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"How I Met Your Mother" ended after nine seasons on March 31, and fans are split on the finale, with some saying they absolutely hated it. Shows have let down fans before. Here's a look at some of the best, and worst, finales (of course, there are spoilers):
The AMC drama "Breaking Bad," about a former high-school chemistry teacher turned corrupt meth kingpin, aired its final episode in September 2013, and fans still haven't stopped talking about it -- or gotten over the show ending. Overall, many seemed more upset that the series was over than about how it ended.
For "Seinfeld's" final episode, co-creator Larry David returned to write the script. He apparently decided that the four main characters were beyond help, because they ended up in jail after a trial in which many of those they'd wronged testified.
Having the characters just hang out at the "Cheers" bar for one last scene (after Sam nearly left them all for Diane) seemed a very appropriate way for "Cheers" to say goodbye. And when a customer knocked on the door, Sam Malone -- in the darkened bar -- said, "Sorry, we're closed."
The critically acclaimed but low-rated "Freaks and Geeks" shot its series finale early just in case it got canceled, and it was a doozy. From Nick's dance contest to Daniel playing "Dungeons & Dragons" to Lindsay and Kim secretly following the Grateful Dead for the summer, it was poignant, touching and everything we loved about this show.
After a truly bizarre final season of "Roseanne," it turned out the family did not win the lottery after all. It was just a story Roseanne made up after husband, Dan, died. Kind of a downer ending.
For "Friends," everything was wrapped up with a bow. Ross ended up with Rachel; Monica and Chandler, with kids in tow, moved out of the building; and Phoebe was married off. Joey was off to L.A. for his own sure-to-be-successful spinoff ... Oops. Still, it was a nice, tidy sendoff after 10 years.
"The Cosby Show" finale came full circle as Theo -- struggling with school in the series premiere -- graduated college. It was great to see Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashad hold hands and get one last round of applause from the studio audience.
Capt. Jean-Luc Picard's travels through time with Q, and that last shot of the crew playing cards, made for a fitting farewell for "Star Trek: The Next Generation." And of course the crew of the 24th-century Enterprise kept things going for four movies.
A record audience watched the tearjerker of a finale for "M*A*S*H" in 1983, as the Korean War ended and everyone prepared to go their separate ways.
"Lost" had one of the most controversial endings of all time, but how could it not? The expectations were so high going into it. For every detractor, there was a defender for this finale -- in which Jack saves the day and dies moments later. The episode was more concerned with an ending to the story than it was in explaining the many mysteries. That was saved for a DVD-only epilogue.
In the finale of "Frasier," Niles and Daphne had a kid, Martin married Ronee, and the character of Dr. Frasier Crane left Seattle with a new potential love interest, bidding goodbye to television after 20 years.
Long after many viewers cared -- in large part due to the departure of David Duchovny in season 7 -- "X-Files" got Scully and Mulder back together. We learned that aliens would colonize Earth and the world was set to end on December 22, 2012 (phew, that was close).
As Buffy and her expanded Scooby gang fought to save the world one last time (though Sunnydale didn't quite survive), the premise behind "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" came to something of a logical conclusion, with every potential Slayer being activated around the world.
Quite possibly the biggest anticlimax in TV history, when Tony Soprano met his family in a restaurant, looked up and then, with Journey's "Don't Stop Believin' " playing in the background, fade to black. "Sopranos" fans are still debating that ending.
revealed an alternate ending where Jenner returned to his new girlfriend, Lauren Conrad, but honestly, who knows what to believe?" border="0" height="360" id="articleGalleryPhoto0016" width="640"/>Sure, we all knew that "The Hills" wasn't exactly "reality," but the "revelation" that it was shot at a movie studio was still a bit shocking, if not downright insulting. Apparently Kristin Cavallari and Brody Jenner wanted to leave us with a symbolic final shot that would have us questioning what was real. Earlier this year, MTV revealed an alternate ending where Jenner returned to his new girlfriend, Lauren Conrad, but honestly, who knows what to believe?
TV movie." border="0" height="360" id="articleGalleryPhoto0017" width="640"/>"ALF" producers seemed to be overly confident that the alien sitcom would return for a fifth season, after they had ALF captured by the military in the finale, just before NBC canceled it. We wouldn't know what became of him for several years, when ABC picked up a TV movie.
Everything that happened at St. Eligius over all those years? It was all in the mind of a boy with autism. So were those six seasons of "St. Elsewhere" a giant waste of time?
"Dinosaurs," the wacky sitcom with the Jim Henson life-size puppets, ended with all of the characters about to be wiped out by the Ice Age. Ha ha?
in "The Fugitive," Dr. Richard Kimble finally caught up with that one-armed man who killed his wife and got his ultimate revenge. It doesn't get more satisfying than that in TV drama.
"Life on Mars" only lasted a season on ABC, but there was some anticipation to see how the producers would end their version of the series after the UK's incredible finale. It turned out that Sam Tyler's trip to the 1970s was all created in his mind, as he slept in suspended animation, before landing on Mars. A bit literal, don't you think?
Lois and Clark got married (they saved it for the end, unlike the other show with their namesake), and finally, 10 years into "Smallville," we got to see Clark don the iconic red and blue suit.
It was Dwight's wedding day (to Angela, thankfully) and Pam and Jim were ready to move on. Michael Scott showing up to fill the role of Dwight's best man was just one of many things the finale of "The Office" got just right.
In the final minutes of "Big Love," Bill is suddenly gunned down by a neighbor,and the sister-wives are forced to move on without him. As we learn through an emotional flash-forward scene, even without Bill to bond them, they remain together. Definitely a shocker.
Psychic Allison DuBois could do many things on "Medium," but she couldn't save her husband, Joe. Her belief that her husband was still alive on an island somewhere turned out to be an illusion, and the whole thing was so depressing that it was only saved by a final scene where Allison died many years later and reunited with him.
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- "How I Met Your Mother" ends after nine seasons
- Viewers finally learn about Ted's truly love
- Some fans appeared angered by the ending
Editor's note: Spoiler alert! If you haven't seen the series finale of "How I Met Your Mother," read no further
(CNN) -- In the end, it was always Robin.
That was the big bombshell from Monday night's final episode of "How I Met Your Mother," which piled on one surprise after another.
When Ted finally finished the story for his kids, they called him on it: His story wasn't all about how he met their mother (she was barely in the story), it was about how much he loved Robin.
'HIMYM' leaves fans with a twist
As many had theorized, the mother of Ted's children (whose name was Tracy McConnell, by the way), had been dead for years by the time he told his story.
So, in the last of many flash-forwards in this finale, Ted went to the street in front of Robin's apartment and showed up with that blue French horn, the same one he stole for her in the first episode.
Robin, of course, had long ago divorced Barney -- the first big shocker of the night.
Barney, however, we would learn, became a father, and in one of several touching scenes from the episode, finally found the love of his life in baby Ellie.
Marshall and Lily, pregnant with their second child in the present day, went on to have a third, but Lily was heartbroken when Robin decided she couldn't be as much a part of their gang anymore, due in part to Barney continuing to be, well, Barney around her.
And what about the mother, aka Tracy? We finally did see that moment of the two meeting at that train station, and it was played perfectly by Josh Radnor and the Emmy-worthy Cristin Milioti.
They wouldn't get married for several years, having postponed their wedding when Tracy got pregnant with their first child.
Ted shared with his kids that he learned he had to love their mother with everything he had in him, through good times and bad, especially during her illness.
Needless to say, the show stayed true to form, as it had in all its nine years, wearing its heart on its sleeve. And if your eyes stayed dry through the entire episode, you're probably a stronger person than most viewers.
Of course, the big Robin twist didn't exactly sit well with everyone online (people such as Rocco Horvath @RoccoRacingAMA, who tweeted, "It took me so long to get over the fact Ted and Robin weren't going to end up together and now this?! Mixed Emotions"), and the finale seems to have split viewers more than any since "Lost."
#HIMYMFinale It took me so long to get over the fact Ted and Robin weren't going to end up together and now this?! Mixed Emotions..
— Rocco Horvath (@RoccoRacingAMA) April 1, 2014
Other viewers were more forgiving. "#HIMYM creators stayed true to the story," tweeted fan John Eisele. "Finale fit the show, even if it is not what I wanted. Can't stop thinking about it. #HIMYMFinale."
#HIMYM creators stayed true to the story. Finale fit the show, even if it is not what I wanted. Can't stop thinking about it. #HIMYMFinale
— John Eisele (@johneisele) April 1, 2014
What do you think? Do you wish Tracy had stayed alive and Ted didn't ultimately end up with Robin? Or do you think it was a fitting ending? For that matter, what do you think about Barney and Robin splitting up? Let us know in the comments and give yourself a self-five for making it all the way through nine seasons.
