Have you ever just watched the series finale of a show?

[NewHeavensNewEarth]

Lost is a particularly good example of a show where the last season is the weakest of all the seasons and not a good representation of why the show is hyped. I also would strongly recommend against using the finale for Battlestar Galactica.

Oh my, I'm still like one of Pavlov's dogs when I hear those magic words "Battlestar Galactica" (as I'm sure you can tell from my avatar). Yes, it would have been a very unfulfilling (and probably confusing) experience to only watch the series finale of that show. But my instincts are about 95% correct when it comes to what TV/movies/books I'll like or won't like, and I made sure that nothing would keep me from watching my BSG week-to-week as it originally aired.

Speaking for myself, there's also a sweet spot that lies squarely between "interest" and "disinterest," and it's satiated by 1 hour rather than satiating my inner couch potato with 40 hours or more. The last thing I really need is another show to be hooked on, and my dog won't tolerate a couch potato. There's a nice trail at the end of my block, and she is quite insistent about using it when the weather is halfway cooperating. Her Pavlovian phrase isn't "Battlestar Galactica," it's "go for a walk."

So while I'm sure the finale-watching approach isn't for everyone, I feel a little better about being informed without being engrossed. But I won't expect to hear a "So say we all!" to that.

 

[Starkers]

I can't remember whether it was intentional or accident, but I watched the tail end of the finale of the US version of Life on Mars

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I unserstand the 1 hour approach, I just don’t understand the choice of series finale versus recommended episode from fans. Guess we can agree to disagree.

 

[suarezguy]

I did that for Friends I think in 2015 or '16 (aside from maybe watching one episode around '99) and am a little regretful I did ... I had bought the final episode DVD and got tired of just having it around, I didn't watch the earlier episodes because I'm a pretty big stickler for original broadcast version and they're only available in either extended version or non-fullscreen version.

The episode was average, not motivating to watch others (though lack of original broadcast versions would be discouraging even if it was good).

 

[suarezguy]

Also I had seen a few but very few episodes of X-Men before watching the final episode in '97. Despite liking some of the characters (especially Magneto) and being a huge Spider-Man fan it was discouraging for it to have such a big cast and so many storylines/backstory already happened and I was busy watching and enjoying other stuff (Spider-Man, Power Rangers, PBS, sitcoms). Watching the first four episodes in 2003 was more appealing and then (after reading a lot of the comics) I watched a lot of the show starting in 2012.

 

[Admiral2]

Yes. The How I Met Your Mother finale. It was pizza night at a friends’ house and they had that on.

I did this one just to see if the end of the story was any less stupid than I thought the whole series was. It wasn't.

MA*A*S*H the TV show is excellent. Although I'm one of the few people who much prefer the show once Col. Potter and Major Winchester came in, its worth watching all the way through.

I've avoided the movie like the plague. I've only seen clips of it, but its pretty messed up. Very much of its time in all the worst ways (not that the TV show doesn't have its problematic moments, but its very different).

I'm the exact opposite. The series never got a tenth as funny as the movie.

Also, most recently I did this with The Umbrella Academy on Netflix, just to see how they'd handle the White Violin.

 

[od0_ital]

Well, no, I wouldn't want to watch a finale without knowing the characters, arcs or stories that led up to it. That being said, I did stop watching Smallville after a few seasons, would tune in for random episodes if I read about them using a particular superhero, villain or guest star, and then watched the series finale.

 

[John Clark]

Well, no, I wouldn't want to watch a finale without knowing the characters, arcs or stories that led up to it. That being said, I did stop watching Smallville after a few seasons, would tune in for random episodes if I read about them using a particular superhero, villain or guest star, and then watched the series finale.

I'm probably leaning that way with CSI (The Las Vegas one). I did watch the earlier seasons, but wouldn't mind seeing the finale.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I think when shows were less serialized and were more of a series of unconnected stories, it was far easier to do this kind of thing. I've been known to check out a show or two, sometimes during a finale just to see what the fuss has been all about. But with a serialized show, I'd find myself so confused; it'd be like crashing a party you weren't invited and not knowing the guests or their histories.

 

[Q2UnME]

I'll probably be doing this for the Big Bang Theory. I haven't watched the show in years, became more of the 'same-old same-old' for me, so I dropped it. I'll probably tune in for the series finally just to see how it wraps up.
Q2

 

[bigdaddy]

I had a friend who went to a LOST Finale party having never even heard of the show.

 

[Aragorn]

I've never only watched a series finale, but I did bail on Star Trek: Voyager a little more than halfway through and returned for the finale, and picked right up on everything because nothing had changed. The characters hadn't developed, time travel and technobabble were still front and center, and the show still refused to deal with the consequences of its premise.

 

[bigdaddy]

the show still refused to deal with the consequences of its premise.

The premise being having a small ship stuck out in the Delta because of it's bi-polar captain who changes her mind to fit whatever horrid story they came up with that day?

 

[od0_ital]

I had a friend who went to a LOST Finale party having never even heard of the show.

I once went to hang out with some friends at a Harry Potter book club, without having read a single Harry Potter book.

I even told the hostess that all I could contribute to the night was my awesome.

 

[Avro Arrow]

I'll probably be doing this for the Big Bang Theory. I haven't watched the show in years, became more of the 'same-old same-old' for me, so I dropped it. I'll probably tune in for the series finally just to see how it wraps up.

I used to watch The Simpsons regularly a long time ago, but haven't seen it now in years and years. If I ever happen to hear that they're actually ending the series at some point, I'll probably make an effort to tune into the final episode.

 

[tharpdevenport]

Hell no. I watch the series from beginning to end, unless it's something I accidentally stumbled upon on TV.

I get annoyed when I watch a TV series and I find out tne finale was aired out-of-order. Pretty pissed off that happened with "Miami Vice" and the cliff-hanger ending of "The Others".

 

[NewHeavensNewEarth]

I agree that it's often not really an accurate look at the series at its best, since the whole reason for a finale is often that the show has been in decline and getting worse & worse. But for a show I was never fully interested in to begin with, it seems like an efficient use of my time when I'm not looking to get hooked or binge on anything (other than Reese's peanut butter Easter eggs that line every grocery aisle I go down).

 

[Owain Taggart]

I once went to hang out with some friends at a Harry Potter book club, without having read a single Harry Potter book.

Did you eventually read them? Funny thing about me is that, while I read most of them, by the time the 7th book came out, my interest was already on to other things and I never ended up reading it. In fact, it was only just recently that I sat down and watched the two final movies.

 

[Caretaker]

There are some shows I'm curious about, but not curious enough to devote hundreds of hours to watching them. So sometimes I skip the entire show and just watch the series finale. I did that for "Lost" and "Orphan Black," and I have no regrets. Have you ever done that with a show?

It's kind of like skipping to the last page of a book you have a passing interest in. If I did more that more often, my library at home would be a lot more slim & trim.

One: Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

 

[od0_ital]

Did you eventually read them? Funny thing about me is that, while I read most of them, by the time the 7th book came out, my interest was already on to other things and I never ended up reading it. In fact, it was only just recently that I sat down and watched the two final movies.

Yes, just in the last couple of years, I checked out each one from the public library in Nacogdoches, and read all seven of 'em, almost one after the other (I think I took a break or two to read other stuff).

And I have seen all eight movies via DVD rental, and went to the theater for the two Fantastic Beasts films.