18 TV Series Finales That Left Fans Unsatisfied

Watching a great TV series remains one of life’s primary joys, along with a strong cup of coffee, a vintage glass of wine, or the satisfaction of peeling the plastic off a brand-new phone screen.

As many great shows as we’ve seen in the past, it remains hard to ignore the numerous TV shows that failed up to their initial potential, concluding on a low note that left fans hurt, heartbroken, and more than a little letdown.

Keep that in mind before screening any of these finales.

Game of Thrones (2011)

At its prime, Game of Thrones attracted HBO a level of attention not seen since the glory days of The Sopranos.

Despite the success of its initial five seasons, however, Game of Thrones reached a rushed conclusion that left fans furious. The final season suffered from poor writing, inconsistent characterization, and storylines that led to disappointing climaxes.

Seinfeld (1989)

When most people hear the words “disappointing series finale,” they tend to think of Seinfeld’s very last episode.

A strange conclusion to an otherwise classic sitcom series, Seinfeld, “The Finale” found a unique way to incorporate some of the show’s many fan-favorite characters, but at the end of the day, the final scene left a bitter taste in almost every viewers’ mouths.

Dexter (2006)

A series finale so horrendous, Showtime tried to redeem itself with a full-fledged reboot continuation.

“Remember the Monsters?” exists as the final nail in Dexter’s gradually closing coffin. Far from the heights of the show’s initial four seasons, “Remember the Monsters?” opted for a ludicrous layer of ambiguity rather than a legitimate conclusion for its main characters, leaving almost every fan wanting so much more.

How I Met Your Mother (2005)

Employing an unnecessary twist ending, How I Met Your Mother proved that — in some cases — even a great show can fumble its series finale.

With Ted’s main love interest (I.E., the titular mother in How I Met Your Mother) meeting an unceremonious end, How I Met Your Mother proceeded to erase any semblance of character development for most of the show’s major protagonists, most especially when it came to Ted and Robin’s disappointing romantic reunion.

Two and a Half Men (2003)

Like most sitcoms that lose its main lead, Two and a Half Men should have ceased production the moment Charlie Sheen departed the series.

Instead, CBS chose to replace Sheen with Ashton Kutcher, ensuring a series that only grew worse with each passing episode. Rather than pulling it together long enough for a satisfactory final episode, Chuck Lorre ended Two and a Half Men on an embittered final note, taking every chance to poke fun at Sheen’s public meltdown years prior.

Lost (2004)

Yes, most people tend to mistake the underlying meaning of Lost’s finale, believing the main characters had died the moment they landed on the island.

While a common mistake among most viewers, the fact that such confusion occurred in the first place serves as ample evidence of “The End”’s complex narrative, leaving audiences with as many questions as it does answers.

Killing Eve (2018)

With the departure of head writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge after the first season and her replacement, Emerald Fennell, after the second, Killing Eve had nowhere to go but down.

Replacing Waller-Bridge and Fennell with two decent yet unremarkable lead writers, Killing Eve proceeded to wither away under its less-than-remarkable final two seasons, culminating in a grating final send-off with the atrocious “Hello, Losers.”

Gilmore Girls (2000)

It says a lot about Gilmore Girls’ finale that not even some of the main cast felt it did the story justice.

Leaving plenty of ambiguity in lieu of a more solid farewell for Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and Rory’s (Alexis Bledel) characters, “Bon Voyage” leaves viewers wondering about the immediate future for the titular heroines.

(Spoiler Alert: As seen with Netflix’s Gilmore Girls revival, nothing pleasant awaits either of them.)

True Blood (2008)

A series that had long, long overstayed its welcome, most of True Blood revolved around the love triangle between Sookie (Anna Paquin) and her recurring vampiric suitors, Bill (Stephen Moyer) and Eric (Alexander Skarsgård).

At the end of the day, then, most viewers might have expected to see Sookie choose between her recurring romantic interests in the series finale — something that comes to naught in True Blood’s middling last episode, “Thank You.”

Roseanne (1988)

Roseanne Barr’s problematic personal views may have steeped this classic ‘90s sitcom into a pool of controversy, but even then, diehard Roseanne fans had a bone to pick with the series’ final episode.

Retconning most of its final season by claiming certain storyline events came from Roseanne’s imagination, Roseanne’s “Into That Good Night” remains a low point in a series that once earned acclaim for its light-hearted humor and persistent originality.

St. Elsewhere (1982)

Few underwhelming finales hold a candle to St. Elsewhere’s “The Last One.”

Coming out of nowhere with its final twist ending, “The Last One” acted as the complete antithesis of everything St. Elsewhere stood for in the show’s prime, juxtaposing the series’ grittier realism with a fantastical ending that made little to any logical sense whatsoever.

Battlestar Galactica (2003)

Battlestar Galactica always challenged norms when it came to conventional television narratives, utilizing a nonconformist approach to its central storyline and space opera aesthetic. Often, this led viewers to acclaim the series for its overwhelming originality and bold narrative storytelling.

In the case of “Daybreak,” though, showrunner Ronald D. Moore may have gone a bit too far in his daring creative vision, weaving in nonsensical elements related to religion, cosmic angels, and a head-scratching epilogue involving a mitochondrial Eve. (Yeah, we don’t get it either.)

Gossip Girl (2007)

For six long seasons, viewers waited with bated breath to learn the identity of the titular blogger in The CW’s Gossip Girl.

Yet when it came to “New York, I Love You XOXO,” the actual reality behind Gossip Girl’s identity proved nothing short of a tremendous letdown. After all, the episode’s revelation just made no sense, with the person behind Gossip Girl causing just as many inconveniences in their own life as they did anyone else’s.

House (2004)

While House never shied away from its creative debt of gratitude to Sherlock Holmes, the series’ finale may have taken this inspiration a bit too literally, jumping the shark in terms of the tonal realism the series had spent eight seasons constructing.

Though House and Wilson manage to reunite in a cathartic final reunion, audiences could only crinkle their foreheads in confusion at the prospect of House faking his own death to spend some much-needed time with his best friend.

Scrubs (2001)

Most fans can admit that Scrubs lost its magic when it made the move from NBC to ABC at the close of its seventh season.

With most of the original fan-favorite cast departing the series over time, by the time Scrubs’ final episode came along, fans had grown tired of the ballooning number of potential conclusions, with Scrubs boasting a total of two apparent false endings before its very final “Our Thanks.”

Quantum Leap (1989)

Where to even begin with this sloppy mess of an ending?

Trying to do far too much at one time, “Mirror Image” came across as an overstuffed piece of science fiction TV, juggling too many moving pieces related to time travel and linear paradoxes that felt more confusing than satisfying (or even intelligible for that matter). Granted, a number of behind the scenes forces converged to create such a mess, one which the show’s producers never intended.

Will & Grace (1998)

The fact that the more recent Will & Grace revival chose to ignore the events of “The Finale” should tell viewers all they need to know about this lackluster series conclusion.

Jumping all over the place in terms of its narrative timeline, “The Finale”’s scatterbrained main story felt more like an inconsistent pipe dream than it did a proper series finale.

Entourage (2004)

In a fortunate twist of fate, Entourage’s 2015 cinematic continuation made up for the underwhelming weaknesses of its finale, with “The End” feeling like a half-baked prologue to something bigger.

More of a preamble to the main storyline of the Entourage movie than a solid piece of television in and of itself, “The End” doesn’t feel like the end at all, letting down all those who stuck by Entourage’s side from the very beginning.