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Sometimes a series finale doesn’t just land, it defines the entire legacy of a show. The best ones don’t tie things up neatly; they leave a mark, spark debate, and stay lodged in your brain for years. These are the finales that didn’t just stick the landing, they rewrote what great TV endings can be.
Spoiler alert: Game of Thrones didn't make the cut.
Here are 11 iconic TV Show endings that have aired since 2000. Because somehow we're a quarter of the way through the century. 😳
Breaking Bad
AMC
That final image of Walter White lying on the floor while "Baby Blue" by Badfinger plays in the background will be ingrained in all of our minds until the end of time. The entire series was simply masterful, and the finale managed to take our already impossibly high expectations and somehow blow them out of the water.
Broad City
Comedy Central
It truly doesn't get more beautiful than the final scene in Broad City, when we see all the other ladies out there going on similar wacky adventures, just like Abbi and Ilana. It's uplifting, inspiring, and will make you want to hold on tight to your best girlfriends and never let go.
Schitt's Creek
CBC
Few shows deserve the kind of special award this one has earned for healing us all during the height of the pandemic. Everything from Alexis's character growth to David's adorable romance with Patrick left us in tears during the finale. And don't even get us started on the pure joy of seeing Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara. Catherine O'Hara passed away on January 30, 2026, and that performance she gave as the show came to an end will just stay with us forever.
Succession
Sarah Shatz/HBO
That closing shot of our number one boy, Kendall, gazing out into the abyss at Battery Park, still haunts us to this day. Nicholas Britell's dramatic score hovers in the background as Kendall loses everything he's ever strived for, and the whole thing is almost too chilling to bear.
New Girl
FOX
After spending so many years with this hilarious group of friends, it is such a relief to see that they're all still connected so many years later. And playing True American with their kids? That's just the cherry on top.
Sex and the City
HBO
After all that heartache, all that struggle, and all those god-awful dates, the ladies have finally found love. But as much as they adore their romantic partners, the iconic HBO series has never let us forget that the true love story on SATC is the one between Carrie, Charlotte, Samantha, and Miranda. Now that's aspirational.
The Office
NBC
If that finale didn't make you cry your eyes out, you might need to go to the doctor to check if your soul's working properly. That cameo featuring Michael Scott was a television masterpiece. It felt like seeing a beloved old friend again after years apart.
Girls
HBO
The "girls" have come a long way since their arrested development days in Greenpoint. Well, at least some of them have (cough, cough, Shoshanna Shapiro). Although many of the characters didn't end up where they expected to, Lena Dunham offers a painfully realistic depiction of where we thought we'd be in the latter half of our 20s versus where we actually end up.
Six Feet Under
HBO
The finale of Six Feet Under is widely hailed as one of the greatest ever, delivering an emotionally devastating yet beautifully cathartic goodbye. Its unforgettable closing montage, set to Sia’s “Breathe Me,” offers a rare, complete sense of closure—honoring life’s fragility, inevitability, and grace in a way few series have ever matched.
Friends
NBC
The finale of Friends remains one of the most beloved ever, drawing over 50 million viewers when it aired in 2004. It perfectly balances closure and nostalgia, from Ross and Rachel’s long-awaited reunion to that quiet moment of leaving the keys behind—proof that sometimes, the simplest goodbyes hit the hardest.
Mad Men
AMC
The finale of Mad Men ranks among the greatest, delivering a quietly brilliant, character-driven close. Don Draper’s ambiguous transformation—culminating in the iconic Coke ad—perfectly blends reinvention and illusion, capturing the show’s core themes. It’s subtle, thought-provoking, and lingers long after the final scene fades.
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