8 Cheapest Season Finale Cliffhangers In TV History

To be continued...

by Josh Brown
Twin Peaks BOB Cooper
ABC

Cliffhangers have had a long, divisive history in television. Inspired by old film serials that would quite literally leave a character hanging from a cliff, an ending of this ilk can leave an audience either enraptured or enraged.

That's especially the case when it's done at the end of a season, and you have to wait months - or perhaps even a year - to be given a resolution. When done right, it's a brilliant means of setting up where the story is going to go next and ensuring you'll be desperate to see more. Dallas' Who Shot Jr, arguably the most famous example of such an ending, ensured endless speculation and theorising long before Reddit existed.

Breaking Bad, Lost, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and The Simpsons - in a parody of 'Who Shot JR?' - have all delivered thrilling cliffhangers that left us clawing at our television screens, needing to know what comes next but not simply trading on this to pull you back in or sacrificing the story because of it. Unfortunately, however, not all TV shows are so successful. Used wrongly, the season-ending cliffhanger is nothing more than...

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Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.

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NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.