I was thinking about the upcoming TV season the other day and how many questions are about to be answered. Seems like almost every show ended their season with a huge cliffhanger. Then we are forced to wait alllllll summer to find out what’s going to happen.
You know what? I think I’m over cliffhangers.
Everyone knows I’m one impatient girl. But this goes beyond my lack of patience. While cliffhangers may bring an amazing amount of suspense and conflict to the story, they also leave the viewer with a lack of closure and finality.
Not a problem when your beloved TV show is coming back in the fall. Or, in the case of books, you know the sequel is already on the bookshelves. But what happens when the cliffhanger is never addressed?
Lately, every time I really get into a new show, put forth the time commitment to watch it for an entire year – connecting with the characters and their problems – being left amazed at the phenomenal twisty ending – bam! Canceled. The show doesn’t return and that really great suspenseful cliffhanger is just left… dangling. Just like my imagination and all those wasted hours.
What happened? Who died? Who didn’t die? Did they get together? Did they break up? Who came back from the dead? Or the undead? Or became dead or the undead?
I write contemporary romance and I have a tendency to work on series. However, each of my books has its very own complete and well-rounded ending that leaves you satisfied (hopefully). But it seems like there are more and more sequels and trilogies in books. We might get that resolution in the final installment but in the meantime, each book leaves us wanting more. Brilliant for marketing and sales. Kind of anticlimactic for the consumer.
Maybe it’s time for some endings. Concrete, airtight, everything wrapped up with a shiny bow ending. We could go off and enjoy our summers without searching the Internet for possible spoilers. Then again… what would the world be if we hadn’t been left wondering did Ross & Rachel really get married in Vegas, will Jim & Pam finally get together, and the cliffhanger to end all cliffhangers – Who Shot J.R.?
Who Shot J.R.?
Sound off in the comments: What show did you get hooked on that never came back?
Fun post Kerri! While I don’t watch much TV, I agree with you about those cliffhangers. I always want to know what happens next. In books I like series and trilogies, but I want a complete story with resolution in each book. As far as cancelled TV goes… I miss Firefly! 😉
I’m watching Firefly on Netflix right now! Sooo good but I’m already sad because I know there is only one season!
I still want to know what is going on with Chloe King!!! That could have been a great show if it was renewed 🙂 It is crazy how some TV shows suck you in and once they are over, no matter how suddenly, a piece of you missing… Maybe I should not watch as much TV…(sigh)
Never been a big tv watcher. My family is hooked on Breaking Bad. Don’t know what they’ll do when it ends, but I’m hiding all sharp objects.
The show that still hurts my fangirl heart got cancelled after 14 episodes. It was called Moonlight (no, not Moonlighting:), a CBS vampire series before its time (I swear!!!!)…it starred the drool worthy Alex McLoughlin (who was sooooo much more interesting as dead vampire than as a Hawaii cop — well, let’s just say that show was my waterloo when it came to incomplete endings (or was it Farscape?)…jeez, I need to stop thinking about this:)!
Lol, Kerri. I only like cliffhangers when I can watch the next episode immediately. Forget the whole summer — I don’t even like waiting until the following week! This was how I watched the several seasons of 24. After I was caught up and had to wait a week between episodes, I stopped watching the show. 🙂
This is too funny! I have a possible solution for you…Just the other day my sis-in-law kept asking me when was the final episode of The Vampire Diaries because she had just gotten all the seasons to date and was making her way through them on some crazy self-made Salvatore brother marathon. I’m pretty sure I broke her heart when I told her that the show was still on-going. You see, the Spanish novella tv shows run for 3-6 months at a time and then they end. So all those cliffhanger issues aren’t issues at all. Now you just have to learn Spanish. Or not. You could always just start watching them for the hot guys. 😉
I’m with you, Kerri. At least with regards to books. I hate when you like a book that is supposed to be a part of a series, but then the book doesn’t do as well as the publisher thought it would, and they cancel the rest. Say what?!
My daughter recently told me that she’s OVER book series. She won’t even touch them. She wants to read a book the way a book was originally written. To be complete. Beginning, middle and an end.
With regards to television shows, I’m a little more forgiving. They only make you wait the summer until the show airs again. It’s fun to wonder and talk about it with other fans. But, oh, how I hate when a show is discontinued. My favorite show that was canceled back in 1996 was Kindred: The Embraced. It only had eight episodes, but I was gaga in a major way about Julian Luna, the head of five vampire families. C. Thomas Howell played the detective looking into the “mob” family. Look up Julian Luna. He died that year in a motorcycle accident, or the chances would have been pretty good to start the show again. It was the vampire show before all the others. 🙂 Another show I liked that got canceled was Invasion.
Cool post, Kerri. Now you have me all excited about Supernatural again…:-) Those yummy, yummy Winchester brothers…
Ha! We’re watching Under the Dome right now and already know it’s just one season at the moment. So who knows what will happen? Re: cliffhangers, Stephen King is addicted to them. We finally wrenched ourselves from the thrall last night, knowing today promised to be busy. When we’re done with that, it’s back to Dexter!
However, I usually STOP watching shows before they’re cancelled: Moonlighting, Friends, Breaking Bad… all lost their charm before it was all over. I guess that’s just me and my appetite for the new and shiny. Oh, well!