Is anybody else here a fan of the show "Crime Story?" It had *two* such
cliffhangers. The producers thought the show would be cancelled after its first
season, and wrote the season ender with that in mind. In that episode, the series
villain Ray Luca has what seems to be the most final, irrevocable death possible -
killed in a nuclear explosion!
Then, the series was unexpectedly renewed, and Ray returned, looking only slightly
worse for wear, with some greying of the temples, but otherwise OK.... That season,
which did turn out to be the last, ended similarly, with the four main characters
all apparently dying in a small plane that crashes into the water at very high speed
and at a very unhealthy angle.
"Crime Story" was an excellent show - by the same producer who did "Miami Vice"
contemporaneously, but receiving about 1/10 of the attention.
Incidentally, Anthony Denison, who played Luca, went on to star in ABC's short-lived
series about the CIA, "Under Cover." Anybody else see that one? It only ran for
something like 6 episodes, and the network kept moving its time slot even with such
a short run. It was really quite good, though - sort of an American "Sandbaggers"
in a way.
> I prefer the more upbeat cliffhanger, where our heroes head off on
> another important mission. If the show isn't renewed, then we can
> imagine that they're still out there somewhere, doing whatever it was.
> If it is renewed, then we can go ahead and see the mission they started
> on. Or, if someone disappeared in the off-season, we can have a time-gap
> and a lot of verbal byplay about What Happened to Willy and We'll Never
> Let That Happen Again.
>
> Ernest