Fawlty Towers is arguably the most vaunted show in TV history. A mere 12 episodes of the John Cleese comedy were made, but is there anyone in the world who, having watched Basil ingratiate himself to the obnoxious American wanting a Waldorf Salad or humiliate the long-suffering Manuel, doesn't hanker for more?
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Conversely, by the time the last of more than 400 episodes of All Saints aired in 2009, did anyone in Australia shed a tear knowing that the doctors-and-nurses soap had come to an end?
Sometimes when you're making a TV show it's good to have the end in mind. Just ask the creators of Breaking Bad, who wound up 62 episodes of the drama last year with the same level of finesse that Beethoven composed his symphonies.
Years after the finale of The Sopranos, fans continue to dissect and YouTube the enigmatic and teasingly incomplete final frames of the great mob drama. The same can't be said of the moment Julie Rafter closed the door of the once-crowded house where the dramas and key characters of the extended Rafter clan had long been extinguished.
With this week's debut of the seventh and final season of Mad Men, we will inevitably watch it through a sentimental prism knowing that it will end next year.
But given the form of creator and showrunner Matthew Weiner and the cast that have brought characters like Don Draper, Roger Sterling and Joan Harris (nee Holloway) to life, this long road to the end promises to be memorable.
Jon Hamm, who plays the suave but troubled Don Draper, was speaking for others in the cast when he told a recent press junket, ''There's going to be laughter, there's going to be tears, there's going to be a lot of acting out'' when the show ends.
Undoubtedly, much of the pleasure of watching Mad Men's last hurrah will come with the knowledge that everything from here on is in the service of what promises to be a very sweet farewell.
