Television Shows That Were Cancelled After Major Cliffhangers! (1 Viewer)

[WillG]

Not sure it technically counts as a cancellation but the half season of "24" that ran a few years back ended on a cliffhanger.

Now that it seems that "24" is being rebooted, we may never know what happened to Jack Bauer. I hope that this new show is a "soft" reboot that will leave open the possibility of Jack returning or at least will offer some kind of resolution to his story.

 

[TravisR]

Not sure it technically counts as a cancellation but the half season of "24" that ran a few years back ended on a cliffhanger.

Now that it seems that "24" is being rebooted, we may never know what happened to Jack Bauer. I hope that this new show is a "soft" reboot that will leave open the possibility of Jack returning or at least will offer some kind of resolution to his story.

Yeah, I guess it is something of a cliffhanger or a very grim ending. Based on the commercial, it does seems like it's set in the established 24 universe so I'll spend all 12 episodes waiting for them to decide to go rescue Jack.

 

[JamesSmith]

So shows that end on a dark note count as a cliffhanger? Endings like The Sopranos [which I didn't watch] or other programs which for a finale really made you wonder what would happen next?

James

 

[Wiseguy]

SOAP had multiple cliffhangers in what ended up being the final episode - Jessica and the firing squad which I previously mentioned above, Burt about to walk into an ambush, and Chester walking in on his new young wife in bed with Danny (and deciding to kill them).

Since there was no resolution, most everyone either was killed (Jessica, Burt, Chester, Danny, Annie) or went crazy (Jodie, Mary).

 

[John*Wells]

Didn't Silk Stockings, in it's last year, had a downer, cliffhanger with the new hero in the show (who played the son on Kung Fu: The Next Generation) set up by a beautiful woman?

James

As to Silk Stalkings, Yes, I believe The last Season ended with Tom (Chris Potter) Facing a possible removal from the Palm Beach Police Department

The re-boot of Dallas certainly ended on a Cliffhanger. The show never really recovered from the death of Larry Hagman, but it still would have been nice to get some closure.

The First Dallas Series also ended with a Cliffhanger as JR Saw the Devil. That was rectified in 1996 by Dallas, JR Returns where we find that JR has been living in Europe and Bobby was living at and running South Fork

The 2012 Reboot ended with the Car explosion which I agree was a bad ending .. I would have liked to see what happened after that. I think there should have been a TV movie to wrap up the series but obviously Warner didnt agree

 

[TonyD]

IS sliders airing on anything I wouldn’t mind revisiting that one.

 

[Josh Dial]

IS sliders airing on anything I wouldn’t mind revisiting that one.

There's a rumour that John Rhys-Davies is looking to bring the show back.

 

[TonyD]

Found this topic too.

https://www.hometheaterforum.com/community/posts/2108095

 

[Nick*Z]

A show nobody probably remembers except me, called 2000 Malibu Road, that was about four women living together at a beach house. Jade (Lisa Hartman), a former prostitute with a new boyfriend (Brian Bloom) who didn't know about her past; Perry Quinn (Jennifer Beales), a young lawyer also escaping a checkered past; Lindsay (Drew Barrymore), a would-be actress, and Joy (Tuesday Knight) Lindsay's two-faced, manipulative sister. The story lines were tightly woven, leading up to a cliffhanger in which Perry's boyfriend, the seemingly level-headed Roger (Michael T. Weiss) was discovered by Lindsay, dressed in black leather and exiting a spurious biker club. When Lindsay called out to him, he stared her down and denied he was actually Roger.

Schizophrenia or just living a double life. Meanwhile, Joy, who dabbled in black magic, somehow had incurred the wrath of evil spirits and Jade's ex-best client, Hal (Robert Foxworthy) had actually set her up to be raped and possibly murdered because he wanted to keep his secret as one of her ex-high-profile Johns.

This is how the show ended, and was never revived thereafter. Great cast. Solidly scripted and well acted. Didn't fly with most. I loved it and would like to see it again on home video, along with Crazy Like a Fox, starring the marvelous Jack Warden.

 

[Johnny Angell]

In the waning days of Todd-AO Sound, I cut dialogue on a wonderful detective drama/comedy series called The Glades which ended abruptly with the hero lying coughing in a pool of his own blood, but still alive, on his wedding day shot by an unknown assailant...to be continued...so we thought. Instead out of the blue it was mysteriously cancelled the following week. I loved that show!

I remember liking this show very much. But I found the scripts for the final season were very formulaic, it seemed like they hired new writers (not saying they did, just seemed like it) who didn’t know how to write. I stopped caring and watching and never saw the final show.

More recently, Scorpion was canceled with the team broken up and the major romance in the show on the splits. The show was corny and so far-fetched, but I liked that part.

 

[BobO'Link]

Here are a few more that've not yet been mentioned:

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (Lois & Clark find a baby in a basket with a note that it was theirs. Series ends.)

Gilligan's Island (Was going to get a 4th season but was cancelled at the last minute under pressure from Paley, some affiliates, and fans to keep Gunsmoke, which was slated to be cancelled, on the air.)

The Time Tunnel (Although it performed well and was intended to be renewed the schedule hadn't been announced. An ABC executive gathered support for and lobbied to drop The Time Tunnel in favor of a series entitled The Legend of Custer. The Legend of Custer was cancelled after 17 low-rated episodes.)

Lost in Space (Irwin Allen had been informally told it'd receive another season but was cancelled with no further explanation.)

My Name is Earl (Ended on a "To be continued..." card with Earl's journey incomplete and the father of Earl Jr. unknown.)

Quantum Leap (cancelled at the last minute the producers put up a title card at the end of the last episode saying "Sam never made it home")

Earth 2 (Everyone got sick. Series ends. Had been treated horribly all along with episodes airing out of order and preempted regularly.)

Todd and the Book of Pure Evil (Was actually "completed" with an independently funded animated film. No true live action resolution.)

Space 1999 (Never made it home, fate unknown. A sanctioned fan film written by one of the creators explains the crew's final fate but it was not made until 1999.)

 

[Gary Seven]

Surprised no one mentioned Marvel's Agent Carter.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I guess it didn’t feel like a real cliffhanger to me; all of that season’s central storylines had been wrapped up, and the very end lays out a path for a potential new season...but it didn’t feel that the season’s story was going unresolved.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d take that show back in a heartbeat, but at least it didn’t leave every single thing up in the air.

 

[RBailey]

Didn't MORK & MINDY end its 4th season with its stars in some sort of time traveling danger that wasn't explained?

 

[Gary Seven]

I guess it didn’t feel like a real cliffhanger to me; all of that season’s central storylines had been wrapped up, and the very end lays out a path for a potential new season...but it didn’t feel that the season’s story was going unresolved.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d take that show back in a heartbeat, but at least it didn’t leave every single thing up in the air.

If memory serves, in the end Carter's friend was shot and we never found out who did it.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

If memory serves, in the end Carter's friend was shot and we never found out who did it.

I think that’s true. But I think that only happens after the rest of the season’s plot was resolved.

 

[Ethan Riley]

I just remember being a kid in the 60s and 70s and it seemed like the plots of all the shows I watched had a basic premise that never got resolved when the series eventually got cancelled. Usually the premise had to do with people lost somewhere and trying to get back home. The most obvious example in primetime is most of Irwin Allen's shows: Lost in Space, Land of the Giants and Time Tunnel and of course from sitcom land, Gilligan's Island. These kind of plots trended and carried over into Hanna Barbera shows like New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Gullivar and Shazzan and the "Lost in Space" rip off, Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space.

Sid & Marty Krofft continued these trends with their trippy H.R. Pufnstuf and Lidsville shows, then started ripping off Irwin Allen with The Lost Saucer, Far Out Space Nuts and Dr. Shrinker. By the time that last one came along I was about eleven and was getting wise. I wasn't about to invest in one more show that I never would never have a resolution. Of course, I watched it anyway and loved it, but they Dr. Shrinker was already in reruns by Christmas of 1976 and I knew it was never coming back. I don't think any of these shows were designed to have an ending in mind--never occurred to the producers. And that's great--they were exciting premises and much loved by the children who watched them...but I think us 60s and 70s kids are still feeling cheated by the lack of a concluding episode for any of them.

 

[Tommy R]

I read that the Netflix show Everything Sucks had a cliffhanger at the end of it’s only season. My wife and I were liking it but didn’t bother finishing it when we heard the news that it was cancelled.

 

[Jack P]

Browsing about and found this thread. No one ever mentioned "The Lost World" from 1999-2002 which literally ended on a "To Be Continued" cliffhanger note complete with the words flashed across the screen. The producers later released a summary of how they intended to resolve the series over the course of two more seasons that never came. The unresolved cliffhanger though killed the show's rewatchability for me beyond some random episodes of its first season.

 

[tsodcollector]

Totally spaced out on "Alphas" and as somebody else mentioned, "Flash Forward". TBBT episode with Sheldon's rant about "Alpha's" was pretty funny. Those were both really pretty decent shows that just vanished. Very poorly handled towards the end. Just goes to show that while they were good at the time, when they disappear, just out of sight, out of mind. You tend to forget they ever existed.

Also reminds me of "V". That also didn't end very well.

V the 80's television series that was gone way too soon,up against some serious compeition,on friday nights,that was the real reason why,there were one too many changes,it was doomed from the start.