The cliffhanger is one of the most important weapons writers can have in their arsenals.
When done right, cliffhangers leave the audience breathless, dying to see what happens next.
Then again, there are some endings that just dangle off that cliff forever.
Here are some famous cliffhangers that will never have a resolution.
Spider-Man: The Animated Series
Back in the '90s. one of the few bright spots for the then-struggling Marvel Comics company
was Spider-Man: The Animated Series, which ended on a humdinger of a cliffhanger.
Peter discovered his new bride, Mary Jane, was actually a clone, after the real MJ was
knocked through an inter-dimensional portal by Green Goblin.
The plan was for Spidey to rescue her at the beginning of the sixth season, but after a
dispute between execs at Marvel and Fox, the network abruptly ended the series.
"Wait Peter, there's so much I have to ask you!"
The show's head writer later apologized to traumatized fans who are still wondering if
Mary Jane ended up just stuck in another dimension forever.
Planet of The Apes
"Eh.. the movie or the planet?"
At the end of Tim Burton's poorly received 2001 version of The Planet of the Apes, Mark
Wahlberg travels through time, pursued by his evil ape nemesis Thade.
Wahlberg seemingly wins, but when he returns to present-day Washington D.C., he discovers
that the Lincoln Memorial is now dedicated to Thade — instead of Abe.
So how did this happen?
And what does it mean for Wahlberg and humanity?
Those are questions that will never be answered, as Burton has said he'd rather jump out a
window than make a sequel.
"What?
no."
My Name Is Earl
For four seasons, Jason Lee's do-gooding lottery winner went around checking things off his
karma building to-do list.
But there's one thing My Name Is Earl didn't check off: the resolution to the series cliffhanger,
which promised to reveal the real parentage of Earl, Jr.
Fans were especially irate that NBC canceled the series considering the finale ended with
a "To Be Continued" graphic.
There were some discussions between show creator Greg Garcia and TBS about continuing the series
to provide closure to fans, but costs proved too high.
The Event
NBC heavily promoted The Event, built around the idea of an impending incident that would
change humanity forever.
At the end of the first season, viewers learned that "the event" was aliens creating a massive
vortex that brings their entire planet into orbit next to Earth.
Oh, and the President's wife reveals she's secretly one of the aliens, so Mr. President
has an alien baby mama.
Who wrote this, Jerry Springer?
Unfortunately for fans, ratings dropped like a rock after the overhyped premiere, and the
series was canceled.
Series creator Nick Wauters promised that "one way or another," they would continue
the story.
But so far, that hasn't happened.
Talk about a non-event.
V: The Series
When the alien invasion opus V debuted on NBC as a mini-series in May 1983, it captured
the imagination of the United States, with an astounding 40 percent of the country tuning
in.
But while creator Kenneth Johnson pushed for the story to continue with a series of two-hour
movies, NBC wanted a sequel mini-series, followed by a new, weekly series.
So Johnson did what any creative type might: he quit.
NBC went forward without him, but the resulting series was somehow both expensive to make
and also pretty poorly done.
"Now!"
The final episode had multiple cliffhangers, with human-Visitor hybrid "Starchild" Elizabeth
Maxwell agreeing to return with their leader to the Visitors' planet, her boyfriend stowing
away on their shuttle, and Diana planting a bomb on the ship.
And then, well, nothing.
Because NBC canceled the series.
But it wouldn't be the last time fans of V would be left hanging…
ABC revived V as a brand-new series in 2009, and in doing so, the network ignored all that
came before — except for having ladies eating rodents and totally messing with fans by going
out on an unresolved cliffhanger.
This time around, the lizard queen completely conquered Earth, with the last fugitive humans
literally going underground to lead a resistance movement.
And as far as we know, they're still down there somewhere, huddling in the dark, waiting
for a third season that will never arrive.
Poor, sad fools.
Survivors
The feelgood BBC drama Survivors featured the joyous premise of Earth's population being
almost totally wiped out by a super-flu released by an evil corporation.
"How many millions.
If the infection carries on progressing at the current rate, you're talking more than
90% of the world's population."
At the end of the second season, Tom, a former convict who found his redemption over the
course of the series, stows away on the corporation's plane — angry, armed and waiting in hiding
to exact revenge.
It was the BBC, though, that got its revenge on the show for giving them poor ratings by
never airing a third season.
That's… sick.
The River
When famous explorer Emmet Cole disappears while seeking the secret of magic in the Amazon,
his family decides to take a cruise up the Amazon River and find him in ABC's 2012 found-footage
series The River, which had none other than Steven Spielberg and Paranormal Activity creator
Oren Peli attached.
And those famous names meant exactly squat when it came to ratings,
"Oh my god!
Get him down!"
which is too bad for fans, because the series ended with a shock twist.
The mystical spirit of the Amazon itself actually warped reality to strand everyone in the middle
of the jungle just as they seemed to have made their escape.
Netflix considered picking the show up for a second season, but wisely opted against
it.
Because why mess with angry gods if you don't have to?
The Italian Job
The original 1969 version of The Italian Job featured superstar Michael Caine teaming up
with a bunch of crooks to steal $4 million in gold.
They get away with the loot, but in a last second twist, their escape vehicle goes off
a cliff with all the gold inside.
Not to worry, though, because Caine has a plan to deal with this literal cliffhanger.
"Hang on a minute lads.
I've got a great idea."
Just what that great idea was, though, nobody ever found out.
Like that bus almost certainly did, the film itself also crashed and burned, and the planned
sequel was never made.
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