Source: Tableau + IMDb for the #DataPlusTV challenge
Never heard of half of these
Absolutely astonished to not see Mad Men here.
Breaking bad isn’t on here?
They have the last episode of bleach as heart of woof but that likes halfway through the last arc lol
I am surprised to see Gossip Girl here. I thought the reveal that Dan is Gossip girl was mostly considered to be unlogical and the fact that everybody just forgives him right away was unrealistic. Although I must say Chuck and Blairs ending it nice.
Star Trek really knows how to stick the landing
I’ve read a bunch of people unhappy with Picard, but I absolutely loved the ending. >!”You matter to me!”!<
To all of the “X show isn’t here” comments: make sure you check what happens when you look at the interactive version and toggle between the two different “best” definitions. Breaking Bad is, indeed, here, just hidden under a different definition of “best”.
Dang I guess I should watch season 2 and 3 of Picard
Damn this is actually more interesting than the other one! A lot of the top shows have swings in their ratings, which probably brought the average down far enough for a good finale to really pop. Another thing is that even though they have a lot of changes, even the lows manage to stay above the 5.5 mid line the majority of the time. Seems like this favors shows which are consistently good, but still have a noticable difference between their best and worst episodes. Letting the average drop, but giving them a decent chance on having the skill to pull off an excellent finale.
6 feet under has the highest rated final episode, but because it also has a high average rating, it is in the middle instead of at the top. Clone wars has the 4th highest finale, but an average low enough to give it a wider margin than other more consistent shows.
Very interesting, thanks for putting this together!
Conclusion from both graphs is to watch Anime
Fringe had such potential to ruin their ending and they did it exactly right. Plus you didn’t know until the last 30 seconds. It was perfect!
Comparing this graph and the shows on it vs the one with thw worst ending, I notice that the bigger and more known shows tend to draw bigger spectations and then failing to have a good ending. On the contrary, this lesser known shows, tend to end in a better way or at least, their public certainly liked it more
Naruto having one of the best finales, first time hearing that
This isn’t the right title this is the list of “finales that were way better than the rest of the show”
That’s how you mislead with data
The Americans is such an underrated gem, glad to see it here
I’m very surprised by The Americans, I started the last season, but the whole >!Dead Hand program!< seemed too absurd to me. I would have enjoyed more if it ended when they decided to >!retire!<.
is that a joke?? a star wars show at number one??? and iCarly is number two?
Is this list for a daycare?
It doesn’t list MASH (still the highest rated finale EVER) or The Fugitive (Highest % of viewers EVER), so it is invalid.
All of the Mike Schur shows are on here, my man knows how to end.
(The Office, Parks and Rec, The Good Place, Brooklyn Nine-Nine)
Pokémon ended? Wtf wasn’t ready for that
Superstore had an amazing finale. Also, put Scrubs season 8 up there… everybody knows it belongs
I just want to know what happened in the season 2 finale of Golden Girls.
Parks and Rec and The Good Place should both be way, way higher on this list.
Parks and Rec had the most uplifting, joyous ending I’ve ever seen for a show. They don’t try and make you cry, they make you appreciate the show and the characters.
And The Good Place ended with a thoughtful, touching episode about what eternity and happiness really means. It really punches above its weight for just being a comedy show.
The Simpsons will be the biggest show to do a series finale and it won’t even be close, not by a long shot. Despite how shit the show is on the day that they have their last episode time will indeed freeze.
Code Geass has one of the best, if not the BEST endings of all anime, should I even say of any series that I have ever watched.
It’s been who knows how many years since it finished and just the thought of remembering the end with sound in the background, brings me joys of tears to have had the chance to watch that series..
It doesn’t feel like the story tried to add more episodes to milk the series, the end wasn’t abrupt and it was such a satisfying ending, I cannot stop recommending this series for the ending alone.
No Justified on here? Or was it consistently good? I remember the last season being a little weaker than the others, but the finale was a barnburner.
Edit: it’s on the other view. Phew. And I was wrong, the last season was probably the best.
The last 4 clone wars episodes are literally a masterpiece.
Maybe have a title that mentions that it’s compared to the show average? That would solve a lot of the confusion in the comments.
Would love to see the same idea applied to first episodes : which shows started great but ended up being average, and which great shows had poor starts.
It’s a shame that The Office, The Big Bang Theory, Adventure Time and Bleach are somewhat interrupting a rather pretty episode name coincidence. (well, not so much of a coincidence, considering the nature of a final episode.)
Funny how the older Sabrina the teenage witch made the list of best finales and the new one on Netflix made the list of worst finales
Nice. Please do one for the worst endings too 🙏
lmao what was this list made by a 12 year old
These are unreadable on desktop. Either way too small or too large. Change the image width to 1080p, not 2200p.
Most interesting thing is The Golden Girls taking a fucking nosedive for one episode.
Gossip Girl is on this list? I thought the ending was universally considered messy and inconsistent with the rest of the storyline.
The finale of Six Feet Under is still devastating. Perfect song to accompany it as well.
Erm…Bleach didn’t finish, we are getting more literally this October and it’s not even the final season. It’ll get even better.
Code Geass, to me is mildly infuriating. Probably the best, most final ending ever for an anime, so they added some shit to the end. Still a 10/10 anime and one of the ones I recommend for people getting into anime.
What happened during that one season two episode of The Golden Girls?
iCarly made the list but not MASH?! How?
3 star treks made the list, cool. Also Heart of Dixie? I loved that show, but I don’t even remember the finale.
False, Pokémon does not end. Twinkies, Cockroaches, and Pikachus will survive the apocalypse.
What’s that Star Trek NG episode that is considerably ranked worse than every other?
Golden Girls following up their worse episode ever with their best
48 comments
[Interactive version here! You can toggle between two different definitions of “Best,” as well as mouse over dots to learn more about each episode.](https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/bo.mccready8742/viz/TheBestTVShowFinalesDataPlusTV/BestTVShowFinales)
Tool: Tableau
Source: Tableau + IMDb for the #DataPlusTV challenge
Never heard of half of these
Absolutely astonished to not see Mad Men here.
Breaking bad isn’t on here?
They have the last episode of bleach as heart of woof but that likes halfway through the last arc lol
I am surprised to see Gossip Girl here. I thought the reveal that Dan is Gossip girl was mostly considered to be unlogical and the fact that everybody just forgives him right away was unrealistic. Although I must say Chuck and Blairs ending it nice.
Star Trek really knows how to stick the landing
I’ve read a bunch of people unhappy with Picard, but I absolutely loved the ending. >!”You matter to me!”!<
To all of the “X show isn’t here” comments: make sure you check what happens when you look at the interactive version and toggle between the two different “best” definitions. Breaking Bad is, indeed, here, just hidden under a different definition of “best”.
Dang I guess I should watch season 2 and 3 of Picard
Damn this is actually more interesting than the other one! A lot of the top shows have swings in their ratings, which probably brought the average down far enough for a good finale to really pop. Another thing is that even though they have a lot of changes, even the lows manage to stay above the 5.5 mid line the majority of the time. Seems like this favors shows which are consistently good, but still have a noticable difference between their best and worst episodes. Letting the average drop, but giving them a decent chance on having the skill to pull off an excellent finale.
6 feet under has the highest rated final episode, but because it also has a high average rating, it is in the middle instead of at the top. Clone wars has the 4th highest finale, but an average low enough to give it a wider margin than other more consistent shows.
Very interesting, thanks for putting this together!
Conclusion from both graphs is to watch Anime
Fringe had such potential to ruin their ending and they did it exactly right. Plus you didn’t know until the last 30 seconds. It was perfect!
Comparing this graph and the shows on it vs the one with thw worst ending, I notice that the bigger and more known shows tend to draw bigger spectations and then failing to have a good ending.
On the contrary, this lesser known shows, tend to end in a better way or at least, their public certainly liked it more
Naruto having one of the best finales, first time hearing that
This isn’t the right title this is the list of “finales that were way better than the rest of the show”
That’s how you mislead with data
The Americans is such an underrated gem, glad to see it here
I’m very surprised by The Americans, I started the last season, but the whole >!Dead Hand program!< seemed too absurd to me. I would have enjoyed more if it ended when they decided to >!retire!<.
is that a joke?? a star wars show at number one??? and iCarly is number two?
Is this list for a daycare?
It doesn’t list MASH (still the highest rated finale EVER) or The Fugitive (Highest % of viewers EVER), so it is invalid.
All of the Mike Schur shows are on here, my man knows how to end.
(The Office, Parks and Rec, The Good Place, Brooklyn Nine-Nine)
Pokémon ended? Wtf wasn’t ready for that
Superstore had an amazing finale. Also, put Scrubs season 8 up there… everybody knows it belongs
I just want to know what happened in the season 2 finale of Golden Girls.
Parks and Rec and The Good Place should both be way, way higher on this list.
Parks and Rec had the most uplifting, joyous ending I’ve ever seen for a show. They don’t try and make you cry, they make you appreciate the show and the characters.
And The Good Place ended with a thoughtful, touching episode about what eternity and happiness really means. It really punches above its weight for just being a comedy show.
The Simpsons will be the biggest show to do a series finale and it won’t even be close, not by a long shot. Despite how shit the show is on the day that they have their last episode time will indeed freeze.
Code Geass has one of the best, if not the BEST endings of all anime, should I even say of any series that I have ever watched.
It’s been who knows how many years since it finished and just the thought of remembering the end with sound in the background, brings me joys of tears to have had the chance to watch that series..
It doesn’t feel like the story tried to add more episodes to milk the series, the end wasn’t abrupt and it was such a satisfying ending, I cannot stop recommending this series for the ending alone.
No Justified on here? Or was it consistently good? I remember the last season being a little weaker than the others, but the finale was a barnburner.
Edit: it’s on the other view. Phew. And I was wrong, the last season was probably the best.
The last 4 clone wars episodes are literally a masterpiece.
Maybe have a title that mentions that it’s compared to the show average? That would solve a lot of the confusion in the comments.
Would love to see the same idea applied to first episodes : which shows started great but ended up being average, and which great shows had poor starts.
It’s a shame that The Office, The Big Bang Theory, Adventure Time and Bleach are somewhat interrupting a rather pretty episode name coincidence. (well, not so much of a coincidence, considering the nature of a final episode.)
Funny how the older Sabrina the teenage witch made the list of best finales and the new one on Netflix made the list of worst finales
Nice. Please do one for the worst endings too 🙏
lmao what was this list made by a 12 year old
These are unreadable on desktop. Either way too small or too large. Change the image width to 1080p, not 2200p.
Most interesting thing is The Golden Girls taking a fucking nosedive for one episode.
Gossip Girl is on this list? I thought the ending was universally considered messy and inconsistent with the rest of the storyline.
The finale of Six Feet Under is still devastating. Perfect song to accompany it as well.
Erm…Bleach didn’t finish, we are getting more literally this October and it’s not even the final season. It’ll get even better.
Code Geass, to me is mildly infuriating. Probably the best, most final ending ever for an anime, so they added some shit to the end. Still a 10/10 anime and one of the ones I recommend for people getting into anime.
What happened during that one season two episode of The Golden Girls?
iCarly made the list but not MASH?! How?
3 star treks made the list, cool. Also Heart of Dixie? I loved that show, but I don’t even remember the finale.
False, Pokémon does not end. Twinkies, Cockroaches, and Pikachus will survive the apocalypse.
What’s that Star Trek NG episode that is considerably ranked worse than every other?
Golden Girls following up their worse episode ever with their best