Since we have all kinds of threads on favorite things in lighting, why not one for EOL ? The end of the life of a lamp can be quite interesting or quite boring. Here are mine :

Stuck starter on switch start (strobing as well but it gets annoying)
Dim flicker on American Rapid start

I always prefer an EOL that does "something" that lasts quite some time as it adds interest to the scene. Dramatic EOL such as that produced on unprotected IS ballasts are very entertaining to look at but alas are very short lived. I like being in a room that has one or two "long lasting" EOL mode and I always try to sit where I can observe it. I know, it is a strange preference but...

Oh, and I must not forget the dim green glow of a worn out MV lamp which is another favorite of mine.

Cycling of HID lamps, especially HPS and pulse-start MH lamps on Eltam ES-PI 1000 smart ignitor, that glows dimly for 3-5 secs and dark for 1 min, until the lamp restrikes, and internal starter HPS lamps with a thermal disconnector.

To answer your question, I like the clear-cut (definite) EOL - for example a filament blown up to small pieces.
I don't like slow lamp dying (CFL flickering occasionally, reduced luminous flux, changed light colour) when you have to decide whether to relamp or not.

There also exists a lamp resurrection (a life after EOL). Incandescent filament interrupted in one spot only can sometimes be reconnected by shaking with the bulb. Recently, a cheap CFL died after a few weeks of use. I don't know how I came to that idea, but I hit the balast part of the CFL with my palm and it brought it back to life! (Note: It works in a ballast-down position +/- 10 deg. only, but it works so in a wall-mounted fixture already for a few days!)
My sub-question: Have you experienced a lamp resurrection?

I like watching fluorescent lamps go EOL on a good lantern ballast, or in some cases, a magnetic rapid start ballast. The bad end incandesces brightly, but OCV and current aren't high enough to heat the end enough that the lamp loses vacuum, so the show can go on for an hour or more before the lamp resorts to a dim glow. Then a mains-powered instant start ballast finishes the job. 

Regarding resurrection, yes, I've successfully revived several incandescent lamps before. I've also been successful in welding a broken cathode back together on a few fluorescent lamps.

I've revived a few incandescent lamps temporarily by wiggling them while still powered...
I like watching fluorescent EOL shows...on rapid start until it resorts to dim-glowing, and then on instant-start until it loses vacuum.
Strobing preheat lamps that are EOL don't do much for me...

Beside wild strobing of a glow bottle preheat start fluorescents (I got bored of)
I got attracted by the show the fluorescents give on the US ballasts, where they loose vacuum as the last step...

My favorite form of lighting is magnetic ballasted preheat/switch start, but the best EOL shows are with the USA VHOs. 1500 ma ballasts make for some exciting fireworks!  The old magnetic slimline ballasts make quite a show too.  As for just "finishing off" a nearly dead tube, it is hard to beat a 400 watt MH ballast!

I like very spastic Magnetic RS EOLs where they have extreme strobing and flash bright every-now-and-again and then they get stuck bright with more extreme strobing.  Also like it when the black ends are black up to 4-5 inches long.

I also like when CFLs kind of sit there and flicker and pop and crack, then go out.

And when car bulbs turn really really shiny black when they go out.

An annoying kind of EOL is when on RS the lamps just sit ther dim or with the cathodes stuck on...very annoying when you want to use them.

I also revived a incandescent by putting the fillament on top of itself and it got stuck there, still works.   It wasn't really time for it to go, but it fell off my desk and the fillament snapped.

I just saw some EOL HPS fixtures in a parking garage.  Some of the bulbs had uniformly turned smoke-gray metallic (these didn't try to cycle any longer).  These were smaller (150W or less) medium base ED type lamps.

Matt

Mine is when an old tube is fried on an instant start ballast and it glows orange on the broken filament end and the lamp swirls along the whole tube.

The best EOL I had was with a Philips CMH lamp(100W)whose arc tube ruptured and peices blew thru the outer bulb.Didn't hear it go but investigated a few min after I turned the light on and it wasn't working.I like the CMH bulbs-will need to get some more-that bulb was in the lamp fixture when I bought it from a yard sale-several weeks earlier these fixtures were in a defunct clothing store at our mall.Suppose if you want to "EOL" a bulb quickly yourself--use an old TV set transformer-connect the lamp across the outer taps of the HV winding--typically 600-800V since these transformers don't have a ballast action-figure it would ignite the bulb and spook it quickly.Still have some of those transformers in my junk box.These are transformers from old tubed TV sets.

I used to make me low voltage incandescents by "resurrecting" 240V ones. I picked the vacuum type with long filament on multiple supports, where the filament was broken in one point and long intact sections remained. Then by moving and shaking the lamp i got it out of all the supports to have it loose, attachd only from one end, and rolled it multiple times across the main wires, making an incandescent lamp with multiple parallel filaments that can go on 12V



When i was a kid i could stare at cycling HPS for quite a while

More recently, i seen how early versions of Perfect Start B ballasts (from early..mid 90s)  react with an EOL 36w T8 that was left in them for really long. They have their own life those Perfect Starts...

Lamp is out completely, only in total darkness you can see dim blue glow at one end. Can be like that for hours or days

Suddenly it decides to preheat - lamp starts glowing orange on both ends. Goes like that for few minutes

Then it strikes and the lamp is lighting at near full normal brightness, rapidly flickering between "higher" and "lower" states. Normally flickers like that for a few seconds but occasionally can go for a minute or more

Then it is again in the "off" state for a few more hours or days

I once did exactly that "resurrection" with a 120V C7 night light lamp (I was about 10 at the time). I then carefully screwed it back into the night light and plugged it in the 120V mains. I got a very bright but brief blueish flash and then the inside of the lamp was covered in a silvery almost mirror coating.

Regarding eol fluorescents that take a new life, I remember in school we had 2x40 rapid start 120V T12 lamps. Occasionnally an EOL lamp left for some time would somehow come back to life and work for a few days before going back to the typical rapid-start-eol-glow. Other times, the lamps would gradually get brighter (almost like an HID warmup only much faster, like 10 seconds) and the ballast humming would ramp up in volume accordingly. Then it would get back to the standard eol glow.

I also like it when mercs cycle or they just glow a dim blue or red.

I like when incandescent bulbs break filaments and arc of they lose vacuum and make a swirly smoke pattern on the glass. I also have seen t8 bulbs ell today at county market. I don't know what ballasts they use, but they beat the crap out of bulbs at EOL. I've seen some that have three inch blackening at the ends and yellowing(?) at the end opposite of the blackened end. I saw a fluoro lamp that partially lost vacuum. It must've got so hot that the glass melted and resealed, letting in a bit of air.