30 Day TV Meme - Day 22

Day 22 - Favorite series finale

M*A*S*H.  By a country mile.

M*A*S*H had an advantage in that the "ending" was natural and self-evident.  The war had to end sometime.  The added brilliance was in the stories told in a 2-hour period in a race to the finish line.  Namely, Hawkeye finally cracked.  The way that story unfolded - with the awesome Alan Arbus in his recurring role as an army psychiatrist - was Hawkeye trying to piece together the fragments of memory from the trauma that led to a breakdown.

As that story arc ended, the peace process picks up and we watch our heroes making plans to go home.  There is a great scene where we hear what everyone plans to do next.  the punchline, of course, belongs to Klinger.

The word Goodbye spelled out in the rocks is an iconic picture now, but it was really powerful in context.  It was natural, true to the series, worked as a stand alone ep and tied up the loose ends.  I can't think of another show that did it so well.