Season finale facts for kids

A season finale is the very last episode of a season for a TV show. Think of it like the grand ending of a chapter in a book! These episodes are often the last ones made for a few months or even longer. Because of this, they often try to make you excited to keep watching when the show comes back.

Sometimes, a season finale will end with a big surprise or a question that isn't answered. This is called a cliffhanger. It makes you really want to know what happens next in the new season! Other times, a finale might wrap up all the stories nicely, leaving you feeling happy and still wanting more of the show later.

Famous Season Finales

Here are some well-known examples of exciting season finales:

Dallas: Who Shot J.R.?

The TV show Dallas (from 1978 to 1991) was a soap opera known for its dramatic endings. Many of its seasons finished with a cliffhanger. The most famous one was in 1980, called "Who shot J.R.?" In this episode, someone tries to hurt a main character named J.R. Ewing. Everyone wondered who did it! The mystery was finally solved a few episodes later in the next season.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Best of Both Worlds

In 1990, the third season of Star Trek: The Next Generation ended with "The Best of Both Worlds." In this episode, a scary alien group called the Borg attacks. They kidnap Captain Picard, the leader of the Enterprise spaceship. The Borg turn him into one of them, named Locutus of Borg. The episode ends with Locutus telling the Enterprise that they will also be taken over. The second-in-command, Riker, bravely orders his crew to fire. This ending is still one of the most talked-about in all of Star Trek!

Friends: Ross's Wedding and Vegas Wedding

The popular sitcom Friends had some memorable finales.

• "The One with Ross's Wedding" (1998): In the fourth season finale, Ross is getting married in London. His friend Rachel shows up, thinking she might tell him she loves him. But she decides not to. During the wedding vows, Ross accidentally says Rachel's name instead of his bride's! The episode ends with everyone wondering if the wedding will continue.
• "The One in Vegas" (1999): The fifth season of Friends ended with another big surprise. Ross and Rachel accidentally get married in Las Vegas while they are not thinking clearly! This led to more funny adventures in the next season.

Blackadder: Unexpected Endings

The Blackadder series had a unique way of ending its seasons. The final episodes, like "The Black Seal" (1983), "Chains" (1986), and "Duel and Duality" (1987), often had the main characters meet an unexpected end. This was unusual for TV shows and helped show that each Blackadder series was a separate story. The final episode, "Goodbyeee" (1989), also had a very memorable and sad ending.

Green Wing: Literal Cliffhangers

The British hospital sitcom Green Wing used a funny trick for its season finales. Both its first season finale (2004) and second season finale (2006) ended with characters literally driving off a cliff!

• In the first season, a character named Guy drives an ambulance to the edge of a cliff.
• In the second season, Dr. Statham takes a campervan to the edge of the same cliff.

The show never fully explained how they survived. This was a playful way to make fun of how many shows use cliffhangers to keep viewers hooked.

Farscape: To Be Continued... Maybe

The science fiction show Farscape ended its fourth season in 2003 with an episode called "Bad Timing." It finished with a huge cliffhanger where the main characters, John Crichton and Aeryn Sun, seemed to be gone forever. The TV channel had decided to cancel the show, but the creators still ended it with "To be continued" to show they wanted to make more. Luckily, fans pushed for more, and the story was finally finished in a special two-part movie called The Peacekeeper Wars.

Series Finale

Sometimes, an episode is not just the end of a season, but the very last episode of the entire show! This is called a series finale. It usually wraps up all the stories and says goodbye to the characters.

Sometimes, a show gets cancelled unexpectedly. When this happens, what was supposed to be just a season finale might become the series finale instead. This means some stories might not get a proper ending. Examples of shows where this happened include John Doe, Invasion, and Everybody Hates Chris.

In Sports

In sports, people sometimes use the term "season finale" to describe the final big event of a sporting season. For example, the last game of a soccer season or the final race in Motocross might be called a "season finale." This is probably because so many people watch these events on television!

See also

In Spanish: Final de temporada para niños