Talk:Cliffhanger

Books
What about books. A well writen book can have endings that just drop off. Would thoes be called a Cliffhanger? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.183.175.4 (talk) 16:02, 10 October 2009‎

Most obvious: The [Original] Italian Job
The word cliffhanger was probably coined specifically for this movie, as the ending is literally a cliffhanger... A bus, loaded with gold, teetering off the edge of a cliff.


 * Well...you're ignoring all those older adventure stories that ended with literal cliffhangers if you accept that as true.

it might be good to note the ending as a literal interpretation of the term —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.23.56.12 (talk) 17:35, 28 November 2008 (UTC)

Would Last Comic Standing qualify?
Here's what I was going to post about Last Comic Standing, but I'm not sure if this necessarily qualifies as a cliffhanger: --Idont Havaname 03:36, 9 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * Last Comic Standing had a partially unresolved cliffhanger. The show, which featured a wide range  of comedians showcasing their comic routines, was canceled by NBC just before its final episode.  Comedy Central picked up this episode, but broadcast viewers were not able to see the final episode if they did not have cable television.

Cliffhangers
There was a show called "Cliffhangers" in 1979, which was comprised of three "cliffhanger serials." There is no mention of this as an unresolved cliffhanger. Two of the three episodes (Stop Susan Williams and The Secret Empire) were never finished.

I would note that the Adventures of Brisco County Jr. had a cliffhanger in every episode, usually at the half hour mark. The show was admittedly a sci-fi western with classic serial film underpinnings, but there were deathtraps aplenty.

What about Batman Begins?
If I understand this correctly, wouldn't Batman Begins be considered a cliffhanger ending? --illEATurHARTout 16:19, August 24, 2005 (UTC)

I would think it is because all major plot points were resolved. Sure, both of the villains escaped, and a new one (The Joker) was hinted at, but the film was essentially a complete story in and of itself. 67.136.242.106 07:22, 10 December 2005 (UTC)

I agree, But also, I dont know why Spiderman 2 is in there as their endings are very similar. In both cases the story is over, the fact that you see the here heading off to a new adventure in the end doesent make it a cliffhanger.

Also, speaking of spiderman the entry in this article for the spiderman tv show is one of the most poorly written things I have ever read.Jeedan 22:35, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

What's NOT a Cliffhanger

 * Video games are not cliffhangers, because you can beat the game! There are no cliffhangers if it's a complete story! It's not a cliffhanger just because a villain can return! Cliffhangers are about the hero! It is not a cliffhanger if the hero can ride into the sunset until the dawn of the next sequel! In a cliffhanger, he's stuck to the stupid cliff! MMetro (talk) 19:20, 20 November 2007 (UTC)

DS9 Ending
The ending to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine isn't technically a cliffhanger in the classic sense. It's more of a "life goes on" ending, where, despite open ends (Kasidy's pregnancy, Ben with the Prophets, the race for a new Kai), there's nothing that really feels "unresolved". The backup for this is that the producers knew that the seventh season would be its last, and crafted this episode for that specific end. -- Grev -- Talk 16:46, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

LOTR II is not a book
It's just the 2nd volume of the same book. It was an idea of a publisher to print it in 3 books. it's mentioned in the wikipedia article.


 * I think Wikipedia has an article on books you might find useful. ~ JohnnyMrNinja {talk} 06:10, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Farscape
I'm not sure this qualifies anymore, as the cliffhanger was resolved in Sci-Fi's recent Farscape Miniseries.--Arkcana 04:19, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

Usage error
In the discussion of Doctor Who, the statement "most stories were comprised of four to six episodes" includes a very common error in usage. A thing is not "comprised of" its parts; the thing "comprises" its parts. If one wishes to use some form of "comprise" in that statement, it should read "most stories comprised four to six episodes."

Stephen Kosciesza 140.147.160.78 20:24, 25 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Cool, thanks Steven. Feel free to fix it. Slac speak up! 21:38, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

Angel
Angel didn't really end on a cliffhanger. Well, it wasn't meant to be a cliffhanger, fans just say it is. Joss Whedon himself says that the final battle isn't supposed to be as open ended as some people think..

Should Doom 3 be in here?
It is actually resolved in the expansion pack. Should this be added or should the comment on Doom 3 be removed entirely?

Nope, I removed it. Thanks for the help!66.82.9.77 02:23, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

Zelda
Deleted the Twilight Princess so called "cliff hanger" It was horribly written, and not a cliff hanger at all. Unless you can seriously prove me other wise. 66.82.9.77 02:20, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

Opposite of a cliffhanger?
I was wondering if there was a name for an 'opposite' of a cliffhanger. I know that a novel can simply just turn boring gradually, but what if there was a 'turning point' for the reader? Maybe a part where the reader loses sight of the plot and overall interest? 81.157.140.168 21:37, 22 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Jump the Shark? MMetro (talk) 19:04, 20 November 2007 (UTC)

This article is confused
Do we really feel that people need over 100 examples of cliffhangers. Are we assuming that people are that confused that they need that many examples to figure it out? Let's stop pretending. This is a List of cliffhangers with an article tacked at the top. I'm breaking it up. ~ JohnnyMrNinja {talk} 04:53, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Elections
The term "cliffhanger" has long been used in other contexts, particularly national elections where the result is expected to be tight, or unexpectedly turns out to be that way. This article is about televisual use of the word, but its tentacles have spread and we need to mention this. --  Jack of Oz    ... speak! ...   12:09, 8 May 2010 (UTC)

Cliffhanger origin
I always thought that cliffhanger originated from Conan Doyle's The Final Problem. Conan Doyle wanted to kill off Sherlock Holmes (and the series) by letting Moriarty and Holmes fall off a cliff - but Holmes is resurrect in subsequent series by having hung off the cliff rather than falling. NagaSrinivas (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 14:21, 8 June 2012 (UTC)

Thomas Hardy
A quick search indicates cliffhanger probably originated in the Thomas Hardy novel "A Pair of Blue Eyes", where a charecter is left literally hanging off a cliff. However, I don't know what a reliable source would be, and neither can I be bothered to find out. SquidSix (talk) 23:20, 27 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Wrong Charles Dickens' Pickwick Papers is where the term cliffhanger derives from. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.102.12.101 (talk) 09:57, 29 November 2015‎ (UTC)
 * Unfortunately, reading the Gutenberg online version of the Pickwick Papers, I cannot detect any occurrence of "cliff" next to the breaks between two issues (the novel was published in 19 issues over 20 months). You can find hints to the possible origin of "cliffhanger" in Thomas Hardy and in the German Wikipedia (Cliffhanger). --Jkbw (talk) 01:54, 2 October 2016 (UTC)
 * The Online Etymology Dictionary dates the term back to 1937 (first appearance in print, I assume). It seems extremely unlikely that the term survived in speech for over 50 years without ever once being written down. There are (unreliable) online sources claiming Hardy as the source of the term, but most of the ones I've found are citing an early version of this very article, and, as we all know, Wikipedia is definitely not a reliable source. The most likely actual origin of the term is Hollywood, and the early cinema serials. Hardy may have been the first literal example, but there's no evidence the term is connected to his book. (Or to Dickens.) Xtifr tälk 18:03, 28 November 2016 (UTC)

Movies skimmed over
Most people would identify cliffhangers with the early movies, where they often literally left a young woman hanging from a cliff at the end of an episode. The movie element deserves to be treated at much greater length. Valetude (talk) 12:31, 18 September 2018 (UTC)

As opposed to all those accidental cliffhangers?

 * Peter Hogg's novel Smilla's Sense of Snow ends with a deliberate cliffhanger [...] the author has no intention of ever writing a sequel

Or maybe the author just couldn't think of an ending? Unfortunately, the article for the book itself doesn't cite a source for this either. 82.13.91.100 (talk) 14:33, 27 October 2019 (UTC)