Editing Cliffhanger

{{Short description|Plot device used in fiction}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Redirect|To be continued|other uses|To Be Continued (disambiguation){{!}}To Be Continued}}
[[File:Perilsofpauline.jpg|thumb|The 1914 film serial ''[[The Perils of Pauline (1914 serial)|Perils of Pauline]]'' was shown in bi-weekly installments and ended with a cliffhanger.]]

A '''cliffhanger''' or '''cliffhanger ending''' is a [[plot device]] in [[fiction]] which features a main character in a precarious situation, facing a difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction or before a [[commercial break]] in a television programme. A cliffhanger is intended to incentivize the audience to return to see how the characters resolve the dilemma.

Some serials end with the caveat, "To Be Continued" or "The End?" In [[serial film]]s and [[Television show|television series]], the following episode sometimes begins with a [[recap sequence]].

Cliffhangers were used as literary devices in several works of the [[Middle Ages]] with ''[[One Thousand and One Nights]]'' ending on a cliffhanger each night.<ref name="Ellen"/> Cliffhangers appeared as an element of the [[Victorian era]] [[serial novel]] that emerged in the 1840s, with many associating the form with [[Charles Dickens]], a pioneer of the serial publication of narrative fiction.<ref name="Dickens">{{cite magazine|title=The curious staying power of the cliffhanger.|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/07/30/tune-in-next-week|magazine=The New Yorker|date=28 November 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201040341/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/07/30/tune-in-next-week|archive-date=1 December 2017}}</ref><ref name="Grossman">Grossman, Jonathan H. (2012). ''Charles Dickens's Networks: Public Transport and the Novel''. p. 54. Oxford: Oxford University Press.</ref> Following the enormous success of Dickens, by the 1860s cliffhanger endings had become a staple part of the sensation serials.<ref name="Allen"/>

==History==
Cliffhangers were used as literary devices in several works of the [[Middle Ages]]. The [[Arabic literature|Arabic literary]] work ''[[One Thousand and One Nights]]'' involves [[Scheherazade]] narrating a [[List of stories within One Thousand and One Nights|series of stories]] to King [[Shahryār]] for 1,001 nights, with each night ending on a cliffhanger in order to save herself from execution.<ref name="Ellen">{{cite book|last1=Snodgrass|first1=Mary Ellen|title=Encyclopedia of the Literature of Empire.|date=2009|publisher=[[Infobase Publishing]]|location=New York|isbn=978-1438119069|page=292|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LXyyYs2cRDcC&pg=PT292}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Wiesner-Hanks|first1=Merry E.|title=Gender in History: Global Perspectives|date=2011|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=9781444351729|page=86|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v8tPlht9lyAC&pg=PT86|language=en}}</ref> Some medieval Chinese ballads like the ''Liu chih-yuan chu-kung-tiao'' ended each chapter on a cliffhanger to keep the audience in suspense.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Columbia History of Chinese Literature|url=https://archive.org/details/columbiahistoryc00mair|url-access=limited|pages=[https://archive.org/details/columbiahistoryc00mair/page/n823 797]–798|last1=Mair|first1=Victor H.|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2001|isbn=9780231109840}}</ref>

The Scottish comic magazine ''[[The Glasgow Looking Glass]]'', founded by English artist [[William Heath (artist)|William Heath]]'','' pioneered the use of the phrase 'To Be Continued' in its serials in 1825.<ref>{{cite news |title='World's first comic' is up for auction|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/worlds-first-comic-is-up-for-auction-wjxlz7npc |access-date=19 February 2022 |work=[[The Times]]|quote=William Heath's Glasgow Looking Glass was a pioneering publication which is said to have coined the phrase " . . . to be continued".}}</ref>

===Victorian serials===

[[File:Dickens and Nell Philly.JPG|thumb|upright=0.7|left|[[Dickens and Little Nell (Elwell)|''Dickens and Little Nell'']] statue in [[Philadelphia]] ]]
Cliffhangers became prominent with the serial publication of narrative fiction, pioneered by [[Charles Dickens]].<ref name="Dickens"/><ref name="Grossman"/><ref>{{cite news |title=Cliffhangers poised to make Dickens a serial winner again |url=https://www.thetimes.com/comment/register/article/cliffhangers-poised-to-make-dickens-a-serial-winner-again-96jplgjhrp5 |access-date=3 September 2021 |work=[[The Times]] |archive-date=3 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210903003603/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cliffhangers-poised-to-make-dickens-a-serial-winner-again-96jplgjhrp5 |url-status=live }}</ref> Printed episodically in magazines, Dickens's cliffhangers triggered desperation in his readers. Writing in the ''New Yorker'', Emily Nussbaum captured the anticipation of those waiting for the next installment of Dickens' ''[[The Old Curiosity Shop]]'';

{{blockquote|In 1841, Dickens fanboys rioted on the dock of New York Harbor, as they waited for a British ship carrying the next installment, screaming, "Is little Nell dead?"<ref name="Dickens"/>}}

[[File:Publicité pour Great Expectations dans All the Year Round.jpeg|thumb|upright=1.2|Advertisement for ''[[Great Expectations]]'' serialised in the British weekly magazine ''[[All the Year Round]]'', 1860. The advert displays the plot device "to be continued".]]
On Dickens' instalment format and cliffhangers—first seen with ''[[The Pickwick Papers]]'' in 1836—Leslie Howsam in ''The Cambridge Companion to the History of the Book'' (2015) writes, "It inspired a narrative that Dickens would explore and develop throughout his career. The instalments would typically culminate at a point in the plot that created reader anticipation and thus reader demand."<ref name="Howsam">{{cite book |last1=Howsam |first1=Leslie |title=The Cambridge Companion to the History of the Book |date=2015 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=85}}</ref>

With each new instalment widely anticipated with its cliffhanger ending, Dickens' audience was enormous; his instalment format was also much more affordable and accessible to the masses, with the audience more evenly distributed across income levels than previous.<ref name="Howsam"/> The popularity of Dickens's serial publications saw the cliffhanger become a staple part of the sensation serials by the 1860s.<ref name="Allen">Allen, Rob (2014). ''Serialization in Popular Culture''. p. 41. Routledge</ref> His influence can also be seen in television soap operas and film series, with ''The Guardian'' stating "the DNA of Dickens's busy, episodic storytelling, delivered in instalments and rife with cliffhangers and diversions, is traceable in everything."<ref>{{cite news |title=Streaming: the best Dickens adaptations |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jun/13/streaming-best-dickens-adaptations-film-tv-personal-history-david-copperfield-armando-iannucci |access-date=3 November 2022 |work=The Guardian |archive-date=3 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210903003923/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jun/13/streaming-best-dickens-adaptations-film-tv-personal-history-david-copperfield-armando-iannucci |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Etymology===

The term "cliffhanger" is considered to have originated with the serialised version of [[Thomas Hardy]]'s ''[[A Pair of Blue Eyes]]'' (which was published in ''[[William Tinsley (publisher)|Tinsley's Magazine]]'' between September 1872 and July 1873) in which Henry Knight, one of the protagonists, is left hanging off a [[cliff]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schulz |first=Kathryn |author-link=Kathryn Schulz |date=May 20, 2024 |title=The Secrets of Suspense |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/05/27/the-secrets-of-suspense |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240520201237/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/05/27/the-secrets-of-suspense |archive-date=May 20, 2024 |access-date=May 21, 2024 |work=[[The New Yorker]] |quote=This is the plot device known as the cliffhanger, a word whose putative origins lie not in pulp fiction but in a lesser-known Thomas Hardy novel, "A Pair of Blue Eyes". In the relevant scene, a man named Henry Knight is strolling with his love interest along the cliffs of Cornwall when his hat blows off. He chases after it, one thing leads to another, and soon he is dangling from a sheer wall of rock, nothing beneath him but six hundred feet of air terminating in the fanged and foaming surface of the ocean.}}</ref><ref name="Hardy">{{cite web|last1=Diniejko|first1=Andrzej|title=Thomas Hardy's A Pair of Blue Eyes As a Cliffhanger with a Post-Darwinian Message|url=http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/hardy/diniejko6.html|website=The Victorian Web|access-date=27 January 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202032925/http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/hardy/diniejko6.html|archive-date=2 February 2017}}</ref> According to the Random House ''Historical Dictionary of American Slang'', the term's first use in print was in 1937.<ref>1994 edition, p. 433</ref>

==Serial media==
===Early film===
Cliffhangers were especially popular from the 1910s through to the 1930s [[Serial film|serials]] when [[nickelodeons]] and [[movie theater]]s filled the cultural [[niche market|niche]] later primarily occupied by [[television]].  The first film serial designed around the cliffhanger device was 1913's ''[[The Adventures of Kathlyn]]'' from [[Selig Polyscope]].<ref name="stedman">{{cite book
 | last = Stedman
 | first = Raymond William
 | title = Serials: Suspense and Drama By Installment
 | year = 1971
 | publisher = University of Oklahoma Press
 | isbn = 978-0-8061-0927-5
 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/serialssuspensea00sted/page/6 6–9]
 | chapter = 1. Drama by Instalment
 | chapter-url-access = registration
 | chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/serialssuspensea00sted/page/6}}</ref><ref name="Lahue1">{{cite book
 | last = Lahue
 | first = Kalten C.
 | title = Continued Next Week 
 | year = 
 | publisher = 
 | isbn = 
 | pages = 6–8
 | chapter = 1. A Bolt From The Blue}}</ref>

During the 1910s, when [[Fort Lee, New Jersey]] was a center of film production, the [[The Palisades (Hudson River)|cliffs]] facing New York and the [[Hudson River]] were frequently used as film locations.<ref>Kahn, Eve M [https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/16/nyregion/getting-a-close-up-of-the-silent-film-era.html "Getting a Close-Up of the Silent-Film Era"]. ''[[The New York Times]]'' (August 15, 2013)</ref> The most notable of these films was [[The Perils of Pauline (1914 serial)|''The Perils of Pauline'']], a serial which helped popularize the term "cliffhanger". In them, the serial would often end suddenly leaving actress [[Pearl White]]'s Pauline character hanging from a cliff.<ref>Verdon, Joan "A hike back in time to era of silent film" ''[[Bergen County Record]]'' (March 5, 2012)</ref>

===Modern usage===
Cliffhangers are often used in [[television series]], especially [[soap opera]]s and [[game show]]s.

Several Australian [[soap opera]]s, which went off air over summer, such as ''[[Number 96 (TV series)|Number 96]]'', ''[[The Restless Years]]'', and ''[[Prisoner (TV series)|Prisoner]]'', ended each year with a major and much publicized catastrophe, such as a character being shot in the final seconds of the year's closing episode.

Cliffhangers are commonly used in Japanese [[manga]] and [[anime]]. In contrast to American [[superhero comics]], Japanese manga are much more frequently written with cliffhangers, often with each volume or issue. This is particularly the case with [[shōnen manga]], especially those published by ''[[Weekly Shōnen Jump]]'', such as ''[[Dragon Ball]]'', ''[[Shaman King]]'', ''[[One Piece]]'' and the origin show of the ''To be continued'' [[Internet meme]], ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mylonas|first1=Eric|title=Dragon Ball Z: Super Sonic Warriors|date=2004|publisher=[[Prima Games]]|isbn=0761546758|page=3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cHxLR1C8JBEC}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Brandweek, Volume 47|journal=[[Brandweek]]|date=January 2006|volume=47|page=79|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bplaAAAAYAAJ|publisher=Adweek L.P.|language=en}}</ref> 

During its original run, ''[[Doctor Who]]'' was written in a serialised format that usually ended each episode within a serial on a cliffhanger. In the first few years of the show, the final episodes of each serial would have a cliffhanger that would lead into the next serial. The programme's cliffhangers sometimes caused controversy, most notably Part Three of ''[[The Deadly Assassin]]'' (1976), which was altered for future broadcasts following a complaint from campaigner [[Mary Whitehouse]].<ref>{{cite web|first=Neil|last=McNally|url=https://www.starburstmagazine.com/features/feature-top-ten-doctor-who-cliffhangers|title=Top 10: DOCTOR WHO Cliffhangers|work=[[Starburst (magazine)|Starburst]]|date=14 October 2013|access-date=10 October 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Morgan|last=Jeffery|url=https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/cult/a860378/doctor-who-tom-baker-cliffhanger-deadly-assassin/|title=Doctor Who producer reveals story behind the show's most controversial cliffhanger|work=[[Digital Spy]]|date=27 June 2018|access-date=10 October 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Dave Rolinson |title=Alan Clarke |date=2011 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=978-0719068317 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2WO5DwAAQBAJ&q=deadly+assassin+master+tape+edited&pg=PT130 |access-date=10 October 2020}}</ref> Whitehouse objected to the violence of the scene (the Doctor's head is held underwater in an attempt to drown him). She often cited it in interviews as one of the most frightening scenes in ''Doctor Who'', her reasoning being that children would not know if the Doctor survived until the following week and that they would "have this strong image in their minds" during all that time.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2013/jun/14/deadly-assassin-doctor-who-classic-episode|title=The Deadly Assassin: Doctor Who classic episode #8|first=Dan|last=Martin|date=14 June 2013|website=The Guardian}}</ref> The producer of ''Doctor Who'' at the time, [[Philip Hinchcliffe]], cited the 1950s radio serial ''[[Journey into Space]]'' as an influence for its use of cliffhangers.<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/doctor-who/27140/philip-hinchcliffe-on-producing-doctor-who-tom-baker-special-effects-russell-t-davies-big-finish | title= Philip Hinchcliffe on producing Doctor Who, Tom Baker, special effects, Russell T Davies, Big Finish audio plays & more… | work=Den of Geek | first=Louisa | last=Mellor | date=3 September 2013 | access-date=10 October 2020}}</ref> A later serial, ''[[Dragonfire (Doctor Who)|Dragonfire]]'' (1987), is notable for having a cliffhanger that involved the [[Seventh Doctor]] literally hanging from a cliff, seemingly by choice, which has been described as "the most ludicrous ever presented in ''Doctor Who''".<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/dragonfire/detail.shtml | title= Dragonfire | work=BBC Online | access-date=10 October 2020}}</ref> 

From 1966 to 1968 and in [[broadcast syndication]], "Same bat-time, same bat-channel" encouraged viewers to tune in the next night for 120 episodes of ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]''.{{Citation needed |date=October 2023}}<ref>In the final season, it was on once a week, so viewers had to wait until the following week.</ref> The next episode quickly resolved the heroes from each supervillain's trap. A few triple episodes had double cliffhangers.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Most Horrifying is Yet to Come! 5 Insane Cliffhangers from the 1960's Batman |url=https://www.tor.com/2012/07/18/the-most-horrifying-is-yet-to-come-5-insane-cliffhangers-from-the-1960s-batman/ |website=tor.com |date=18 July 2012 |access-date=16 January 2023}}</ref> The 1969 British film ''[[The Italian Job]]'', starring [[Michael Caine]] and [[Noël Coward]], ended literally in a cliffhanger, with the villains' coach hanging precariously over a cliff.

Cliffhangers were rare on American primetime television before 1980, as television networks preferred the flexibility of airing episodes in any order. The [[sitcom]] ''[[Soap (TV series)|Soap]]'' was the first US primetime television programme to utilise the end-of-season cliffhanger, at the end of its first season in 1978. Cliffhangers then went on to become a staple of American primetime soap operas; the phenomenal success of the 1980 "[[Who shot J.R.?]]" third season-ending cliffhanger of ''[[Dallas (TV series)|Dallas]]'', and the "[[Who Done It (Dallas)|Who Done It]]" fourth-season episode that finally solved the mystery, contributed to the cliffhanger becoming a common storytelling device on American television.<ref name="meisler19950507">{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/07/arts/television-when-j-r-was-shot-the-cliffhanger-was-born.html?pagewanted=all | title=TELEVISION; When J. R. Was Shot The Cliffhanger Was Born | work=The New York Times | date=1995-05-07 | access-date=June 14, 2012 | author=Meisler, Andy | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511043521/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/07/arts/television-when-j-r-was-shot-the-cliffhanger-was-born.html?pagewanted=all | archive-date=May 11, 2013}}</ref> Another notable cliffhanger was the "Moldavian Massacre" on ''[[Dynasty (1981 TV series)|Dynasty]]'' in 1985, which fueled speculation throughout the summer months regarding who lived or died when almost all the characters attended a wedding in the country of Moldavia, only to have revolutionaries topple the government and machine-gun the entire wedding party. Other primetime soap operas, such as ''[[Falcon Crest]]'' and ''[[Knots Landing]]'', also employed dramatic end-of-season cliffhangers on an annual basis. Sitcoms also utilised the cliffhanger device. As well as the aforementioned ''Soap'', the long-running sitcom ''[[Cheers]]'' would often incorporate cliffhanger season endings, largely (in its earlier years) to increase interest in the on-and-off relationship between its two lead characters, [[Sam Malone and Diane Chambers]]. These cliffhangers did not place the characters in peril of any kind, but rather left their relationship (which was at the core of the show) hanging in the balance.

Cliffhanger endings in films date back to the early 20th century, and were prominently used in the [[serial film]]s of the 1930s (such as ''[[Flash Gordon (serial)|Flash Gordon]]'' and ''[[Buck Rogers (serial)|Buck Rogers]]''), though these tended to be resolved with the next installment the following week. A longer term cliffhanger was employed in the ''[[Star Wars]]'' film series, in ''[[The Empire Strikes Back]]'' (1980) in which [[Darth Vader]] made a shock revelation to [[Luke Skywalker]], and [[Han Solo]]'s life was left in jeopardy after he was frozen and taken away by a bounty hunter.<ref>{{cite web |first=Scott |last=Snowden |title=The effect of ''Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back'' can still be felt after 40 years |url=https://www.space.com/star-wars-empire-strikes-back-40th-anniversary.html |website=[[Space.com]] |date=June 4, 2020 |access-date=May 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525193720/https://www.space.com/star-wars-empire-strikes-back-40th-anniversary.html |archive-date=May 25, 2021 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="screenrant">{{cite web |first=Ben|last=Sherlock |url=https://screenrant.com/the-empire-strikes-back-why-its-perfect-sequel-to-star-wars-a-new-hope/ |title=''The Empire Strikes Back'': 10 ways it's the perfect sequel to the original ''Star Wars'' movie |date=June 28, 2021|access-date=November 18, 2021 |website=[[Screen Rant]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711041343/https://screenrant.com/the-empire-strikes-back-why-its-perfect-sequel-to-star-wars-a-new-hope/ |archive-date=July 11, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> These plotlines were left unresolved until the next film in the series, which was released three years later.<ref name="screenrant"/> The first two films in the ''[[Back to the Future (franchise)|Back to the Future]]'' series end in cliffhangers, with the first displaying the "to be continued" title card.<ref>{{cite news |title=Movie Legends Revealed: Was 'Back to the Future' Always 'To Be Continued'? |url=https://www.cbr.com/movie-legends-revealed-was-back-to-the-future-always-to-be-continued/ |access-date=5 September 2021 |work=CBR}}</ref> The [[Wicked (2024 film)|film adaptation]] of the musical ''[[Wicked (musical)|Wicked]]'' is split into two parts, with the first film ending on a cliffhanger with the first act closer "[[Defying Gravity (song)|Defying Gravity]]," making the second film ''[[Wicked: For Good]]'' begin at the top of the musical's second act.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Willman |first1=Chris |title='Wicked' Songwriter Stephen Schwartz on Why the Movie Must Be a Two-Parter: Nothing Can Follow 'Defying Gravity' |url=https://variety.com/2022/music/news/wicked-songwriter-stephen-schwartz-on-why-movie-must-be-a-two-parter-nothing-can-follow-defying-gravity-1235305330/ |website=Variety |access-date=June 28, 2022 |date=June 28, 2022 |archive-date=October 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006155308/https://variety.com/2022/music/news/wicked-songwriter-stephen-schwartz-on-why-movie-must-be-a-two-parter-nothing-can-follow-defying-gravity-1235305330/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The two main ways for cliffhangers to keep readers/viewers coming back is to either involve characters in a suspenseful, possibly life-threatening situation, or to feature a sudden shocking revelation. Cliffhangers are also used to leave open the possibility of a character being killed off due to the actor not continuing to play the role.

Cliffhangers are also sometimes deliberately inserted by writers who are uncertain whether a new series or season will be commissioned, in the hope that viewers will demand to know how the situation is resolved. Such was the case with the second season of ''[[Twin Peaks]]'', which ended in a cliffhanger similar to the first season with a high degree of uncertainty about the fate of the protagonist, but the cliffhanger could not save the show from being canceled, resulting in the [[Unfinished creative work#Television|unresolved]] ending. The final episodes of soaps ''Dallas'' and ''Dynasty'' also ended in similar fashion, though all three shows would return years later in some form or other to resolve these storylines. The Australian soap opera ''[[Return To Eden]]'' ended in 1986 with a dramatic cliffhanger in anticipation of a second season. However, the network chose not to renew the show and so a hastily filmed five-minute "conclusion" was filmed and added on to the end of existing final episode to provide closure. Some shows, however, became known for never being resolved. In addition to the aforementioned ''Blake's 7'', the supernatural series ''[[Angel (1999 TV series)|Angel]]'', the original 1984 series ''[[V (1984 TV series)|V]]'' and its [[V (2009 TV series)|2009 remake]], all ended with unresolved cliffhangers. On occasion, TV series are given the opportunity to resolve their end-of-series cliffhangers at a later date; examples include the 1999–2003 series, ''[[Farscape]]'', which was cancelled after a cliffhanger ending, but which was able to resolve it in a later follow-up miniseries, ''[[Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars]]'' and the aforementioned ''Twin Peaks'' 1991 cliffhanger, which was resolved 26 years later when a sequel to the series (considered a third season) aired in 2017.

The cliffhanger has become a genre staple (especially in comics, due to the multi-part storylines becoming the norm instead of self-contained stories) to such a degree, in fact, that series writers no longer feel they have to be immediately resolved, or even referenced, when the next episode is shown,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.noisetosignal.org/2008/12/the-it-crowd-tramps-like-us |title=The IT Crowd: Tramps Like Us |publisher=Noise to Signal |access-date=2012-11-21 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130311215959/http://www.noisetosignal.org/2008/12/the-it-crowd-tramps-like-us |archive-date=2013-03-11}}</ref> variously because the writer didn't feel it was "a strong enough opener,"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://whythatsdelightful.wordpress.com/2008/12/05/and-we-like-tramps/#comment-9567 |title=…and we like tramps! « Why, That\'s Delightful! |date=5 December 2008 |publisher=Whythatsdelightful.wordpress.com |access-date=2012-11-21 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324010610/http://whythatsdelightful.wordpress.com/2008/12/05/and-we-like-tramps/#comment-9567 |archive-date=2012-03-24}}</ref> or simply "couldn't be bothered."<ref>{{cite news|author=Ben Falk |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/entertainment/film_and_tv/s/1014/1014434_one_of_the_it_crowd.html |title=One of the IT Crowd &#124; Manchester Evening News – menmedia.co.uk |newspaper=Manchester Evening News |date=2007-08-24 |access-date=2012-11-21}}</ref> The heavily serialized television drama ''[[True Blood]]'' has become notorious for cliffhangers. Not only do the seasons conclude with cliffhangers, but almost every episode finishes at a cliffhanger directly after or during a highly dramatic moment, much like the primetime soap operas of the 1980s and 90s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.buddytv.com/articles/true-blood/true-blood-finale-sets-up-more-31189.aspx |title='True Blood' Finale Sets Up More Cliffhangers |publisher=Buddytv.com |date=2009-09-14 |access-date=2012-11-21 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020081054/http://www.buddytv.com/articles/true-blood/true-blood-finale-sets-up-more-31189.aspx |archive-date=2012-10-20}}</ref>

[[Commercial break]]s can be a nuisance to [[script writer]]s because some sort of incompleteness or minor cliffhanger should be provided before each to stop the viewer from changing channels during the commercial break. Sometimes a series ends with an unintended cliffhanger caused by a very abrupt ending without a satisfactory [[dénouement]], but merely assuming that the viewer will assume that everything sorted itself out.

Sometimes a film, book, or season of a television show will end with the defeat of the main villain before a second, evidently more powerful villain makes a brief appearance (becoming the villain of the next film). Occasionally an element other than a villain is also used to tease at a sequel.

[[Peter Høeg]]'s novel ''[[Smilla's Sense of Snow]]'' ends with a deliberate cliffhanger, with the protagonist and main villain involved in a life-and-death chase on the arctic ice off Greenland – and in this case, the author has no intention of ever writing a sequel, the ambiguous ending being part and parcel of the basic ideas permeating the book's plot. Similarly, [[Michael Flynn (writer)|Michael Flynn]]'s science fiction novelette ''[[The Forest of Time]]'' ends with a deliberate and permanent cliffhanger: readers are not to be ever told where the protagonist ended up in his wandering the "forest" of [[alternate history]] timelines and whether he ever got back to his home and his beloved, nor whether the war which takes a large part of the plot ended in victory for the Good Guys or the Bad Guys.

[[George Cukor]], when adapting in 1972 [[Graham Greene]]'s ''[[Travels with My Aunt]]'' deliberately introduced a cliffhanger missing from the original. While Greene's book ended with the protagonists definitely choosing the adventurous and rather shady life of smugglers in Paraguay and closing off other options for their future, at the conclusion of the Cukor film a character is seen tossing a coin whose fall would determine their next move, and the film ends on a [[freeze frame shot]] as the characters await the fall of the coin.

==See also==
*[[Back-to-back film production]]
*[[Zeigarnik effect]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Books==
*Vincent Fröhlich: Der Cliffhanger und die serielle Narration. Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag, 2015. {{ISBN|978-3837629767}}.

{{Narrative modes}}

[[Category:1930s neologisms]]
[[Category:Charles Dickens]]
[[Category:Endings]]
[[Category:Plot (narrative)]]
[[Category:Television terminology]]