10 Most Talked About Series Finales in TV History

With Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” playing in the background, many Sopranos fans were in disbelief as Tony (James Gandolfini) and his family sat in a New Jersey diner while the show cut to black. The intentionally vague ending left fans wanting more.

After six seasons, the medical drama turned out to be a dream (although fans may refer to it more as a nightmare). Viewers learned that the entire six-season run was merely a figment of an autistic child’s imagination when the final episode ends with the boy staring into a snow globe where the St. Elsewhere doctors and interns live.

The series finale wasn't about all the questions being answered, it was about the journey. But fans were certainly left wanting to know more when it was revealed that the Sideways world was a Purgatory-like realm created by the souls of the dead castaways themselves.

Fans expected Dr. Sam Beckett to finally leap home to his present time, but that never happened. Instead, the series ended with Beckett taking one final leap into nowhere, followed by the words, “Dr. Sam Beckett never returned home.”

As one of the most-watched TV shows in history, the series finale of M*A*S*H was heavy on the emotion. The members of the 4077th are shown throwing a closing party before taking down the camp for the last time. After tear-filled goodbyes, the characters go their separate ways, leading up to the iconic final scene when Hawkeye Pierce (Alan Alda) boards a helicopter and sees a final message spelled out with stones on the sand: "GOODBYE."

The new station manager of WJM-TV fires Lou, Mary, Murray, and Sue Ann, but keeps Ted on board. The Six O'Clock News' staff, along with Georgette, then gather in the newsroom to say goodbye to each other. The memorable scene ends in an emotional huddle and the group shuffles toward a box of tissues on Mary's desk. After final goodbyes, everyone exits the newsroom singing "It's a Long Way to Tipperary." An emotional Mary looks back and smiles before turning off the lights and closing the door for the last time.

The show about a bar where everybody knows your name ended its 11-season run by bringing back Shelly Long's character, Diane Chambers, who left show in 1987. She returns to the bar and strikes up a romance (again) with Ted Danson's character, Sam Malone. They get engaged, but then break it off because Sam's true place is not with her, it's with the bar. The show ends with a customer trying to walk into the always-open bar only to be told by Sam, "Sorry, we're closed," signaling the end of the show.

In the series finale of David Lynch’s cult-classic series, the ghost of murdered high schooler Laura Palmer tells FBI Agent Dale Cooper: "I'll see you in 25 years." Fans are still anticipating the return of the series to finally answer the question: Whodunit?

The beloved sitcom made television history when it was revealed that the entire eight-season run was just a dream of Bob Newhart's from his previous series, The Bob Newhart Show. The final scene shows Dr. Hartley in bed, saying, "Honey, you won't believe the dream I just had." His wife then turns on the light and rolls over to speak with him, and it's not Joanna, but Emily (Suzanne Pleshette), his wife from The Bob Newhart Show.