Entertainment

'Breaking Bad' Premieres Final Season: Will It Be As Good (or As Bad) As These TV Seasons?

Who has two thumbs and sincerely regrets not watching Breaking Bad? This girl, because the Internet will not stop telling me what a great final season the show is having after its first episode premiered last night. But you know what? Breaking Bad isn't the only show to have gone out with a bang. Here are some of television's best final seasons... and some of television's worst final seasons.

by Caroline Pate

'Breaking Bad' Begins Its Final Season

Who has two thumbs and sincerely regrets not watching Breaking Bad? This girl, because the Internet will not stop telling me what a great final season the show is having after its first episode premiered last night. But you know what? Breaking Bad isn't the only show to have gone out with a bang. Here are some of television's best final seasons... and some of television's worst final seasons.

WORST: 'Weeds'

Every time I remember Weeds, it makes me nervous for Jenji Kohan's new show, Orange is the New Black. The show started out strong but completely ran out of steam somewhere in Season 5 or 6, when it left suburbia completely along with most of the show's premise. The show's final season left a lot to be desired, giving endings to much-hated supporting characters like Doug, while completely forgetting important earlier characters like Celia and Isabelle. And the final episode, and epilogue that's set years into the future, had more of a sense of emptiness than any kind of satisfying endings.

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BEST: 'Friends'

Although the series might have gone on for a little too long, its final season doled out happy endings to all of its fans. The first half of the season was a little weak due to its focus on the awkward Joey-Rachel relationship, but after Phoebe's wedding, the season ended out strong. After all, who can forget "I got off the plane"?

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WORST: Gilmore Girls

Poor Amy Sherman-Palladino — the woman can't seem to catch a break. The cancellation of Bunheads this summer wasn't the writer's first television heartbreak. She left Gilmore Girls before its last season after being unable to reach an agreement with The CW, and the show was never the same again. After being this close to seeing Lorelai and Luke get married, fans had to endure a hasty marriage to Christopher and Luke's out-of-the-blue, annoyingly precocious kid. And the worst part of it all? No. Jess.

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BEST: '30 Rock'

30 Rock was always a show that talked about its main character "having it all," but rarely took any steps towards that goal. That was to be expected — 30 Rock was always more of a joke machine than it was an actual "show" with an "overarching narrative." But in its last season, 30 Rock surprised viewers by kicking it into high gear and giving Liz Lemon a husband, kids, and a new job. (And even Jenna got a happy ending.) Was it the show's best season? Probably not. But it gave all of its characters the proper sendoff in a way that felt authentic to the show (aka, with Liz Lemon getting married in a Princess Leia costume).

WORST: 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'

The best part about Buffy is that it was a show that dealt with human emotions using the supernatural, but the show left off a lot of that premise in its final season. Instead of using the last seasons for thoughtful endings for the Scoobies, it introduced a whole slew of new characters and used the final episode to kill off a couple of original ones. While it was satisfying to see Buffy fall and rise again as a leader, it didn't have the same satisfying emotional arc for all its main characters, leaving the end of the show feeling sort of incomplete.

MOST IMPROVED: 'The Office'

Most people (myself included) gave up on The Office well before its final season. But I tuned in to a few episodes of the show's final season to find myself pleasantly surprised, especially after hearing about the inexplicable "outing" of the documentary crew to the show's audience. The finale of The Office wasn't as good as the Season 1 (or even Season 7) version of the show could've had. But a lot of the show's heart came back in those last few episodes to give the show the sendoff it needed.

TO BE DETERMINED: 'Futurama'

Like Breaking Bad, this is another show that's currently in its final season and, as is typical of Futurama, it's pretty spotty. But that's only natural for a show that's been canceled three times... after all, when you have three different series finales, what else in the show can you wrap up? Hopefully, Futurama will end relying more on the heart of its characters than its own cleverness and have the final final episode it deserves.

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