History Main / CommercialBreakCliffhanger

* ''Series/CutthroatKitchen'' ''always'' does this in the first two rounds, just as the judge is about to announce who's being eliminated.

** ''Series/MinuteToWinIt'' in particular appears to be making a valiant attempt to top ''Greed'' and ''Series/DealOrNoDeal'' at this. At the end of one episode, 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.

* Done in most of the old DisneyAfternoon cartoons.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'' tried to inform us that there would be no commercial breaks, to better assist our viewing pleasure. These announcements were, of course, cut short at every opportunity. If I remember correctly, we would also appear to have missed something, as the situation would be slightly different than before the break.

-->-- ''Spoken after a commercial break placed in the middle of the two characters plummeting to their doom in WesternAnimation/{{Phineas and Ferb}}''

* In the original broadcasts kf the WesternAnimation/JoeOrioloFelixTheCat cartoons, each episode was split into two parts with a cliff hanger at mid point, and the narrator would say "What will happen to Felix in the next exciting adventure of Felix the Cat?" and in the next part, the theme song would play again before the second half (hence why each second half of an episode does a recap of the previous half). [[EditedForSyndication These parts were cut in the late 70's by tv stations trying to add more commercials.]] The DVD releases of the show use these syndicated edits.

-->--''Spoken after a commercial break placed in the middle of the two characters plummeting to their doom in WesternAnimation/{{Phineas and Ferb}}''

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

* When American shows not made for {{Creator/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, was prevalent to the point of ubiquity.

* In Ed Edd n Eddy:

** ''Series/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.

* Another game show, ''Series/CashCab'', has done this recently after an answer is locked in.

* Done with the season premieres and finales in TheSecretSaturdays.

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

** Jeff Foxworthy tries to imitate Howie on ''Series/AreYouSmarterThanAFifthGrader'', but he talks so slowly that you can see the commercial coming a mile away.
*** It's even worse there because one can easily look up the answer on Wikipedia before Foxworthy even announces the commercial break.
*** Its sister show ''Series/DontForgetTheLyrics'' also plays this trope.
*** ''Series/{{Duel}}'' played with this a bit one day. The contestants had just given their answers to a question, and then one of them griped that, well, of course now we're going to go to commercial. ({{beat}}) "Just for that..." Cue commercial.

** ''[[Series/{{Boom}} BOOM!]]'' occasionally does this after a contestant cuts a wire, with the voice counting ''"3... 2... 1..."'' before cutting to black.

* When American shows not made for {{Creator/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.
** 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 (or UK cable channels, as there are some that screen BBC shows with commercials). Which just looks completely jarring and ridiculous when screened for domestic consumption on the BBC.

* Another game show, ''Series/CashCab'' has done this recently after an answer is locked in.

* And then, there's the French version of ''[[MillionDollarMoneyDrop Money Drop]]''. My god, it might not be the TropeCodifier, but it happens at the '''very last moment'''. We wait about 30 seconds to see what are the wrong answer, and suddenly, at the very last second, there's the commercials.

* ''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.