Famous Cliffhanger Endings in Television
Famous Cliffhanger Endings In Television is a structured entertainment dataset with 15 entries. Its fields include Cliffhanger, Show, Season / Year. Community voting appears as a separate signal beside eligible rows and does not replace the source values.
Every row is shown below and is also available as CSV, JSON, or Excel.
Dataset details
- Table scope
- All 15 rows
- Fields
- 5 columns
- Source
- Community curated
- Data updated
- Mar 7, 2026
Included fields: Cliffhanger, Show, Season / Year, Resolution, Known For.
The table contains every record in this dataset; the same records are available in each download format.
Preview observations
No reliable range or grouping can be calculated from the loaded rows without interpreting the source data.
Useful for
- Comparing Cliffhanger, Show, and Season / Year across entertainment entries
- Building reference tables, charts, or analyses from 15 downloadable records
Cliffhanger↕ | Show↕ | Season / Year↕ | Resolution↕ | Known For↕ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who Shot J.R.? | Dallas | Season 3 (1980) | Kristin Shepard revealed as shooter in S4 premiere | Most-watched TV episode in history at the time (83M viewers), sparked global betting pools, cultural phenomenon |
| The Cut to Black | The Sopranos | Series Finale (2007) | Never resolved — screen cuts to black mid-scene, debate rages forever | Most controversial finale ever, millions thought their TV broke, David Chase's masterful ambiguity |
| Locke in the Hatch | Lost | Season 1 (2005) | Season 2 revealed Desmond living inside, pushing a button every 108 minutes | Camera peers down the hatch into darkness, 23.5M viewers left screaming, redefined network TV cliffhangers |
| Red Wedding Aftermath | Game of Thrones | Season 3 (2013) | The Starks stayed dead — no take-backs | Millions of reaction videos, non-book-readers devastated, George R.R. Martin proved no one was safe |
| Picard Assimilated by the Borg | Star Trek: TNG | Season 3 (1990) | Rescued in S4 premiere 'The Best of Both Worlds Part II' | First true TNG cliffhanger, 'Mr. Worf — fire' then credits roll, longest summer ever for Trekkies |
| Negan's Victim | The Walking Dead | Season 6 (2016) | Glenn and Abraham killed in S7 premiere | POV death shot, 6-month wait to learn who Lucille hit, fans furious at manipulation, most-discussed cliffhanger of the 2010s |
| The Countdown | 24 | Season 1 (2002) | Teri Bauer found dead — Jack too late | Real-time format made the clock ticking unbearable, Kiefer Sutherland's anguished scream, killed the hero's wife |
| Cartman's Father | South Park | Season 1 (1998) | Trolled audience with Terrance & Phillip episode, real answer delayed months | Deliberately pranked fans with a fake episode, Trey Parker's legendary trolling, April Fools on a cliffhanger |
| The Hospital Shooting | Grey's Anatomy | Season 6 (2010) | Several characters killed, Derek survived surgery | Two-part finale, Gary Clark's rampage, highest-rated Grey's episodes, Shonda Rhimes at her most intense |
| Sherlock's Fall | Sherlock (BBC) | Season 2 (2012) | Elaborate fake death revealed in Season 3 (2014), two-year wait | Sherlock jumps off a building, John watches, fans spent 2 years theorizing how he survived |
| Rick's Banishment | The OC | Season 1 (2004) | Ryan returned in S2 premiere after Marissa drove to get him | Teen drama perfected the summer cliffhanger, 'Mmm Whatcha Say' meme originated from Marissa's later death |
| The Arrest of Vecna | Stranger Things | Season 4 (2022) | Season 5 (final season) to resolve the Upside Down invasion of Hawkins | Max clinically dies then revives, gates to Upside Down tear open Hawkins, multi-year wait for finale |
| Michael's Betrayal | Prison Break | Season 1 (2006) | Season 2 became a fugitive chase across the country | The escape succeeds but nothing goes to plan, eight inmates on the run, reinvented the show's premise |
| Ross Says Rachel | Friends | Season 4 (1998) | Ross and Emily's marriage crumbled, Ross and Rachel didn't reunite until the finale | Wedding vow gaffe heard round the world, live studio audience gasped, 31.6M viewers, peak '90s TV |
| Omar's Death | The Wire | Season 5 (2008) | No resolution — Omar was simply gone, killed by a kid in a corner store | Most shocking death in prestige TV, no dramatic buildup, David Simon's anti-Hollywood realism, 'All in the game' |
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