darkseid’s control was professor Hamilton betrayed superman and use Supergirl’s DNA to create a clone for Cadmus. The professor even says so directly when Superman confront him about it.
Plus when the evil Superman killed Lex Luthor in the episode of better tomorrow, that’s what inspired Amanda Waller to create the ultramen clone army that she sent to attack the justice league. She told Batman that she was worried that our Superman would start to act like the justice lord Superman. She and the government never started to worry about Superman, until after Darkseid took control of him. The question explains this to Supergirl and green arrow in their team up episode together
The finale of the Desi-Lucy Comedy Hour. The end had come for the marriage of Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. The sadness is so apparent. In between takes Lucy cried.
Good point
If I recall correctly, I’m pretty sure Six Feet Under’s finale was pretty dark too. For crying out loud, they showed each character’s death & date of death the last episode
Here's one you missed. When Magnum P.I. (80's version) ended the first time, Tomas Magnum died. The ending scene showed him walking away on white clouds while you can hear Higgins in the background (he was at Magnum's hospital bed) telling him not to leave.
Even though he died a hero, fans were very upset. So they brought the series back for 1 more season. They altered the original ending so Magnum was walking away on grey clouds instead. Then when Higgins said don't leave, Magnum turned around, came back, and woke up in the hospital.
I loved that series, and while sad that Magnum died, I thought it was a great ending.
Wait... No mention of "Roseanne"? That was one of the saddest and darkest ending of a TV show ever.
True
But when they brought it back it was as if all of that never happened. Now the roles are reversed. Dan is alive and Roseanne is gone.
@@benjaminlucas1635 yup
@@benjaminlucas1635 she aint gone she still here but not on tv anymore
@@RashadSims-bh3zz i know I'm just referring to the show
I thought quantum leap ended with Sam leaping into the body of Captain Archer on the Enterprise.
No, that wasn't the last episode; after that, Sam jumped into the body of 'Old Black Man' and slept with Dennis Reynolds (and Mac).
I was a faithful watcher and HATED that he never got home. Therefore, I have never watched any reruns.
@@maggiegarber246 In this case, it ain't the destination, it's the journey.
@@maggiegarber246 I always took the fact that he never returned home to demonstrate that Sam finally realized he could do more good for the world leaping than being back home.
@@ClockworkWyrm,
I keep saying that in the last moment of the show, it's as if Sam becomes Jesus and gives his life for the world.
Blake's 7. Darkest, bleakest ending ever. No contest.
Yep. They should correct the title by adding "in American Television". Because this is the bleakest ending to any TV series. No where else could you get all the main characters being gunned down and the main character apparently being killed right at the end.
@@OlagGan I heard it was suppose to be a season ending, not a series ending. BTW, did you know the woman Avon shoots toward the end of the episode was played by Paul Darrow's wife?
@@bjbell52 Yep indeed. The only one who really was to die was Blake as Gareth Thomas was fed up with the whole thing I do hope that Vila was to survive as he was my favourite character.
@@OlagGan Avon was my favorite with Vila at #2
Only blake was definitely dead
Last episode of Blackadder is truly devastating
Oh God yes, horrible reality.
@@larapalma3744 there are actually depicted to have survived the last episode.
@@drewhunter4821 After the loud sound effect of a machinegun burst, and then the screen goes black? No, the characters didn't live. That was the point of the ep.
@@roberthaworth8991 wrong actually. if you do a bit of research into it, both blackadder and baldrick make it to the first trench, get stuck and then made it back to where they started. its not known what happened after that.
Dinosaurs was one of my favourite shows as a kid and when I saw 'Changing Nature' I was completely godsmacked
I think that’s why it was so dark - it was a family sitcom that just kinda blindsided us all with a dark reality. a lot of people out there remember watching it at 10ish and being devastated.
What happened? The Yucatan meteor crashed into Earth and killed off the dinosaurs?
I came here specifically for The Incredible Hulk!
Same!!.
So did I and that was the only thing I enjoyed the most.
Me too.
Same🙋🏿♂️
"Don't make me angry, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry"
Breaking Bad’s series finale was nothing short of perfection for one of the best shows ever.
And all about meth to. where you want the meth Kingpin to win
That's a stretch
@@patrickharvey158 not really...
@@cradlingbrokenglass definitely a stretch I can think of at least 6 different series better than and with more perfect endings than breaking bad
@@patrickharvey158 Possibly, there’s no point in arguing about it. It’s subjective. It’s all based on opinion and personal taste.🤷🏼♀️
in Quantum Leap, the writers have gone to say its not necessarily a bad thing, he didn't go home because he didn't want to, he has come to enjoy saving, changing peoples lives and continues on
I get the ending of the Sopranos, but showing Meadow try to parallel park her car for 10 minutes was ridiculous IMO.
lol i really hated that...it wasn't 10 minutes but i get what u meant it was really dragged out.
It took me a minute like...why did the screen go dark?!! 😲
David Chase really got too far up his own a@@ in season 6 and the finale was terrible.
It was more like 2 minutes. But I get what you're saying.
It was to build up tension. We were waiting for someone to put a bullet in her head.
To me the ending was saying, "This is the Sopranos life... always watching over their shoulders, so business as usual"
I never bought that they were killed, since none was shown and no other party could have been assumed to be responsible.
It's lazy to just say some random group or hired hitman did it and not reveal it. It's easy to speculate on what we don't know, but in a practical sense, if you really want the audience to believe they were killed, you need to have some tangible indicator.
Alf had one of the most messed up endings in the history of television.
By the way if the St. Elsewhere ending meant the shows he mentioned were all apart of the boy's imagination, then so are Cheers and Law and Order along with with all of it's spinoffs/continuations. Now I have to back and watch the entire show.
I don't know wtf UA-cam is doing, but 6 ADS in a 12 minute video is a little excessive!!
Yup, getting worse and worse.
UA-cam Vanced. WHAT commercials? Also enable Sponsor Block.
Way to excessive.
It’s not UA-cam, it’s the owner of the video, it’s how they make money
I didn't finish the video because of it. Absurd.
the hulk ending was a sad ending but for Banner it was the end of his curse, and torture Remember as he hit the ground he smiled with great relief
Lee Joel Beasley- I agree with you 100% i cried for about an hour after i watched the ending lol. But you are correct he did have a smile of relief that it really was over :).
As a kid, when i watched that ending of the third TV movie i was blown away and speechless. Like "oh god NO!! Did this really happen?" That Song that was playing also added to the sadness. The overall mood and Soundtrack was perfect for it. And it also hit me a lot more since one or two years after the german TV premiere of "The Death of the Incredible Hulk"... Bill Bixby died.. :'(
@@KRAFTWERK2K6 That wasn't originally planned as the final one, but the ending was re-written, because Bill Bixby had just been diagnosed with Stage 4 prostate cancer, and couldn't do them anymore, so the ending was re-written to give a definitive end.
IIRC Just before dying he says "I'm free." Still couldn't believe they killed him and I cried.
In Hulk terms it was rather woosey as in the comics & movies, Hulk can leap great heights & even fall out of exploding planes.
I like how you mentioned all the cross-overs in "St. Elsewhere." However, you failed to mention its crossover with the late 70s high school basketball drama "The White Shadow," which was perhaps the most well done (and well placed) of all of them. Thank you for a great video.
I loved "The White Shadow" crossover.
Hawkeye's breakdown in the finale was dark.
The other thing about the Seinfeld ending was that whenever they got together they could talk about anything and they enjoyed being around each other to talk about anything. But as soon as they got locked up with each other where that was all they could do was talk to each other, they found out they had so many conversations they had already talked about everything.
there are photos floating of a rehearsal for an alternate season end of QL where Al and his wife are in the present. Al is staring at a photo of Sam.the next season’s premise being that Sam has started leaping into the future and to rescue him Al would have to become a leaper too
That would have been great
There's audio out there too. It was played for Susan Diol (Beth Calavicci) during a podcast and she confirmed it was authentic. I wish they'd been approved for that season!
Sons of Anarchy’s ending I hated, I was invested in that show until that last few episodes. Don’t even get me started on Game of Thrones last episode! Lol
Sons of Anarchy was never going to end any other way.
SoA was a huge disappointment. They quickly went down hill after the 5th season for me. Game of Thrones rushed through many seasons. Dany becoming a mad queen was the endgame. It was there all along that she wasn't quite stable, throughout the seasons. But they rushed her through. GRRM let D&D do GoT only because the guessed the ending right. Every major character arc with the exception of Arya was done dirty.
@Alejandro Sosa same but I think we all knew opie was never gonna make it😞
Game of thrones should have ended at the end of season 4. Season 8 was total garbage.
I thought all the things that happened in the Game of Thrones finale were things that had to happen, but they did such a bad job with the character development leading up to it that it just didn't work. I never understood what the big hurry was to wrap up the series. Another 3 or so episodes in each of the last two seasons and they could have had the same final events seem natural rather than forced.
The Quantum Leap ending was the first time I ever became angry at a series I loved. I never missed an episode and was actually at my aunt’s and made everyone watch it. I became so angry at the ending that I had to go take a walk around the block . It upset me so much that I have never been able to watch reruns of the show.
I was mad when he leaped into Lee Harvey Oswald and went crazy, and they didn't want to change actual history.
Let it go.
Holy hell. Lift some weights and get over it yet? 😆
The ending makes more sense if you're older, I think.
The ending is a beautiful one, because somehow Sam decides himself to continue to save people.
What's even darker about the MST3K ending is that when they get back to Earth, the first show they sit down to watch is the Crawling Eye, which was the first movie they watched back on episode 1, season 1. Much like Seinfeld's familiar "conversation ending," they ended up back where they started - even though the entire main cast had been turned over by that point.
This was a surprisingly good video, the only one that I was waiting for that you missed, was ALF.
Best TV finale of all time was MASH So Long Farewell goodbye!!!!
Absolutely. I'm only 25 but I grew up watching the show with my dad and hawkeye was always a childhood hero of mine. The scene where he breaks down talking to sidney kills me everytime. The one guy that was always together finally broke down.
So Long, Farewell, Amen was the name of that last episode, I think.
Never liked that show, I found the theme song depressing
Six feet under
@Paul Perkins They did that. It's called"China Beach".
Netflix pulling the plug on Luke Cage wasn't exactly their choice, Disney had a lot to say about that after they assimilated (err... acquired) Marvel
Oops !
Disney isnt fond of the coloreds either.
@@maximusprime3459 Not true clearly, they may have been late to amend it - but Endgame made Falcon into Captain America, which is not a small thing.
Then we also have Blade coming up, though I don't expect it to be 1/10th as dark as the first 2 Wesley Snipes movies.
@@mnomadvfx Must be nice being that naive to believe all that. Good for you.
@@maximusprime3459 There's being naive and then there is being informed.
I'm informed, you're naive at least if not outright myopic.
Sure Disney's historical record with non caucasian characters is far from great, even terrible in places like Dumbo and others in their 'classic' film line up.
But you can see them taking steps to change that starting with Princess and the Frog's protagonist, then there is Moana, and at Pixar we have Coco and now Soul.
Not to mention the new owner of the Toy Story crew from the end of TS3 is also non caucasian.
Of course that is also missing out Black Panther which is really only shelved because of Chadwick Boseman's death - they will probably shoe horn in another equivalent property to make up for it.
That being said, I can't stand old films being changed for censorships sake, so I hope they don't change the classic films regardless of the less palatable elements - especially as the remakes are utter shite, every last one of them.
The St.Elsewhere ending...one of those writers was prob fresh out of college..it just seems like an idea that a young kid would have.
So glad im not the only one who remembers it! 😆
Is that the rip of moonlighting ending?
Or am I confusing two shows?
That finale was so stupid.
Newsradio did a parody of that episode where Jimmy James was the Autistic person living with Dave and Lisa and "Newsradio" was in the snow globe.
"St. Elsewhere" was the best show with the worst finale. They just wanted a twist ending that people would talk about. They didn't care about a legacy.
So, no Alf? Ending of the show is sad and dark, it should be on the list.
You’d think the finale of The Shield would have made it in here.
I thought that was a brilliant hell for that ending.
That was brilliant well spotted
I liked the character wrap up but wasn't fond of the finale
I agree, it was very underrated. You knew the Strike Team's remaining members would face justice, but it went to show how much of a son of a bitch Vic was where Ronnie was concerned. And.....(say it with me).....WHY, SHANE, WHY???
@@erikplaskon2282 ,
How come ?
QL wasn't just bits of sci-fi, drama, comedy, and romance. It was everygenre you could think of, and more. There's a reason it's been called an anthology by some.
Soap from the 1970s-1980s has a pretty shocking finale. The show was a spoof of daytime soap operas with a mix of comedy and drama and risky issues. The show had a cliffhanger style ending during season finales, as well as the episodes (the narrator would ask questions at the end of each episode similar to the old Batman episodes, except they were silly and comical). For the Soap finale, each loving character was put in a situation that there was really no way out, thus projecting that these loving characters may actually have met their respective violent ends. It’s pretty shocking considering the satirical comical nature of the show. Has anyone else see this?
...I'm late to this comment, but...T-H-A-N-K YOU!! ....The show was supposed to be picked up, to continue from the season finale, but, it got axed, and left EVERYONE in peril...INCLUDING Jessica!!! (I won't mention it, but, I was DEVASTATED at that last...'shot'...)
@@RBS_
If you can find it, there's an episode
of the "Soap" spin-off, "Benson",
in which Jessica's spirit visits
Benson at the governor's mansion.
If I remember correctly, Jessica
mentions that she isn't actually dead, but in a coma, or something like that.
As far as I know, there was never
any other following up on the plots
from the "Soap" finale.
@@laustcawz2089 ....Oh, I KNOW that Ep, It's actually the ONLY "Benson" Episode I remember! ..But, if she was a 'spirit', it's safe to say the character was 'dead'...It was the VERY graphic way they SHOWED it, that was the 'real' cliffhanger... : (
@@RBS_
She said she wasn't dead yet,
but that it might happen--
supposed to be some sort
of out-of-body experience, I guess.
It was an ending that really left you wondering what really happened, shots fired Jessica flinches, ok what is next? I see it!!!
I grew up on Quantum Leap. Use to watch with my mother. Our first episode was the one when he was a blind pool player. By the time i was in the air force, they were playing the show on syfy. Thats when i fell in love with the show all over again. Lee Harvey is up there with the 2 leap home episodes as my all time favs. My twin sons are 7 and LOVE the show now. Their favorite part is when Sam goes, "TOM!!!!!!!!!." I am a proud Papa.
I know what happened because it hit me hard as a kid. But.. you didn't actually explain the whole Dinosaurs ending. You just... brought it up and moved on. There was a story, an entire plot to describe.
Twin Peaks ended pretty darkly back in 1991 and then when they brought it back it still ended pretty darkly.
"When this Superman was revived for 'Justice League', there was no trace of this lingering plot thread." That's not true. It formed the whole basis of the first two seasons of Justice League Unlimited.
Yeah but we had to wait 4 years before it was brought up again
@@gsystem06 , Matthew Robare, I wondered if someone was going to mention this!
The reason why Cadmus was created.
I didn't watch the Superman series, now I understand that whole issue with Cadmus and the lack of trust. xD
I did not see the end of Quantum leap as dark or sad. Sam found fellow quantum leapers in the bar and like an angel continued to leap but with the knowledge that his ability to leap is his own and within his control.
Sad as it was he didn't leap home, the moment he leapt back to Beth to tell her Al was still alive, if you had been watching the series since it started (on first run way back in the 90's...), was just 😭😭😭, especially after M.I.A etc
"When Superman TAS returned in Justice League, this plot thread was never revisited" What? It was a huge reason why Project Cadmus became a thing. A reason Professor Hamilton betrayed him. The Son of Darkseid plot had major consequences.
Yeah pretty obvious they never actually watched JL and JLU. I would argue saying that the show didn't really end, it's really just continued into JL and JLU.
The Project Cadmus thread is my justification that cartoons are never just for kids!
@@DarkKnightTrinity Even in the "end" of JLU, they never actually end anything and go with the "and the adventure continues" resolution for the entire DC animated universe. Which makes sense since we've seen glimpses of their distant future. Though they did supposedly kill off a ton of the villains off screen.
I can't see the Quantum Leap finale as dark. I see it more as an optimistic ending. Sam has learned that he can come home any time he chooses - but he decides not to, because he can't give up the power he's been given and that is the power to make meaningful changes in the lives of others......Misspelling aside. I mean, seriously, can you get past the misspelling?
I agree with that, but it is kind of dark when you think he has a wife and even a,daughter too waiting.
So maybe both.
I cried for a week after the Quantum Leap finale. Sam deserved better.
That is what made the show so great! Sam did deserve better, but his love for his friend leads him to sacrifice himself. Picture Al and Beth slow-dancing on their 50th anniversary! Sam would agree that the sacrifice was worth it.
Sam embodied the Biblical saying "Greater love hath no man that this: that he would lay down his life for his friend". Sam never returned home because to do so meant giving up what he was doing - and what he was doing was setting right things that had gone wrong. Sam could never make the decision to give that up. I suppose I'm greatly in the minority on this - but I consider the finale of Quantum Leap to be a masterpiece. And the words at the end......Dr. Sam Beckett never returned home......well......damn, they actually bring a tear to my eye.
And that’s why that last episode is still stuck in my mind all these years later. It was an incredible show and the book about the making of it revealed so much they planned to do.
I did not see the end of Quantum leap as dark or sad. Sam found fellow quantum leapers in the bar and like an angel continued to leap but with the knowledge that his ability to leap is his own and within his control.
Sam did what he wanted to do.
ALF should be on the list
Well… dunno... ALF was canceled so technically this is not how the show actually ended. The Incredible Hulk makes a great exception since it too was canceled but was concluded with 3 TV movies. ALF never had that chance… Not even with that ALF movie..... without the Tanners.....
I was thinking the same thing about Family Matters. Laura & Steve were engaged to be married, and then it just ended. I'm still disappointed to this day. 😐👎
Fire walk with me
Bob is terrifying
But the real ending was The Return and it was amazing!
How was Twin Peaks not on this list? Even the end of season 2 was one of the darkest finales ever and same with The Return.
@@themosh54 never saw it
Damn, you had to bring that one up.
You did miss one other finale that I think was very dark and sad - Space - Above and Beyond. The final episode, Tell Our Moms We Done Our Best, killed off almost the entire cast of main characters. Even the main character, West, who spent the entire series trying to find his girlfriend loses her again when they go their separate ways.
"Death of the Incredible Hulk" is never acknowledged.
@The Film Makers 2004 My comment means, the FANBASE never generally acknowledges the last movie. That is the point I was making so YES, I indeed did watch the *whole* video. Funny how 33 people (and counting) understood that except YOU.
Thank you for that smug ass comment. You tried tho.
You missed the darkest TV finale ever, Blake's 7.
Yep, I still remember the end of Blake's 7 ... little 11-year-old me desperately trying to work out some way for it not to be as it appeared - rewinding the scene on VHS, counting the shots - but it was inescapable, and Avon's reaction said all you needed to know: game over. It was a dark way to end it - and about a million miles from Star Wars - but somehow it felt true. I'm sure more rebellions end that way than end in victory celebrations.
The Strain. It was such a well made series. And while the actual final scenes were more of a denouement, the deaths of the major characters were Grecian in their tragedy.
All the people in Seinfeld who were portrayed as victims were actually jerks themselves.
*This is true they started the problem themselves!*
Yup
Yup
Soup Nazi, the "they're real and they're spectacular", Baboo, accidentally deported because of mail misdelivery; not saying the Seinfeld cast were saints, but...
That's it, keep making excuses - Even though the show itself proved the point.
Mortal Kombat Conquest has the darkest finale i ever seen to a tv show. Literally all the good guys die...Its not a very popular show but the ending is definitely worth placing on this video
Yes
You know what show I wonder how it’s going to end? The Simpsons. I am 36 and have watched them since I was 10, I will most likely shed tears on the last episode.
@@Dman3827 the show dying has nothing to do with going politically correct, it died years before doing so and let's be honest the Simpsons was never a show with offensive or non PC humour in the first place
The best finale in history was "The Shield". It wasn't a happy ending, wasn't an unrealistic out in a blaze of glory ending. It was an ending that tied up all loose ends with every character getting what they deserved.
Without a doubt the darkest finale in T.V. history. Walter White got off easy compared to what happened to Vic Mackey and the rest of the strike team.
I forgot, the ending of Life on Mars (BBC version) where the hero, Sam Tyler, jumps off the roof of the police building and dies.
Lol I saw a couple of eps of the show but it wasn't quite my thing. But I recently saw the DVD box set in a thrift store, now I guess why, the owner hated the ending too 😁
@@alismith3801 The show continued with the sequel Ashes to Ashes.
@@alismith3801 If you watched the American version I can understand. Even though the U.S. version sometimes used the same scripts, it SUCKED. Bad acting and watered down scripts ruined it. Only watch the BBC version staring John Simm and Philip Glenister. Also watch the spin off series Ashes to Ashes.
" i am free " ....beautiful and sad ending to the best " hulk "
You nailed it on the double-episode Finale of SEINFELD. Even at the time, I felt it was brilliant. And a proper ending for characters who were so fun to watch and laugh at, but we realized were self-centered, narcissistic, flawed individuals who truly deserved each other.
I always felt like Walter White never intended to rescue Jesse. It seemed to me he wanted Jesse there to die as well, but when Walt saw the state of jesse, he felt sorry for him and decided on the spot to save him.
Spot on brother. Completely agree.
Yeah Walt had no idea Jesse was even alive.
Angel is missing. That was a dark finale.
Yes, it was but it is also one of the best series finales ever. I will watch that and cry every time.
They killed the best character, another becomes a werewolf… what else?
@@SneedyKetler They did kill Wesley and that was heartbreaking. That scene alone gave every Angel fan a chill.
I am not certain who the werewolf is. Gunn is gravely wounded and dying and the rest are ready to die in battle. The idea that Spike and Angel team up as two Vampires with souls and Aleryia fighting with them to still avenge Wesley is drama at its best. Of course, the last line is amazingly charming and lighthearted for such a heavy ending.
I'm mad I didn't think of that one. The finale was kind of rushed because they thought they were going to do another season. They were actually still doing well but the network having anything to do with him trying to renegotiate so they just dropped the series I made them do a finale. Angel is one of my favorite series 2
They kept fighting. That was the point of the series.
That Death of the Hulk movie busted me up hard and not only because I was still quite young at the time.
For bleak finals, no Twin Peaks..either the original series or the Showtime revival?
As a very young child, the finale of David the Gnome on Nick destroyed me. The main characters literally consigned themselves to death while we, along with their best friend, watched the entire thing.
I'm kinda glad I never found out about the final episode til only a few years ago. I don't think I could've handled that much sad at that age.
As others have mentioned, the ending of "Angel" was dark. I didn't see it, but friends who were fans of "Forever Knight" thought the ending was dark.
Only in an " everybody dies" kind of way...
@@hughmcgee5655 Ouch!
If you think the ending of Angel was dark...Whedon continued it in comic form. Gunn is a vampire, Wesley is forever bound to Wolfram and Hart, LA has been pulled into a demon dimension. Uggh.
@@hughmcgee5655,
but does everyone die?
Only about 100 orcs, 2 centaurs, 1 giant, and 1 dragon; again a regular vampire, a supercharged vampire, and an ancient demon godking.
Mork & Mindy. The light-hearted Happy Days spin-off ends on a 3-part mini-series where the main characters are pursued by a homicidal alien from Neptune. This leads to Mork outing himself as an alien, which leads to mobs, which leads to Mork & Mindy escaping by accidentally being sent to prehistoric times.
When you consider this, the finale of Dinosaurs, & that Full House's final episode had Michelle fall off a horse & get amnesia, it makes you fear for the safety of the characters when you hear an ABC show is ending.
Edit: I forgot to mention that "The Mork Report" was the final aired episode of Mork & Mindy, but the "Gotta Run" trilogy was the intended finale.
Glad someone mentioned Mork & Mindy. That ending was pretty sad back then.
I think the animated Justice League addressed Superman's brainwashing by Darkseid in one episode.
Batman told Superman "He [Darkseid] used you, tortured you, brainwashed you; wound you up like a tin soldier and then set you loose upon the world." And then, being savage, told Superman: "Get over it". 😎
Exactly, and Justice League Unlimited Season 1 also had many plots from the Superman Finale like Supergirl being cloned, Professor Hamilton scared of Superman after being forced to perform surgery on Supergirl and many other plots from the series.
I know I'm going to get hate for this, BUT I HATED SEINFELD SERIES. I saw them as the horrible people they were, and I didn't care for them.
I will say that I loved Seinfeld when it was on tv but I can't watch it now. The characters and their lack of growth bothered me once I saw what great character development there was on shows like Buffy and Angel. After that, I felt cheated by Seinfeld, if that makes any sense. Friends, however, I can still watch it and laugh out loud!
I agree with you! I couldn’t stand them!
That was where the last episode was great. I'd been telling people for years that every main character in the show was a complete jerk , and everyone insisted I was wrong. Then,....
I've yet not spoken to a black person who's seen a seinfeld show.
Or a white person who's seen an apollo show.
Not a seinfeld fan but did love the frogger episode
Out of all those, the one from Quantum Leap hit me the most and I LOVED that show.
Quantum Leap's series finale was meant to be a cliff-hanger to be concluded the following season; however, the series was cancelled after the episode was filmed, so the creators hastily put up the blurb that Sam Beckett never returned home. They couldn't even bother to spell the main character's name correctly. Sad ending because it was careless and sloppy.
@@thegrogmeister5011 I actually did not know that. Thank you
The Shield is never on these lists. Why?
Great show!
Become it’s shielded
OMG! yes... great show!
@Saetre
Putting The Shield on lists like these, is like putting A Serbian Film on every Most Disturbing list. They are the easy go to's
Maybe someone should make a "Shows That Automatically Make The "List" list.....if it hasn't been done already.
Maybe because the implication of that ending was that things were dark, sure...but more for the REST OF SOCIETY than for Mackey. We've seen what happens when people like him are allowed to continue to roam free and do whatever, (Derek Chauvin, anyone?)
The events of Superman: The Animated Series "Legacy" were mentioned in Justice League "Twilight".
I would have to look up the episodes but the final events of Superman was mentioned at least twice that I recall. Once by Batman during an argument with Superman over helping Darkseid against Braniac. A second time by the Star Labs scientist who betrayed Superman because of those events. He cloned Supergirl in Justice League Unlimited.
and in batman beyond when terry is offer membership to the jla
I grew up on The Incredible Hulk, I can't believe Marvel made that. It was amazing.
Quantum Leap dinosaurs and reruns of The Incredible Hulk where's the three shows that I loved to watch on this list
The finale of Sapphire and Steel was really dark. There was simply no escape for them
It sucks that Sam never made it home
Blame NBC for cancelling the show. That was meant to be the end of the season, not the final episode. The next season was supposed to be about Al going to look for Sam.
Yes. He. Did. Dammit!
I hope it can be a reboot to bring him home
Here's a great last show: The Wire. They wanted you to think that McNulty died but he was just leaving his life as a Baltimore cop behind.
From what I remember with Superman in the Justice League, They did brought up the issue of him being brain washed. In fact the doctor created Power Girl and attacked the Justice Leagues station.
I really don't think anymore that the ending of THE SOPRANOS is controversial, or a "mystery". The problem with it is - and this really IS brilliant on David Chase's part - that people tend to OVERTHINK that ending, when the truth of it is right smack in front of them.
What was it that Haley Joel Osment said in THE SIXTH SENSE? "They don't know they're dead."
When did they die?
The Mortal Kombat tv show’s ending was pretty much as dark as you could possibly get.
Yes! Mortal Kombat Conquest!
Here are a few other finales that I think are dark:
Soap
Little House on the Prairie
Alf
Soap's finales was surprising for a comedy at the time. But they did resolve Jessica Tate's storyline, on the Benson spinoff.
David Chase is a genius, as we're still talking about "The Sopranos" finale today!
We are also talking about Hitler
They're still talking about the Ford Edsel today. That doesn't make Henry Ford a genius.
They're still talking about the Bay of pigs invasion today. That doesn't make John F Kennedy a genius.
The Justice League cartoon did pick up on some of the Superman finale; Superman's former ally Professor Hamilton joined an anti-superhero government agency out of fear due to Superman briefly turning evil. And I didn't mind Seinfeld ending with them all going to jail; what pissed me off was the fact that the majority of the episode was one long clipshow.
I miss quautam leap I watch in reruns all the time I've always wondered the bartender the same actor was in the very first episode so I think he's been with him the entire time
Quantum leap was one of this shows where i never saw the beginning nor the ending of the series. Only the episodes in between :o
Yes, but we finally found out what happened to D Day of Delta House.
@@markcadieux3445
He also became Jack Dalton
on "MacGyver".
The darkest series finale was undoubtedly the BBC's Blakes 7.
Exactly, it doesn't get darker than all the good characters getting killed at the end.
The darkest series finales that I know of are from 80s and 90s kids cartoons in german TV. There was a series about an orphan boy (although they were always orphans, or poor, or had abusive relatives, or all of the above) who just wanted to paint. The boy had a lovely good hearted dog. In the finale he gets evicted at christmas and goes to the church where he fking freezes to death with his dog at his side. The series is called Niklas and it was a kids show.
Dude, between the French and Germans are continental Europeans allergic to happiness?
Good Lord.
The end of ALF (1986-1990) was shocking
Holy cow, I just realized that The Incredible Hulk was just a remake of The Fugitive!
In the comics Army after him so more like Beast from 20,000 fathoms or Godzilla. Although also inspired by Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde also Frankenstein monster.
@@hydrolito what? That entire sentence made no sense. And idk if what you attempted badly at saying could even be considered a sentence.
Boardwalk Empire’s finale was a lot darker than The Sopranos’
The show sucked
I honestly thought it was better than The Sopranos. More focused. Less boring episodes. Interesting historical events and people. Some very compelling characters all around.
Video discussing MSK3K at 9:43
Me: MITCHELL!
The shield... Shane Vandrel.. Vick Mackey? Anyone...? No..? Ok.
Those two were awful and deserved much worse than they got...especially Vic. I feel bad for Lem and Ronnie
All this, and you leave out SOAP. I came for SOAP.