TV shows with were great till the end

[peterperkins]

Blackadder..
Dads Army..

[mcflurry]

Prison Break had a great series 1, then started the conspiracy stuff instead of ending it on the runway at the end of S1..

[Prawo Jazdy]

Some people have rose-tinted spectacles I think (or, simply enjoyed things differently from me).

Friends - Good overall but had some mainly excruciating seasons later on in the run.

Spooks - I thought started really well but I thought took a serious wobble and never really recovered after they broke up the ‘trio’ of Matthew McFaddyn, David Oyelowo and Keeley Hawes.

The West Wing - The first ‘big’ TV drama I ever watched, so has a special place in my heart and some fantastic TV. However, things changed after about series 4. New characters were brought in who were weak, and the writer and producer/director left, which I think showed.


So far I think only The Wire and Breaking Bad have maintained their appeal to me throughout the run. A lot of series seem to have only enough ideas and energy for about three series.

[Evercross]

fatandwheezing said:

Sopranos ending the same.

Probably the most misunderstood ending to a TV series. Pretty much the entire episode until the blackout had been from Tony's POV, so getting shot in the head would literally be a dead-end.

[Shakermaker]

Prawo Jazdy said:

The West Wing - The first ‘big’ TV drama I ever watched, so has a special place in my heart and some fantastic TV. However, things changed after about series 4. New characters were brought in who were weak, and the writer and producer/director left, which I think showed.

.

I think it showed that there was a change of direction, but it was still a fantastic show even in the later series.

It was a show that always had a pre-defined cut-off I think. Knowing it would end with Bartlett's end of office, and they could have got it done earlier if it hadn't been renewed after season 3 for example. I'm about ready to re-watch it now I think, it is that good.

Breaking Bad the other one for me that I watched pretty much all the way through and really enjoyed all the way through.

[Lucas Ayde]

jules_s said:

Flash forward and Under the Dome spring to mind

Under the Dome degenerated into absolute bilge, despite a solid first season.

Flash Forward ended after only one season (was supposed to be 7 or more) but did mostly manage to keep up the interest. Think it was doomed to failure after 'Lost' put people off the idea of following a TV show over the course of many years.


For shows that delivered until the end (or even got better) the standout for me has to be 'The Leftovers'. The second series was the best but the third and final one was also extremely good and they ended it in a way that gave answers while keeping the mystery alive.

[Mothersruin]

peterperkins said:

Blackadder..

Blackadder had a rather unfortunate follow up which wasn't great - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackadder:_Back_%26...

[Zoobeef]

Given its just finished I'm surprised no ones mentioned it. Big Bang Theory.

[Shakermaker]

Zoobeef said:

Given its just finished I'm surprised no ones mentioned it. Big Bang Theory.

It hasn't been "great" till the end. It's been good, but there's been a definite drop off in quality in the last few years.

Not enough to get me to stop watching it

There's one more episode to screen in the UK

[Drew106]

Westworld.

Don't think anyone's mentioned it yet. Good first series, second was a bit all over the place and turned a bit ridiculous.

I think a third was planned, but the second series was not well received, so might get canned.

[yorky500]

Deadwood,
Justified,
Banshee.

Top three for me.

[FunkyNige]

Not sure if I agree with Breaking Bad - the final season or two had a lot of sitting around talking and he was just a drug maker, rather than a teacher who also made drugs.
We're halfway through the final season of Modern Family and I think that's remained consistently good (OK not great, but still good) throughout.

[Rivenink]

Just to defend BSG...

That got royally ducked by the Screenwriters Guild strike.

By the time things settled down, the network decided they needed BSG ended; so its final season had to wrap all the threads that had been laid in the first couple seasons. I honestly think they did an OK job with it.

[essayer]

The Office (UK)

[Halb]

pingu393 said:

I've spent three weeks binge-watching Breaking Bad.

Season 4 had a conclusion, but they did something that I've never seen before. They resurrected the plot and Season 5 had an equally plausible ending.

THe plan was always to have a S5 though, right?

[Halb]

THe thread title is, 'tv shows which were great till the end?'

serial dramas
Erm, difficult to think of stuff I've watched that fits that.
I sort of got on board with BSG (the only real equivalent to GoT?), even though I did actually prefer the original ending slated
Sopranos, Wire, Justified, all excellent.
I did feel that Dexter was wrong, but I liked what the plot of the last series, just not where he ended up.
Deadwood was cut short sadly, and so our ending was not planned
True Blood, again, this causes misery for some but I liked it...sort of...I'll have to rewatch when it's repeated on sky
Most yankcoms outstay their welcome until their turgid.
Veep though was excellent throughout ...and maybe Seinfeld?
I never watched LOst which seems to be the most famous and well expressed example of a series turning to st at the end.

[sly fox]

Mad men - loved the historical aspect of the show as much as the plot and characters.

Boardwalk Empire - another great one.

Billions. Plot twists supreme and strong characters who you love to hate/hate to love.

In fact many of the Sky Atlantic original series have been superb.

[Halb]

Ahh Boardwalk Empire, loved that programme! But the last series, erm, I felt let down by it. Not keen on the huge time jump or the ultimate ending.

[T-195]

techiedave said:

Spooks was good across all seasons. To be fair I thought the next to last series was really good.
The only thing bad was that throughout so many agents / politicians were spies or criminals !

Yes, I liked Spooks.

They have been repeating it on London Live.

[slipstream 1985]

Rivenink said:

Just to defend BSG...

That got royally ducked by the Screenwriters Guild strike.

By the time things settled down, the network decided they needed BSG ended; so its final season had to wrap all the threads that had been laid in the first couple seasons. I honestly think they did an OK job with it.

New Caprica episodes was the high points along with "33". Started strong got amazing, dropped the ball then fumbled it across the line and then with the final 20 mins or so of the final being a real tear jerker.