M*A*S*H

# of Seasons: 11

Final Season Premiered: October 26, 1981

After agreeing that ten seasons of a show revolving around a three-year war was enough, CBS convinced the cast and crew to make an abbreviated 11th season.  Viewers were so interested to see what happened to Hawkeye and 4077th  by the end of the war that the final episode was the single most-watched broadcast in television history.

Cheers

# of Seasons: 11

Final Season Premiered: September 24, 1992

Vastly successful as one of the pioneers of NBC's "Must See Thursdays," Cheers attracted audiences with lovable characters, especially leading man Sam and his foil Diane. When the last season was announced, viewers tuned in to see what would become of the patrons and bartenders at everyone's favorite pub and if anything romantic would become of Sam and Diane.

Seinfeld

# of Seasons: 9

Final Season Premiered: September 25, 1997

Despite being offered a tenth season by NBC, Jerry and the gang announced that their run would end at season 9. The "Show About Nothing," which focused on its characters and the amusing situations they would get into, never really had a solid underlying story thread, but it intrigued and amused its fans. And then pissed them off with the series finale.

Friends

# of Seasons: 10

Final Season Premiered: September 25, 2003

Though the show remained immensely successful throughout its entire run, the tough decision to simply move on was made prior to the show's final season. After ten years, fans would tune in to see what happens with Chandler and Monica's decision to start a family and Ross and Rachel's on-again-off-again relationship.

Sex and the City

# of Seasons: 6

Final Season Premiered: June 22, 2003 (1st half) & January 4, 2004 (2nd half)

Split into two parts, the latter half of the final season attracted curious fans wondering how Charlotte would deal with her long-awaited pregnancy, who Carrie was ultimately destined to end up with, and how the story for the four friends would end -- well, until the movie came out.

Arrested Development

# of Seasons: 3

Final Season Premiered: September 19, 2005

Though a critical powerhouse and fan favorite, the show lacked a huge audience and was mistreated by Fox -- timeslot changes, episode order reduction, limited advertising -- keeping its viewers guessing whether or not the show would be renewed. The hardcore fans watched as if it was its last season, even though it wasn't official until much later.

The Sopranos

# of Seasons: 6

Final Season Premiered: March 12, 2006

For the final ten episodes, viewers wondered about the eventual fate of Tony Soprano. Would the police finally bust him? Would he get whacked? And how will he make things work with his family -- both at home and at work?

The Shield

# of Seasons: 7

Final Season Premiered: September 2, 2008

Having been betrayed by one of their own, the final season addressed both the demise of the once untouchable Strike Team and the question on the mind of every fan -- what would become of flawed hero Vic Mackey?

Battlestar Galactica

# of Seasons: 4

Final Season Premiered: April 4, 2008 (1st half) & January 16, 2009 (2nd half)

After several months of delays due to the Writers Guild strike, fans awaited the saga's final ten episodes curious as to who would be revealed as the 5th Cylon and how the crew of Galactica would deal with landing on Earth -- only to discover it as an uninhabitable wasteland.

Lost

# of Seasons: 6

Final Season Premiered: February 2, 2010

More than 10,000 fans on Waikiki Beach watched a special screening of the final season premiere -- the Saturday before it aired on TV. President Obama scheduled the State of the Union Address on January 27, 2010 -- after first checking on 2/2/2010 and deciding he didn't want to move the season premiere of Lost. Kayak, a travel website, added flights for Oceanic 815, flying from Sydney to LAX for $4389 on Sep 22, 2010. Now that's what I call highly anticipated.