The Shield [1], the show that opened the door for so many of today's great basic cable TV series (Damages [2], Mad Men [3], and The Closer [4], to name just a few), will come to an end tonight. The Vic Mackey era closes with this 88th and final episode, "Family Meeting."

The episode is being described as "brilliant," [5] and a few writers have already called it their favorite drama series finale ever [6]. That's a pretty big statement, especially because several other series have set the bar so high. My favorite is still the sob-inducing [7] finale of Six Feet Under [8], but this Spring's finale of The Wire [9] is up there as well, and on a sentimental note, the bittersweet finale [10] of Gilmore Girls [11] will always get to me.

What about you? Which series finales are on your list of the best?

Photo courtesy of FX [12]