NEWS ITEM: Fan reaction to the series finale of the popular HBO series The Sopranos was so negative, that angry fans overloaded HBO's website, causing it to crash. HBO has also received literally tens of thousands of cancellations from angry subscribers.

Somebody goofed big time (ya think?). After 8 years and 6 eventful seasons, people planned their weekends around the end of The Sopranos. The consensus opinion is that The Sopranos ended not even with a whimper, because nothing happened. The family was shown eating onion rings at a table, then the screen suddenly went to black. That was it.

This isn't the first time TV has pulled the rug out from under loyal viewers.

The once-great legal show The Practice, which had already gone downhill a few years earlier, had one of the weakest, lamest, most limp-wristed finales ever. Fans of The Practice had a divine right to expect so much better.

The hugely-rated MASH finale was needlessly depressing, and left you with vague information on what would become of some of the characters.

At least they had finales. Married....With Children, one of Fox's longest-running shows, wasn't even granted the professional courtesy of a farewell episode. After the network indicated to the producers that the show would be back for a 12th season, Fox pulled the plug while everyone was on summer hiatus. So much for loyalty to all the talented people who worked on MWC, and their millions of loyal fans.

Nikki Finke of deadlinehollywooddaily.com put it best, when she wrote today that what the producer of The Sopranos, who also wrote & directed the finale did, was to "shit in the fans' faces." Finke immediatly followed with "This is why America hates Hollywood."