More often than not, popular shows leave our livings rooms way too soon. In most cases (pre-Internet days) audiences weren’t even notified of a show’s conclusion. But in some cases, and this is mainly due to lasting popularity of a cast of characters, viewers are rewarded with a feature presentation to end the overall arc. Waste this weekend with shows that (sort of) ended with feature films.

The Popular Choice – Sex and the City – 1998 – 2004

Sex and the City – 2008

Alright, so Sex and the City never actually ended with the feature film in 2008. In fact, Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda will be making a return to the big screen this May for Sex and the City 2, but before the first movie, fans of the show were given a nice salute with a big screen send off.

When the show ended in 2004 each character had gotten what they had been working towards for the passed six years and although the fan reaction was lukewarm, Sex and the City was essentially over. But fans craved more. They wanted to know what happened beyond the finale, beyond 2006 and even beyond New York City. So show creator Darren Star gave them what they wanted and the response was huge. I wouldn’t consider the Sex and the City films as movies per-say, just really long episodes with a lot of time in between. So in preparation for the next big screen installment, pop in the Sex and the City movie and get reacquainted.

The Nostalgic Choice – X-Files – 1993 – 2002

X-Files: I Want To Believe – 2008

X-Files was one of the longest running shows ever to air on Fox and because of this, the number of fans during the nine year run were extremely devoted. Mulder and Scully has graced the big screen once before back in 1998 with Fight the Future, but audiences were aware that no matter what happened in the film, the FBI duo would be back on the small screen the following season. When the final episode aired a large chunk of the mysteries had been solved, but fans craved more Mulder and Scully. With the help of DVD sales and the fact that many sci-fi shows credit X-Files as a pioneer series for the genre, creator Chris Carter was able to make it happen back in 2008. X-files: I Want to Believe got mixed reviews (okay, not a whole lot of people enjoyed it beyond myself), but it did give a proper send off to Fox, Dana and Skinner. If you’re a sci-fi fan, pay homage this weekend by popping I Want to Believe.

The Lesser Known Choice – Firefly – 2002 – 2003

Serenity – 2005

The story of Joss Whedon‘s film Serenity is well documented (especially by himself in the DVD commentary), but the short version is this. Firefly never found a true home on TV. Fans had to scour TV guides during it’s run to find even one episode. When the show was finally put to rest, it was almost comical as Whedon wasn’t even able to air the final episodes. Fans were left to guess what happened to Mal, Wash, Zoe, Inara, Jayne, Kaylee and the rest of the crew on Serenity without anything to grasp onto. All hail the power of the Internet and DVD sales as fans petitioned and literally saved the series. Whedon didn’t get permission to continue Firefly on the small screen, instead he was given permission to wrap everything up with a feature film. Serenity is a true movie ending to a series where all of the main story arcs are completed, the mysteries are solved and main characters die. With a very small number of total episodes on DVD combined with the movie finale, you could easily waste this weekend with Firefly and Serenity.