Top 10 Series Finales (Comedy)

Greetings, reader!

After diving into the greatest beginnings in comedy and drama television in the past weeks, I'm now turning to take a look at the greatest endings. The infamously opinion-splitting series finale of Dexter (2006-2013) turns 10 years old this week, and while that series is more drama than comedy, I'll start off by ranking the greatest series finales from comedy television, before unveiling my top 10 drama series finales next week. From the world of TV comedy, these are the very greatest final episodes.

Oh, and I can't stress this enough - SPOILER ALERT!! I will be discussing the heaviest of spoilers, as in the very ways in which these long-winded stories end, so be wary to skip any instalments where you haven't seen the series in question but might want to watch it one day.

Here are my honorable mentions: Christmas Special (The Office (U.K. Version)), Engram Pattersky (New Girl), Finale (Modern Family), The Final Curtain (Miranda), The Vicar in White (The Vicar of Dibley).

10. Hogcock!/Last Lunch (30 Rock, Season 7 Episode 12)

"Goodbye forever, you soup line at a gay homeless shelter"

The weird thing about 30 Rock's endgame, which is partially why this finale is only at #10 and not higher, is that the best individual storyline wrap-up actually happens in the previous episode - the penultimate episode A Goon's Deed in a Weary World ends with Kenneth the Page (Jack McBrayer) being made President of NBC. And that right there feels more 'series finale' and poetic than anything in the actual series finale, and is the best individual moment from the final season.

Still, the subsequent final episode is a fun wrap-up for the other threads - Liz Lemon (Tina Fey), Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) and Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) get their sweet endings, and it's a blast to actually see Kenneth running the company. And the final scene is just the delightfully weird, out-of-left-field note that the series needed to end on.

9. That 70's Finale (That 70's Show, Season 8 Episode 22)

"You know what else is hot? My foot, when it's in your ass"

"Look at that. He got one more in him"

I never was the biggest That 70's Show fan - it's one of those sitcoms that were fun to watch for an episode or two when it was on, but it never felt worth it to systematically watch it from start to finish like you would with an excellent series. But I reckon I had seen well over half of the show's episodes, when I came upon the series finale for the first time, and I've re-watched it a couple of times since then. It's just really, really good, and frankly much better than a series like this would deserve.

There's so much greatness going on - the parents finally finding out what the kids were really doing in the basement all those years, the sentimental last trip to the water tower, and the episode's symbolic setting of December 31st 1979 - the very final moments of the 1970's. And as a cherry on top, fan favorites such as Eric (Topher Grace), whose departure had made the final season into a generally negatively received mess, made their glorious return. The reunion scene between Eric and Donna is especially touching, as their romance always was one of the show's sweetest elements.

Also, I'm aware of the recent and not-so-recent controversies surrounding the show's cast - it should go without saying, but would feel weird not to point out when discussing the series, that Danny Masterson is a monster and his prison sentence was well-deserved (actual consequences, something woefully rare in celebrity sexual assault cases).

8. Last Forever (How I Met Your Mother, Season 9 Episodes 23-24)

"You are the love of my life. Everything I have, and everything I am, is yours...forever"

I know, Lord, I know - I'm gonna get crucified for this. I'm well aware of how generally hated the HIMYM finale is, and I must've spent an accumulated amount of several hours in total arguing about with various friends. Yes, I truly like the ending of How I Met Your Mother. It's not perfect, I'll give you that, but it's SO. MUCH. BETTER. than people generally consider it to be. In my humble opinion.

First of all, I want to address the biggest problem that fans had with the ending. Yes, it is an unusual writing choice to kill Tracy (Cristin Milioti) off and end the series with Old Ted (Josh Radnor) getting back together with Robin (Cobie Smulders). But in my opinion, this was the best possible route - the writers wrote themselves into a bit of a corner with the show's very premise. Ted meets Robin and falls for her in the very first episode, making them into the show's big will-they-won't-they, and as annoying as their relationship could be at its worst, they definitely had genuine affection for one another and many good moments. But Robin wasn't the love of Ted's life - the Mother from 'How I Met Your Mother', Tracy McConnell, was. So writing an ending that would please all fans was flat-out impossible.

What they went with honestly makes sense. Tracy's death is incredibly sad, but not in a 'bad writing' way - it gives further emotional context to why Ted is telling the story to the kids, and episodes like season 8's The Time Travellers become a million times better and more emotional when re-watched later, knowing the context that Ted is telling the story after her passing. Ted found the love of his life, and spent many good years with her - and it is only a sweet epilogue that years later he and Robin would find each other again, both single and with many good years left in them, deciding to give it a go.

The one big imperfection that I will admit to the finale having has to do with the whole final season in general. If it was going to end with Barney and Robin getting divorced (which makes sense - let's face it, they never were the healthiest couple either) and with Ted eventually re-kindling his love for Robin, it's weird that the final season put so much focus into A) Barney and Robin's wedding, and B) the storyline of Ted finally getting over Robin. That makes some of the finale's events seem a bit twisted, although it's not as bad as people make it out to be considering that those events take place several years afterwards, so that the characters have changed with time even if the changes feel sudden to the viewer. But, yeah, that's the main reason why this mostly great finale is only at #8 and not higher.

Finally, I'd like to end with this - even if you don't like that particular narrative choice or other individual parts from the finale, as you're very entitled to do (I've heard many good arguments for why people were disappointed), please don't give me with the bullshit that the series finale is 1/10 and total garbage. That I'm not buying. Whatever you think of Barney and Robin's divorce or Tracy's death or Ted's return to Robin, you can't possibly claim that the finale does nothing right. There's so much to love in this two-parter: the script jumping between the post-wedding moments leading up to Ted and Tracy's first meeting and the flash-forwards showing us great moments from the years ahead, like Marshall becoming Judge Fudge. The incredibly sweet way in which Barney's character is written out (no woman could quite change his player ways, but becoming a father to a daughter was the one thing that could - tell me that that's not poetic as hell). Ted getting mad as his children's criticism and saying "I kept this story SHORT and TO THE POINT", which might just be the best joke in the entire series.

And most of all, the second-last scene. The true climax, to which the final scene is but an epilogue. Ted meeting Tracy. Doing nine seasons of build-up just to two people meeting each other for the first time is quite an impossible mission for writers, as it could so easily become an anticlimax - yet they pulled it off. Whatever you think of the rest of the episode, you have to admit that the show's titular scene, how the narrator met the mother of his children, truly lives up to the hype. It's love at first sight, it's flirtatious and magical and high on chemistry, it ties in several events from previous seasons, you've got the symbolism of the yellow umbrella - it's the show's most important moment. That alone earns the imperfect but over-hated HIMYM finale a spot on this list. I have spoken.

7. One Last Ride (Parks & Recreation, Season 7 Episode 12)

"You ready, babe?"

Parks & Recreation, the "The West Wing meets The Office" series envisioned by Michael Schur, ends with a conceptual number: in present day, the Pawnee Parks Department gathers for their last case together, while we keep cutting to glimpses of the future, seeing what each member of the gang ends up getting up to.

The job in the present-day storyline is having a broken playground swing fixed, which just feels so fitting for the show's small-scale, 'love letter to local politics' feel. Meanwhile, the future sequences don't hold anything back and are anything but small-scale, with some beautiful payoffs to the shows character archs. I can't decide whether my favorite character ending is Leslie (Amy Poehler) and Ben's (Adam Scott) climb up the political ladder until it is subtly and ambiguously implied that one of them has become President of the United States, or Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) being made superintendent of Pawnee National Park, essentially getting to roam the outdoors for a living for the rest of his days.

6. Whenever You're Ready (The Good Place, Season 4 Episode 13)

"Okay, homies, you're sad. I can tell 'cause you have the same looks on your faces that my teachers did whenever I raised my hand in class"

The Good Place, the afterlife-themed comedy also envisioned by the great Michael Schur, always was as zany and feel-good as it was metaphysical and thought-provoking. Appropriately enough, the final episode leaves you with a warm heart and a smile and your face, both through its humor and happy endings to character archs, and through the fact that it actually finds some answers.

This always was the show's goal, as Schur has stated that he envisioned the series after doing some heavy philosophical reading, and created The Good Place in order to work through some of life's (and death's) toughest questions, possibly finding some answers along the way, via fiction and comedy. This vision is fully realized in the final season, as a new and more ethical afterlife system is put into motion and an appropriate solution is found for the "eternal happiness" dilemma. Following our main characters living out eternal paradise, until they feel fulfilled and are ready to cross over, is a perfect and bittersweet conclusion.

5. The Final Episode (Episodes, Season 5 Episode 7)

"This is the show we should've done all along!"

The ending to the severely underrated Episodes may not be an emotional powerhouse like the Parks & Recreation or The Good Place finales - what it is, however, is one of the cleverest ways a TV series has ever finished its run. The conclusion is arrived at in the final minutes, and it is a thing to behold - witty, meta, poetic and just the best possible ending for this particular series.

As fans will remember, the series is about two British showrunners who are recruited to move to Hollywood and write an American remake of their acclaimed series, yet with ratings-oriented producers interfering with everything, the classy and nuanced comedy series turns into a superficial and unoriginal cliché. The series follows the people making this fictional series. So, in the final minutes of the series finale, the main characters come up with a pitch for a new series they want to make, inspired by their own experiences: a series about two British showrunners who are recruited to move to Hollywood and write an American remake of their acclaimed series, yet with ratings-oriented producers interfering with everything, the classy and nuanced comedy series turns into a superficial and unoriginal cliché.

Genius. Pure genius.

4. The Last One (F.R.I.E.N.D.S., Season 10 Episode 17)

"Oh my God, did she get off the plane, DID SHE GET OFF THE PLANE?!"

"...I got off the plane"

I've seen the F.R.I.E.N.D.S. finale a million times, and let's face it, you've seen the F.R.I.E.N.D.S. finale a million times. I don't have to remind you why it rocks. But in case I do, here's a few refreshments for your memory: Something wrong with the left phalange. The wrong airport and the cab of death. The symbolic death of the foosball table in order to save the new chick and duck. The birth of the twins. The whole "I got off the plane" moment of rom-com perfection. And, of course, the show's final line - the very best Chandler (Matthew Perry) joke of them all, saved for last, so that viewers will let out a laugh amidst the tears. One for the ages, this one.

3. The Last Day (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Season 8 Episodes 9-10)

"Over the years you've sometimes referred to me as something of a father figure"

"Did I? I didn't realize that"

"I want you to know, if I had had a son, and he turned out like you - I would be very proud of him"

Oh man. There's a lot to love in the two-parter that brought Brooklyn Nine-Nine - yet another series produced by Michael Schur - to a close. But the biggest factor in its high ranking is the interaction quoted above, as Captain Holt (Andre Braugher) expresses to Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) how proud he is of him, and Samberg's performance in the scene never fails to bring me to tears. It is such a powerful note to end the show on.

In addition to that emotionally charged powerhouse moment, the episode brings a lot of fun with its heist setting. The heist tradition is one of the most beloved traditions in the series, so having the final season's traditional heist episode be the very last episode is both moving and hellishly fun. A sweet and fitting closing chapter if I ever saw one.

2. Finale (The Office (U.S. Version), Season 9 Episode 23)

"MICHAEL - I can't believe you came"

"...That's what she said"

The entire endgame of The Office is bittersweet gold - seasons 8 and 9 in general were a step down, but the final season started getting steadily better towards the end, and the final set of six episodes / three two-parters is filled to the brim with emotional payoffs and legendary moments. This all comes to a head in the series finale, where the release of the fictional documentary about Dunder Mifflin is celebrated amidst the nuptials of Dwight (Rainn Wilson) and Angela (Angela Kinsey).

While the finale is full of legendary moments, one that especially stands out is Michael Scott's (Steve Carell) return at the end of part 1 - the whole moment is built with perfection. I also love Pam's (Jenna Fischer) closing words at the end of part 2, really summing up through a sentimental meta lens why the series worked so well. There's beauty in the ordinary things, alright.

1. Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television (Community, Season 6 Episode 13)

"It's TV. It's comfort. It's a friend you've known so well, and for so long, you just let it be with you. And it needs to be okay for it to have a bad day, or phone in a day. And it needs to be okay for it to get on a boat with Levar Burton and never come back...because eventually, it all will"

My all-time favorite sitcom ends on just the right note, producing a proper sense of closure while still leaving room for the eventual movie. In this sentimental, silly and appropriately meta closing chapter, we follow each of the main character envisioning their ideal 'Season 7', imagining how the next year of their lives should go. These segments range from hilarious to profound, feeling like a combination of saying goodbye and going on.

Of the many great moments in this series finale, one that I have to single out is the goodbye between Jeff (Joel McHale) and Abed (Danny Pudi) - after driving Abed to the airport, Jeff embraces him, and after the hug is over, he hugs him once more, this time with more intensity. This feels so powerful in the show's context - Jeff and Abed were the show's best-written characters, and their character archs rubbed off on each other in a deep-lying manner.

Throughout the show's six-season run, Jeff helped anchor Abed just enough into the 'real world' to learn the skills required to become a filmmaker, while making sure that the weird and magical dude stays himself, while Abed's presence as the group's wholesome moral compass was perhaps the biggest factor in Jeff's gradual redemption arch from selfish asshole to caring friend. Jeff's hug speaks volumes on how much he values Abed's presence in his life, and how the stories of these two characters were a massive part of the show's DNA. All in all, Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television is a goofy, insanely creative concept episode that manages to make you cry and smile amidst the imaginative storytelling, therefore feeling like the best possible ending for a series like Community.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week for the conclusion of the pilots&finales saga, as I wrap it up with a ranking of my top 10 favorite series finales from drama television. And I can promise that there will be one entry as controversial, or perhaps even more so, as this week's HIMYM take. Stay tuned!