(#2) ALF
- Mihaly 'Michu' Meszaros, Paul Fusco, Max Wright
Up until the show's finale, the most disturbing thing about the lovable, alien fuzzball was his insatiable appetite for cats. That's pretty impressive, considering that ALF (Alien Life Form) ran for 102 episodes between 1986 and 1990.
While this is definitely a solid run, the series's dark final episode suggests that ALF was meant to continue even longer. "Consider Me Gone" ends when the friendly alien is captured by mysterious government agents who'd been keeping tabs on his every move. To make matters worse, it's implied that they plan to probe and dissect the poor guy in some underground lab. Fans had to wait six years to learn of ALF's true fate. .
(#1) Dinosaurs
- Stuart Pankin, Jessica Walter, Jason Willinger
Dinosaurs was Jim Henson's final gift to the world before he tragically passed away in the early '90s. The show focuses on a family of animatronic dinosaurs, and flaunts a goofy, playful attitude, right up until its infamously horrible series finale in 1994.
Earl — the Sinclair family's Megalosaurus patriarch — works for the Wesayso Corporation. While the company is well-intentioned, its work inadvertently messes with the laws of nature, and brings about an ice age that none of the dinosaurs can survive.
The show's harrowing final shots show the family sitting nervously in front of their TV — their house covered in snow — hoping desperately that the news will provide them with some reassurance. Instead, anchor Howard Handupme solemnly bids them, "Goodbye," at which point the screen fades to black.
(#8) Green Lantern: The Animated Series
- Josh Keaton, Kevin Michael Richardson, Jason Spisak
Helmed by DCAU architect Bruce Timm, Green Lantern: The Animated Series deserved a much longer run than it received. Sadly, the failure of the 2011 live-action film brought the considerably more stellar cartoon down with it.
As a result of its premature cancellation, the series accidentally went out on a real low note. In the final episode, Aya — a female-identifying AI — makes the ultimate sacrifice for the greater good. Left with no other option, she executes a computer virus to destroy all the evil Manhunters, and is inadvertently killed in the process.
Aya's teammate Razer refuses to accept that she's really dead, and the final scene shows him embarking on a mission to find her. However, viewers will sadly never know whether Aya actually survived the virus, as the show did not receive a second season.
(#7) Superman: The Animated Series
- Tim Daly, Joseph Bologna, Dana Delany
Following in the footsteps of Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: TAS was filled with the maturity and depth, but usually managed to wrap plot lines up in a light, optimistic manner.
"Legacy," the series's two-part conclusion, features Darkseid being characteristically cruel. After brainwashing Superman into believing that he's a villain, Darkseid sends the Kryptonian to destroy Earth. Though an intervention staged by Lex Luthor snaps him out of it, Superman ends up as a fugitive, and is forced to run from the military. To make matters worse, Darkseid's enslaved people choose to save their leader, even after Superman liberates them. The whole thing presents a moral that children probably shouldn't internalize.
(#10) Mighty Max
- Frank Welker, Tony Jay, Rob Paulsen, Richard Moll
Like He-Man, Mighty Max was ostensibly an extended toy advertisement, but that didn't stop kids in the early '90s from adoring the radical boy wonder. The show follows the righteous adventures of Max, a young boy who wears a magical baseball cap that can propel him through time and space.
The premise is unarguably fun, and each episode actually wraps with a "Moral Of The Day" segment. However, the series didn't shy away from darker moments, and the finale was no exception. After the villain Skullmaster kills Max's mentor and bodyguard, the preteen finds himself in precariously deep water. Seeing no other option, Max forces time to move in reverse, just so he can redo the entire adventure in the hopes of a better outcome.
(#12) Avatar: The Last Airbender
- Zach Tyler, Dee Bradley Baker, Mae Whitman
Although Avatar is epic in scope and features some richly complex characterization, the Nickelodeon series still manages to work in plenty of gags and silliness for younger viewers to enjoy. In the same vein, the show also succeeds in conveying the brutality of war without ever getting too graphic. While several prominent characters don't make it out alive, their deaths are usually fairly ambiguous.
In the final showdown between Aang and the Fire Lord Ozai, the Last Airbender writers found a pretty creative way to punish the series's villain. Rather than kill him, Aang takes all of his powers away, forcing Ozai to live on as shadow of his former self. If Aang had taken Ozai's life, the sequence might have been hard for young viewers to process, but a lifetime of punishment honestly seems worse than a quick death.
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About This Tool
The development of the TV industry was changing in the 1990s. Kids' shows are changing from classic cartoons to more creative animations. The interesting thing is that many people did not realize that the finale of many kid's shows had become weird, creepy, and even terrifying. Some are even the most popular TV shows of all time and are still regarded as classics today.
Everyone has their favorite TV show when they were kids. And many elderly people will re-watch their favorite nostalgic kids' shows, but some of them may ruin their childhood memories. Here the random tool lists 12 kids' shows which has dark finales.
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