Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

TV Series That Had The Absolute Worst Endings

A viewer sitting in front of the TV
Mollie Sivaram/Unsplash

TV audiences put a lot of pressure on screenwriters to pen the perfect ending to a series, and it's no surprise.

Dedicated viewers have invested their limited time season after season watching their favorite characters evolve and overcome any hardships thrown their way.

Writers owe it to fans to close out the show that's kept them on the payroll in a respectful manner.

A perfect example of one of the best TV series finales is HBO's Six Feet Under, where all the main characters got the proper send-off in a poignant manner to give fans a sense of closure.

But not all series have achieved this benchmark so effectively.


Curious to hear examples from disappointed TV viewers, Redditor AbelNB asked:

"What TV Show had the worst ending?"

FYI: Spoiler alerts that can actually help prevent you from wasting your time.

These fantasy shows were way beyond the realm of being plausible.

Hocus Pocus

"Merlin has a pretty horrible ending. Seasons 4 and 5 really felt like the show was beginning to be something special and then it just ends."

– jamers_the_great

Puppet Alien

"Nobody will remember this, but the correct answer is ALF."

"It was supposed to be a cliff hanger, but the show got cancelled, and they ended the series with ALF being captured and taken away to be disected. GOOD NIGHT KIDS!"

– Fritzo2162

End Of The Race

"Dinosaurs ended on a mass extinction event caused by the dad or something. GOOD NIGHT KIDS!"

– MelQMaid

Defeated

"Xena:Warrior Princess."

"20 years later and I am still pissed off."

– EfficientDismal

These TV viewers were left with unresolved plot lines.

Classified Bummer

"X-Files."

"Tried to tie several story arcs together that directly contradicted one another and did it with a clip show."

– Thegerman959

Closure From A Different Show

"Like Quantum Leap, My Name Is Earl ended on a cliffhanger which was cancelled soon after S4 . The only resolution given was on the first episode of Greg Garcia's next project Raising Hope where a TV news broadcast in the background said a man in Camden County completed his list."

"NBC had a knack for making bonehead decisions..."

– Final-Ad-2033

House Of Cards

"Should have ended when he got the presidency. It was all weak after that - Frank had a goal in the first few seasons, it's what drove him. Then he gets it, and his motivation is just... keeping what he has."

"Perfect end scene was when he did his signature knock on the president's desk. Cut to black. End show."

– SeraphStarchild

This Bombed

"Jericho. That show had so much potential and they just loosely wrapped it up leaving me very unfulfilled with no conclusion or closure."

– iamkylo214

Ambitious shows have a tendency of not delivering at the end.

"Heroes. God the writer's strike really had that show go wildly off the rails."

– RozRae

Pretty Little Mess

"Pretty little liars, the creator never even knew how it would end. I hate that show because it was great for the first maybe 2 seasons then just terrible from then on."

– Weirdo_trans_guy

Schlock Holmes

"BBC Sherlock"

"The whole reason I loved that show was the mystery being explained by cold hard logic and the powers of observation. The entire last season was basically Sherlock sister has mind control which takes effect within seconds. Total BS and I hate it. That was my favourite tv series of all time and I felt physically ill when they just murdered the whole season like that."

– benawen

I held off on watching Game of Thrones because I didn't want to give in to the hype.

After hearing so many fans gripe about the disappointing series finale, I'm glad I didn't waste my time.

But I wonder, is the journey still worth the commitment, even if the destination leaves you feeling all dressed up and nowhere to go?

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Doug Bergum; Jared Huffman
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images; Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Dem Rep. Hilariously Trolls Trump Official For Having No Idea How Solar Power Works In Viral Clip

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum was trolled by California Democratic Representative Jared Huffman after he, testifying before the House Natural Resources Committee, seemed to think solar panels are unreliable because they don't work when the sun goes down.

The sun produces heat and light through solar, or electromagnetic, radiation. Solar energy technologies capture that radiation and convert it into usable power. The two primary forms of solar technology are photovoltaics (PV) and concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP).

Keep ReadingShow less
Catherine O'Hara and Macaulay Culkin at the star ceremony, where he is honored for the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images

Macaulay Culkin Just Opened Up About The 'Unfinished Business' He Felt He Had With Catherine O'Hara—And We're Sobbing

More than three decades after they first starred together in Home Alone, Macaulay Culkin is opening up about the emotional bond he shared with Catherine O’Hara, and why her passing left him feeling like he “owed” her something more.

The former child star, now 45, discussed O’Hara’s recent passing with Gentleman’s Journal. O’Hara died on January 30 at age 71 from a pulmonary embolism linked to an underlying illness.

Keep ReadingShow less
Jason Collins
Maya Dehlin Spach/Getty Images

Tributes Pour In For First Out Pro Basketball Player Jason Collins After His Tragic Death At 47

The sports world lost a legend this week. And not just any legend: one who made history.

Jason Collins was the first openly gay active NBA player and the first openly gay professional athlete in any of the four major American sports leagues when he publicly came out in April 2013.

Keep ReadingShow less
Julia Louis-Dreyfus; Stephen Colbert
CBS

Julia Louis-Dreyfus Channeled Her 'Veep' Character To Epically Roast Stephen Colbert In Send-Off For The Ages

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is set to air its final episode next Thursday, May 21.

The controversial cancellation will end Colbert's 11-year tenure at the late night desk, and end the Late Show franchise on CBS, which hit the airwaves in 1993 with host David Letterman—who shared his own message for the network over the cancellation.

Keep ReadingShow less
Melania Trump
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Kevin Hart Roast Writer Reveals Melania Joke That Got Cut—And It's Absolutely Savage

In an interview with Variety, writer Madison Sinclair revealed some of the jokes that got cut from Netflix's The Roast of Kevin Hart—including a joke about First Lady Melania Trump and MAGA comedian Tony Hinchcliffe that is as savage as it is nasty.

Hinchcliffe is best known for having called Puerto Rico "a floating island of garbage" during a Trump rally at New York City's Madison Square Garden in October 2024, just weeks before the election.

Keep ReadingShow less