Now you can’t turn on a screen without bumping into a Ryan Murphy project, but back at the turn of the century, the fledgling creator was just getting his footing in television, and audiences apparently weren’t ready for his biting and satirical tone. The result of being ahead of his time was the cancellation of his first series, , which ended after two seasons in 2001. The cancellation came as a surprise to Murphy and the producers, who have said they were told by The WB to go big with a finale cliffhanger. And boy did they: Season two concluded with a love triangle between Harrison and nemeses-turned-step-sisters Brooke (Leslie Bibb) and Sam (Carly Pope), which remained unresolved in the final moments as irate Nicole (Tammy Lynn Michaels) struck Brooke (or maybe Sam?) in her car. I still often wonder if Brooke ended up in a wheelchair (since the show had already done ); or if teen newlyweds Josh (Bryce Johnson) and Lily (Tamara Mello) ever consummated their marriage; or if Mary Cherry (Leslie Grossman) found peace with her crossdressing dad, Sweet Honey Child (RuPaul), or made up with her mom, Cherry Cherry (Delta Burke)…. Yes, this show was ridiculous. It’s Ryan Murphy, what else did you expect. [Patrick Gomez]
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Everything Carnivàle.Is there any other show that was on HBO that left storylines and principal characters in limbo? Show must have cost a fortune. It was to my mind the first hint at the competence in production and design that HBO is now so well known for. But at the time it was airing, I didn’t know anyone watching it, or if they did, they bailed because the whole mythos (even if it boiled down to good VS evil) confused them greatly. It’s no surprise HBO broke down all the tents and sent the wagons packing after only two seasons. But it was compelling.Fun to think about, but there are probably newbies here too young to even recall the show, hell a few not even born. Ahh, the greying of AV Club.
I agree with your posts way too often, but… Yes!
It’s so frustrating to know that this was designed for a six-season story with two-season arcs and we only got the first tantalizing third. I love that show.
It’s the wound that never closes. ♫♪ Still angry after all these years… ♪ ♬
Eh, Carnivàle was already dead to me by the time HBO killed it. The first season was breathtakingly good, but I absolutely hated season 2, which gave up on nuanced character work and period world-building to focus on its dorky, prescriptive “mythology.” Brother Justin was especially ill served, suddenly becoming a gross rapist not for any meaningful character-based reason but just because he’s the evil avatar, and the evil avatars are evil.
I see your point, but I had enough confidence in the writers and show that once the framework of the mythology was in place this turn on a dime with Brother Justin was going some place quite interesting. That likely was the biggest “what” and “why” far more than just a cliffhanger.
Well, he is evil
great call. haven’t watched in a while, but i’m pretty sure the audience never learned anything about what was going on.
We all float down here in the greys.
THE HOUR.
Yes! We got two six episode series. A third was planned but BBC ended it.This stylish show about a fictional BBC news show in the fifties had a great cast. Dominic West, Romola Garai, Ben Whishaw, etc. Several of the storylines were wrapped up, but the impending romance never started. Because the young crusading reporter was on the edge of death…..
Matt and Foggy were friends again, Karen Page defied the fate of all Karen Pages by surviving a run-in with Bullseye […]Which is amusing the majority of the women Matt Murdoch has slept with in the comics tend to get killed by Bullseye. He even keeps score of the number of Matt’s girlfriend he’s FridgedFor the record Jane Foster, who became Valkyrie after Brunhilde died during War of the Realms, has not slept with Daredevil.In fact, there was an occasion where Boomerang cowardly tried to persuade Bullseye into killing his date and spare his life by invoking his obsession with murdering anyone who’s in Matt’s sleeping with.You can literally count the number of women Matt has dated that haven’t either died, turned evil, or went insane on one hand.
The Despicable Deadpool run – which in the final episode has Deadpool take out multiple Avengers at once without even meaning to – including Scarlet Witch and Jane Foster’s Thor and a multitude of very powerful others at the same time – in such a way that I still laugh myself sick every time I read it – well, in an earlier issue Bullseye and Taskmaster team up to permanently kill Deadpool for a $20 million contract.However, when they discover Deadpool took the contract out on himself (because of course, Deadpool being Deadpool he can’t shut up), they were both so offended not only did they refuse to continue to keep trying to kill him even in spite of the money which was a genuine offer, they told him to “seek help”.
Deadly Foes of Spider-Man is one of my favorite series of all time.
Venture Brothers : (
Is that show ever really cancelled though? It just crawls under a rock for a while and then comes back out.
Dammit, thanks for that reminder. The last two seasons were full of call-backs that clearly showed that Publik and Hammer were finally getting their shit back together (it’s not that they ever lost it fully, but most of seasons 4 and nearly all of season 5 are really, really hit or full on miss for me). I’m really hoping that this is just a stunt to see if AS should full on renew VB indefinitely, which, seriously, at this point they might as well. I’m fine with one new season every two years.
Yeah, I don’t get it. Ricky and Morty gets picked up for like 70 episodes and they can’t give Venture Brothers one more season to wrap things up? (I’m not meaning to bag on Rick and Morty, I like that too, just think it’s strange that they’d give such an insane order to one show and cancel another that’s been wildly successful).
Yeah, that’s a decision I’ll never figure out either. And yeah, I like R&M too, but I’ve been watching and re-watching VB since it started. I’ve moved seven times since then and it’s the only constant I have on TV from that period of life. I mean, didn’t they somehow go three years between seasons at one point? I’ve had this discussion too many times at this point and all it does it raise my blood pressure.
After hearing it got cancelled I rewatched the entire series (except for the Christmas special which is strangely absent from the episodes on Hulu, even though they have the pilot and Halloween special). I still think it will get picked up somewhere and given a chance to wrap things up, my guess is HBO Max.
Yeah, it’s too popular, and – although very uneven – too good when it was at its best to not have some media company pick it up for at least a movie or short season (6 episodes sounds about right?) to wrap it up.I don’t see any way that doesn’t happen, unless Hammer and/or Publick really don’t want to do the show any more.Or maybe they’ll just go this route:
AS runs a continuous marathon of a few shows on their website/app, and I thought the Halloween special and the Christmas special were the same? And yeesh, the pilot is…let’s just say, “dated”. Hell, the first half of the first season is fair to middling at best. I really do hope that either AS pulls their collective heads out of their asses or some streamer will pick it up and do it justice.
The Christmas Special was in the first season I think. It has to do with the Krampus and introduces Tiny Joseph, who is seen later on in prison with the Monarch. Remember the little guy who makes the message on the butterfly wing and later gets shot out of the Monarch’s gauntlet at the prison guard? He’s called Tony Joseph because he infiltrated the Venture Compound in the nativity scene in the Christmas special.
I had honestly forgotten about that Christmas special. Swear I’ve only seen it once, probably when they first aired it. Think it’s odd that the AS always running marathon online even includes a lot of bumpers they did for VB between episodes and replays the always skippable special on Shallow Gravy.
I pirated all the episodes way back when, but they’re all shitty quality and I’d have to watch them on my computer. Hulu has most episodes as I said. I’m almost surprised they didn’t delete the Halloween special because there’s a blackface joke in it and it seemed like everyone was deleting those episodes this past year.I need to start buying DVDs again. Not only are streaming sites deleting episodes, but there’s so goddamn many of them now. Between my wife and I, we have Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO (can’t access Max though because our TV is Roku), now Peacock (wife couldn’t stand losing Parks and Rec), AND we pay for cable from DirecTV (we also get Disney+ from my brother). It’s ridiculous!I will say I personally get the most use out of Hulu. I’d probably be getting a lot of use out of HBO Max if Roku got their shit together.I’m sorry, I’m ranting. I love Venture Bros. I hope they get a proper finish.
Well, Rick and Morty is really popular right now and is bringing a lot of people over to their network and Venture Brothers… wasn’t.
I’m retiring next year, so I’ll finally have time to go back and watch the final season, even knowing it won’t be renewed.I missed it when it aired because my parents would let me stay up late on school nights.
I bet it gets picked up by like HBO or something for either a “movie” or final season to wrap it up.
Don’t even try to get my hopes up you bastard
SPHINX!
Rubicon is the one that hurts me the most.
Oof. Thanks for reminding me.
I loved Rubicon, but I disagree. I actually think that the show ending at one season suited it well. Maybe this is a failure of imagination on my part, but I think that a second season would have diminished the perfect ending of the first season.Also: Christopher Evan Welch, R.I.P. It’s amazing how his character in this show and in Silicon Valley were so different and both so great.
I loved Rubicon — it was basically “Three Days of the Condor: The Series” and I love that film. But that being said, the mystery was resolved. It would have to be a Veronica Mars-style thing with each season having its own mystery to continue.
I’m sure that if Disney ever decides to make a fourth season of Daredevil, they’ll clarify the misconception that lawyer Matt Murdoch is Daredevil. After, his sweater says he’s not Daredevil, why would a sweater lie?Why, I’ve heard rumors that Daredevil is actually Mike Murdoch. You know, Matt’s twin who we’ve never met until just recently, says “Daddy-O” a lot, and is for some reason never in the same as his brother for what I can only assume are for perfectly normal reasons that have nothing to do with what Matt being in any way Daredevil.After all, only only someone as cool and hip as Mike Murdock could be Daredevil. Matt’s too lame and uptight to ever be that cool. So we should just ignore those claims that Matt Murdock is Daredevil as they are clearly lies.
I don’t think the real Daredevil wears a plastic smock with a picture of himself on it.
Journeyman – The short-lived time travelling journalist series killed by 07 writers strike.Boss – Totally insane Kelsey Grammar show where he’s the mayor of Chicago.Earth 2 – This is one which broke my heart as a kid – It ends with the main character suddenly becoming ill and having to be frozen so she doesn’t die. The last shot is Devon in suspended animation in a dark ship left behind by her friends and son. Here in Australia this was followed by a VO saying that it was the show’s last episode but it would be back in 1996. Obviously that never happened.Dallas – Famously ended with a cliffhanger that JR had shot himself. Obviously this was resolved eventually but it was such a shock ending.
I really, really liked Journeyman, and I’m still annoyed that NBC pulled the plug on it when it did. The start was a little rocky, I think (I didn’t like that the brother was kind of an a-hole about everything, but they fixed that a few episodes in), but they’d really turned a corner and were not only exploring really interesting and weighty concepts, but doing it well.The episode that really got me was when he’d left his iPhone in the past, resulting in a new present where he had a daughter instead of a son, and he had to promise his wife that he wasn’t going to do anything to take that daughter away from her even though he knew that was exactly what was going to happen. It was heart-wrenching and emotional and beautifully written and played.
Oh shit yeah that’s an amazing episode.
>>Journeyman – The short-lived time travelling journalist series killed by 07 writers strike.<
Boss was such an… odd show. Like I kind of hated it? But I couldn’t stop watching.All I can remember from Earth 2 is a lot of wandering in the desert and Tim Curry being a delight.Dallas: Yes I’ve watched the whole series growing up. (Reruns on TNN… which eventually became Spike… which eventually became… I don’t even know). Yeah it ended with like, The Devil convincing him to shoot himself. But then a few years later they started making TV Movies. Forget how they retconned it though. Then that pretty subpar reboot a few years back.
I. am. OBSESSED. with. Earth2. I have the DVD set and a (sub-par) original novel as my only condolences.
It was such a good show. The pilot particularly was really good – the set design for their ship was amazing and the crash sequence I recall finding absolutely edge-of-your-seat at the time.Though having seen the plans for season 2, it’s probably a good thing we never got that. Have you ever seen it?
Nope. But now I want a Netflix reboot! Pour one out for my homie E2…
Feast your eyes on this:
wow
Dead Like Me was still building new dimensions to its character relationships and slowly letting George come to grips with her own death at the very start of her adult life, memorializing the anniversary of her own passing, when it just ended without letting her have the full 6-season arc she deserved. It didn’t exactly end on a cliffhanger, but they were teasing details about Daisy and Rube’s attachments to their mortal lives, Mason was turning a corning on becoming a decent (former) human being, and then… nope! Canceled!I know there’s a movie. In fact, it came with the DVD set, so I guess I own the movie. But without Mandy Patinkin or even a replacement playing Rube, and with the way every other fan of the series hates it, I’m still not convinced it should be thought of as canon and still haven’t watched it.
The one part of the movie I still rewatch are the ones with Ellen Muth’s character and her sister. That whole part of it was really well done IMO and brought a very good closure on their relationship which had been originally taken away from them due to death by satellite.
Also, George’s sister grows up to be the Anna Chlumsky character in Hannibal.
George is killed on Hannibal.
“Always” remains one of my very favorite episodes of TV ever. I agree totally that it really sucks that the series wasn’t allowed to continue.
Agree! This was a very good series that was ended before its time. it was too quirky and also agree that Mandy Patankin kind of made it and without him the movie felt empty.
Except Hannibal don’t all of Fuller’s shows end too soon. Wonderfalls ended at a good point but come on we could have had more.
And no mention yet of Pushing Daisies?
Killed by the screenwriters strike just like Life, only Life had a killer ending. “Did you ever wonder how I survived all those years in prison?”
Every Bryan Fuller show could be on this list.
Although Wonderfalls was cut short, like all of Fuller’s shows, I feel like that ending feels strangely like an actual end.
The movie fucking sucks and feels like it was written by someone who never watched the show. Basic rules of the premise are ignored or altered, characterizations are all over the place and characters have to relearn lessons they already learned in the show, a new actress plays Daisy, and the lack of Patinkin is glaring. As another poster said, the ONLY somewhat decent stuff is between George and Reggie. It hurt my heart seeing Reggie as a shitty teenager, but it also felt accurate considering what she had been through.
The movie was just so bad.
Two come to mind, though they may not seem typical. The
first is My So-Called Life. When I watched the show (at just the right age for
a gay teen to watch it—13) I really thought that my involvement in a save our
show campaign would make a difference. Still, I am a bit haunted by who Angela
would have “ended up with” (not to mention the fate of her parents’ marriage,
and poor Ricki…)
The other one was All My Children, the one soap opera I watched since I was at
an age I had no idea what was even happening, and ended up writing (mostly)
about for my MA essay. From all reports, and we’ve gotten little tidbits here
and there, a full on Six Feet Under finale was scripted and mostly
filmed—showing the fates of everyone as they aged. This was canceled at the
last minute when the show’s rights were bought for an online/Hulu version, and
instead we ended up with a cliffhanger where a bullet was shot—but no one was
sure who shot it and who was hit.
Then the online version’s funding (or
something) fell through, and it seemed like we’d never know. Only to have the
project pull together and a semi resolution be given—and a decent streaming
version of the soap that actually improved on its feeble final ABC years. But
then—more funding issues, and THAT version ended on a cliffhanger as well.
Still, in a way I think a soap opera should end with a cliffhanger rather than
the feeling that suddenly all these characters have quiet lives. (version
of the soap that actually improved on its feeble final ABC years. But then—more
funding issues, and THAT version ended on a cliffhanger as well. Still, in a
way I think a soap opera should end with a cliffhanger rather than the feeling
that suddenly all these characters have quiet lives. (And there are
infamous other examples of soaps with awful finales—like the shortlived
Capitol ending with its hero being shot by a firing squad…)
I was so crushed by My So-Called Life’s cancelation. Sometimes I wonder if I should go back and re-visit the show, but I suppose it’s better to just keep my good memories. It meant a lot to me when I was younger and saw nothing like myself reflected in media elsewhere at the time.
I’m so glad you said this, I was literally down here in the comments to mention All My Children and One Life to Live! I agree that it’s good to end soaps on a cliffhanger, but I wish it could be a planned cliffhanger, if that makes sense. There were big answers already in place for both shows that I would’ve liked to get, and just with fun new questions posed at the last moment. I think the online version would’ve served both well with a finale, but they got shut down pretty abruptly so they weren’t even “tide us over” finales.
Wait….a real soap ended with a firing squad cliff hanger, years after a parody of soaps did it?
Lodge 49 and Alphas.
The “Only Living Boy in New York” cliffhanger? Damn you for reminding me!
I still don’t get why Lodge 49 was cancelled.
It’s a miracle that show ever got on the air. It’s a double miracle that it got renewed for a second season. At that point, they ran out of miracles.
I have my doubts that they had anything planned as to where the show was going it kinda felt like they were out of ideas the way it ended.
I still have a few episodes left to watch!
Shit ratings I imagine.
I feel like ratings are meaningless in this day and age.
AMC doesn’t share your views
Never watched Alphas but take a star for Lodge 49.
The Alphas series cliffhanger was so ballsy
Alphas and Sarah Connor Chronicles both ended on supercool cliffhangers featuring Summer Glau
I’m probably one of very few people to say this, but Bored to Death. Was he sleeping with his sister or not??
Just keep them away from pumpkins…
Outsiders and Between are two shows recently that I’ve watched that got cancelled and/or never continued that I’m curious about.
What happened to Xander Crews and Killface in outer space?!!!
Harumph!
Hey – if you’re so smart, why aren’t you in Antbaby Machete Squad?!
Oh, I will be. I’ll be squad leader!
*sad penguin noises*
Oh you’re drunk.
Bup Bup!As much as I love that show, I think it pretty clearly ran out of steam about half way through the 2nd season. Pretty much anything after the debate was a sloppy mess. Not that I’m not curious what happened to Xander and Evelyn, but I’m alright with where it ended.
I just want the villabouts of the wherein Kelly
Killface died and Xander Crews changed his name to Sterling Archer
I think you mean Ray Gillette.
They are like hobbit. On eagle.
The OA!!! The show had its flaws but I’m still mad Netflix killed it on that cliffhanger. Really wish they’d give it a movie wrap-up like they did Sense8. I’d love to know where Marling had planned to take us in season 3.
GODDAMNITI know there were comics and everything which I have read but not quite the same thing, also the plans for Season 6 sounded awesome *sigh*.At least in hunting down the comics, I discovered this and it was awesome.http://www.whedon.info/Illyria-Fallen-Angel-Reborn-Issue,31783.htmlThey said it’s what they could have made if someone let them make a $100 million movie and they’re not wrong!
I think that works just fine as a series finale. Angel was never going to just retire and live on an island. He was going to go out with a bang.
Agreed, I didn’t see it as a cliffhanger so much as Butch and Sundance type thing.Did they know it was going to be the finale, actually? It felt like they did.
They did know it was the finale. Angel was doing well ratings-wise, and they wanted to do an extended story into Season 6, so they asked The WB for an early renewal, so they could plan accordingly. The WB, for some reason, said, not only no, but you’re cancelled. So, they had to cram a finale arc into the end of Season 5.
The Sarah Connor Chronicles was another one. It was literally bursting with ideas that the movies almost never had the imagination to even think about looking at.Those included: The simple but obvious idea that there were multiple factions involved (much like real life!). Different human factions and machine factions, of which Skynet was just one. So there were humans vs machines, humans vs other humans, humans and machines vs Skynet and Skynet and humans vs other humans +/- machines.Then there were machines with missions other than John Connor (it’s not all about you, John!). Sure, if you run into John, go to town but otherwise they had other primary missions. There were also multiple futures with people coming from each (and their own agendas too).The whole training of John Henry to learn ethics and morality was fascinating too, I liked how the plan was for it to replace Skynet but at the end there, John clearly had other ideas since it and Skynet each saw each other as brothers due to sharing the same base code (we know Skynet also thought this courtesy of hearing the other end of a phone call with Skynet).Finally, I found it fascinating that even John himself was haunted by the spectral figure of his future self (figuratively speaking at least) as it was as much a mystery to him as the audience. A figure we never saw except maybe once in silhouette (perhaps) and had long become a recluse. Special credit to the relentlessness of Cromartie as well to the point of defying orders in order to complete his mission.Anyway, there was a lot of great stuff there and at least there was enough to act as springboard for ideas in imagining your own ending which I’d like to believe that ultimately led to a peace treaty because Skynet realised due to the number of alternate futures that kept turning up (and people and machines from it), no-one ever really absolutely win (what we call in mathematics Proof by Exhaustion) and it eventually convinces all the other parties to sue for peace due to its relentless machine logic being used to lay out the case as opposed to trying to blow everyone up for once.I created by own ending in my head by patching it together with an excellent comic book sequel to Terminator Salvation (not a surprise when you learn J. Michael Straczynski wrote it).(I never miss an opportunity to link to the first two issues which you can read here legally for free!)https://io9.gizmodo.com/a-terminator-the-last-battle-bombshell-plus-read-two-1636523202
and Lena f’n Headey years before GOT
I kid you not, true story.I guess I might have seen the books in bookstores but the very first time I ever remember hearing of Game of Thrones was when I was reading about The Sarah Connor Chronicles being cancelled.I was disappointed but I thought it was for the best for Lena Headey as I remember thinking (especially going by why happened to Dark Angel on Fox even James Cameron having his name attached) at best, the Sarah Connor Chronicles most likely had one more season while I do distinctly remember thinking despite hearing about it for likely the first time, this Game of Thrones thing had “at least two seasons worth of work in it”.
The season 2 finale of The Sarah Connor Chronicles went to a wild place, and I was so interested to see what the show had planned. It’s at the top of my list for bitterest cancelations.
I quickly scrolled through the article and comments to be sure nobody mentioned The Leftovers, because I’m mid-binge right now and I WANT TO BELIEVE the series finale has Carrie Coon’s Nora Durst all happy and settled and resolved by the end of it! Not too bothered about the others … The show could end with theroux and the rest on a literal cliffhanger and I’d be fine with that, JUST GIVE ME A RESOLVED NORA DURST ENDING DAMMIT!!
The Leftovers is a complete show, so you’re safe.
A complete show with one of the best finales – and final seasons – and final scenes – of all time. I’m jealous of the OP for being able to watch it for the first time.
I waited until The Leftovers had finished before starting because I wanted to know whether or not it had a satisfying ending. Was told it did, and I can now confirm that it is true. I found the ending very satisfying.
That’s pretty much what I did too.It also meant I looked forward to Watchmen, cos before The Leftovers I hadn’t really enjoyed Lindeloff’s work, but afterwards I couldn’t wait to see what he did next.
It probably sticks the landing as good or better than any show ever. I envy you the opportunity to watch the last season without knowing the ending.
There’s this batshit crazy reality show on now that’s scheduled to have it’s series finale on November 3, here’s hoping there are NO CLIFFHANGERS! (Unfortunately there’s a whole bunch of wackos out there’s clamoring for a network renewal of 4 more years …)
I know it’s a fiction, I KNOW THAT, but I’m still furious that Von Trier won’t tell me what “happened” after Riget’s season 2.
What an ending though.
This is quite true.
I went to see all of Riget Part 1 and 2 at the cinema in Sydney. Went in around 1pm while the sun was up and emerged about 12 hours later after 1pm. One of the greatest film experiences for me ever (we did have short breaks after every two episodes and technically Riget I and II were separate screenings – 4 episodes for each – so I had 15 minutes between I and II to run to an ATM and get the money for II). Apparently Stephen King got the scripts for the whole thing (or at least an outline) for when he made Kingdom Hospital so I guess we could tease out what might have been the general idea but I have bothered yet because … well, you know.I did actually write to the production company about Riget III and even got a reply saying they were planning to make it in 2001 which I did wonder about how they were going to do that given one main lead had died in 1998 and another in 2000 but I guess that ship ended up sailing and then some.
Well, we did eventually get a resolution to that Twin Peaks cliffhanger, so you never know.
The correct answer is Clone High.
It was a bummer, but I still the love the way they had Abe nonsensically say “Juhcluh” before being cut off (and frozen) so you didn’t know if he was saying Joan or Cleo.
Isn’t that getting brought back or rebooted?
https://www.vulture.com/2020/07/clone-high-reboot-mtv-studios.html
The theme song will need some reworking “Way, way back in the early two-thousands…” doesn’t scan like “the nineteen eighties” and they’d have to update the time frame of the cloning to make them teenagers now.
Way way back in the naughty AughtiesSome secret government employees…
So, did David Vincent finally convince a disbelieving world that the nightmare has already begun ?
He’d gathered a group of powerful believers as allies in the second season and several other episodes showed that there were sympathetic aliens on the home planet fighting to overthrow the Invader regime, so I’m good with no series conclusion.
Lodge 49 was mapped out for four seasons, but AMC axed it halfway through. The big cliffhanger at the end is tantalizing for confirming the show’s ambiguous magical realism is real magic.
If fans don’t convince Netflix to reverse its dumbass decisions, GLOW & Teenage Bounty Hunters will join this list too.
Lodge 49 is a real shame, but that penultimate episode is one of my favourite pieces of television ever, so ar least we got that.
Soap… Is Corrine’s baby the devil’s spawn?
Yes. But Jessica speechified that devil out of the baby in a tremendous performance.
it’s been so long… was it something about Bert being an alien and someone (Mary?) being pregnant that I mixed it up with?
So Burt didn’t become an alien. Rather, an alien became a Burt doppleganger. So when Mary got pregnant and had Baby Scott, she wasn’t sure if the father was Alien Burt or Burt Burt. Turns out it was Alien Burt as the baby began exhibiting strange behaviors.
Rubicon comes to mind, or was it a cliffhanger? I don’t really remember, I just remember that I liked the show, should do a rewatch. I would also suggest Stargate Universe to this list
I had completely forgotten about Stargate Universe. Wow. I really think that they missed their audience with that one, because it was incredible, but no one knew about it.
Visually and in terms of the story, Stargate Universe set itself on the more interesting side of contemporary shows. But as you said, they didn’t really knew their audience
Stargate Universe started out wanting to be Lost but in space, and I had just about had enough of anything Lost-like at that point. I stayed with it, though, and eventually it became its own thing separate from Lost. But yeah, it was the least “Stargate-ie” of the Stargate shows (including the cartoon). That said, the cliffhanger wasn’t bad enough that I was bothered by it.
Granted, the main storyline had ended, but having the two main characters sitting at a red light; one way leading to jail, the other leading to Mexico and a life on the run…. Terriers was an excellent show and should have had another 2 seasons to fully develop the characters.
Terriers is one of those one season wonders that I’m glad I watched, even though it was probably two years after it aired. Seems like it was a bit ahead of its’ time as far as characters and plotting are concerned. Plus, I think being on F/X (it was on F/X, right?) really didn’t help its chances for success.
I got a “Terriers”notification for this?
I deeply loved Terriers, but I personally wouldn’t put it on this list just because the ending we got was so well done. I’m mad we didn’t get more Terriers, but I didn’t feel let down or left on the hook by its ending the way I have with other shows.
I see your point, but still want more. It was a great show that ended as well as can be expected, but there was so much untapped potential and promise that I still hope somebody does something to…do something!
That said, it works beautifully as a semi-ambiguous mini-series (semi-ambiguous because they said what Britt was going to do at that stop light) that leaves things in a good enough place to allow us to fill in the blanks on where it was probably going to go. But I still miss that series and those characters. I am still eager to see those actors in other things (I don’t know that I’ve seen Donal Logue’s sister Karina in anything since, but my god was she fantastic!), and grateful for that one season. If they renewed it with that cast, I would be just as excited now as I was when it was cancelled.
I find it similar to Freaks&Geeks in that, yes it was a cliffhanger of sorts, but it was also kind of the perfect place to end. This adventure is over, the next one lays before them.Sometimes I like an open ending where you can just feel good knowing theyre out there in the world.
Agreed. The show was given time to wrap up its storylines. A deliberately ambiguous ending is not the same as an “unresolved cliffhanger.”
Another FX show cancelled after one season I liked was Lights Out. The ending kinda works as an ending (although if it is an ending, it’s a total bummer one) and I don’t know where they would have gone with it had they decided to continue the story, but I did enjoy the show and would have liked more of it.
Well, if we’re going to talk about shows with Donal Logue and Michael Raymond-James that ended too early, then Life ended at least one season too soon.
I wonder how much the title contributed to the show not attracting viewers quickly enough? It was generating great word of mouth but that’s tough to accomplish sufficiently in one season. And it’s not like the title was intriguing or mysterious. Just, “huh.”
I love Terriers but I was less enamored with the ending because it’s basically, beat for beat, the same ending as 25th Hour.
My Name is EarlThe Kettering IncidentLuke CageAlphasmany others but off the top of my head those 4 come to mind.
I was really excited to see how gangster luke cage would completely fuck everything up
yeah, i can’t remember if the writing was already on the wall at that point as far as the netflix shows, but i wish S2 had wrapped things up a bit more neatly. I don’t have a problem with how the other netflix series concluded.
Yessssss, Luke Cage. They were setting up a Luke Cage vs. Misty Knight season 3 that could have been killer. Still bummed we never got it.
My Name is Earl was great for a couple of seasons, but by the time it finished really needed putting out of its misery.
BBC’s 2008 Survivors. Loved the story and characters, and the second season ended on a complete cliffhanger…and just never got picked up again. Ugh.
Nowhere Man, starring the always-awesome Bruce Greenwood. That season 1 cliffhanger ending blew my mind. And it kills me that we’ll never know what happened next.
Good choice. I still remember the theme music which was excellent and fit the show perfectly.
why isn’t Bruce Greenwood a bigger deal? Handsome bastard, good actor, never seemed to have a signature role. I’d have happily watched a bunch of Star Trek movies with him as captain and Kirk as his number 1.
I liked the show and the end cliffhanger, but if it had continued I think it would’ve been a prime candidate for Lost Syndrome. The whole false memory thing would’ve made it easy to retcon things as “That’s what you were brainwashed to think!”
The ending of Angel was sort of meant as a proto-Sopranos ‘the fight goes on’ ending, and the comics did continue the story, but damnit do I wish that show had one more season to wrap things up.(also, hi, long time no talk!)
What happened to everyone in St Elsewhere after the kid shook up the snowglobe?
One of the characters had his soul trapped in a Pontiac Trans Am, which is apparently the 8th circle of Hell.At least that’s better than Cousin Oliver, whose soul is trapped in a Pontiac Fiero – the 9th circle of Hell.
… and then went on to teach elementary, jr high, high school and college classes.
Nowhere Man.
It’s a bit odd referring to “Hannibal” as having a “cliffhanger” since it ended by throwing its leads off a literal cliff.
Fuller knew exactly what he was doing there.
What, no Benson?
Daredevil is the one I will never forgive. The cancellation was so pointless. Disney has not made another Daredevil nor brought this incarnation back, so why on Earth did they play such hardball with Netflix over properties they did nothing with. At the time it was supposedly about not wanting Netflix to have Disney-plus marvel properties. But how would it matter if Disney never did anything with the Netflix Marvel shows? All they did was cancel one of the best shows Netflix had and was a tentpole for them, and Disney also got nothing. Worst example of a Network (or in 2020 parlance) platform pissing match that accomplished nothing but pissing people off for no reason.
I mean, it hasn’t been very long since the cancelation. There’s still plenty of possibility that Disney will do something else with the character in the future.
It has been two years since the third season with zero plans announced for any more. It is dead.
I’m not talking about reviving the Netflix show. I’m talking about using Daredevil the character elsewhere. It might still be a while, but I imagine that their thinking was that the longer they allowed the Netflix shows to continue, the longer they’d have to wait before rebooting the characters.
I really just think they forced Netflix to cancel it because they were launching Disney Plus and did not want any competition at all with their Marvel properties. I really do not think they ever had any plan to reboot Daredevil, and doing so would be pointless because how much better would any new series be than the Netflix one? Daredevil was the best of the netflix bunch and was done as well as possible. So why start over? It really made no sense and was dumb. I think you are really stretching out of hope.
I think you are really stretching out of hope.Not at all. I honestly don’t give a crap. I watched the first season of the Netflix series and liked it alright but I was mostly bored by the second and didn’t watch the third or anything else past The Defenders. I don’t have any real attachment to Daredevil from the comics either. All I’m saying is that it’s silly to complain that Disney hasn’t done anything else with the character yet when it’s barely been any time at all on the scale that it takes to get a TV or movie project off the ground.
It has been two years since the third season with zero plans announced for any more. It is dead.Due to the structure of the contract with Neflix, Disney couldn’t do anything with the characters until literally last week. I doubt they’ll continue the series but this isn’t good logic as to if they’ll use the character.
The question of the article and what I stated is why would they when they had a fantastic Daredevil on Netflix? It is the old spider man thing of rebooting something that is already successful.. Disney basically burned down a perfectly good daredevil show for what? So they can try to reboot it on their own platform years later? It is dumb
So they can try to reboot it on their own platform years later?Yes. So they can reboot it on their own platform where they get all the money from subscribers rather than sharing the revenue with Netflix. It’s not dumb for them at all. It’s just dumb for you because you really liked the show.
I kind of hate myself for writing this, but: ALF. The unresolved final episode was kind of traumatizing to me as a kid.
Poor, poor ALF. Finally about to be reunited with his people when he was kidnapped by the military. And we never got to know if he made it back (except in pog form).
They did end up making a tv movie tying up this cliffhanger, Project: ALF
I vaguely remember watching that on TV when it aired. It was basically ALF on a military base doing ALF shenanigans. Pretty lame.
Off topic a little. Why the hell did the Tanners insist on calling him ALF all the damn time? He clearly told them his name was Gordon Shumway and they just laughed at him and went on calling him ALF. Dicks lol.
Which didn’t have the Tanners in it? WTF? It’d be like a Brady sequel with just Alice.
Farscape was just about to get really cool when they shitcanned it. The movie they made because fans were so pissed is ok but we really missed out on 10-20 episodes of some good stuff
This one hurt the most.
I still get angry when I think of the cliffhanger that was almost the end before the miniseries. What a dumb move on Sci-Fi/Syfy’s part.
I never watched another series on the Sci-Fi channel after they canceled Farscape. I completely quit watching and I have never returned.
I remember hearing about other networks that were reaching out to SciFi making offers to pick up Farscape, and SciFi being all “nah, we’re good, we have no interest in seeing the series continue here or anywhere else”. Even Lexx got a proper series finale!! Let that one sink in.
I don’t know why any show runner would do a cliffhanger if their series was on the bubble. It makes much more sense to do a season ender that could double as a series ender. Personally, I think cliffhangers wore out their welcome by the end of the nineties. They only really seem to work if a show is picking up steam and building an audience. For any other series they often seem like an act of hubris, like calling your ship “unsinkable.” Also, producers, instead of giving your fans service, show them a little respect.
The vague motion is that it was once a bargaining chip for being picked up again. But that ceased to be true very quickly (and obviously means nothing now, thanks to the Netflix numbers game) and just became ‘a thing you do for your season finale’
It also helps pull in bigger numbers for your next season’s premiere, which is very important, as people are more likely to tune in to find out what happens nexy.
Peaky Blinders does cliffhangers all the time.
Peaky Blinders is never getting cancelled though. It only has two (I think) more series left, and it’s literally one of the biggest hits the BBC has ever had, especially in the UK.
True, but I can’t imagine that show is ever at risk of non-renewal.
Joss Whedon to his credit always ended a Buffy season in the final episode in such a way that it could have served as some sort of series finale with the possible exceptions of 4 and 6 but I think they knew they were going to be renewed – and even then they were still somewhat workable as series finales to a degree.Angel Season 5 … well I have … complicated feelings about that.
I noticed just last night both Buffy and Angel are free to stream on Amazon Prime. I thought they were only available on Hulu.
Buffy was technically cancelled after Season 4, so that was originally written as the series finale. UPN of all networks then picked up the series for 2 more years.I just mentioned this in another comment, but the entire reason Angel was cancelled is because Joss Whedon asked for another season ahead of the season finale.
All correct, except it was Season 5 of Buffy, not Season 4. Seasons 6 & 7 were on UPN.
Angel was pretty much my only ‘appointment TV show’ that year, so I understand completely. I do have to grudgingly admit, though, that it boasts one of the most tender, rip-your-heart-out emotional moments I’ve ever seen in a series: “Would you like me to lie to you now?”
Angel’s last episode is crazy. On the one hand, it was a dramatic way to close out that story (and show) with uncertainty. But boy howdy would I have loved some more seasons.I included a gif of Numfar’s Dance of Joy in a work email today. No one recognized or commented. Darn kids today.
Parks and Rec did that a few times as well.
It makes much more sense to do a season ender that could double as a series ender.Sure, but you realize that can be a really difficult tight-rope to walk, right?That’s almost like saying “Why do they keep rebooting old movies/shows, instead of just making something new that is good?”Because it’s really hard, that’s why.
Cliffhanger endings was a way to get support that would convince the network to pick up the series for another season. Sometimes it worked, other times it didn’t. Sometimes, the simple act of asking for an extra season ahead of time is enough to get your show cancelled, and not be given enough time to write a proper ending (see: Angel).
Let Robin Leach explain it to you, in this, the introduction to the first season finale of “Sledge Hammer!” In this case, the barely-even-on-the-bubble show got renewed. I highly recommend looking up both the cliffhanger and the resolution in the following season opener.
I think there’s a difference between a true “who shot J.R.” cliffhanger and a lot of what’s described here. For Freaks and Geeks and Daredevil at least, it doesn’t leave anything dangling and unresolved, rather it teases where things could go in the future. They still work as either type of finale.
To add to the list of HBO shows, Bored to Death! Lovely little comedy that ended on a weird, and now forever unresolved note (his sister?!).
Thanks for reminding me. I really enjoyed that show.
Loved that show!
Such a perfect cast. Ted Danson is just always perfect.
Think back almost a decade ago, the Sci fi TV series ‘The Event’. the season ends with a burning hell planet appearing in earth’s orbit. Then the series just ends.
God, The Event! Tons and tons of hype about “The Event” coming to TV, and what the event was, and even the whole pilot episode hiding what it was until the last moment. Then at the last moment we find out that it is some sort of alien invasion, and everyone stopped watching.
Oh wow, I forgot all about this show!
The OA, Daredevil, GLOW…..Fuck you, Netflix. You prematurely cancelled Sense8 but then gave them an extra two hours to try and wrap everything up, You should offer that to everyone else you’ve screwed.
[remembers that GLOW isn’t coming back and gets sad]
The OA! I watched that twice this year. I really loved what they did and thought they could have pulled off their 5 season plan.
“North Shore,” an early aughts Fox soap opera starring Kristoffer Polaha as the new assistant manager of a luxury resort in Oahu, mentored by a kindly James Remar with an assist from Brooke Burns, Nikki Deloach, Jason Momoa and other pretty people. That’s how it started, but the happy-hour-at-the-meat-market plots drove ratings down. Then they brought in Shannen Doherty as a scheming rival to Remar and staff. When Doherty failed to bring in viewers, the show changed tone and had Remar’s character turn to drug dealing. In the last episode aired, Polaha was framed by Remar for a drug crime and arrested. It ended with Polaha in his cell, framed by his mentor but presumably expecting to be exonerated in a future episode. But there were no future episodes. Polaha still sits in his cell.
I only saw a few episodes of North Shore, but isn’t James Remar a great “That Guy” actor?Will Harris, can we get a Random Roles with that guy?
Single episode cliffhanger.. Monty Python, the one where the Spanish Inquisition appears the 2nd time….
And we never did find out who Michael Ellis was.
UTOPIA
Still so upset about Santa Clarita Diet.
THAT’S what I was trying to think of! Thank you!
Yea that deserved a spot on this list. Just freaking cruel man.
Should I not watch it?
CBS’ updated take on The Six Million Dollar Man, Now and Again. Middle-aged family man Michael Wiseman, occasionally played by John Goodman, is involved in an accident that mangled his body but left his brain intact. Michael wakes up to find that a shadowy government agency, headed by Dennis Haysbert, saved said brain and had it surgically placed it into a lab-grown, genetically and chemically-enhanced supersoldier body (played by Eric Close,) giving him a second chance at life – but on the condition that he work for Haysbert/the military to tackle clandestine missions, help prove the viability of this supersoldier project, and have no contact with anybody from his past. Inevitably, of course, Michael manages to cross paths with his wife and daughter, as well as an old work buddy, on a regular basis (sometimes he goes out of his way to do it, and sometimes his mission of the week winds up roping in his loved ones. Crazy how that works!)The first season finale saw Michael escape from his handlers once again and go directly to his family, when he finally laid it all on the line – yes, I’m your husband/dad, and your suspicion every time you’ve seen me over the last year was justified. The last shot of the season/series was black ops troops swarming the now-empty Wiseman family home, and a very unhappy Dennis Haysbert standing in the foyer shouting “FIND HIM.” (And during all of this, the very memorable villain from the start of the season, an old Japanese man who stages terrorist attacks with nerve-agent filled eggshells, has escaped from prison with a grudge against Michael and a new accomplice/muscle, played by pro wrestler Mankind!)As far as dumb TV action dramas go, it certainly was one. Not a great show by any stretch of the imagination, but I’d watched the entire season and gotten invested after catching the cold open of the first episode after getting sucked in (Seriously, watch the first 3 minutes of this, it’s really well done.) What’s really disappointing about the cliffhanger finale is that shook up the entire premise and set up an interesting new path for Season 2 (Almost like the producers suspected they were on the bubble and would need to retool the show if they were renewed…) that sits there unrealized. Also it felt inevitable that Michael and Mankind were going to have a fight at some point in the second season that involved multiple bodyslams and a Mandible Claw! I wanted to see that!
About Now and Again, I remember at one point, they threaten the lead with replacing the brain in the body he’s in with a Navy SEAL or if not that, some other government military special ops type they had on standby if he doesn’t play ball.I remember thinking even at the time, why didn’t they just wait to go that route in the first place. Somebody already part of the system and used to following orders would have been a much better choice, especially with the added gratitude to the government in being brought back from seeming death.
It was always just an empty threat, I always had a feeling that Michael had more leverage than he realized, that it wasn’t as easy as just swapping in another brain. But damn Dennis Haysbert wasn’t just fantastic making those threats, and hearing him do ads for AllState always reminds me of it.
Now and Again was incredibly watchable and I always wondered what could possibly happen next. Curse you for reminding me!
Thank you so much for bringing up Now and Again. I was used to Fox cancelling shows just as they got good or interesting (Space Above and Beyond Strange Luck, etc), but I expected two seasons out of a show on CBS. If I remember right it got canceled in favor of a remake of the Fugitive which also got cancelled with a cliffhanger.
Looked it up, Now and Again was replaced at 9PM on Friday nights with yet another by-the-books cop procedural called CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. (Which quickly shot into being tied with Who Wants to be a Millionaire and The West Wing in the ratings, and moved to Thursdays as a result. The Tim Daly Fugitive reboot did take its place at midseason.)
Thank you for the info. I only remember CSI from being on Thursday, but that all makes sense.
Thank you for remembering Strange Luck..
I found it quirk in a really good way, I always liked when he was short of cash, he’d buy a lottery ticket and win just enough to cover what he owed.
yes! He was not allowed to “press his luck” and go for mega millions- he would lose. But if he needed a $50, he could always get it
All the plates are spinning madly at the end of Get Shorty season three, but the real cliffhanger is whether or not it will be renewed for a wrap up.
Frisky Dingo.I wish we could have gotten to know Mama Killface…
Pft, Dane Cook is the Dane Cook of comparisons.
Oh, poor canceled Pushing Daisies. ABC cut it down too soon and Bryan Fuller had to turn a presumed midseason finale into a makeshift series finale.SPOILERS for the young folks who still need to see it.
Despite giving the characters their happy endings, I still wanted to see exactly how Emerson Cod finds Penny again. And Olive’s love quadrangle shenanigans before she finally falls for Randy (or Alfredo). Most importantly, Vivian and Lily finally see Chuck alive again!
What I’d give for an extra nine episodes to see the aunts come to terms with a resurrected Chuck, learn of Ned’s powers that brought her back, and a presumed short-lived fear of Ned killing Chuck for good. Not to mention Ned’s father coming back to the picture and a resolution to how Ned and Chuck could have a fully tactile relationship. It still hurts my heart at times not to see this wonderful show get to continue as well as the ending it truly deserved.
My idea for Ned and Chuck to have a tactile relationship is that Chuck dies by drowning and Ned is the only one around. He must do CPR on her. She’s already dead at that point so touching her doesn’t kill her. He revives her by touching her through CPR and from that point on can touch her without killing her.
The Glades. He’s on his way to his wedding, stops off to pick up something at his home, is shot. The show ends with him in a pool of blood
And Millennium cancelled abruptly without reaching the year 2000.
The two that really chap my hideReunion, FOX, 2005: This show was meant to have 20 episodes, each chronicling a single year from the graduation of the group of 6 high school friend main characters in 1986 until the present, when we discover that during their 20 year high school reunion one of them was murdered, seemingly by one of the others. We learn the identity of the victim in the 1990 episode. The last episode to air is the 1994 episode, which aired without the killer having been revealed. There were four more episodes filmed and not aired in the U.S., but none of those revealed the killer either. Years later, once Wikipedia became more of a fleshed-out thing, the entry for the show finally let me know who the killer was alleged to be, confirmed by Dave Annable (who played Aaron). But it seems like that was a bit of a rushed tacked on thing by writers who knew their show was ending but thought they had a little more time.Defying Gravity, ABC, 2009: The commercials for this show largely billed it as “Grey’s Anatomy in spaaaaaaace” which I think may have singularly doomed it. The show was actually a fascinating sci-fi show by James Parriott (who did write/produce for Grey’s but was also the creator of Voyagers! and Misfits of Science back in the 80s) about eight people sent on a six year trip to Venus, presumably to collect data and produce a science documentary for kids. But they were also carrying something in a cargo hold, something only referred to as Beta that seemingly had a lot of power and exerted a large degree of control over the actual mission (for example, one of the original crew is sidelined because of a heart problem discovered during physicals, later revealed to have been caused by Beta so that someone else would have to go). Only 9 episodes aired, the last of which involved the crew finding out about the real reason for their mission to Venus and pretty much all under the influence of Beta at that point. There were 4 more episodes, again not aired in the U.S. and then it ended. Parriott did lay out where it would have gone, which you can read here and be sad as I still am that this never made it to television in whole: https://defyinggravity.jimdofree.com/defying-gravity-tv-series/how-defying-gravity-would-have-ended/
I forgot about Defying Gravity, it was pretty decent.
Daredevil sucks a little bit. But Matt and Co. are in such a good place it almost feels like an ending. Yes, Bullseye is revealed … but if you look at it like every superhero gets his supervillain, then the Bullseye reveal is kind of like a little bonus. “…and they lived happily ever after… in constant comic book turmoil. The End.”
I mourn the loss of “Shut Eye.” I think it fell through the cracks as shows transitioned from Cable to Paid Streaming. In this case Hulu. Stellar cast, though. Great last line before cancellation: “Fuck you, Charlie.”Also everything on FXX’s Animation Domination (High Def)In particular:Stone Quackers & Major Lazer & Lucas BrosGolan the Insatiable was pretty goodHigh School USA & Axe Cop were just OK.
Every now and again I go back and just watch through Lucas Bros. It is just so goddamned charming.
Santa Clarita Diet. I would have liked to have seen that character’s transformation.
This year has made for a ton of unresolved cliffhangers as shows keep getting cancelled due to the pandemic/related issues. I think the ones that hurt most for me are Venture Bros and GLOW. I really hope both get continuations of some kind.
Utopia, the British version. It really seemed like it could have wrapped up with a third series, too. The plot got bigger and bigger, and a major character took on a new role that promised interesting things to come. I still think the creator should have done a graphic novel to wrap it up, it would have been fitting since much of the show’s plot centered around a graphic novel anyway. That’s up there with the comic Wildcats 3.0, which ALSO built a unique and huge story and then got cancelled before its third year would wrap everything up. If I had all the money, those are the two pieces of entertainment I would pay to get made.I still haven’t watched the final episode of the amazing Lodge 49, I know that one’s gonna hurt. I stopped after the penultimate episode and then started over from the beginning so my wife could watch it. We are taking it very slow so we just finished the first season. Re-watching it makes the cancellation hurt even more, because now I am seeing how deeply various themes, plot threads, and character arcs were thoughtfully worked into the show from the very beginning in ways that were not apparent on first watch. My wife gets irritated with how many times I knowingly say “ohhhh” when seeing the seeds for later stuff.
I don’t care if you still have strong writers- I am never going to click through a page-view-eating bullshit AV Club list, and you can tell your herb owner to piss off.
Just shrink your browser down to about cell phone size and scroll like normal.
That Hannibal show ending hurts me so much. It was THE BEST show on television during it 3 seasons run.To be fair, the first half of Season 3 were very slow in its development in which some plot points went kind of nowhere, only to be redeemed by second half with its awesome Red Dragon arc. I believe that first half of season is what lead to the show being cancelled with dwindling viewer rating…I am afraid that we might never see Hannibal like this again since no platform has picked it up and that Clarice Starling show is being made. Mads Mikkelsen deserves to perform for Silence of the Lamb’s adaptation.
WHERE THE FUCK ARE “TERRIERS” AND “LODGE 49?!“Can we for once get a raved about Pynchonesque show with a decent ending, PLEASE?GOD DAMNIT.
While I’m on the topic, would it be so hard to adapt “Bleeding Edge” as an eight episode “True Detective” sort of thing, starring Abbi Jacobson as Maxine?Who the fuck owns television these days, and where do I go to complain about this?
Also, David Cronenberg should direct. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
X-Files: they keep leaving the truth out there somewhere no matter the number of films or the reboot. Get back here and finish the job!
I’m sure no one cares about a silly 90s sitcom but I was always saddened by Cybill’s cancellation which left them on such a cliffhanger. The final episode is a 2 parter that never finished.
I’m sure I’m the only one who cares about this, but Blade the TV show was canceled after only 1 season, ending on a big cliffhanger where the bad guy found out the good guys’ undercover plot.It took me a while to get into another actor playing Blade who was not Wesley Snipes. But, once I got over that, I realized the show was great for Blade fans. Getting deeper in to the mythology and the backstories of the characters. Like most of these other shows in the comments, it’s a total shame it ended so quickly.That being said, I hope the MCU does right by the new Blade with Mahershala Ali, and goes for something new and stays faaaaaaarrr away from the Wesley Snipes movies. ‘Cause those movies were great… except for the third one. That was complete trash, and I refuse to acknowledge it as part of the canon.
This conversation begins with Blake’s 7 and ends with Sapphire & Steel.
People of Earth.
Fuck TBS sideways for renewing it and then un-renewing it with no explanation.
Yeah, this one was upsetting. Really underappreciated show.
Terriers and Awake both had cliffhangers that made me really excited for the next seasons that are never coming. Of these six, Hannibal is one I’m eagerly awaiting.
Also, just because of how old I was when it aired…ALF. Not that I care so much now as the fact that as a kid I sure as hell did!
There’s a difference between a cliffhanger and a deliberately ambiguous ending. While Terriers was cancelled, they were also able to end the show on their terms. You can call it “unresolved”, but it’s not a cliffhanger.
Valid point. I suppose an ambiguous ending with much more story clearly to be told would be a more accurate description. It at least was an ending and satisfying even if there was clearly a lot more story to be told.
Alf
I’d love to know what was to happen next in Revolution. Look it was not that great, critics noted ‘it was on TV’ and that’s about it. Still, I’d like to know what was to happen in season 3.Colony, I liked it. No resolution.Finally, we got a 5 episode season 2 of Jericho, I just wanted more.
You are not alone in liking Colony and being sad about its cancelation.
I liked both Revolution and Colony. I would have loved another season of each
For Colony I just wanted a wrap up really. Revolution, they left it on a weird cliff hanger. It was almost two different shows. Season 1 built up this odd post apocalyptic world, and then they sort of threw that away in season 2. Still…..
No love for Duckman? They wrote a cliffhanger AFTER they learned they were being cancelled.
I have been watching a bunch of TV shows own on dvd and I would have loved another season to find out who Earl Junior’s father is on My Name is Earl.As for freaks and geeks which I also recently watched, I think I am kind of ok with it not getting another season. Just because the first one was so damn perfect I am not sure how much longer they could have kept it up. Plus some of the ideas Paul Feig has given out over the years sound kind of dumb. That said it would have been great if they got a proper 22 episode season. Since I would have loved to see the social fallout of Sam dumping Cindy Sanders. Would it have made him more popular?
When I saw this theme, my first thought was “Oh my god – Popular!!!” And then the very first show was Popular. Thank you, AV Club. You understand my soul.
The Pirates of Dark Water. There are still five more treasures out there!
My Name Is Earl. Like… I sat through the whole painful prison / coma season, and then the show sort of went back to what worked, and then they did a big cliffhanger… for nothing. Back then I was pretty naive in the ways of US television, and didn’t realize that it’s something that could just happen. So that stings.
I gave up on “Earl” long before that. It was really good for a stretch. Until it wasn’t.
Came here to say the exact same thing. When we my brother or I want to ruin the other’s entire day, we say, “Earl, Jr.’s real dad…” and bask in the sight of frustration, despair, and pure, blind rage. Even if you didn’t like the show or the last couple seasons, you have to admit that’s a helluva cliffhanger.
Stargate Universe. I wanted to hate that show so hard for killing Atlantis, but then they cast Robert Carlyle. Show went in a radically new thematic direction but kept all the elements I loved, and then SyFy just killed it because whoever took over and renamed them does not understand good television.
I agree. I loved the look of the series since the showrunners wanted that Battlestar aesthetic and the ship itself had this haunted house vibe. But I hated the characters and stories because the first season and a half was them having stupid arguments and love triangles. The show ditched that and introduced an intriguing series-long mystery of “let’s find the gate builders” and then was cancelled.Same with the more recent Syfy show Dark Matter, which I think was created by a couple of Stargate writers. The third season finale had a cliffhanger that introduced alien ships (it was a space show that up until that point had no aliens.)
https://www.surecareetips.com/2020/10/10-best-best-demanding-computer-courses.html“>10 best demanding computer course for getting jobNice
Daredevil didn’t end on a cliffhanger. It just didn’t.Neither did Hannibal. Sure, it had an open ending like it was begging some other network to pick it up so they could keep going. Which is kind of fitting since that entire finale ripped off what was supposed to be Sherlock Holmes’ final story. One story kept going, the other didn’t.
Civil War-era big bad Stanton Perish seemingly kills all the things at the end of Sci-Fi’s Alphas Season 2. Even our Super-team is taken down, except for everyone’s favorite autistic hero, Gary! Will he be able to save the day? It’s almost funny they left it like this.
The incredibly smart Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,
also knew how to take risks. There are few franchise gambles like
sending humanity’s savior John Connor to a future that’s never even
heard of him. An absolutely insane cliffhanger before the show’s
cancellation.
Not getting a fairy tale ending fits with the true-to-life nature of My So-Called Life, but it still kinda sucks to get no narrative resolution to things like the seeming affair Graham was about to start or the love-triangle that was just heating up between Angela, Jordan, and Brian.
According to Winnie Holzman, Angela’s parents would have gotten divorced in a Season 2, and Angela would have been dating Jordan, while Brian would be dating Delia Fisher (that seems a little weird; I don’t know why it would specifically have to be the girl whose heart he broke and seemed pretty clearly uninterested in him thereafter). And Sharon would have gotten pregnant!
Gotta give a shout-out to the recently un-renewed GLOW. Season 3 ended with what looked like it would be the show’s spin on the “chasing the girl through the airport” happy ending (except with two friends instead of a romantic couple), only to completely turn it on its head and shatter the show’s central friendship again, which would’ve led to some very interesting dynamics for Season 4. They filmed an episode of S4 before COVID shut down production and Netflix reversed its renewal, but I highly doubt we’ll ever get to see it
I don’t know if this counts as a cliffhanger, or just unresolved plot threads, but Amazon stupidly, stupidly cancelled The Tick after tantalizingly revealing that Superian is actually an escaped convict from another planet. Season one suggested the possibility of The Terror escaping prison (and who don’t want more Jackie Earle Haley?), plus there was the matter of Dot’s budding superhero career, the possible triangle between Dot, Overkill, and Janet; and learning more about Walter’s past as an Aegis agent. And don’t get me started on that fucking bullshit ending to Quantum Leap.
The fuck are you talking about? “Quantum Leap” has one of the best series finales ever. It’s not remotely “unresolved.”
I’m talking about this bullshit:
Yeah, and you’re wrong. That’s not a cliffhanger, it’s not unresolved and it’s great. Perfect, in fact.
I completely agree with you, and I agree partly with Soylent Green because NBC did them dirty. Considering the reasons why (and when) the last episode became the finale, Bellasario is a miracle worker for getting that to work so well.
I had stopped watching Quantum Leap regularly by the time the finale rolled around. It was really floundering in its last season.but I though the finale was truly excellent and is definitely on my list of best finales ever. Too bad it’s so underrated and/or forgotten.I’m not familiar with the NBC drama other than the show was basically perpetually on the bubble. I’m glad they were able to plan and execute a finale, though, especially one this good, and not get caught with no ending or resolution.
Oh fuck. Why did you have to bring up Quantum Leap? I was going about my day, doing my thing, then BAM! You reopen that psychic wound. I don’t mind that he never made it home, that was always a possibility and makes the whole premise a little less corny. But that whole last episode was just an absolute mess. It was like they took all the tropes of 80s/early 90s mainstream sc-fi (with EXTRA helpings of vagueness for vaguenesses sake and asking seems-profound-until-you-think-about-it, dead-end questions they had no intention of answering), threw them in a blender, created a mediocre Star Trek episode, and slapped on the least original way shows and movies end: the omniscient title card. I hate when shows and movies do that even more than I hate the final voice over. It’s a way of telling instead of showing. Why not just say “and they lived happily ever after?” It has just as much weight and is just as insulting to an audience foolhardy enough to invest in your property (Princess Bride not included).Clearly, I’m not over this. Maybe in 30 more years, I can move on. Or we’ll all be dead from whatever 2020 does next.
Has anyone mentioned INVASION, the mid-2000s sci-fi show about glowing jellyfish aliens that either replace or take over people in a small American town? William Fichtner played the sheriff, and everything he said and did suggested he might not be on the level. It was really well done as to be the good kind of ambiguous, though.
Duckman, DAMMIT!!!!!
On the other hand, season 1 of Prison Break ended on a cliffhanger and should have ended there.
Red Dwarf ended on a major cliffhanger (The ship was being eaten apart by microbes and Rimmer was trapped on the ship alone) and when it came back a decade later they refused to address how it was resolved at all, to the point where it became a running joke in an episode.To be fair they did kind of back themselves into a corner.
24!!!! They left Jack Bauer in a Russian gulag for chrissakes (although he kind of belongs there).
“What year is this?”
That Daredevil finale hurts. He’s my favorite Marvel character and my favorite Marvel show and to just stop like that…? Ouch.
They mentioned Soap in the article, but I always wonder who won the gubernatorial election on the series finale of Benson.
Quarry is a great show with a really good cliff hanger. As an added bonus is has Dewey Crowe play a “goddamn homo-sexshual.”
When I was younger, I wrote my own follow-up episode to the Soap finale to wrap up the loose strings. Spoiler for my fan fic: Jessica survives the firing squad.
I loved Popular so much! It was the best insanity!
why is this a slideshow? i’m not going to read this article. stop doing this.
You know what haunts me?SLIDESHOWS!
Get Shorty the series was pretty good. I would have watched another episode.
Now and Again.
Re JFC: Milch suffering from Alzheimer’s so yeah, a sequel unlikely.
While no one in the world ever watched this show (and that’s definitely a GOOD thing), there is actually a very short lived reboot of “Sigmund and the Sea Monsters” on amazon.I watched (some of) it because I know someone who worked on it.And, while the show is pretty damn awful, it at least ends on not just one but a series of bonkers cliffhangers. Gotta give ‘em credit for trying to force a second season (which never happened) by going out in such a gonzo way.
The OA. I was crushed when I found out it was cancelled.
Two forgotten shows that I was really into were VR5 and Earth 2. They were both sci-fi shows that were just starting to get interesting when they were cancelled. They’re two of the few shows I’d actually really welcome a reprisal for.
Pirates of Dark Water should be on here. I really need to know if those last 5 treasures ever got collected.
LODGE 49 :(((( Lynx Liz ! Falling from a pool to a door ! So much potential, I am still upset
Love John from…S2 and S3 of Hannibal were awesome, especially Lawrence Fishburne’s take down of Hannibal, which made me shout at my tv with joy. i miss watching Hannibal on saturday mornings 🙁
Please stop with the slideshows. Awful.
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles had a wild season 2 finale that changed everything, and then it was canceled. I was so excited to see where it was going.
Unresolved cliffhanger: The shows this article refers to.Because there’s no reason this can’t just be an article rather than a clickbait “slideshow.”
How about “The Fades”? I thought that was a great show that ended too soon!
Two shows I think about that ended with one one season each; Flash Forward and The Event. Would have liked to have seen more from both of those and I’m pretty sure they both ended their seasons without the slightest wrap ups.
You forgot “Does Sarah regain her memories after kissing Chuck on the beach”
CarnivaleAngelEarth2Birds of PreyStargate UniverseTerminator: Sarah Connor ChroniclesMy So-Called LifeAgent Carter
Stargate Universe deserves resolution!
The Finder. Discovered this show on streaming long after it was cancelled. The cliffhanger made me uniquely sad. Most cliffhangers make me frustrated or just roll my eyes, but this one did a really good job of encapsulating that feeling when there’s a problem everyone is aware of but is actively ignoring, and something happens where you can’t ignore it anymore and you have to ask the question everyone wants to avoid in a morbidly unfixable situation: what are we going to do?
SOAP is easily one of the funniest shows ever. Still holds up 40 some years later. When Katherine Helmond died early last year, it closed the book on her generation of that phenomenal cast. They’ve all passed on.Jessica faced the firing squad, but apparently survived in a coma state according to the Benson episode. Burt was walking into an ambush and Chester was preparing to kill his son Danny.
FlashForward!
I know Serenity provided conclusion to most of the threads of the series, but Firefly. That movie is so frustratingly disappointing because it is so easy to see how it would have been so much better fleshed out over the span of a few seasons.
Apparently GLOW has joined this sad pantheon, though I suppose since it was literally just canceled there’s still hope someone might step in to scoop it up.
Three shows I wanted to see more of…Sarah Connor Chronicles : The best (worst) cliffhanger finish for me.Rubicon: One and done but deserved a lot more time to tell it’s story.Kings: I’m not if many people even watched this show, the IMDB ratings are just over 8,000. IF you haven’t seen it give it a go. Then lament that it didn’t get any further seasons.
Tales from the Neverending Story, damn it!
I have a few. 1) Models Inc. Yeah, I know, but damnit I wanna know what happens after that fateful gunshot. 2) Season 4 Defiance. I loved the show. 3) Insatiable season 3 or the reason I cancelled my Netflix sub.