The Saddest Sitcom Finales
Remember Saved By the Bell ripoff California Dreams? Redditor Vegetable-Tooth8463 does, recalling in r/Sitcoms that the teen comedy had a surprisingly depressing final episode. The kids in the band decide that their musical dreams won’t come true after all, and the show’s central couple, Tiff and Jake, break up. Everything goes to hell, the end.
But that’s not the only bummer way to end a TV comedy. Other Redditors chimed in with their nominations for most depressing sitcom finales.
M*A*S*H
The gold standard for sitcom episodes that require a box of Puffs Plus. “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen” gathered 125 million Americans around their TV sets (a record). All these years later, it’s still hard to keep a dry eye when Hawkeye and B.J. say farewell to Colonel Potter riding off into the sunset on his horse, and then to one another.
Dinosaurs
Whoa, what the hell? Dinosaurs, a show that appealed to kids with its goofy prehistoric costumes, decided to end it all by ending it all. The complicated plot involved dinosaurs wiping out other species and eventually destroying the environment, sending the Sinclairs and the rest of their kind to their doom. A powerful environmental message? Sure, but as BuzzFeed said about the episode’s effect on young fans, it might have been “The Most Traumatizing Series Finale Ever.”
The Wonder Years
Kevin and Winnie get together — but not forever — at the series’ end, a bittersweet epilogue that reveals the sometimes sad futures of the show’s characters. TV Guide ranked it #11 on its list of Unforgettable Finales. “I’ve seen the finale dozens of times,” wrote Redditor most-royal-chemist, “and it still makes me cry.”
The Golden Girls
When Bea Arthur decided she’d had enough, The Golden Girls came to an end — at least until its spin-off, Golden Palace. The four stars share a farewell hug, and then after Dorothy leaves, she sneaks back for one last embrace. Once Dorothy/Arthur leaves for good, the remaining Girls wait for her return. When it’s clear she’s not coming back, Blanche, Rose and Sophia tearfully huddle without their soul sister.
Roseanne (The Original)
It was all just a dream! Roseanne’s original final season was ridiculous, with the Conners winning the Illinois state lottery and that a-hole Dan cheating on Roseanne. In the end, we learn Roseanne made it all up as a way of coping with Dan’s fatal heart attack.
“I made a commitment to finish my story even if I had to write in the basement in the middle of the night while everyone else was asleep,” Roseanne scribbles on a pad as the series comes to a close. “But the more I wrote, the more I understood myself and why I had made the choices I made. And that was the real jackpot. I learned that dreams don’t work without action. I learned that no one could stop me but me. I learned that love is stronger than hate, and most important, I learned that God does exist. He and/or She is right inside you, underneath the pain, the sorrow and the shame. I think I’ll be a lot better now that this book is done.”
