This question has been brought up recently. So I thought I would ask the majority here what you all think.

YES!

I prefer each season bookend their story and start new the next season, of course some plots can always crossover yet the main story should finish each season. Another MAJOR season is shows that do not get renewed so you are left with an open ended story over and over again because they have to do these cliffhangers. I like the show, I am not going anywhere and will return, not needed in any manner.

I included a Poll which allows multiple choices as well.

Sometimes it can be effective. Having watched The Best Of Both Worlds two-part episode of Star Trek TNG recently in it's entirety in the theater, I do think about how I would have reacted if I watched it as it aired. Probably like the cliffhanger on Breaking Bad.

There is no excuse however for a cliffhanger on a series finale (The Sopranos).

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Shows that ended with cliffhangers this season/it's most recent season that I'm aware of (Feel free to mention others): (spoiler alert)



Sorry, I'm going to spoiler that for those who haven't caught up on their shows yet

If done properly then yes. I think every season of Breaking Bad has ended on a cliffhanger and each season has been awesome. Some shows do a good job of wrapping up while still leaving things open to continue on to the next season. I suppose that's not a traditional cliffhanger though. I thought The Shield did a good job with those. Then there are shows with Lost that end seasons with a 'holy shit' cliffhanger and I liked those cliffhangers also.

Sometimes cliffhangers are just poorly done like The Killing.

Of course it stinks if a show ends a season on a cliffhanger and never comes back, like Soap.

I always enjoyed cliffhangers as a boy, since it was only a 3 or 4 month wait over the summer until the show returned.

However, television has changed. Sometimes you watch a show that is off the air for a year or more. Who wants to wait that long?

It's also an issue with cable shows. With such short orders (10-13 episodes) You can end up waiting 6 months to 1 year between seasons to get any resolution to a cliffhanger.

Network shows have a relatively short turnaround if they start in the Fall, so the wait isn't horrible.

24, even though it's coming back, is having a 4-year wait for it's resolution. It was supposed to be resolved in a feature film.

One of the worst resolved cliffhangers for a returning show that I can think of recently was Human Target.

It was just rushed and resolved so poorly. The 2nd season basically threw out other unresolved storylines. Mainly attributed to it's fucking shithead new showrunner.

I like how some do iut. They wrap up the narrative of the season, but have a cliffhanger to build into the next season narrative

I was going to post the same things. I agree completely.

Crossovers make no sense to me, because for cancelled shows punish they people who DID watch, and for renewed shows ... the already had the audience. I wish two-parters were used to start and end seasons, not bridge them.

No problems with cliffhangers. Often they are quite fun. And if it's a long break between seasons, I've got a million other things to watch in the meantime.

I picked Other because there wasn't a "No, because it's just a TV show" option.

They tend to be pointless in a lot of shows since whatever happens will be undone a few episodes into the next seasons. See NCIS. You know by the 2nd or 3rd episode of the next season, the team will be back together and the show will go on as normal.

I also hate when a low rated show cliffhangers then never gets resolved. Even worse are the shows that could have had resolution with minor editing but they cliffhanger & are cancelled.

depends
if it's a strong show that has definitely been renewed then it is sometimes ok, example: Best of Both Worlds
if it's a show that hasn't been strong ratings wise and isn't renewed yet then I hate it as the show will likely get canned with no resolution

If it's a show that got a full season, but is on the bubble. I think the producers should resolve the main story arc, but leave some things open for a possible 2nd season. I don't think that's asking a lot for a TV writer. I think there is enough time before the TV season concludes to do that and not screw with the audience who dedicated 22-24 weeks on it.

I know the people who work on these shows monitor TV ratings throughout the year. So if the performance is consistently strong and story-wise it isn't forced, then they can create a cliffhanger type ending to keep me interested in coming back.

It's unfair for a showrunner to tell his writing staff & the audience that we may or may not get a 2nd season, so we're going to roll the dice, create a crazy cliffhanger and leave so many things unresolved and hope for the best. You can't do that considering how cutthroat TV is. Plus, these showrunners and writers usually get hired on other shows anyways after their show gets canned, so it's not like they have to worry about job security.

I like cliffhangers, but I think the people on these shows just need to use common sense whether it works for their show or not based on ratings performances.

Looks like nearly everyone is in the 'depends' category...and I'm not talking about diapers.

Can be great. Can be good. Can be unrewarding. Can be disatrous (cancellation w/ no resolution).

Kinda hard to say yes or no...probably most could check a majority of the boxes depending upon the show & circumstances.

While older shows may not have had the 'finales' expected in modern times, they also didn't have the continuity that is standard now or storylines that continued over multiple seasons. You can watch shows from way back and, except for cosmetic differences, you could mix shows from different seasons and never know the difference.

After 'Who Shot JR' it's been all downhill from there

My thoughts exactly. If it's done well then I don't have a problem with it. For example, Scandal ended on a cliffhanger this season but most of their episodes ended on cliffhangers o it's not a huge deal plus it was well done. Grey's Anatomy also ended on a cliffhanger and while it was well-done, there doesn't seem to be any need for it. Seriously, we're in season 9, what are the odds that a juicy cliffhanger is going to entice new viewers at this point? Your regular viewers are coming back anyway so why leave us hanging. Someone mentioned Human Target which was a solid cliffhanger but bs behind the scenes led to a disastrous resolution which made a mess of everything. You can have continuity between seasons without a cliffhanger which is the way I wish most season finales would go.

Dallas/Star Trek: The Next Generation.

V/Pushing Daisies.

If it's done well, it can be great. My favorite of all-time is the end of the 4th season of Alias. The only time I literally jumped out of my seat watching a TV show.

But too many times a show has gotten cancelled and the cliffhanger is the last thing the fans see. I'm still bitter amount many of those, like The Lone Gunmen.

No. It pulls me out of my willing suspension of disbelief, because the contrivance reminds me that the show isn't really about people, it's just a bunch of script pages. Then I don't care anymore and I have no reason to come back.

I don't mind them, loved them on Lost for example. I think the worst was Human Target, great cliffhanger yet no resolution.

I'm normally fine with them and I tend be pretty used to them by now as I watch quite a few serialized dramas. I do agree they can be annoying if it's a show that has a risk of not coming back for another season and the cliffhanger is never resolved. Fortunately that hasn't happened on many shows that I've watched.

I like cliffhangers, but far too often the resolutions are not worth the wait.