Cliffhanger

A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in which a movie or novel contains an abrupt ending, often leaving the main characters in a precarious or difficult situation (for instance, hanging from the edge of a cliff). Traditionally, most cliffhangers end with the caveat "to be continued" (Duckman and Clone High parodied this caveat).

Related Topics:
Plot device - Movie - Novel - Duckman - Clone High

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Although a cliffhanger can be enjoyable as a page turner at the end of a chapter in a novel, a cliffhanger at the very end of a work can be frustrating. Cliffhangers can build anticipation for (and, subsequently, profits for) sequels. However, if no sequel follows, effective suspension of disbelief can leave the audience or readership wondering what happened in the work's fictional realm.

Related Topics:
Enjoyable - Anticipation - Profits - Sequels - Suspension of disbelief - Audience - Fictional realm

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In 1001 Nights, QueenScheherazade tells stories every night to her mad husband, King Shahryar, stopping at dawn with a cliff-hanger, so the king will postpone her execution in order to hear the rest of the tale.

Related Topics:
1001 Nights - Scheherazade - Shahryar

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Cliffhangers were especially popular in 1930s serials when movie theaters filled the cultural niche now primarily occupied by television.

Related Topics:
1930s - Serials - Movie theaters - Niche - Television

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Cliffhangers are often used in television series, usually in the last episode of a season, to be continued in the first episode of the next season. This is to ensure consistent viewer ratings in the new season. Prior to the early 1980's season-ending cliffhangers were rare on US television (the first such season-ender on US TV was in the dramedy Soap in 1978), although several Australian soap operas such as Number 96 and Prisoner had ended each year with major and much publicised catastrophies such as characters being shot in the final seconds of the closing episode for the year.

Related Topics:
Television series - Dramedy - Soap - Australia - Soap operas - Number 96 - Prisoner

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Where does the word's origin lie? Cliffhangers were used way back in the time of silent movies, but the word was first used as of only 1937. More on this subject can be found on Word Detective.

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In the US it was the phenomenal success of the "Who shot JR?" cliffhanger on Dallas, which closed the show's third season, that led the cliffhanger to become a popular staple on TV dramas and later sitcoms as well. Another notable cliffhanger was the "Moldavian Massacre" on Dynasty in 1985, which fueled speculation throughout the summer months regarding who lived or died (in the story, 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). The "Best of Both Worlds" episode of ' in 1990 is also cited as a reason that season-enders are popular today.

Related Topics:
Dallas - Dynasty - 1985 - Best of Both Worlds - 1990

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Cliffhangers are also sometimes deliberately inserted by writers uncertain of whether a new series will be commissioned, in the hope that viewers will demand to know how the situation is resolved.

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