Cliff-hangers
by
Clay Swartz
Top 30 Cliff-hangers -- and Then Some
As this year’s prime-time shows gear up for sweeps month, we take a look back at television’s most memorable, nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat cliff-hangers of the last 30 years. They run the gamut, including everything from
Dallas’s infamous “Who shot J.R.?” episode to
M*A*S*H’s series finale (the most watched episode in TV history) to the brain-twisting puzzle that is
Lost, a virtual cliff-hanger in and of itself. And, of course, who can ever forget the night that most of
America thought their cable had gone out at the most crucial of all moments, just as Tony Soprano was about to be whacked (or not)? But it wasn’t a faulty cable box. The screen really did cut to black, and viewers really were left to wonder whatever became of Tony Soprano. (The debate rages on in our office.) As impressive as we believe our list to be, though, we know that it’s a very subjective one. So in case we’ve missed any, we want you to weigh in with your picks. What have we missed?
Feedback:
5-16-2009 @ 12:06 PM by myriam
Grey's Anatomy May 2009
two eminent deaths in the season finale plus major tears shed by viewers... this one was good..
4-30-2009 @ 9:57 PM by Clyde Mercer
I'm sure you have already been beaten up about this, but you totally blew it on the series finale of The Fugitive. At the end of the finale, Kimball traps the One Armed Man and then Lt Gerard (a homicide cop who has been chasing Kimball for 4 years, not FBI) shoots the One Armed Man with a rifle to save Kimball's life. Kimball is then exonerated and the show ended...no cliffhanger. By the way, this episode still holds the record for the largest percentage of American households (72%) that ever watched a single TV episode, despite MASH having more total viewers 16 years later.
4-28-2009 @ 4:55 PM by david simmons
I assume Mr. Swartz was having some fun with us, e.g, "find the bogus cliffhanger". Re 'The Fugitive' about the only thing he got right was the date. There was no FBI agent involved: Lt Girard shot the one-armed man, who was trying to kill Kimble (or he might have just fallen to his death); after which a surprise eyewitness cleared Dr. Kimble of the murder charge. The show ended with him walking out of the courthouse arm in arm with his new girlfriend, a free man.
4-28-2009 @ 4:28 PM by Shiai Mata
Hi! I enjoyed your article, but there were (in my opinion) two very glaring omissions. Both...perhaps not so coincidentally...were from Joss Whedon-produced shows.
"The Gift" was the season 5 finale for BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, and the show's last episode on the WB. Buffy gave her life to save the world, and even though the series was set to resume that fall on UPN, there was still talk that Sarah Michelle Gellar might not rejoin the show, or that even if she did, the series was going to be radically redesigned. So, this was very much a cliffhanger in the sense that we as viewers weren't sure what we were going to be seeing on your TV screens in a few months.
And "Not Fade Away" was the season 5 ender for ANGEL THE SERIES, as well as the final episode of the show itself. Whedon found out that the WB was axing the series shortly before this episode went into production; it had been planned as a cliffhanger, and Joss chose to not change that, although it meant there would be no sixth season to answer the questions raised. Thus, our last image of Angel and his allies, weary and injured, were of them ready to take on an army of demons. Much like the end of BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID, we didn't know if they survived the battle or not.
4-21-2009 @ 3:04 PM by Adam
What about Blossom? Best. Show. EVER!
4-17-2009 @ 11:00 AM by Paul
The best 30 cliff-hangers of the last 30 years are the last 30 episodes of 24.
4-14-2009 @ 9:12 PM by Mike
Growing Pains. Who could forget Mike Seaver getting left at the alter!
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