The 15 worst final seasons of TV shows

The INSIDER Summary:

• People love TV and when they find their favorite they are hooked until an abrupt, unfortunate ending .
• "Weeds,""Gilmore Girls," and "Gossip Girl" could have given their fans something more. 

The formula for a successful television show is a tough one to crack, and it’s rare to find a series that can pull it all off. Some TV series start off a bit shakey, but find their footing at a later date. Others take the world by storm, before falling under their own hubris. Sadly, even the Netflix generation only have so much time on our hands for binge-watching, and any show that loses their luster rarely gets a second chance (sorry American Horror Story) — especially when there’s so many other great series we could be spending our evenings and weekends on (case in point, Jessica Jones).

What is perhaps even sadder is when a show has a really good run, only to ruin it with a truly terrible final season. After all, who wants to dedicate hours, maybe even years, of our lives to a series, only to be left with a gaping hole in our hearts at the end of it all? (Yes, we’re aware we’re being overdramatic). Here are the 15 Worst Final Seasons Of TV Shows. It’s safe to say that none of these series ended on a high note.

Gilmore Girls

As much as we love Gilmore Girls, it just wasn’t the same after creator Amy Sherman-Palladino left at the end of season six. ASP and her husband/collaborator Daniel Palladino upped sticks before production began on the infamous season seven, reportedly over contract disputes with The CW network. This resulted in a final season filled with storylines that not only didn’t fit with character’s previous MOs, but also lost out on the speedy dialogue and quirky charm that originally made the show a success.

Some fans don’t even acknowledge this final season as part of the official canon, whereas others feel the final series left plenty of unfinished business on the table. Fortunately, the Netflix revival, with Amy and Daniel back at the helm, has solved most of these issues – from the big question mark over Luke and Lorelai’s relationship to Rory’s seemingly never-ending ability to get everything she wants with minimal effort. (We admit, it was nice to see her struggle a bit in the new series.) ASP even got to the finish the show how she originally intended for season seven to end – with THOSE four words.

Glee

Back in 2009, FOX’s musical comedy-drama Glee became a full-on pop culture phenomenon. Created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan, the show centers on the fictional William McKinley High glee club — better known as the New Directions — as well as their teacher/club director Will Schuester. Glee was responsible for putting breakout talent Lea Michele, Diana Agron, and the late Corey Monteith in the spotlight. The cast even went on tour, performing at the White House and topping the iTunes charts. However, Glee’s success was down to more than just the music. The show explored a range of issues relating to modern day teens, from underage drinking to sexuality and relationships.

Still, as the show dredged into its later years, it began to lose its momentum. Once the original cast headed off to college, writers brought in new club members, but the new New Directions didn’t capture audiences in the same way. Simultaneously, writers struggled to fit the old characters into the storylines, and Monteith’s death in 2013 was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The show gradually died out, and by the time the finale came around, it seemed everyone had just forgotten Glee even existed.

True Blood

When HBO first launched True Blood, fans couldn’t get enough of this supernatural TV show set in the Deep South. Based on Charlaine Harris’ book series The Southern Vampire mysteries, True Blood follows telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse, who lives in the small-town of Bon Temps, Louisiana. The majority of Bon Temps residents think Sookie is a little strange, which is probably why she gets on so well with the vampire Bill when he moves into town.

For the first few seasons, we all thirsted after the romance between Sookie and Bill (as well as the love triangle with Sookie’s boss Sam, a secret shapeshifter) — not to mention the ridiculously explicit sex scenes and campy humor. However, the more supernatural beings that came into the picture (witches, a demi-god, etc.), and the more outlandish the storylines became, the more we lost interest. Most fans dropped off for good when it was revealed that “every girl” Sookie was actually a fairy, and she stopped being so relatable. The final season delivered lackluster and predictable narratives, and ended with Bill dead and Sookie married and expecting the child of an unknown (human) guy. Still a better love story than Twilight., though.