History Main / CommercialBreakCliffhanger

* When American shows not made for {{HBO}} (which doesn't have commercials) are broadcast in countries where the frequency of commercials is lower, or when a show goes out on Creator/TheBBC or is released on DVD, with no commercial breaks at all. This results in dramatic cliffhangers which fade out... then fade back in right away, sometimes [[AdBreakDoubleTake repeating the last line said before the break]] which if you're any bit familiar with the SaturdayMorningCartoon during an age such a thing existed on network TV, this was prevalent to the point of ubiquity.

* When American shows not made for {{HBO}} (which doesn't have commercials) are broadcast in countries where the frequency of commercials is lower, or when a show goes out on TheBBC or is released on DVD, with no commercial breaks at all. This results in dramatic cliffhangers which fade out... then fade back in right away, sometimes [[AdBreakDoubleTake repeating the last line said before the break]] which if you're any bit familiar with the SaturdayMorningCartoon during an age such a thing existed on network TV, this was prevalent to the point of ubiquity.

* On at least one occasion, syndication cuts to ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', to make room for more commercials, created one - Giles is getting drunk with old friend/nemesis Ethan Rayne, who casually tells him "I put poison in your drink...you'll be dead in an hour." There's some dramatic soundtrack, then he laughs "Just ''kidding!''". A commercial break was put in between the two lines.

* Happens all the time in ''Series/TheChase'', especially when there's a 'one question shootout at play' (ie the contestant has to get the question wrong to go through else the Chaser will probably catch them). In some amusing examples, the contestants have either noticed this and groaned just before the commercial break cuts in, or in one strange case, actually announced the break with 'see you after the breaks folks!' when the host was too busy laughing.

* When American shows are broadcast in countries where the frequency of commercials is lower, or when a show goes out on TheBBC or is released on DVD, with no commercial breaks at all. This results in dramatic cliffhangers which fade out... then fade back in right away, sometimes [[AdBreakDoubleTake repeating the last line said before the break]] which if you're any bit familiar with the SaturdayMorningCartoon during an age such a thing existed on network TV, this was prevalent to the point of ubiquity.
** Coversely, the BBC as often as not now makes shows with an eye to the export market, and ''deliberately introduces'' Commercial Break Cliffhangers to make the show more palatable to overseas commercial channels. Which just looks completely jarring and ridiculous when screened for domestic consumption on the BBC.

'''Doofenshmirtz:''' [[SarcasmMode Oh, right, joke about the commercial break. That's ''really'' how I want to spedn my last few seconds!]]

'''Doofenshmirtz''' Oh, right, joke about the commercial break, why don't you.

* Believe it or not, Wrestling/{{WWE}} programs do this on a frequent basis. Whenever a wrestler gets tossed outside the ring, expect the announcer to cue up the oncoming commercial break by asking if the aforementioned wrestler can make a comeback when the show returns. However, due to the nature of the program, the match will pick up from the break, still in progress.

* Shows from Britain and some other countries have no commercials in their own area, but they frequently end up like this when they're sent to America,where the commercials will often be inserted at the most suspenseful moments.

* In general, ever since the success of ''Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire'', game and reality shows frequently use this in an attempt to [[WhoWantsToBeWhoWantsToBeAMillionaire emulate its success via heavily dramatic presentation]]. By the late 2000's, nearly every game and reality show would do it at every available opportunity. It seems to have lapsed into cliche territory around the turn of the decade, and critics (and fans) will now often trash a show for trying to do it too often. Even ''Millionaire'' itself seems to have become the victim of SeinfeldIsUnfunny in this aspect (especially since the American version didn't actually use the cliffhanger that much. As for other countries, however...)

-->'''Meep:''' "We've been falling for quite a long time, haven't we?"
-->'''Doofenshmirtz''' "Oh, right, joke about the commercial break, why don't you."

* While often combined in anime with the {{Eyecatch}}, this can occasionally backfire. An example is the dramatic cliffhanger reveal of Rau Le Creuset as a clone in Gundam SEED, the rather dramatic conclusion of his long expository rant revealing several significant bits of backstory to the series' universe. The characters that are witness to this reveal are shocked...only to suddenly cut to a completely unrelated and relatively cheery eyecatch of another character playing in a meadow, thus providing the audience with the dramatic equivalent of a face-first, high speed collision with a brick wall.
* ''{{Slayers}} Next'' usually uses these quite well. One memorable instance occurs when dramatic tension mounts until Gaav is about to attack the gang, Martina appears and the main characters scream "MARTINA!" in comical fashion. Cue cheerful EyeCatch, followed by Martina making a complete fool of herself to her signature comical tune. They don't always work very well though - the cliffhanger/eyecatch combination jarringly backfires when Lina casts the perfected Ragna Blade and Gaav looks worried for the first time, almost ''afraid''. The dramatic mood is sliced to bits by the cheerful EyeCatch.

* ''[[TwoThousandOne 2001: A Space Odyssey]]'' was originally shown in theaters with an intermission. The scene immediately before the intermission? Dave and Frank talking in the pod, thinking HAL can't hear them...and HAL reading their lips.

* In general, ever since the success of ''WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire'', game and reality shows frequently use this in an attempt to [[WhoWantsToBeWhoWantsToBeAMillionaire emulate its success via heavily dramatic presentation]]. By the late 2000's, nearly every game and reality show would do it at every available opportunity. It seems to have lapsed into cliche territory around the turn of the decade, and critics (and fans) will now often trash a show for trying to do it too often. Even ''Millionaire'' itself seems to have become the victim of SeinfeldIsUnfunny in this aspect (especially since the American version didn't actually use the cliffhanger that much. As for other countries, however...)
* Chris Tarrant, the UK presenter of ''WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire'' has a reputation for dragging out the "Is that your final answer?" bit until he can announce a break immediately after the answer has been confirmed, but before he says if it's correct. This includes Judith Keppel's million-winning question, which led to frustrated gasps from everyone else. There even was one instance in which he was about to announce the final answer, but the siren went off and Chris declared we'd have to wait until tomorrow!

** ''WhosStillStanding'' is an example of how this can go wrong and kill the tension - they repeatedly cut to commercial ''in the middle of a question'', with rather clumsy editing too. The music (which was very obviously added in post-production) would swell up to the point of nearly drowning out everything else and [[MusicalSpoiler blatantly give away]] nearly every commercial break 15 seconds in advance.

* ''FearFactor'' does this whenever a stunt might go wrong.

* All 3 ''{{CSI}}'' series do this repeatedly, but especially toward the end of an episode. And they love it even more when a main character is in some kind of danger.

* ''FruitsBasket'' also made good use of [[{{Eyecatch}} eyecatches]], creating different ones to fit the episode (even having two separate ones for either side of the commercial break. For the latter darker episodes, fitting plain black eyecatches were used.
* ''{{Anime/Pokemon}}'' does this sometimes. Usually, it's only once an episode or so, though.

* Chuck Woolery on ''{{Greed}}'' was, at least until Series/DealOrNoDeal came along, the undisputed master of this in game shows. The episode leading up to Daniel Avila's famed $2,000,000 attempt was the biggest example; the particular episode only featured one team who answered all but the last question in the Tower of Greed... but this means they got through just '''seven''' questions in the entire hour, which was [[{{Filler}} padded]] by '''two''' recaps near the end. After the first forty minutes, just about everything was filler to put off the choice to go for the top prize until next week.

** Jeff Foxworthy tries to imitate Howie on ''AreYouSmarterThanAFifthGrader'', but he talks so slowly that you can see the commercial coming a mile away.

* NBC must be contractually obligated to use this trope in [[TheBiggestLoser every]] [[AmericanGladiators single]] [[AmericasGotTalent show]] [[Series/DealOrNoDeal they]] [[MinuteToWinIt run]].
** ''MinuteToWinIt'' in particular appears to be making a valiant attempt to top ''Greed'' and ''Series/DealOrNoDeal'' at this. At the end of the most recent show, the contestant had to make a stack of martini glasses and Christmas tree ornaments which would stay standing by itself for 3 seconds for a guaranteed $250,000. She finishes the tower and lets go, and three... two... one--TO BE CONTINUED. Though any GenreSavvy viewer who's watched the show before probably saw that one coming a mile away. Ten bucks says the outcome won't be shown until after at least one commercial break into the next episode.

** ''WhosStillStanding?'' is an example of how this can go wrong and kill the tension - they repeatedly cut to commercial ''in the middle of a question'', with rather clumsy editing too. The music (which was very obviously added in post-production) would swell up to the point of nearly drowning out everything else and [[MusicalSpoiler blatantly give away]] nearly every commercial break 15 seconds in advance.

* If not every episode, 95% of the episodes of PrisonBreak have ''at least'' one of these.

** This is spoofed on a sbemail in Homestar Runner where Strong Bad runs a local news program that constantly alludes to a "World in Crisis" story coming up. At the end of the news show, he says to tune in next time for the "World in Crisis" story.

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]

* ''TinyToonAdventures'', although it was a self-aware cartoon, didn't do this too often. In the pilot episode, Buster and Babs use the commercial break to get most of their work on the future show accomplished. In the Christmas episode, the trope is played much more straight in that a panicky Buster is ready and desperate to wish everything back to normal but he is told that he has to wait until after the commercials.

* The WesternAnimation/EarthwormJim cartoon played this for all it's worth, complete with the [[LargeHam hammy narrator]] asking multiple "Will Earthworm Jim escape from Psycrow's diabolical trap?"-style questions. A frequent RunningGag is that one of the cliffhanger questions is about something completely inconsequential, like Peter getting a winning hand in a poker game going on at the same time.
* WesternAnimation/LegendOfKorra: The first episode has Korra take a few thugs down. Saihkan and the other officers arrest them and order her arrest. Come back from commercial sees him laying out the charges, and Officer Song giving chase.
* WesternAnimation/GreenLanternTheAnimatedSeries: "Larfleeze" has the titular character unleash Glomulus onto Razer and Kilowog, it begins to swallow them whole. Will the heroes get out of this one? Find out in... of course they do.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'' does this at ''least" OnceAnEpisode, give or take.

* Oddly, the punchline to a cutaway gag on WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy was cut off. It was rather odd.

*** To be fair, they did this as early as TheSixties with ''DoctorWho'', but stil...

* An episode of ''Futurama'' parodied this rather well. Fry, Leela, and Bender had to deliver a package to a robot planet, and Bender gets caught. Leela then exclaims: "If only I had two or three minutes to think about it!" Cut to commercial.
* Done with ''TheSimpsons'' as well. After the family is tricked by a commercial [[spoiler:into a trap set by Sideshow Bob]], Homer proclaims that the next time a commercial comes on, he'll close his eyes, cover his ears and scream. Fade to black, cue Homer screaming, cut to commercial.

* When American shows are broadcast in countries where the frequency of commercials is lower, or when a show goes out on TheBBC or is released on DVD, with no commercial breaks at all. This results in dramatic cliffhangers which fade out... then fade back in right away, sometimes [[AdBreakDoubleTake repeating the last line said before the break]].

** Subverted in exactly one episode of ''CanadianIdol''. The host said he will reveal the winner. After a second delay, the audience announced it to be after the break, but the host replied "right now, actually".
* ''TheDukesOfHazzard'' typically had these, accompanied by a freeze-frame shot, a dramatic musical {{sting}}, and a [[QuipToBlack pithy comment]] from {{narrator}} Waylon Jennings.

* Any episode of ''AmericanIdol'' that ends with a winner uses this trope (along with a nice healthy serving of {{Filler}}) so often that Ryan Seacrest gets hate mail about it.