While revivals appear to be at the height of their popularity,there are some shows that already ended on a high, and would only be hurt by bringing the show back. One of the biggest struggles for anyTV showcomes with the question of when to end it. Dragging a great series too far can lead to a drop in quality, and ending too soon can leave the audience longing for more.
However, even if a show ends at the right time, there is a significant challenge that comes with how to end it. Audiences grow attached to the characters on the screen, so their favorite characters need to get a proper send-off. Whether the show ends on a happily ever after, or a satisfying big reveal, it needs to find the right balance. But when ashow manages to deliver a near perfect ending,it’s important to preserve the integrity, and avoid revivalsthat could rewrite the ending for the worse.
10House
Final Episode Aired In 2012
First up,Houseis an iconic medical dramawhich also adapts the popular Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes characters loosely. The central protagonist, Dr. Gregory House, is a brilliant, but incredibly problematic doctor who leads a team of spectacular diagnosticians to uncover and diagnose the most rare illnesses in the world.
It’s a beautiful ending, and one that would be made cheaper and hollow by a revival.
However, House often puts others at risk with his unconventional methods, and he shuts out the people closest to him in a self-destructive manner. The final seasons of the show saw House become increasingly unstable, as his team, his romantic partner, and his best friend left him.
House
Cast
House is a medical mystery drama in which the villain is typically a difficult-to-diagnose medical malady. It follows Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie), a world-renowned disabled diagnostician with a notorious substance abuse issue. With his team of world-class doctors, House has built a reputation as one of the most brilliant doctors in the world - an especially impressive feat when taking into account that he rarely actually sees his patients.
With these seismic shifts, House is on a path to destruction, butjust in time for the series to end, House sees the value of his relationship with his closest friend, James Wilson, and he fakes his death to spend time with his friend, whose terminal diagnosis means he has just five months left to live. It’s a beautiful ending, and one that would be made cheaper and hollow by a revival.
9Friends
Final Episode Aired In 2004
Friendsfollowed a group of six twenty-somethings finding their way in life, love, and their careers in New York City.In the prime of their lives, these friends become family, and their days are spent hanging out, discussing the future, and making the most of their present. However, as they all continue to grow and settle into relationships and careers, their lives begin to pull in different directions.
Friends
Friends is a television sitcom that debuted in 1994, revolving around six young New Yorkers navigating the complexities of adulthood. The series highlights their friendship as they support each other through personal and professional challenges, encapsulating the ups and downs of life in a comedic and relatable manner.
The finale sawthese friends go their separate ways, leaving the apartment behind, and moving on to the next chapters in their individual lives. However, they decide to go for one last coffee in the coffee shop near their building, andthis touching goodbye was the perfect ending to the series. It wouldn’t make sense to bring this group back together, because that would likely mean their own independent lives went wrong along the way. Instead, the ending suggests a brighter future that would only be dulled by a revival.
8Breaking Bad
Final Episode Aired In 2013
On a very different note,Breaking Badexplores the life andlegacy of Walter White. A former high school science teacher who went on to become the most notorious drug lord in California. While Walt dipped his toes into the world of selling drugs as a way to pay medical bills and provide for his family after his death, he became greedy, and recognizing his incredible talent for cooking up drugs, he built an empire.
Breaking Bad
Breaking Bad, created by Vince Gilligan, follows a chemistry teacher turned drug kingpin named Walter White (Bryan Cranston) as he attempts to provide for his family following a fatal diagnosis. With nothing left to fear, White ascends to power in the world of drugs and crime, transforming the simple family man into someone known only as Heisenberg.
However, Walt was always going to die, and in the run-up to that moment, his life imploded. His brother-in-law was killed, his wife left him, his partner in crime was afraid of him, and he was on the most wanted list. Walt was never the good guy, but his complex story was thrilling and engaging to the end, and when he went out in a blaze of glory,having achieved his goal of providing for his family, it felt like the right ending for the show. Reviving the series to tell another story simply wouldn’t make sense.
7The Sopranos
Final Episode Aired In 2007
The ending ofThe Sopranosis viewed as one of the most clever and creative endings in TV show history. After years of running the mafia, and dealing in shady back alley criminal work,Tony Soprano has a sit-down dinner with his family at a local diner. The show directs attention repeatedly to the door, as the bell rings and new guests enter, but there is also an air that something is afoot, and someone is there with a motive.
The Sopranos
The Sopranos follows New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano as he navigates the challenges of managing his family and criminal enterprise. He seeks guidance from psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi while dealing with complex dynamics involving his wife Carmela, cousin Christopher Moltisanti, and other Mafia associates. Released in 1999, this series delves into organized crime and personal struggles.
In the show’s final moments, Tony spots someone who could potentially be an assassin, but when the screen cuts to black, the ending appears to stop short of showing the audience what has happened. However,the cut to black is intended to show Tony’s perspective, as he is killed, putting an end to his story. Bringing the show back would undermine the artistry and creativity of the ending, potentially by redefining it, which would be terrible for the original ending.
6Mr. Robot
Final Episode Aired In 2019
Mr. Robotran for a total of four seasons, which followed the protagonist, Elliot, trying to uncover the elaborate hacking and chaos caused by a mysterious figure. Elliot uses his considerable skills as a hacker and software engineer to follow the trail of the mysterious arbitrator of anarchy, but however close he gets, he always appears to be a few steps behind.
Mr. Robot
Mr. Robot follows Elliot, a young programmer with an anti-social disorder, who hacks people to connect and protect those he cares about. The series explores his involvement with a cybersecurity firm and underworld organizations targeting corporate America. Debuting in 2015, it addresses contemporary cultural themes.
The show is compelling, dramatic, and intense, but it isn’t until the final episode that the truth behind the mystery is revealed. In reality, Elliot was actually the hacker all along, and he suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder. This reveal adds a layer of meaning to the show that is extremely satisfying to watch back, but continuing the narrative with a revival would likely detract from the impact.
5Hannibal
Final Episode Aired In 2015
Hannibalwas one of the most brilliant psychological explorations of the popular character in modern history.The series expertly navigated the relationship between Dr. Hannibal Lecter, and Will Graham, with incredible suspense and tension. The most enticing element of the show also came primarily in the elements that were not explicitly shown, as many major events happen in the background, which influence the story.
Hannibal
Created for TV by Bryan Fuller, Hannibal is a TV adaptation/reimagining of Thomas Harris' Red Dragon novel. The show follows the exploits of FBI criminal profiler Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) and psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) and their perpetual game of cat and mouse that unfolds over the series. When a string of murders in Minnesota requires a brilliant mind to crack the case, Will Graham is called in to investigate - but due to the intimate and terrifying nature of the crimes, he is appointed Dr. Lecter to act as his psychiatrist. The truth of Dr. Lecter is that he is Will’s target - but to complicate matters, he’s the only person that can truly understand him.
Following this course, the show’s final season saw Will and Hannibal grow closer together, and their relationship and connection deepen. This ultimately leads to Will embracing his dark side, and becoming a brutal murderer like Hannibal, with the finale exposing both men as their true selves.Continuing the show after this point wouldn’t make sense, because it was all about the anticipation, and the finale revealed the truth about the characters.
4Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Final Episode Aired In 2003
Another show that built up tension and excitement throughout its run wasBuffy the Vampire Slayer. Over the course of seven seasons, the show explored the life andadventures of Buffy Summers, a seemingly typical high school girl, who led a double life as the Chosen One who was destined to fight supernatural enemies and protect the Earth.
Despite her divine calling, Buffy struggled to balance this burden alone, and she relied on the help of her close friends to get her through. However,the show’s ending provides great final moments for each of the characters. Willow, who began as a timid young woman, becomes a powerful witch, and is able to activate all the world’s Slayers, thus protecting the world in a much more definitive way.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a television series created by Joss Whedon, focusing on Buffy Summers, portrayed by Sarah Michelle Gellar, a young woman chosen to battle against vampires, demons, and other supernatural forces while navigating the complexities of teenage life.
Spike, a vampire who fell for Buffy, sacrifices himself to kill the First, and the Scoobies live to fight another day, and plan for a future.Continuing the show would only cheapen the ending, and reintroduce threats that the team overcame in the original run.
3The Good Place
Final Episode Aired In 2020
ThroughoutThe Good Place, a misfit group of recently deceased people have the misfortune of being sent to the Bad Place. However, over the course of the show,these mismatched group learn more about the inner workings of the afterlife, and they ultimately find a way to reform and update the systems that have been sending everyone to the Bad Place for years.
10 TV Shows With A Perfect Finale
Series finales are notoriously difficult to pull off, since fans have such high hopes, but some TV shows have stuck the landing flawlessly.
However, the journey to get to this point is long and full of twists. But when the series did come to a close after four incredible seasons, the show did an excellent job of tieing up all the loose ends and giving everyone a happy ending.
The Good Place
Eleanor Shellstrop finds in The Good Place, both the name of the fantasy comedy series from creator Michael Schur and a fictionalized heaven where those who have done good in life will end up. However, Eleanor discovers that the life she was believed to have led was a lie, as it seems The Good Place got the wrong “Eleanor Shellstrop.” When it’s revealed that three others are there under the same false pretenses, they concoct a plan to truly become “Good” to earn their place there - while hiding the truth.
Having learned and grown, they all got the things they wanted most from life or the afterlife, and it felt like an incredible full circle moment. Unfortunately, this also meansthe show has achieved pretty much everything it set out to, and a revival would only cause more confusion and lack of development.
2Lost
Final Episode Aired In 2010
Losthas one of the most controversial endingsof any show. At the time of its release, many people found it deeply frustrating, and almost like the show had erased any reason for the events that led up to that moment. However,in the years since, the reputation forLost’sending has improved dramatically. The flash sideways, and the afterlife scene actually provide a satisfying conclusion for the large ensemble cast.
Lost
Lost is a mystery drama series created for TV that follows a group of survivors of a plane crash and tells its story between the past, present, and future via flashbacks. When Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 crashes and lands on a mysterious island in the pacific ocean, the castaways discover their new temporary home may have a mind of its own, as strange supernatural events keep them locked to the island. From an unknown black smoke creature to dangerous islanders, the passengers must work together to survive the island’s seemingly deadly intentions.
All of that being said,trying to revive the show would be an incredibly unwise move. Initially, it would require actually undoing everything that the series built towards, dismantling years of storytelling, and taking the characters in new, likely less satisfying directions. For that reason, it would not make any sense to revive the series.
1The Office
Finally,The Office. A sitcom that was framed as a documentary about a group of people who work in a random sales office where they sell paper to businesses. Over the course of the show, the characters transition from strangers to family, andthere is considerable growth for every single person in the office.
RevivingThe Officewould mean bringing everyone back to Scranton, or working under one roof, and that feels like a betrayal to the character growth that happened.
And while the last few seasons said goodbye to the show’s star, Michael Scott, played by Steve Carell, the rest of the office team continued to progress, especially characters like Dwight. For much of the show’s run, Dwight is a ridiculous, over the top, caricature of a man.
The Office
This mockumentary comedy series observes the mundane and humorous daily lives of employees at the Scranton branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. It offers insights into office dynamics, personalities, and the eccentric behavior of both management and staff, depicting an ordinary workplace with extraordinary characters.
However, the show’s finale sees him grow to be a good friend, a husband, and the boss of the Scranton Branch of Dunder Mifflin. In addition, Carell returned for the finale, revealing the new life Michael Scott had built with his beloved Holly. RevivingThe Officewould mean bringing everyone back to Scranton, or working under one roof, and that feels like a betrayal to the character growth that happened.
