Ending a hit show can be more difficult than starting one.

Writers face the daunting task of bringing closure to the lives of characters who have, in turn, opened up the lives of viewers.

The shows that blast out with style and class and intelligence are decidedly rare. Most series finales - from Seinfeld to St. Elsewhere to Roseanne - alienate loyal viewers by vaporizing the rhythms, tone, and structure that made the shows popular in the first place.

Five words: It was all a dream.

The much-hyped finale of Friends airs Thursday evening. After 10 seasons as one of the most beloved sitcoms in television history, NBC is asking advertisers to cough up $2 million for a 30-second spot, a figure unheard of when a football is not involved.

The finale - which closes the book on Ross, Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Phoebe, and Joey (well, he has a spinoff on the way) - is expected to attract over 80 million viewers.

Given all this, here are some Friends endings we’d better not see.

THE ONE THAT ENDS LIKE BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER ...

Phoebe alarms her friends when she starts skulking around Manhattan with a wooden stake, claiming the apocalypse is near. Back at Central Perk, the earth suddenly splits open and demons spill from the abyss. Gunther, with his platinum-blonde hair, sacrifices himself by holding on to a cappuccino machine as the coffeehouse goes up in flames.

THE ONE THAT ENDS LIKE SEINFELD ...

After failing to provide years of financial support for his son Ben, Ross finds himself in court. The other five Friends are also named as defendants. Past characters, including Paolo, Janice, Ross’s ex-wife Carol and her lesbian lover Susan, return to testify about the Friends’ narcissistic, self-involved antics. The show ends with the six Friends, like, so in prison.

THE ONE THAT ENDS LIKE FAMILY TIES ...

Joey gets a call from his new agent about a job opportunity in California. Elated, Joey regales the gang with tales about Hollywood and starts packing. When he leaves the next morning, he hugs everybody and tearfully says, "Oh man, I don’t know anything about investment banking."

THE ONE THAT ENDS LIKE THE X-FILES ...

Chandler admits his whole life has been a lie. He’s actually an FBI agent working on a top-secret project about extraterrestrials. A black helicopter soon hovers outside the balcony. Chandler tells a shocked Monica he is leaving to meet somebody called Cancer Man. He turns to a puzzled Phoebe and says, "Let’s go, Scully."

THE ONE THAT ENDS LIKE THE FUGITIVE...

The Friends are sitting around Central Perk, laughing and sipping coffee, when somebody identifying himself as Dr. Richard Kimble storms in and rips off Joey’s shirt. Joey has only one arm. Soon the coffeehouse is swarming with federal agents. Looking at his friend, Ross says, "Joey, why did you kill that dude’s wife?"

THE ONE THAT ENDS LIKE ROSEANNE ...

Getting ready to move into their new suburban home, Monica suddenly awakes and realizes the 10th season was a dream. Chandler, it is revealed, secretly kept smoking and died from a massive heart attack just before Ross and Joey started fighting over the hot paleontologist.

THE ONE THAT ENDS LIKE NEWHART ...

The finale opens with Monica playing golf. An errant ball smacks her in the head, leaving her unconscious. When she awakes, she’s in bed with Michael J. Fox who drops down an octave and says, "How you doin’?"

THE ONE THAT ENDS LIKE SEX AND THE CITY ...

Rachel goes to Paris. Worried about their friend, Monica and Phoebe ask Ross to go find her and bring her home. After forgetting about their stormy past, Ross and Rachel return to New York very much in love. Rachel pours herself a cosmo and starts typing interrogative passages in her laptop diary: "Is it better to love or fake? And can a gal forget they were on a break?"

THE ONE THAT ENDS LIKE ST. ELSEWHERE ...

The show ends in a private zoo with veterinarians looking into the fluttering eyes of Marcel the Monkey. As "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" plays in the background, viewers learn the entire Friends series took place in his simian imagination.

THE ONE THAT ENDS LIKE CHEERS ...

Watching TV one day, Ross is startled to see Emily appear on the BBC. He calls London to say hello. The next day she arrives in New York and begs him to run away with her. He nearly agrees, but then says the museum is the only place where everybody knows his name.

THE ONE THAT ENDS LIKE THE COSBY SHOW ...

A recently married Phoebe calls the gang to say she’s pregnant. Later, everybody goes to a ceremony for Ross who has been awarded an honorary degree. A week later, the six Friends wake up and discover they are black. In the final scene, a thrilled Monica and Chandler dance off the stage and walk out the studio doors.

THE ONE THAT ENDS LIKE M*A*S*H ...

Distressed by the prospect of leaving New York, Joey has a breakdown and is sent to a psychiatrist hospital. The other friends also prepare to leave New York. In the end, as Joey’s plane is taking off for Los Angeles, he looks out his cabin window and sees that Chandler has used dozens of oversized coffee mugs to spell "Goodbye" on the runway.