Cliffhangers - Good or Bad?

[speedy fast]

These days, many TV shows have storylines lasting many episodes, as opposed to most episode plots being self-contained stories. In the old days most episodes would contain self-contained stories, wrapping up at the end unless it's supposed to be a major series change. They would often be considered "multi-part stories", usually with a "to be continued..." note at the end of part 1, a "previously on..." recap at the beginning of part 2 (and 3 and so on, if it's more than a two-part story), and the titles for most parts were pretty much the same, with the word "part" and the number added to it (for example, the Happy Days episodes where the cast went to Hollywood and Fonzie jumped the shark are titled "Hollywood part 1", "Hollywood Part 2", and "Hollywood Part 3").

But these days it seems different. So many plots last so many episodes, even if it's not a big plot related to the series as a whole. Some shows pretty much exist to always be continued (soap operas, anime, etc). Personally, I prefer for shows to have self-contained stories unless it's meant to be a multi-part episode.

But in the last few years, have there been many TV shows with episodes that follow the "two/more-part episode" format instead? I know that Family Guy's "Stewie Kills Lois" episodes were one exception, and since 2002 most seasons of Sesame Street have had one multi-part episode storyline (the birth of Baby Bear's sister Curly, Big Bird becoming small, Gina adopting Marco, etc). I also noticed that animated shows like The Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad, and so on usually have self-cotained episodes, but then again, the broadcast order of those shows is generally different from production order, so it might be more complicated to have a storyline lasting several episodes in a row.

 

[Temple Fugate]

This thread speaks to me.

"To be continued" are my three favorite words in the English language. Growing up I was exposed (as many of us were) to the STTNG season 3 finale and learned the hard way what a season-ending cliffhanger truly was. "I can't wait until next week to find out what happens!" I said, turning to my parents. My dad just looked at me and explained carefully that part II wouldn't air until the end of the summer. Since then I came to realize the power a cliffhanger can have over an audience.

During the 90's I was obsessed with cliffhangers. I wanted all of my favorite shows to have at least one, and many of them did. Mighty Max's season finale was two parts. The Simpsons did a parody of another of history's significant cliffhangers, the Dallas story arc "Who Shot JR?" Batman: The Animated Series' cliffhangers were always a treat. I especially liked these ones, because the series never spoiled the fact that you were watching a cliffhanger by putting "Part I" in the title cards. I never like to see a cliffhanger coming. I want to feel that same sense of awe and excitement as I felt in 1989 when I first heard Commander Riker say "Fire."

Cliffhangers were really something special. You knew what you were watching was a big deal. The stories took their time, fleshed out characters more by giving them personal crises, and ratcheted up the tension leading up to the "To be continued" card. Even sitcoms were more dramatic when they did multi-part episodes. (Night Court being a key example, although I wasn't exposed to that series until 2005.)

Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego had several cliffhangers, and all of them went out of their way to deliver on major character progression or all-out super mystery (The time travel episodes were always multi-parters). I think these episodes in particular helped elevate Carmen Sandiego above "edutainment cartoon" into the realm of "credible mystery series".

However, going into the 2000's, series like 24 and Lost came along. Serialized television was nothing new, but for the first time I became caught up in this type of show. It was a small period of adjustment, having to accept that there were no more "to be continued" title cards. There was no such thing as a "status quo," in effect making every single episode an essential chapter. So to that end, there was no more sense of "Oh, this is a multi-part episode, this one's going to be interesting!" Regardless, I quickly got into the swing of things and enjoyed the storylines for what they were. 24 remains one of my top favorites in tv, and I look forward to every single episode.

But as serialized television has become commonplace, I've noticed a disturbing trend in non-serialized shows. Despite being episodic in nature, series like Doctor Who and Eureka make it a point to continuously hint at an ongoing storyline. Sometimes it's intriguing, sometimes it's just annoying. But it causes an ambiguation between single-part and multi-part episodes to the point where the multi-part episodes still don't feel quite as special.

I think it stems back to cliffhangers like "Best of Both Worlds" which threatened to upend the status quo. These days, it's hard to find a show that even has a status quo outside of animation. Maybe it's not as major of a shift as I perceive it to be. I don't watch the same types of shows I did fifteen years ago. I'm entering my late 20's and so my attention span and personal tastes have changed. Maybe the status quo shows I'm thinking of are still all around television but I no longer have the interest in watching them.

Anyway, cliffhangers are awesome when used sparingly and responsibly within a series that, for the most part, has stand-alone episodes. Cliffhangers in more serialized shows are fine as well, although it takes a REALLY major cliffhanger to get the blood pumping.

 

[Hobbes829]

Supernatural has a great mix of standalones and arc episodes. Same thing with Buffy and Angel.

 

[speedy fast]

Maybe the status quo shows I'm thinking of are still all around television but I no longer have the interest in watching them.

Anyway, cliffhangers are awesome when used sparingly and responsibly within a series that, for the most part, has stand-alone episodes. Cliffhangers in more serialized shows are fine as well, although it takes a REALLY major cliffhanger to get the blood pumping.

Over the years I have often thought up ideas for TV shows, both animated, live-action, and variety/sketch comedy/series with little plot focus, and if any of these ideas ever become realities, I would do my best to have most episodes be self-contianed (most of the episode ideas currently in my head are self-contained). Sure, I may do a show where the producer or network thinks differently, but hopefully someday I can make my own quality series my own way.

I wonder when it started becoming this common for almost every show to do this. It did annoy me when That '70s Show started to feel more like a comical soap opera (to me it started seeming that way in season 3, when Eric and Donna broke up). Though the earlier seasons had these as well, and I was wonderign why, for example, there were two episodes in a row in which Hyde moved in with the Formans without going back home, or why Bob and Midge were having maritable problems for so long. Of course, with the show having such a huge cast it seems like the show eventually got three plots per show, which would make it hard to really focus on one at a time (one of my personal favorites is the "Canadian Road Trip" episode... I liked two out of the three plots in that one, and none of them really had anything plot-wise that affected the series or it's characters).

I also rememebr when Nick at Nite added The Wonder Years to its schedule, there were many plotlines that lasted just two episodes in a row (in addition to quite a few plotlines that were spaced-out between episodes, like when Karen moved into her own place and Jack got upset over he rliving with a man, or any of the "Kevin and Winnie break up for a few episodes befre gettign back together" plots). But that series seemed to only have two episodes ending with "To be continued...", and two that began with "Previously on The Wonder Years...", and yet those episode titles were still completely different (it amuses me that the last episode was originally an hour-long, yet both parts have different titles... This seems to be the practice nowadays when sitcoms have epsiodes that are originally broadcast an hour-long before beign split into two-parts).

Back in the day it seems like most sitcoms only had multiple-episode storyliens if a prinicple female character got pregnant or if a couple planned to get married.

 

[Antiyonder]

The only cliffhangers I find troublesome are the season finale cliffhangers. I get that they want to keep hooked, but they should at least film an alternate ending for use if a show isn't renewed or canceled. Or an open ending cliffhanger.

 

[Michael24]

The only cliffhangers I find troublesome are the season finale cliffhangers. I get that they want to keep hooked, but they should at least film an alternate ending for use if a show isn't renewed or canceled. Or an open ending cliffhanger.

I agree. I've heard producers say they ended a season on a cliffhanger with the hopes it would ensure a second season, but networks don't care about cliffhangers; they care about ratings. Many times I've been left hanging (no pun intended) with an unresolved cliffhanger because the show just didn't pull in the ratings and got canceled. Nothing more frustrating if it's a show you've really been enjoying.

I'd prefer to see "To Be Continued..." during a season rather than at the end of it. Perhaps the final show of the year just before the Christmas hiatus, with the storyline then resolving itself in the first episode in January.

And TNG's "Best of the Both Worlds, Part I" is still my favorite cliffhanger of all time. The way it cuts from Riker's order of "Mr. Worf . . . fire" to the "To Be Continued" card always gives me goosebumps.

 

[Hobbes829]

i love a great cliff hanger, especially a good season cliff hanger. Here's a list of some great ones.

Alias: Season 1, 2 and 4
Buffy: Season 2, 5 and 6
Friends: Season 1, 3, 4, 5 and 7
Grey's Anatomy: Season 1
How I Met Your Mother: Season 2
The Office: Season 2 and 5
Psych: Season 2
Smallville: Season 2 and 5
Scrubs: Season 1
Supernatural: Season 1, 3 and 4

 

[mr.happy]

This thread speaks to me.

"To be continued" are my three favorite words in the English language. Growing up I was exposed (as many of us were) to the STTNG season 3 finale and learned the hard way what a season-ending cliffhanger truly was. "I can't wait until next week to find out what happens!" I said, turning to my parents. My dad just looked at me and explained carefully that part II wouldn't air until the end of the summer. Since then I came to realize the power a cliffhanger can have over an audience.

I have fond childhood memories of the cliffhanger as well, though from a much older source. For reasons that are lost to the mists of time, I had somehow become hooked on an old 1940s Republic serial called The Mysterious Dr. Satan. It featured a masked hero named Copperhead fighting a "super"-villain named Dr. Satan who had plans for world domination or somesuch. Now, Dr. Satan himself was not terribly menacing, but he had this unstoppable killer robot doing his evil bidding, and that thing just scared the youknowwhat out a young, impressionable Mr. Happy.

Each episode would end with Copperhead in some kind of seemingly inescapable peril, from which he would then (surprise, surprise) make his escape the following week. The scariest one was around episode 4 or 5, when it had been firmly established that Dr. Satan's robot was indeed an unstoppable killing machine. As we got to the end of the episode, it seemed like Copperhead had gotten the drop on Dr. Satan, and that all was about to end well, when the villain unexpectedly escaped through a trapdoor in the floor. As Copperhead tried to follow, the trapdoor slammed shut, and another door opened behind Copperhead to reveal... the unstoppable killing machine robot!!! I don't think the serial actually used a "to be continued" caption, and despite having already seen a few episodes, I had not yet completely caught onto the format, and genuinely didn't know if my new hero was done for.

I barely slept for a week, and it was with some considerable trepidation that I tuned in the following week in the hope that the previous week's episode wasn't the end. Luckily, Copperhead proved to be a resourceful fellow, and had somehow managed to open the robot's control panel to disable it. Still, this didn't calm my nerves during future cliffhangers, where Copperhead found himself seemingly run over by cars or caught in exploding buildings. It was thrilling stuff, and it wasn't until many, many years later, when I stumpled upon the first series of 24, that I got the same sense of cliffhanger excitement. I suppose the TNG episode you mentioned might have done it, but I think I happened to watch those back to back at the time.

What I liked about the cliffhangers in those old serials was that they never promised more than they ultimately delivered, which is sort of the opposite of the "modern" cliffhanger, which all too often is resolved in an unsatisfying or anti-climactic way, or not at all. Though I still maintain 24 did an excellent job, at least for a while.

 

[Hobbes829]

how could i forget "who shot mr. Burns"

There's also "who shot JR" but i never watched Dallas. I've read this is what popularized ending seasons on a cliff hanger.

 

[RonDrakenfan17]

Depends, if done right yes it can be good. What you don't want to do is end the series with a cliff hanger, now that sucks.

 

[mumbo]

Cliffhangers are what keep me coming back to a show. Not only because it gets me thinking about the show until the next time it's on, but also because I love plots that aren't restricted to just 20 or 40 minutes.

It drives me nuts when a show ends on a cliffhanger. It's often the callousness of the showrunner (usually you can figure out pretty quickly what shows are going to get cancelled), and I really wish they'd exercise better judgment.

 

[cornprone]

To me there are two types of cliffhangers: first there's the traditional cliffhanger, where a character is literally hanging off a cliff or similarly in physical danger. That's not so common on TV these days. Even 24 usually doesn't end its episodes in the middle of an action scene.

Then there's the "information" cliffhanger, in which an episode ends on a revelation (to us the audience, not necessarily to the characters.) To me, this is a lot more interesting because it leaves us anticipating what the future implications of this information will be. Brian K. Vaughan is the master of this in comics. And it seems to have become the de facto kind of cliffhanger in today's serialized shows.

 

[mr.happy]

To me there are two types of cliffhangers: first there's the traditional cliffhanger, where a character is literally hanging off a cliff or similarly in physical danger. That's not so common on TV these days. Even 24 usually doesn't end its episodes in the middle of an action scene.

They did do one good one, though. Somewhere around the middle of season 2, a plane carrying Jack and Nina is shot down while heading back to CTU. This not only leaves the show on a "physical" cliffhanger, but given the circumstances, adds a whole new level of complexity and scale to the conspiracy plot. Just a terrific cliffhanger, that could only possibly have been better had Dr. Satan's unstoppable killer robot made an appearance.

 

[kaseykockroach]

For a second, I was just about to comment on the movie, and how I loved the opening to When Nature Calls. I guess I should've paid attention to the "S" after cliffhanger.

 

[Rook]

Cliffhangers are good when they dont make the last episode because they cancelled the show...ugh.

 

[speedy fast]

Depends, if done right yes it can be good. What you don't want to do is end the series with a cliff hanger, now that sucks.

I have a feeling that How I Met Your Mother will end this year. I don't know for sure, and haven't read any official announcements, but this season would be the right time for it to end. But if that show gets cancled before Ted meets the mother, then they'd better at least make a two-hour movie that wraps things up. In fact, I think that whenever a TV show that's about trying to get something done (like the cast of Gilligan's Island wanting to get off the island, or being "Lost in Space", or an innocent person trying to prove he's guilty) is greenlit that there must be a claus in the networks contract demanding a two-hour movie if such shows get cancled.

Then again... It's called How I Met Your Mother. I wouldn't be surprised if the last episode were to end with Ted meeting the mother... But it'd be great if there were a follow-up movie showing what it was like between that first meetign and their marriage.

 

[DisneyBoy]

I especially liked these ones, because the series never spoiled the fact that you were watching a cliffhanger by putting "Part I" in the title cards. I never like to see a cliffhanger coming. I want to feel that same sense of awe and excitement as I felt in 1989 when I first heard Commander Riker say "Fire.

WORD. And word again on B:TAS. Lots of word.

 

[The Penguin]

I have a feeling that How I Met Your Mother will end this year. I don't know for sure, and haven't read any official announcements, but this season would be the right time for it to end. But if that show gets cancled before Ted meets the mother, then they'd better at least make a two-hour movie that wraps things up. In fact, I think that whenever a TV show that's about trying to get something done (like the cast of Gilligan's Island wanting to get off the island, or being "Lost in Space", or an innocent person trying to prove he's guilty) is greenlit that there must be a claus in the networks contract demanding a two-hour movie if such shows get cancled.

Then again... It's called How I Met Your Mother. I wouldn't be surprised if the last episode were to end with Ted meeting the mother... But it'd be great if there were a follow-up movie showing what it was like between that first meetign and their marriage.

Don't write the ending just yet. How I Met Your Mother has already been renewed for a sixth season by CBS.

 

[Hanshotfirst1138]

Buffy season five

Actually, I've heard lots of people contend that "The Gift" would have made a beautiful series finale, and I must say that I can agree with that.

 

[Hobbes829]

Actually, I've heard lots of people contend that "The Gift" would have made a beautiful series finale, and I must say that I can agree with that.

yeah, but it's the same people that always seem to think that death makes a great ending. Why do people love seeing their heroes die? It was a great season finale, but it still leaves a lot of unresolved plot threads.

Veronica Mars deserves a movie. It ended on a cliff hanger because the creator didn't want to give the network another reason to cancel the show by resolving everything.

The image of Dean in Hell on meat hooks was an awesome season finale. The Impala getting smashed makes me cry. What a beautiful car.

How i met your mother season 2 ended on a cliff hanger of sorts when barney said "this is Legen... wait for it"