Let’s be real—there are few things that get more chat than the last show of a loved TV show. After being with some folks on screen for years, or even tens of years, all hope for a great wrap-up. But now and then, that last show doesn’t hit right for fans. Be it a shock twist, no real ends, or just a big change in feel, some endings keep fans buzzing long after we see the last of the credits. Here are seven show endings that still split fans today.
7. Two and a Half Men
The last bit of Two and a Half Men was less of an end and more of a weird self-joke. It made us think Charlie Sheen’s man might pop back up, only for the show to play us all with a double who gets hit by a piano from above. And when you think it can’t get odder, the man who made the show breaks the wall…and gets hit too. Some liked the wild, funny bits; others felt it was small and mean. Sheen even said it was “childish and not grown at all.” Not the ending fans wanted.
6. ALF
Do you recall ALF, that fun alien show from the ’80s? Well, its end is known for a “to be continued”… that just didn’t keep going. Right as ALF was about to be saved, agents came in and grabbed him. The sudden stop had fans hoping for more that never came, since the show got cut off fast. A TV movie years later tried to end it, but for a lot who loved it, it was too late.
5. Lost
If you saw Lost when it was new, you might still think about those talks. The end showed that the “flash-sideways” parts were sort of a wait space, and that the folks had died at times apart from each other. Some liked this wrap-up in feels, but others were mad at all the loose ends. Yes, Jack’s death was meant to be the end—but what about all the other stuff? Fans still can’t agree if it was a brave move or just weak.
4. Dexter
Talk about making waves. At the end of Dexter, our top stay-in-the-shadows bad guy turns off life for his sister, sails into a storm, and ends up a woodsman. Yep, for real. The show ends with Dexter all alone, looking sad and with a big beard in Oregon.
No real justice, no fix, and no feels, which left many out in the cold. Even Michael C. Hall, who was Dexter, said that fans were let down. The new show later tried to fix it a bit.
3. How I Met Your Mother
This one still hurts many. After nine years of hints, How I Met Your Mother at last shows us “the Mother,” only for her to die off-screen soon after. In the end, Ted gets with Robin, undoing years of what we knew about them.
The show also throws in a fast split between Barney and Robin. While some backed the twist as real and deep, others felt tricked by the quick wrap. It’s an end that changed how folks saw the whole show.
2. Game of Thrones
It’s tough to beat the fuss that came after Game of Thrones ended. After years of building Daenerys as a good hero, she flips to full bad in just one show. Jon Snow ends her, and out of nowhere, Bran—who hardly did much—becomes king.
With only six parts to close it all, many said it was too fast and messy. The end became a joke, and to this day, it’s an example of how not to end a loved show.
1. Shameless
While Shameless didn’t wrap with a big shock or big reveal, it still left lots of fans sad. As the show went on, many folks tuned out, saying the tales felt lost and the folks lost their pull. The end didn’t do much to bring them back—it gave little and felt more like a quiet exit than a big good-bye. In a way, the most fuss was how many stopped caring by the time it wrapped up.