Top 10 Series Finales That Made Us Happy Cry
#10: "Brave New World (Part 2)" "Boy Meets World" (1993-2000)
When we first met Corey, Shawn, Topanga and the rest of the gang, they were a group of awkward middle schoolers getting into scrapes and having fun. But "Boy Meets World" followed them into adulthood, running for seven seasons and letting us grow up with them along the way. By the end of the series, our main characters are ready to move on from their lives in Philadelphia and make a big move to New York. The most important of their goodbyes comes when they bid farewell to Mr. Feeny, who they ask for one last piece of advice before they go. When he tells them he loves them after they leave the classroom, get ready for the waterworks.
#9: "The Stockholm Syndrome" "The Big Bang Theory" (2007-19)
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It takes something special for a sitcom to run for twelve seasons, and while it may have been divisive, you can’t argue the fact that "The Big Bang Theory" certainly had a serious fanbase. There is a lot going on in the series finale, with Howard and Bernadette leaving their kids for the first time in order to travel to Sweden for the Nobel Prize ceremony. Penny has found out she’s pregnant, but wants to keep it a secret from the rest of the gang- but obviously fails. There are as many mishaps as always, but the touching moment comes when Sheldon gets up to thank his friends for all of the support they’ve given him over the years, showing a side of him we’ve rarely seen before.
#8: "Our Thanks" "Scrubs" (2001-10)
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There aren’t too many great medical comedies out there, but "Scrubs" paved the way, starting in the early aughts, for a hospital show that didn’t have to take itself too seriously. Despite being lighthearted, there were still plenty of emotional moments, with the series finale giving us plenty to happy cry about. J.D. envisions his future, and we get to see what he sees. The flash forwards include marrying Elliot, and her becoming pregnant, as well as a Christmas scene where we see many of our favorite characters reunite. Not only that, but he sees Sammy and Izzy getting engaged, and to make sure things don’t get too serious, he falls over from the shock.
#7: "Chapter One Hundred" "Jane the Virgin" (2014-19)
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The finale of "Jane the Virgin" features our romantic leads finally making things official. At Jane and Rafael’s wedding, both are crying too much to get through their vows, so they simply swap papers and read them quietly to themselves and kiss before they were supposed to. We find out that Jane’s son, Mateo, has been the narrator all along. And at the very end, Rafeal asks Jane what happens at the end of her book, and she reveals that it’s turned into a telenovela, giving a knowing wink to the audience.
#6: "Always" "Friday Night Lights" (2006-11)
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Many have said that Coach Taylor and Tami are one of the best and most realistic portrayals of a married couple on TV, and we get to tearfully marvel at them one last time in the series finale of "Friday Night Lights." Coach is wrestling with a decision whether he’ll continue his position on the team, or follow Tami to her new job offer in Philadelphia. We get to see a montage of what happens eight months afterwards, which includes a "Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose" sign being put up and Eric trying to use the phrase with his new team.
#5: "I, Done" "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (1990-96)
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You might remember "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" for it’s oh-so-memorable theme song or for Will Smith’s fly fashion sense, but it’s easy to forget how deeply this show struck an emotional chord at various points throughout the series. In the final episode, the Banks family, who took Will in at the very beginning ,decide to leave Los Angeles for good, and put their house on the market. While Will is unsure if he’s actually made any progress since moving to California, the audience can clearly see that he has. He opts to stay and finish his degree, so he has to say goodbye to his adoptive family; and the moment he has with Uncle Phil, has us grabbing for Kleenex.
#4: "Engram Pattersky" "New Girl" (2011-18)
At first, fans are led to believe that the "New Girl" finale is about one thing, but with a clever twist, it becomes about something else entirely. It seems as though the gang is being evicted from the loft where so many of the events of the show took place, but it’s eventually revealed that the eviction is just a prank from Winston. But they decide to leave anyway, even though they aren’t being forced to. We see them play one last game of True American (Packing Edition), which morphs into a vision of the future, when they’re all playing with their children. The ending is just so touching when they leave the loft for the last time.
#3: "One Last Ride" "Parks and Recreation" (2009-15)
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The seventh and final season of "Parks and Rec" does a time jump to the year 2017 (which was actually the future back when the episode aired in 2015). In the final episode however, we jump forward even further, showing how all of the characters' lives evolve all the way up to the year 2048. In the furthest flash forward, we see Garry’s funeral after he died at the age of 100. Ben and Leslie are of course in attendance, and they are accompanied by Secret Service agents, which leads us to assume that most likely Leslie finally achieved her goal of becoming president.
#2: "Finale" "The Office" (2005-13)
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Considering how beloved it is, there’s pretty much no way "The Office" could have ended that wouldn’t have left us in happy tears. After watching the hapless employees of the Dunder Mifflin Scranton branch for nine seasons, it’s safe to say that we were emotionally attached to them. The finale is especially evocative considering the show had already experienced a decline after losing its star, Steve Carell. But in the final episode he returns to act as Dwight’s best man at his wedding to Angela. The rest of the employees reminisce about their time at the office, and express how grateful they are to the film crew who documented it all for them. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions: "Last Lunch" "30 Rock" (2006-13) "Bon Voyage" "Gilmore Girls" (2000-07) "Person to Person" "Mad Men" (2007-15) "Graduation on Deck" "The Suite Life on Deck" (2008-11) "Yes, It's Really Us Singing: The Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Concert Special!" "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" (2015-19)
#1: "The Last One, Part 2" "Friends" (1994-2004)
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"Friends" has a purely happy ending, and yet it makes us cry harder than pretty much anything else. Ross and Rachel end up together. She got off the plane! Monica and Chandler find out that they’re actually going to become parents to twins at the very last moment. Joey gets Monica and Chandler a chick and duck as a misguided housewarming gift, and they get stuck in the foosball table- which he is forced to destroy. But the devastating part is seeing the apartment empty when they’re about to leave, and the panning shot that shows their keys left behind. Luckily, we can watch it over and over again, so it’s never really done!
