Most Controversial TV Finales Ever

The endings that split audiences right down the middle. Not necessarily bad, not necessarily good -- but guaranteed to start an argument at any dinner party, forever.

2007 8.8
Crime Drama

#1 The Sopranos

"Made in America" — The cut to black that divided America. Did Tony live or die? Nearly two decades later, people still argue.

2007 Crime Drama
2010 7.2
Sci-Fi Drama

#2 Lost

"The End" — Were they dead the whole time? (No, but...) The most misunderstood finale in TV history.

2010 Sci-Fi Drama
2019 4.1
Fantasy Drama

#3 Game of Thrones

"The Iron Throne" — 4 million petition signatures can't be wrong. The finale that launched a cultural reckoning.

2019 Fantasy Drama
2013 4.5
Crime Thriller

#4 Dexter

"Remember the Monsters?" — Lumberjack. Just... lumberjack. The one-word summation of a finale gone wrong.

2013 Crime Thriller
2014 4.2
Sitcom

#5 How I Met Your Mother

"Last Forever" — 9 seasons for THAT? The mother dies, Ted goes back to Robin, and fans riot.

2014 Sitcom
1998 5.5
Sitcom

#6 Seinfeld

"The Finale" — Prison for being terrible people. A meta-commentary that polarized the most-watched audience of 1998.

1998 Sitcom
1988 7.8
Drama

#7 St. Elsewhere

"The Last One" — It was all in an autistic child's snow globe. The twist that retroactively erased an entire series.

1988 Drama
2009 6.5
Sci-Fi

#8 Battlestar Galactica

"Daybreak" — God did it. Literally. A hard sci-fi show ended with divine intervention, and fans lost their minds.

2009 Sci-Fi
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