Warning: This article gives away HUGE spoilers to some classic TV shows, so it's your own fault if you keep reading.
Happy or sad, here are the final chapters of TV which gave us fans the satisfying endings we deserved after years of obsessive dedication, in no particular order.
1. Friends
After 10 years of our favourite thirty-something New Yorkers drinking coffee and 'bumping uglies', fans were given the right kind of closure they wanted. Ross and Rachel got back together after an epic plane dash, Monica and Chandler had twins, Phoebe was settling into married life with Mike, and Joey... well, he got a new sitcom... yay?
It made sense that the characters were all moving on, rather than forcing an end for no reason. And that final scene of the gang heading for one last drink in Central Perk still makes us well up.
2. Breaking Bad
For a long while, we had no idea how the hell they were going to wrap up Walter White's journey from cancer-suffering teacher to drugs baron in a satisfying way. But somehow, they did.
Knowing he was facing his end while wanting to make amends for all his wrongs along the way, Walter manages to wrap up everything from leaving his family an inheritance to rescuing Jesse from his Nazi captors, before the anti-hero dies from a shrapnel wound in a meth lab, all to the tune of Badfinger's 'Baby Blue'. It couldn't have had a better end.
3. The Wire
Many characters were given proper endings in The Wire, such as McNulty celebrating his forced retirement with an Irish wake, Carcetti being elected governor and Bubbles finally getting clean.
But then, in true Wire style, there was also tragedy. A now teenage Dukie, our favourite clean-cut student, was seen shooting up in an alleyway and falling into the same trap Bubbles did years before. What could have been a miserable end to the series was handled in such a perfect way that you just couldn't help but applaud.
4. The Office UK
Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant realised the golden rule for keeping a sitcom brilliant forever: stop before it gets too stale. Well, that was until Ricky decided to bring Brent back 13 years later.
Ending the cult hit-turned-cultural phenomenon with a two-part Christmas special, the show saw a struggling Brent manage to meet a potential partner who actually liked him, told baddie Finch to f**k off, and best of all... Tim and Dawn FINALLY got together in a soppy but beautiful way.
5. Blackadder Goes Forth
Not all good endings are happy ones. Blackadder had already managed pulling off the incredible feat of making the horrors of WWII funny in its final series, but they then did the unthinkable: made us cry.
Having failed to get himself sent home on insanity grounds ('Wibble'), Blackadder builds up the courage to lead his team over the top – and to their certain deaths.
The moment when Rowan Atkinson's reluctant leader says "good luck, everyone" before they meet their end in slow motion, and the field slowly turns into poppies, remains one of the all-time greatest TV moments, and offered a fitting tribute to those who died in the war.
6. Six Feet Under
A large chunk of the episode sees the Fishers dealing with Nate's death two episodes before, and somehow it manages to stay on the right sight of uplifting vs miserable.
It's full tearjerker for the whole half-hour, from Claire leaving for the east coast and saying goodbye (with the ghost of Nate sending her away), to seeing a montage of how every single character ends up dying to the tune of Sia's 'Breathe Me'. On paper, that sounds utterly depressing, but for those of us who were with the show from the beginning, it was the perfect end.
7. Gavin & Stacey
James Corden and Ruth Jones made the right decision to end this beloved comedy after just three series when they could easily have carried it on for years (and the Late Late Show host is probably fairly happy he chucked it in right about now).
Technically, there isn't much of an ending in Gavin & Stacey, but then again they couldn't really 'end' it like other sitcoms, as they're all going to still be families and friends and live where they are. It's not like with Friends where they're all moving out, or How I Met Your Mother where Ted's story was finally finished.
But what we did get was Smithy convincing Nessa not to marry Dave, and then six months later we see a heavily pregnant Stacey, while Smithy is living in Barry Island with Nessa and their baby Neil, and we're treated to a very brief pat on the shoulder, which for Smithy and Nessa basically means they're in love.
8. Scrubs
In case you're wondering, we're not counting the dodgy ninth season, which was basically a spin-off with a bunch of the same characters. We mean the finale of its eighth season, the one with an actual ending.
The comedy with (sacred) heart saw JD decide to finally leave the hospital to be closer to his son, and so we're treated to an hour of goodbyes, from the emotional dreamlike sequence where every character from the past (big or small) is seen in one place in the corridor, to him FINALLY getting a hug from grumpy Dr Cox. It was the send-off JD and we deserved after eight years.
9. Cheers
You know that cliché gag of wistfully surveying your surroundings as you leave a room, before you switch off the lights one last time? That's all down to Cheers and its excellent finale.
The bar where everybody knows your name was closed for good (for us at least), but not before owner Sam Malone realised that Boston was his home, rather than running off with former flame Diane. At the time, critics didn't like the fact they didn't end up together, but over time it's clear that it was the right decision. "Sorry, we're closed."
10. The Shield
FX's stellar, and sorely underrated, cop show The Shield climaxed in the most perfect way possible. For seven seasons, the path of corrupt cop Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) seemed like it could only end one of two ways – he dies or he goes to jail.
But in the end, the show took a different, far more satisfying route. Though he landed immunity for his crimes, the 'super cop' was stripped of his badge, lost the love of his friends and family, and was doomed to a life pushing papers as a government desk clerk.
For a man as proud as Vic, a man who lived for the respect and adoration of others, this was the worst possible punishment for his crimes.
