Some TV shows start strong but end with a whimper. We're diving into the most disappointing final seasons that left fans frustrated, betrayed, and questioning why they invested years of their time into these once-beloved series.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the TV shows that had a
00:09relatively great run, that is, up until their final season.
00:13Spoilers will be mentioned, so this is your official warning.
00:21Number 20.
00:22The Vampire Diaries, Season 8 A 100% critics rating can sometimes be deceiving.
00:28Coming out at the height of the vampire craze, The Vampire Diaries quickly found a loyal
00:32following.
00:33It maintained its popularity for years, but started to struggle towards the very end,
00:37especially after the protagonist left before the seventh season.
00:51The show's problems only grew during its eighth and final run, with the plot becoming
00:55unnecessarily convoluted, and the lead being brought back seemingly just to advance the
00:59final storyline.
01:00Additionally, it struggled to find satisfying endings for all of its leads, some that even
01:05Elena's return couldn't fix.
01:14Overall, it was a shaky ending for what had been a surprisingly good program, and left
01:19many fans wanting more.
01:25Number 19.
01:26Felicity, Season 4 Sometimes, keeping things simple is the way
01:30to go.
01:31Starting as a straightforward show about a young woman navigating adulthood, Felicity
01:34was renowned by critics and viewers.
01:36For the first three seasons, it didn't really stray from its original concept, with several
01:41stories being centered around her love life.
01:43But in Season 4, everything went off the rails.
01:46A subplot was introduced wherein Felicity was essentially sent back in time to try dating
01:50someone else.
02:07The decision went against everything that had been established.
02:10To top everything off, they reverted back to the original plot at the last second, making
02:14those episodes nothing more than a what-if exercise.
02:18The bizarre conclusion had little appeal, leading to a decline in ratings.
02:34Number 18.
02:35The 100, Season 7 Some shows can't help but go full nuclear
02:48in their final hour.
02:49When it first started airing, The 100 immediately caught interest for its take on a post-apocalyptic
02:54future.
02:55It only grew more acclaimed throughout its tenure, with its deeper themes and characters
02:59being praised.
03:00When the initial episodes of the final season aired, many were confident that it would end
03:04on a high note.
03:05Unfortunately, those hopes were dashed the longer it went on.
03:26It all came to a head after Clark's character assassination and death of Bellamy, destroying
03:31an arc that had been built since the beginning.
03:33While it came close, it simply couldn't stick the landing, causing it to go out with
03:37a whimper.
03:41Number 17.
03:42House of Cards, Season 6 While some programs sour on their own, others
03:47are a victim of their circumstances.
03:49For years, House of Cards was lauded across the board, with Kevin Spacey at the helm.
03:55Accusations coming out about him in late 2017 led to a swift removal, but rather than end
03:59the show there, they decided to go through with the final season without him.
04:07The focus shifted to Claire and her own ambitions, leading to several characters being killed
04:11off in the process.
04:12Other aspects were muddied, such as the iconic fourth wall breaks that were suddenly being
04:16awarded to smaller roles.
04:18The changes, and the Spacey-sized elephant in the room, essentially sent the whole House
04:22of Cards tumbling down.
04:40Number 16.
04:41Glee, Season 6 Some shows decide to just throw everything
04:45at the wall and see what sticks, with Glee being one of the biggest defenders.
04:49Although the sixth season showed promise in the beginning, both by introducing a new batch
04:52of interesting students and returning to its campy roots, it quickly devolved into chaos
04:57and fanservice.
05:04Several characters went against their previously established beliefs, beloved relationships
05:08ended, and the stories became too unrealistic, even by Glee's standards.
05:13It all finished off with the original cast achieving their wildest dreams, and everything
05:17neatly falling into place.
05:18While undoubtedly nice, it came across as pure pandering to Gleeks.
05:31Number 15.
05:33The Crown, Season 6 While it originally gave new perspectives
05:36into one of the world's most prestigious families, it still couldn't save itself from
05:40floundering in its final hour.
05:42The series spanned several decades, with the final season primarily focusing from the late
05:4690s to the mid-2000s.
05:48As such, it was heavily centered around Princess Diana and Prince Charles' deteriorating
05:52relationship and her tragic passing.
06:10While that section was highly praised, everything that came afterwards was not.
06:14When he felt as though the Crown had long overstayed its welcome, particularly as it
06:18moved into the younger generations of the royal family, it was clear they had bitten
06:22off more than they could chew, causing what had once been a riveting show to completely
06:27fizzle out.
06:47Number 14.
06:49Killing Eve, Season 4 At its peak, this show was a breath of fresh
06:53air amongst its contemporaries, but even that couldn't ensure a perfect run.
06:57Killing Eve took the concept of a spy series and turned it on its head, peppering in romantic,
07:03dramatic and comedic moments that kept the audience on their toes.
07:15The fourth and final season essentially took all of that goodwill and spat on it.
07:20It seemed to be going in the right direction initially, especially after it seemed Eve
07:24and Villanelle had gotten closer.
07:26Just when it seemed there may be a happy ending in sight, the latter of the two was suddenly
07:29killed, playing into a harmful trope and angering the fanbase in the process.
07:46Number 13.
07:48Prison Break, Season 5 There are some shows that try to go on long
07:58after they should have ended, and this is one of the biggest offenders.
08:01Even after a couple of middling seasons and a feature-length film, Prison Break still
08:05returned for a fifth installment in 2017.
08:08While it featured some returning favorites, the story itself had taken a huge hit.
08:12They even undid a major character death, completely destroying any emotion derived from the original
08:17scene.
08:27Beyond that, the unrealistic elements were less exciting and harder to ignore.
08:32This led to the finale feeling underwhelming and cheap by the time it rolled around, despite
08:36it having been seemingly written to appease fans.
08:43Number 12.
08:44Arrested Development, Season 5 This was unfortunate proof that some shows
08:49are helped by an early cancellation.
08:51At its peak, Arrested Development was regarded as one of the best sitcoms of the era.
08:56After a nearly decade-long break, it was revived by Netflix in 2013.
09:19However, it ended up falling victim to its own success.
09:22The original humor of the first three installments was practically impossible to live up to,
09:27setting up the finale for failure.
09:29Season 5 was the biggest victim of this, with the courtroom-centered story failing to make
09:33the same impact as earlier plotlines.
09:47Its fall-off was further proven by a reliance on callbacks, proving that it had become a
09:52shell of what it had once been.
09:54Number 11.
09:55Once Upon a Time, Season 7 You'd think that after years, certain aspects
10:01of a program would be set in stone.
10:03However, Once Upon a Time decided to break that mold by replacing a majority of the cast
10:07before its final season, leaving only three long-running cast members.
10:22This also meant that several of the characters the audience had grown to love had been completely
10:31altered.
10:32That was only the beginning of its downfall.
10:34The timeline also suddenly jumped forward by several years, altering several plots in
10:38the process.
10:39Even the setting was completely different.
10:41The final season essentially feels like a reboot.
10:44The extreme changes only harmed its legacy, turning it into a complicated mess that not
10:48even magic could save.
11:01Number 10.
11:02The X-Files, Season 9 It may have gotten a second chance at an ending,
11:07but the original can never be swept under the rug.
11:09By the time Season 9 of The X-Files came to fruition, both of the leads had already moved
11:14on.
11:19This led to David Duchovny only appearing in the finale, and Gillian Anderson expressing
11:33her own intent to quit.
11:34This led to smaller roles suddenly being elevated to main character status, which didn't give
11:38them enough time to develop or win the audience over.
11:41The writing also took a significant hit, essentially destroying everything that had made the previous
11:46season so impactful.
11:47This all led to an extremely unsatisfying ending that took a movie and a revival to
11:52correct.
12:13Number 9.
12:15The Weeds, Season 8 To be fair, this Showtime original had left
12:18its heyday long before it reached the final season.
12:25The charming presence of a widow selling marijuana to support her family instantly grabbed critics
12:30and viewers alike.
12:31However, by the end, it was hard to root for Nancy Botwin.
12:35Her antics of screwing everyone over, including her children, had gotten old several seasons
12:39ago.
12:44Shane's potential for a good ending crashed when they made him a crooked cop, and Doug
12:54starting his own cult was a nonsensical thread that added nothing to the story.
13:05Speaking of story, the final season resolved around the forgettable plot of Nancy and company
13:09going corporate.
13:10When the finale jumped forward several years to show them all wealthy, we found it pretty
13:14hard to care.
13:16Number 8.
13:17Heroes, Season 4 With the modern superhero boom still in its
13:21early days, NBC's original creation instantly got everyone's attention.
13:27Heroes was a hit during its first season, but sadly ran out of steam almost immediately.
13:32In 2007, the WGA writer's strike saw the producers scramble to salvage the show's
13:37storylines.
13:44By the time the fourth season ended, it had retained only around half of its fanbase.
13:48We're surprised anyone stuck through it all.
13:51Season 4 had somehow made a carnival of ne'er-do-wells boring, with the villain being a messy combination
13:56of motives.
13:57Siler, the villain of the stronger early days, surprisingly turned good, and most other characters
14:09barely served a purpose, if at all.
14:11Naturally, it was cancelled soon after.
14:14Number 7.
14:15Scrubs, Season 9 This medical sitcom gained a passionate following
14:19thanks to off-the-wall humor and a tremendous amount of heart.
14:24Although NBC cancelled it after the seventh season, ABC picked it up to give it an ending.
14:29Season 8 was a high point and the finale was as perfect an ending as viewers could have
14:33hoped for.
14:34However, when it was well-received, ABC got greedy.
14:43It decided to bring Scrubs back for a ninth season.
14:46Unfortunately, the majority of the writing staff had left and half the characters were
14:50replaced by far less likable ones.
14:57The pivot to med school could have been an engaging one, but the jokes felt thin and
15:00there was no heart, making Scrubs seem like a severely watered-down version of its former
15:05self.
15:06Number 6.
15:07Roseanne, Season 9 Long before this sitcom received a revival
15:11in 2018, its final season in the late 90s disappointed fans everywhere.
15:23What had made it a hit was its focus on a working-class family.
15:27Viewers related to their struggles and laughed along as they worked through them.
15:31But Season 9 took all that away when the Conners won the lottery for $108 million.
15:39Gone were the realistic plot lines.
15:42Instead, the family enjoyed its ridiculous wealth and received convenient happy endings.
15:46It was a complete 180 of what made the show great.
15:50In a final backstab, the finale revealed none of it actually happened.
15:53It was all a story made up by Roseanne, who couldn't cope with losing her husband to a
15:57heart attack.
16:06Number 5.
16:08True Blood, Season 7 True Blood hit at just the right time, releasing
16:12during the peak of modern vampire mania.
16:26But by the time its run ended, the creative juices had long since dried up.
16:30Characters we once loved no longer felt like themselves, and the plot lines on display
16:34just went around in circles.
16:36Sookie and Alcide as a couple never made sense, nor did they draw any passion from fans.
16:45Jason and Violet's weird relationship wasn't too pleasing to watch either.
16:49Coupled with these plot lines were baffling creative decisions, like choosing to kill
16:52Tara off-screen, only to make her a ghost to draw the death out.
17:00It's no wonder some viewers feel like Season 6 would have made a better ending.
17:04Number 4.
17:06That 70s Show, Season 8 The history of TV is full of sitcoms that
17:10continued on past their prime.
17:12Sadly, That 70s Show sits pretty high on that list.
17:24To be fair, it can be challenging for a show to continue when the main character leaves.
17:28After Topher Grace's Eric left in the Season 7 finale, the show weirdly kept him tied to
17:34Additionally, Ashton Kutcher only appeared in five episodes to give Kelso an ending.
17:47The show attempted to fill their holes with a new character, Randy Pearson, who proved
17:51a pale imitation as Donna's new love interest.
18:06The group dynamic just didn't work and the writing suffered as well, leading to a major
18:10decline in viewers until it limped across the finish line.
18:14Number 3.
18:15Dexter, Season 8 Like many shows, Dexter got weaker the longer
18:21Despite this, Season 8 had a decent start.
18:28Of course, no one remembers that as the rest of the terrible season overshadows it.
18:33Important plot points are completely forgotten about, such as anything to do with LaGuerta's
18:37death from Season 7.
18:38Others go nowhere, like giving Masuka a daughter.
18:43It all came down to poor writing, which culminated in one of the most hated finales in TV history.
18:49Dexter ended up faking his own death, leaving his son Harrison to whatever fate and living
18:53in secret as a lumberjack.
18:55It was a poor note for the Bay Harbor butcher to go out on.
18:59Number 2.
19:00Game of Thrones, Season 8 The final season of this epic fantasy featured
19:04the same level of incredible effects, stunts, set and prop design, and acting that made
19:10it a phenomenon.
19:11That in part is why it was such a major disappointment.
19:17With only 6 episodes, Season 8 was a mad dash to the finish line that placed spectacle
19:21over substance.
19:23The character arcs of Dany, Jaime, and Jon still have fans angry today.
19:28Daenerys' descent into madness felt particularly poorly handled.
19:35The short episode count also meant the long night wasn't actually all that long.
19:40And the less we hear about its controversial cinematography, the better.
19:44Also, Bran is king?
19:45How is that satisfying?
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20:15Number 1.
20:16How I Met Your Mother, Season 9 How I Met Your Mother comedically stretched
20:20a meet-cute across multiple years, but stretching a single wedding weekend over an entire season
20:26was miserable.
20:33Simple plotlines were extremely thin, like chronicling Marshall's journey to the inn
20:36for over half the season.
20:38The one bright spot was Kristen Milioti as the fabled mother, whose charm actually lived
20:43up to expectations.
20:48But the finale ruined even that.
20:50It jumped around throughout the years, showing Barney and Robin getting divorced three years
20:54later only for Barney to have a daughter with a one-night stand.
20:59Worse, Ted's story concludes with the mother's passing, only for him to once again proclaim
21:11his love for Robin at the urging of his kids.
21:14What a waste of time!
21:16Which TV show do you think fell off the hardest in its last season?
21:20Let us know in the comments below!