History Main / CutSHort

* Many Franchise/{{LEGO}} lines ended without concluding their stories -- ''Toys/{{Slizer}}'' just as the forces of good and evil were about to clash, ''Toys/RoboRiders'' before they revealed who the BigBad was, but nothing got hit harder than ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}''. Beginning from the 2009 line, the creative team attempted a drastic {{Retool}}, taking the story away from the Matoran Universe onto other planets. They eagerly planned the story ahead for at least 3 years, there is evidence to believe that some sets were also partially designed, they contracted voice actors and made a trilogy-starter movie, wrote a draft for the sequel, the story writer was covered up to his glasses in all the [[KudzuPlot potential plot threads he set up]], and fan interaction hiked... then, Mr. LEGO called that they're canceling the line. Although in 2010, 6 meager little figures ''were'' released (though reluctantly, and under the guise of a 10th year MilestoneCelebration commemorative line, in place of the sets they originally wanted to make), and the writer was allowed to continue the stories, RealLife soon forced him to just abandon the whole thing, [[LeftHanging leaving a tremendous amount of plotlines unresolved]]. Despite how tragic this may sound, the line still lasted for an impressive decade, while most other LEGO themes only go for just a couple years.
* ''Toys/Bionicle2015'' was launched with an intended 3 year lifespan, with the possibility to extend its run if the toys sold well. It got abruptly canceled in less than two years, with the last wave of toys [[NoExportForYou not reaching Asian and Pacific markets]]. At least its story got a haphazard conclusion, though many secrets were left unanswered.

* ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2'' fell victim to this. The ending very unsubtly set up a plot thread involving the Sinister Six and the mysterious Gustav Fiers, which will now never be resolved thanks to the series being cancelled and rebooted with ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming''.

* "Just Shout Hooray", sung by the Cat in the Hat in ''Series/TheWubbulousWorldOfDrSeuss'', has the lyrics "So come back soon, and when you do, I'll have some new surprises in my hat for you". It's even sung in the final episode with the implication that there is more to come, despite the show being cancelled afterwards and falling into obscurity.

* The original publication of''Literature/TheGoldenDemon'' ran in ''Yomiuri Shimbun'' newspaper until May 1902, then was left unfinished when the author Ozaki Kōyō died the following year, 1903.

!!Examples:

Compare NoEnding, in which there is a deliberate decision to end a work abruptly, and LeftHanging, where while the series ends, many questions are left unanswered. If it doesn't deal with the major plot issues, a GeckoEnding will include this. See also OrphanedSeries and TheResolutionWillNotBeTelevised (when a work is wrapped up in a different medium).

* ''VideoGame/EpicMickey'' was supposed to have a third entry, with Warren Spector stating that he already had ideas for its story. However, the [[VideoGame/EpicMickey2ThePowerOfTwo the second game's]] poor sales and mixed reception ([[CreatorKiller causing the closure of Junction Point Studios]]) prevented these plans from coming into fruition.

* ''VideoGame/{{Shenmue}}''. The second installment ended with Ryo finally meeting Shenhua and discovering that the mirror he's been carrying does indeed have some sort of supernatural power. Then Yu Suzuki got the plug pulled on his series due to poor sales, so we'll never know the significance of this, nor Lan Di's ultimate role in the story. Then Suzuki quit at Sega, guaranteeing that we'll ''really'' never know how it all would have turned out. Well, until ''VideoGame/ShenmueIII''... is what we would say, if that game didn't also end on a SequelHook that has fans continuing to wait for what once again seems like a very unlikely proper conclusion.

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/The13GhostsOfScoobyDoo'' got ScrewedByTheNetwork and producer Tom Ruegger felt there was no further life to it; it was cancelled after [[ThirteenIsUnlucky 13]] episodes, leaving the series to end on the sad note of just ONE more ghost that needed to be captured... Fortunately, the story would finally be wrapped up years later with ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheCurseOfThe13thGhost''.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAngryBeavers'' was originally set to have a GrandFinale (for which [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPP4zUDuo4c dialogue was recorded]]) with the characters learning they were on a TV show that was ending. Nickelodeon, however, [[ExecutiveMeddling gave it the axe]] because it went against their "no ending" policy at the time,[[note]]This policy is no longer in place, having been officially broken with ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'' GrandFinale "Lady Sings the News".[[/note]] as well as the ending of the episode itself, which involved the Beavers going to [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Cartoon Heaven]], being seen as too sad for the target audience to be worth breaking the rule for.
* ''Bailey's Comets'', an obscure [=DePatie=]-Freleng show from 1973 about eleven teams of roller derby skaters going cross country to find clues to a treasure, ended with the treasure unfound. This was largely due to budgetary issues; it was too expensive to have that many characters moving at the same time.
* The 1980s cartoon ''WesternAnimation/TheBluffers'' centered around a group of WoodlandCreatures trying to find out the secret of a villain named Clandestino. It got canceled before they could say what his secret was.
* Because of the series' rather dismal reception, ''WesternAnimation/TheBrothersGrunt'' ended its run without Sammy, Dean, Bing, Frank, and Tony reuniting with their brother Perry and taking him back to their monastery.
* ''WesternAnimation/ButtUglyMartians'' only ran for one season and ended on a cliffhanger where Emperor Bog threatened to come to Earth and kill [=2T=], B-Bop, and Do-Wah for abandoning their mission to invade Earth, the Butt-Uglies and Stoat Muldoon replying that they weren't scared and were willing to give it their all in the inevitable battle.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheBuzzOnMaggie'' ended after one season of 21 episodes due to it failing to gain an audience overseas, with Maggie's dream of becoming famous never achieved.
* ''Around the World in 79 Days,'' a revisionist take on Jules Verne's story which was a segment of 1969's ''WesternAnimation/TheCattanoogaCats'', ended after 17 episodes with the round-the-world trip for Phineas Fogg Jr., Jenny and Happy unfinished.
* The original AnimatedAdaptation of ''WesternAnimation/CliffordTheBigRedDog'' was scheduled to have a third and final season, with an episode in which the titular character gets married and has babies. Unfortunately, the death of Creator/JohnRitter, the person who voiced Clifford, [[DiedDuringProduction on the set of]] ''Series/EightSimpleRules'', led to the final season's cancellation and a new series, ''WesternAnimation/CliffordsPuppyDays'', being produced in its place.
* ''WesternAnimation/CloneHigh''. The show's first season finale ends in a dramatic {{Cliffhanger}} that involves all of the major plot points — the Abe-Cleo-Joan love triangle, the Secret Board of Shadowy Figures' tensions with Scudworth, the prom — which is never resolved, because there never was a season two. That said, the creators have suggested that they might not have resolved any of this even ''if'' the show had a second season, as aggressively ignoring in-universe continuity would be very on-brand for ''Clone High''[='s=] style of humor.
* ''WesternAnimation/DaBoomCrew'' ends with the main characters never beating the game and thus never making it back to Earth.
* ''WesternAnimation/DragonBooster'' was mean to have 5 seasons but was ultimately cut short at 3 due to poor viewership.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Duckman}}'', which went three seasons without a single {{cliffhanger}}, ended its run with an episode where the title character (a talking duck, private detective and widower) remarries only to have the wedding disrupted by the return of his dead wife, Beatrice. She asks why he didn't wait for her. He says he thought she was dead. She asks why Cornfed (Duckman's partner) didn't tell him the truth. Cornfed says he can explain everything, and ToBeContinued pops up on the screen. Naturally, the one time they ended the season with a cliffhanger expecting renewal, the show was canceled.
* In-Universe example with the show-within-a-show version of ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017''. In "Friendship Hates Magic!" when Mrs. Beakley gets into the series, she's aghast to learn it was cancelled on a cliffhanger. This is shown in more detail in "The Duck Knight Returns!": DW confronted a villain who turned out to be ... ''himself''.
* ''WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons1983'' was cancelled prior to a final episode (which was scripted but never animated) that resolved plot threads including whether the characters got home and the relationship between the Dungeon Master and Venger. Good news is the script for the final episode was not only released, but received a fan comic adaption. This comic adaption has since also received an audiovisual adaption that is now on Website/YouTube.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewSchool'' had plans for a third season that would have made it a SixtyFiveEpisodeCartoon, but production stopped when Music/EarthaKitt, Yzma's voice actress, lost her battle with colon cancer. Fortunately, they were able to cobble together a series finale that wrapped things up fairly well.
* The two American-made HumongousMecha AnimatedSeries from TheNineties, ''WesternAnimation/ExoSquad'' and ''TabletopGame/{{Battletech}}'', both end with unresolved cliffhangers.
* ''WesternAnimation/FinalSpace'' was canned after three seasons, ending on a massive cliffhanger with [[spoiler: the BigGood dead, one of the heroes having pulled a FaceHeelTurn, and the BigBad having escaped from its dimension]].
* The animated adaptation of ''Series/FraggleRock'' ended abruptly at [[ShortRunners 13 episodes]]. According to the Muppet Wiki, NBC chose not to renew it because one of the children disliked the show.
* Averted with ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'', which nearly ended with the season one finale "Gideon Rises". Creator/AlexHirsch stated in interviews following the show's conclusion that creating the first season was so stressful and challenging for him, that it was only the show's quickly growing fanbase pushing him to continue on from that episode's cliffhanger that made him willing to create one last season.
* ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternTheAnimatedSeries'' ended on a cliffhanger after only one season due to poor toy sales. Said cliffhanger revolves around [[spoiler:whether Razer can bring Aya back to life]]. As a result of the cancellation, various plot threads weren't resolved.
* ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse2002'' [[ShortRunners only lasted 39 episodes]] before being abruptly cancelled, leaving many loose ends unresolved.
* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' was planned to end with a theatrically released GrandFinale, "The Jungle Movie", which would have resolved practically every plot thread - Arnold goes with his class to San Lorenzo to find his parents, and he finally [[RelationshipUpgrade hooks up with Helga]]. The show's final episodes, "The Journal", were the movie's prologue and ended on a {{cliffhanger}}. Unfortunately, thanks to the box office failure of ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnoldTheMovie'', and because Creator/CraigBartlett couldn't agree with Nickelodeon over a contract extension, the movie was cancelled and the show ended without explaining what happened to Arnold's parents on their final mission. Over the years, many a fan have petitioned to have it made and even Bartlett expressed his wish to come back and make it. Thankfully, in 2015, Nickelodeon -- on a nostalgia kick with the success of Creator/TeenNick's Creator/NickRewind block -- announced that they were finally giving ''[[WesternAnimation/HeyArnoldTheJungleMovie The Jungle Movie]]'' the green light as a two-part TV movie in 2017. Bartlett and most of the original crew, including several of the voice actors, returned as well, much to the delight of fans.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Hoops}}'' was cancelled after only one season due to low ratings. The series ends on a cliffhanger where Ben and Matty end up getting a flat tire while on their way to Henderson prep. It’s unknown whether or not they make it.
* ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'' ended with four seasons out of a planned eight due to [[ExecutiveMeddling higher-ups thinking the show was "too mature"]] [[AnimationAgeGhetto for its target audience]]. Despite being an anthology with self-contained season-long arcs, the cancellation left the outcomes of two overarching storylines unresolved; those being [[spoiler:whether Amelia will ever manage to get off the train]] and [[spoiler:whereabouts and status of Hazel after being quarantined]].
* ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'': Due to low ratings from the target demographic[[labelnote:*]][[PeripheryDemographic It was popular with older audiences]] but not the 6-11 age group Nickelodeon was aiming for[[/labelnote]], the show was cancelled in the middle of producing its second season, though the show would return as a [[ComicBook/InvaderZimOni comic]] over a decade later, with a [[WesternAnimation/InvaderZimEnterTheFlorpus television movie]] following shortly after.
* ''WesternAnimation/KingArthurAndTheKnightsOfJustice'' was unexpectedly cancelled after two seasons and 26 episodes, with its premise (collecting all the {{MacGuffin}}s and freeing the original King and Knights) far from resolution.
* ''WesternAnimation/LittleBill'' was another show that wound up being cancelled when a voice actor who worked on it passed away, with the person in question being Creator/GregoryHines, the voice of Big Bill.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicTrollsAndTheTrollWarriors'' ends with clear plans for a TV series as several plotlines are unresolved, but one wasn't made.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}'' was originally planned to have four seasons and a movie, then ended up in a cliffhanger to make a final one. Unfortunately, Adult Swim and Brendon Smalls had a disagreement about the terms for the series, which led to its final season canceled. Many fans even signed a petition for it, but it fell on deaf ears and Adult Swim kept the rights to the Dethklok name. So instead, Brendon made a SpiritualSuccessor in the form of Music/BrendonSmallsGalaktikon, which served as an audio finale to the series.
* ''WesternAnimation/MegasXLR'', while having something akin to a finale, still had the Glorft on the loose and Coop with a replacement for his Megas but with much better firepower.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheMightyB'' ended after two seasons before Bessie could collect all the Honeybee Scout badges, and/or reveal that [[TheCuckoolanderWasRight she was right about the whole super hero thing all along]].
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Motorcity}}'', from the same people behind ''Megas XLR'', was cut down before its first season had even finished airing. Fortunately, due to having dealt with this trope twice beforehand (the first being ''WesternAnimation/{{Downtown}}''), they had already written the season finale to double as a glorious grand finale in case it happened a third time.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' was supposed to have four seasons, but was abruptly announced to be cancelled after its second due to it “not fitting the [[Creator/{{Disney}} Disney]] brand.” Thankfully, there were three 45-minute specials to help wrap up the overarching narrative.
* Season 3 of ''WesternAnimation/PacManAndTheGhostlyAdventures'' concludes with new character Elliptica whispering to Pac the biggest hint to where his parents might be. The franchise was then rebooted back to the Classic designs and universe due to dwindling reception of the reboot, leaving Pac's quest to find his parents a mystery.
* While ''WesternAnimation/PhantomInvestigators'' didn't end on a major cliffhanger, the final episode of its first and only season did imply that more was to come. Due to dissatisfaction with [[GirlShowGhetto not having enough male viewers and too many female viewers]], Creator/KidsWB canned the show as fast as it could. Taken even further in America as Kids' WB was so upset at not getting the exact demographic that they wanted that they removed the show from the schedule after only six episodes had aired.
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePiratesOfDarkWater'' ended before they could gather all 13 {{MacGuffin}}s, or defeat the BigBad. This was one of the first truly infamous examples of this happening in animation, so much so even Creator/CartoonNetwork themselves humorously acknowledged the sudden cancellation in advertising.
* ''WesternAnimation/PlanetSheen'' was abruptly cancelled after one season before Sheen could return home to Earth or defeat [[BigBad Dorkus]] once and for all. [[note]] There were plans for there to be a TV movie finale where [[WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius Jimmy Neutron]] rescued Sheen, but due to the series’s low ratings, the film was never made. [[/note]]
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePrince2021'' ends on a cliffhanger where Kevin gives the royal family poisoned tarts. Due to low ratings, it was quickly cancelled after only one season, and with the death of [[UsefulNotes/ElizabethII Queen Elizabeth]], it’s unlikely to ever get renewed.
* The ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'' cartoon was canned after three seasons before it could adapt any more of the books. The series finale, "Rose of Noonvale", plays out like a regular season finale for the show, but instead of ending with tapestry shots as usual, Tim Churchmouse asks the viewer to come back soon, which implies that more was to come, making one wonder what the producers were planning to do next.
* ''WesternAnimation/ReturnToThePlanetOfTheApes'' ended with no resolution to Bill, Jeff, Judy, Cornelius and Zira's efforts to end the status quo of humans being subservient to apes. While it was considered to renew the show for a three-episode second season to wrap everything up, it never came to fruition.
* ''WesternAnimation/SagwaTheChineseSiameseCat'' ended after one season due to a lack of merchandise and PBS being unable to compete with news coverage after the 9/11 attacks took place. Sure, there were no story arcs, but the last episode did imply that more was to come. Like with ''WesternAnimation/TheWackyAdventuresOfRonaldMcdonald'' mentioned below, it makes you wonder what the creators were planning next.
* ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' ran for four seasons before [[Creator/GenndyTartakovsky Genndy]] ended it to focus on other ventures, leaving no real ending. He personally viewed it as an extended hiatus, however, as he planned to make a theatrical film to wrap up the series. However, it would end up repeatedly stuck in DevelopmentHell. There would be a comic book continuation a decade later that took place after season four, complete with its own grand finale, but Taratvosky considered its events non-canon. For his part, he would finally ditch the movie idea in the wake of the comic's success to produce an official fifth and final season for Creator/AdultSwim that aired in 2017, wrapping up Jack's adventure after a 13-year hiatus.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Shazzan}}'': Chuck and Nancy never found the ring's owner and never returned home.
* ''WesternAnimation/SheZow'' just ''stops'' after the initial 26-episode run, giving the impression that the series was intended to continue past the first season. Indeed, WordOfGod says the show was initially greenlit by [[Creator/DiscoveryFamily The Hub]] for a second season, only for the network to change their minds a month later.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Silverwing}}'' ended after just 13 episodes before the rest of the novels could be adapted for television. Thankfully it did conclude the second book’s story, so it was at least able to finish Shade’s main arc.
* Two animated shows starring ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' weren't fast enough to get their stories finished before cancellation.
** ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'' ended on a cliffhanger in which Dr. Robotnik appeared to have died but his increasingly dissatisfied henchman Snively has plans to usurp his place as the series' primary antagonist and revealing a threatening new foe, shown out of the darkness with menacing red eyes. Whoever this new character was, viewers never found out, as the series was abruptly cancelled. Writer Ben Hurst revealed his plans for a third season where the mysterious red eyes belonged to [[spoiler:Naugus, an EvilSorcerer who Robotnik betrayed years prior]].
** ''WesternAnimation/SonicUnderground'' ended after only one season, way before Sonic and his siblings could even come close to dethroning Robotnik and finding their mother. ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' intended to rectify this, but the project ended up cancelled. Fans from ''all across the Internet'' have made fanmade reboots of the series, including [[https://sonicfanon.fandom.com/wiki/Category:AngieYaz_Sonic_Underground_reboot this one]].
* ''WesternAnimation/SpacePOP'' was written off at a loss in August 2018, leaving the series to end on a cliffhanger where the princesses revealed their identities to Geela and Athena put on the Ring of Grock to try to defeat her.
* Another Spidey example is ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' which left many a plot thread hanging. You can thank Creator/{{Sony}} and Creator/{{Disney}}'s purchase of Marvel for this. Sony had to relinquish the television rights to keep the film rights.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManUnlimited'' ended on a cliffhanger after one season due to low ratings.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' was canceled very suddenly despite being successful. The creators were working on a sixth season and had story plans for a seventh and eighth season when Disney acquired the rights to the ''Franchise/StarWars'' franchise and ordered to finish the series, not wanting to ChannelHop the show to any of their networks as part of the acquisition. At this point, multiple episodes were still in different stages of production. [[TheResolutionWillNotBeTelevised 13 episodes were finished and composed Season 6 which aired on]] Creator/{{Netflix}}, 8 more were later released on [=StarWars.com=] with rough incomplete animation, some finished scripts were also adapted into the ''Literature/DarkDisciple'' novel and a ''[[ComicBook/DarthMaulSonOfDathomir Son of Dathomir]]'' comic mini-series. Despite all this, both the last broadcast and the last released episodes serve as a fit ending for the series: one ties up Ahsoka's arc and the other ends with a philosophical conclusion about the greater role of the Jedi in the Clone Wars.
** Also helping is that Disney later made the sequel series ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'', with Rex and Ahsoka making appearances.
** In July 2018, a [[WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWarsSeasonSeven seventh season]] airing on Disney's new streaming service was announced, with thunderous applause from the fans.
* The ''Literature/{{Stellaluna}}'' DirectToVideo movie finishes with a seemingly clear plan for a TV series adaptation of the original book, but one never got made.
* When ''WesternAnimation/{{Stoked}}'' aired on Creator/CartoonNetwork in the United States, the show ended at "Endless Bummer", which was the 22nd episode of the first season. The show had four more episodes of said season, and none of the episodes from the second season aired in the United States.
* The season 1 finale of ''WesternAnimation/StrokerAndHoop'' was as close to a literal cliffhanger as they come. The episode ends with Stroker, Hoop, and Double Wide plunging to a chasm when their captor intentionally lands on the release switch, after being held at gunpoint. Sadly, the show was axed afterwards due to financial reasons, though the creators were able to reveal what would have happened in the end, had the show had been renewed for a second season.
* ''WesternAnimation/SuperRobotMonkeyTeamHyperforceGo'' ended right when the BigBad had been resurrected and the Hyperforce and [[GondorCallsForAid all of their previous allies]] where about to go at him.
* ''WesternAnimation/SwatKats'' didn't end on a {{Cliffhanger}}, but the series abruptly got cancelled while the writers still had several episode ideas in planning.
* ''WesternAnimation/SymBionicTitan'', which was cancelled because [[ScrewedByTheMerchandise they could not interest toy companies]] and a splintering of the production team that made it hard to keep it going, despite it being a widely loved show.
* ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats2011'' was cancelled after its first season, leaving it to end on a cliffhanger. At the time of its cancellation, the creators Shannon Eric Denton and Dan Norton were working on story ideas for a second season, which would've lasted for 39 episodes.
* ''WesternAnimation/TimothyGoesToSchool'' ended after two seasons (for a long time, it was assumed both seasons were one single season), [[LastEpisodeNewCharacter with the last episode introducing Mexican student Juanita and her family]], while also hinting more was to come.
* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated''. Due to its abrupt cancellation, it ended with many unresolved plotlines and unexplored characters. The creators were able to weave a mostly satisfying ending, but still the final episode itself only resolved a ''fraction'' of the many plot points introduced earlier in the season.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Trollz}}'' was canned after one season with its second season already in planning, ''and'' with the last episode hinting that more was to come. Several second season episodes had their titles prepared, but until WordOfGod reveals what those episodes' plots were, the fandom will be left without several answers.
* Every single one of the videos in the series ''WesternAnimation/TheWackyAdventuresOfRonaldMcdonald'' ends with an announcer telling the audience to look for Ronald's next adventure. This includes "The Monster O'[=McDonaldland=] Loch" even though it was the last video ever made. There wasn't an overarching story to the episodes so this wasn’t really painful, but it does make one wonder what the creators were planning next.
* ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'' met its fate because Disney thought that 80 episodes was long enough for a series, and were going to make more money by showing re-runs on Disney XD rather than giving it a third season. Similar to other examples here, the show's main conflict was fortunately resolved, but some plot threads were still left dangling.
* ''WesternAnimation/WolverineAndTheXMen2009:'' The last episode ended with a scene in which Apocalypse rules in the future leaving no clue as to what's going to happen next. The show only lasted one season.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* When ''Series/OneHundredDeedsForEddieMcdowd'' was canceled, Eddie had only done 40 of his 100 good deeds, so [[FridgeHorror he will remain a dog for eternity]].
* After several seasons of [[YouAlreadyChangedThePast The Future]] saying that the main character, Tom Baldwin, was the key that would [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong save the world]], ''Series/TheFortyFourHundred'''s fourth season ends with him contemplating a [[NewSuperPower Promicin]] injection [[spoiler:that he was already [[YouCantFightFate prophesized to take]]]]. Incoming super-powered badassery? Check. Possible conclusion to the ''[[FirstEpisodeTwist main plot thread]]?'' Check. ...And then it got canceled. Although the books ''Welcome to Promise City'' and ''Promises Broken'' follow on from the series even revealing [[spoiler:Tom's [[NewSuperPower Promicin Power]] to be [[BarrierWarrior creating force fields]]]] but still ending with a CliffHanger of sorts.
%% * ''Series/AceLightning''
* ''Series/AgentCarter'' was cancelled after its second season, and while the seasonal StoryArc was resolved in a satisfying manner, several plot threads introduced earlier were left hanging. Not to mention that the final episode ended with one of the main characters getting shot by an unseen person, so with the cancellation both the fate of the shot character and the identity of the shooter remain a mystery. [[note]] WordOfGod revealed years after the show's cancellation that the shooter was actually the lead's presumed dead brother, who was involved in some villainous shenanigans. The third season would have focused on Peggy having to take down her brother, while also exploring details surrounding her childhood. Regarding the fate of the individual who was shot, it was implied he was going to survive from his injuries.[[/note]]
* ''Series/{{Alcatraz}}'' ended its first (and only) season with the female protagonist dying on an operating table after getting shot. Clearly meant to be a {{Cliffhanger}}, unfortunately the show was cancelled after the season ended.
* ''Series/{{Alf}}'': The series' cancellation in the spring of 1990, after its fourth season, left the fate of the title character unresolved, as government agents surround the alien and he faces certain vivisection. This was all resolved in a made-for-TV movie aired several years later (he is rescued). With that said, fans hated the movie, to the point where [[FanonDiscontinuity many of them consider it non-canon.]]
* ''Series/{{Alphas}}'': Ended on a huge cliffhanger just after Stanton Parrish's attack on Grand Central Station, with Dr. Rosen (potentially) dead, and a possible new batch of enhanced Alphas. Parrish's group of terrorist Alphas were also still on the loose.
* Being a SketchComedy, ''Series/TheAmandaShow'' itself didn't suffer from this after its abrupt cancellation, but ShowWithinAShow ''Moody's Point'' had ended the final season on a huge {{cliffhanger}} in which the main character learned that she'd been SwitchedAtBirth and that she wasn't who she thought she was. Even Creator/DanSchneider doesn't know what would have happened next, because he never got a chance to write it.
* ''Series/AmericanDreams'' was cancelled after three seasons, ending on a cliffhanger. Meg ran away from home to be with her boyfriend Chris.
* ''Series/AmericanGods'' suffered through TroubledProduction and big gaps between its three seasons, ultimately ending in a cliffhanger as Starz pulled the plug on a planned fourth season. The producers said they are still pursuing a way to adapt what's left of [[Literature/AmericanGods the book]], probably a TV movie.
* ''Series/AmericanGothic1995'': Although, in the words of series creator Shaun Cassidy, "we saw the ending coming soon enough to wrap the story up," the last episode left a lot of unanswered questions: what did Merlyn's disappearance mean? Was her [[spoiler:HeroicSacrifice a failure, or not? Was she absorbed into Caleb? Does he now possess her powers and innate goodness with which to fight Buck's sinister influence]]? Will Gail still be under Buck's thrall, or will she snap out of her {{Chickification}} and bite him in the balls again? Will Selena ever stop going through that HeelFaceRevolvingDoor? Is Buck going to succeed in corrupting Caleb or not? Even for a mystery show, and one which by its very nature is cyclical, not much makes sense here.
* ''Series/{{Angel}}'' is an odd example -- it cuts short the resolution, as a result of cancellation, but it actually worked as the grand finale for the show -- "You never stop fighting..."
* ''Anna Liza'' was a Filipino SoapOpera from the 1980s which concluded with an unfinished story line due to the sudden death of its lead actress, Julie Vega, in 1985. It was later remade in 2013, but unlike its [[LongRunners 5-year running original]], it only ran from May 2013 to March 2014; it did, however, give its own story a proper conclusion.
* ''Series/{{Atlantis}}'' was axed after two series, although there had been plans for up to five. The final episode ends with the villainous Pasiphae returned from the dead and regaining control of Atlantis, and the heroes about to go in search of the Golden Fleece (setting up a third series that would explore the legend of Jason and the Argonauts). The whole thing was left unresolved, as were other major questions (the consequences of Jason's heart being "blackened" by evil, and whether he would end up with [[BettyAndVeronica Ariadne or Medea]]) as well as the ForegoneConclusion of Atlantis eventually sinking into the sea, and the entire issue of Jason having come from the future.
* The original series of ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|1978}}'' got cut short after the final episode "The Hand of God", although it did get a follow up of sorts with ''Series/Galactica1980'', which original series fans [[FanonDiscontinuity prefer not to talk about]]. Then it got [[ReMake re-imagined]] into the {{Retool}}ed 2003-2009 ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}''.
%% * ''Series/BigTimeRush'': The show's BreakingTheFourthWall Moments.
* ''Series/TheBlackDonnellys'' ends on a major cliffhanger with many dangling plot threads and the central question (exactly what the cops want to know from Joey "Ice Cream") completely unanswered, or in this case, as it's a question, unasked!
* ''Series/BladeTheSeries'' only ran for one season because of Spike TV deciding that the show was too costly to continue production. As a result, the series ended on a cliffhanger where Marcus Van Sciver started attacking Krista due to becoming wise to the fact that she was infiltrating the House of Chthon to enable Blade to track Marcus down and kill him.
%% * ''Series/{{Brimstone}}''
* ''Series/CaptainPowerAndTheSoldiersOfTheFuture'' was canceled before it could resolve its SeasonFinale CliffHanger.
* The last episode of ''Series/{{Carnivale}}'' left multiple plot threads unexplained, as well as introducing a FaceHeelTurn and a resurrection in the last few minutes.
* ''Series/Class2016'', spin-off of ''Series/DoctorWho'', was cancelled after one season due to low ratings, mixed reception and creator Patrick Ness leaving the show. This effectively ended the show on two cliffhangers: the Governors staging the invasion of the Weeping Angels and April coming back to life in the body of Corakinus.
* ''Cliffhangers'', from 1979, a game attempt by Creator/{{NBC}} to popularize the concept of old-time movie serials in a weekly television series format. Each week had three installments:
** "Stop Susan Williams", inspired by the old ''Film/ThePerilsOfPauline'' serio-dramas of the 1930s. Here, the "Pauline" character is filled by model Susan Anton as the title character, a journalist who, while investigating her brother's murder, discovers that the killing was part of an international conspiracy.
** "The Secret Empire", a U.S. marshal who discovers a futuristic underground city. This installment was based on "The Phantom Empire" movie serial starring Gene Autry.
** "The Curse of Dracula", about the famous Bram Stoker character taking the guise of a college professor, in an attempt to achieve mortality.\\
Only one of these -- "The Curse of Dracula" -- reached its conclusion within the 10-week run. Low ratings and the absurdity of the storylines, plus [=ABC=]'s one-two punch of ''Series/HappyDays'' and ''Series/LaverneAndShirley'', turned "Cliffhangers" into a show that truly left the viewer hanging after cancellation. As a postscript, the "Stop Susan Williams" and "The Secret Empire" installments were re-edited into two-hour "made-for-TV" movies for later re-airing by NBC, and included their intended conclusions.
*** In a rare double-tap of the trope, "The Curse of Dracula" episodes were re-edited into two two-hour movies for syndication. Only the first ever aired.
%%* ''Series/ColdCase'' manages to end on multiple cliffhangers, despite the fact that cliffhangers lasting beyond the end of a two-part episode were relatively rare in the series as a whole.
%% * ''Series/CommanderInChief''
* ''Series/{{Constantine}}'' originally planned to have multiple seasons adapting various characters and storylines from the comics, but was cut down to only 13 episodes and ended without any resolution to the story arc.
* ''Series/CowboyBebop2021'' was cancelled by Creator/{{Netflix}} two weeks after its premiere, leaving the plot threads presented in the finale -- namely, the ''Bebop'' crew separating, Julia betraying Spike and taking over the Syndicate, and the appearance of Radical Edward -- completely unresolved.
* ''Series/CriminalMindsSuspectBehavior'' ends on a particularly cruel CliffHanger--barring a miracle, either one main character is dead or another killed a man in cold blood, and we'll never find out which it was.
* ''Series/{{Dallas}}'':
** The 14th season finale, "Conundrum", also was billed as the series' finale of the original CBS version. However, the episode itself was not unlike the other season finales (a massive plot development to entice the audience into tuning in that fall). Here, J.R. fears he has lost his empire and everyone that means everything to him, and contemplating suicide, is visited by an angel(?), who, in an ItsAWonderfulPlot-type dream, shows him how others would have fared without him. In the end, J.R. trains the gun at his own head; Bobby, concerned for J.R.'s welfare, arrives at Southfork just in time to hear gunfire coming from J.R.'s bedroom, rushes to the door and says, "Oh my God!" Viewers are left to wonder whether J.R. killed himself ... a question that wouldn't be answered for another five years and the first of the reunion movies.
** The 2012 reboot was cancelled abruptly at the end of the third season, leaving numerous unresolved plot lines, although given how many {{Aborted Arc}}s there were from the first two seasons, there's no guarantee they would have been resolved anyway.
%%* ''Series/DarkAngel''. ScrewedByTheNetwork and [[{{Series/Firefly}} replaced with a show that also got cut short.]]
* ''Series/DarkMatter2015'' was planned from the beginning to run for five seasons, with the arc of each season sketched out, but Creator/SyFy cancelled it after three, leaving the show with a cliffhanger ending in which one main character is possessed by aliens, another main character is seemingly killed, and aliens from another universe invade the main universe.
* ''Series/DeadLikeMe'': a rare inversion of this trope. Although the series was cancelled abruptly after only two seasons, the show's somewhat unique storytelling format, which resulted in most episodes ending in such a way that they could almost all stand as finales, allowed it to end in a satisfying manner (so much so, a later revival TV movie was seen as superfluous).
* In the UK original version of the series ''Series/DearJohn'', its star Ralph Bates died in 1991, so plans to continue the series were scrapped.
* ''Series/DefyingGravity'', after being ScrewedByTheNetwork, ends just as everything appears to be reaching a climax of sorts. The sets were destroyed by the time the episodes were shown, dashing all hopes of a revival. While by that point, the identity of [[spoiler:Beta]] was revealed, this raised more questions than it answered. WordOfGod helped fill in some of the blanks but not enough to get an idea of where the show was going.
* ''Series/Drive2007'' only lasted 6 episodes with the final episode showing the main characters robbing a bank and one of them getting shot and bleeding badly.
%% * ''Series/Earth2'': ended its only season with a cliffhanger.
* ''Series/EnemyAtTheDoor'' was set in the German-occupied Channel Islands during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. It was cancelled after two seasons without any kind of wrap-up, stopping halfway through the war with the Germans still in occupation and the ultimate fates of the individual characters unresolved.
* ''Series/{{Farscape}}''; canceled on a cliffhanger (due to [[ScrewedByTheNetwork being cancelled after the producers were assured of renewal]]), which was later resolved in the miniseries ''Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars''.
* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' was cancelled with no clear conclusion, but was later able to wrap up several important plot points in ''Film/{{Serenity}}''.
* ''Series/FlashForward2009'' - with only one season, it was never really given a chance to prove itself, so the viewers were left to wonder what might have been, what D. Gibbons' wall of crazy said, and why [[spoiler:2016 meant "The End"]].
* ''Series/FriendsFromCollege'': The show was canceled after its second season due to poor reception, leaving the show with a number of unended plotlines and a cliffhanger ending. [[spoiler:The show ends with Lisa and Ethan seeing their child that Lisa is bearing, which Ethan went to see instead of going with Sam to France, in order for them to make their relationship work, leaving all relationships stranded.]]
* ''Series/GilligansIsland'' never got a finale in the show itself. You can blame that on ''Series/{{Gunsmoke}}''[='=]s fanbase; the series was very popular and wouldn't have been cancelled if the ''Gunsmoke'' fandom wasn't so invested in keeping that series on the air. If ''Gilligan'' had been solidly renewed for a fourth season instead of falling victim to the ''Gunsmoke'' fanbase, the castaways probably would've succeeded in getting off the island during the fourth season. There were, however, a few TV movies that tried to wrap up the series. Lampshaded in numerous later references to the castaways forever being stuck on that island. [[Film/GalaxyQuest "Those poor people..."]]
* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' ended with a cliffhanger that had clearly been intended to set up another season.
* ''Series/HotelBabylon'': While not having many, if any, continuing stories over the show's run, the final episode was something of a WhamEpisode, leaving one main character forced to make [[spoiler: a choice between two potential love interests and a decision affecting the entire future of the hotel]]. No ending was ever produced because the series was cancelled due to low ratings.
* ''Series/TheHour'' ended its second season on a massive cliffhanger (Freddie was left beaten senseless outside Lime Grove Studios) and was canceled soon after.
* ''Series/HowToRock'': Only got a season, the show ends on the Christmas episode, nothing more. Not because of ratings, but because the [[{{Creator/Nickelodeon}} channel it airs on]] was on transition.
* ''Series/{{Intelligence|2006}}'' was cancelled abruptly after two seasons. The last image of the series, therefore, was [[spoiler:the main character lying in a pool of his own blood after being shot repeatedly]], with no resolution.
* ''Series/{{JAG}}'': The last episode of the first season, ”Skeleton Crew”, ended on a cliffhanger with Rabb arrested as a murder suspect. At the same time JAG was cancelled on Creator/{{NBC}} but soon got uncancelled on Creator/{{CBS}}. The story was eventually resolved in third season episode ”Death Watch”.
* ''Series/JekyllAndHyde2015'' suffered from this; while plans for season 2 were made, the series stopped at season 1 on a cliffhanger, ending with everyone apparently dead.
* ''Series/JoanOfArcadia'' ended with her meeting the mysterious Ryan Hunter, who apparently either also spoke to God in the past or spoke to the Devil or ''was'' the Devil.
* ''Series/JohnDoe''. The last episode before the cancellation reveals that one of the leaders of the Phoenix Organization appears to be John's best friend. WordOfGod claims that this is false, though, and the man was supposed to have been revealed an impostor who underwent plastic surgery.
* ''Series/JulieAndThePhantoms'' ends in a major {{Cliffhanger}} that never got resolved because Netflix did not renew the series for a second season.[[note]]It was never officially canceled, but the window for a renewal is usually no more than three months. It has been quite a while since the first season was released back in September 2020.[[/note]]
* ''Series/KeenEddie'' [[ShortRunners only got thirteen episodes]], and only a handful were aired before it was canceled. Watching the rest of the episodes, especially the last, shows they were building up to something, and while there thankfully wasn't a cliffhanger, none of the character arcs were even kinda resolved.
* Season 2 of ''Series/{{Krypton}}'' ended with Brainiac at large having kidnapped baby [[spoiler:Jor-El]] and Nyssa-Vex discovering an Omega symbol on a planet just as {{winged humanoid}}s fly by.
* ''Series/KyleXY'' ended with Kyle uncovering a nefarious plot and discovering [[spoiler:the identity of his mother]]. It's left on a cliffhanger with Kyle only partially stopping the plot. It's left unresolved who his true love interest is. WordOfGod described the rest of the series in broad strokes. Very annoying as the series was cancelled halfway through the season and no moves were made to provide even the slightest hint of a better resolution.
* ''Series/LasVegas''. The Writer's Strike resulted in its season finale being very abrupt, ending with ''To Be Continued...''. Unfortunately, the show was not brought back for another season, ending the story on a total cliffhanger.
* After the third season, ''Series/LieToMe'' wasn't renewed. So the series basically concluded on the season ender, which included Lightman admitting to his daughter that he loves Foster.
* ''Series/LoisAndClark'' ends with them finding a baby that does not belong to them. There would have been more explanation of the baby's origins had the show continued. This was the same episode where they were told that Kryptonians are genetically incompatible with humans (or, at least, Clark and Lois aren't), destroying their hopes of starting a biological family.
%%* The HBO series ''Series/Luck2011'' had good enough ratings to renew it early in its first season, but they were forced to cancel it when three horses died during production.
%% * ''Marker''
* ''Series/MyNameIsEarl''. While it was a comedy and therefore didn't have a huge MythArc or anything, it did have Earl's karma list. Also, for four seasons, viewers had never known who Dodge's father was (though Earl was ''not'' a likely candidate for several reasons) and had assumed that Darnell was the father of "Earl Junior" (given that they're both black, while Joy and Earl are white). The last episode reveals that ''Earl'' is Dodge's dad (which makes some jokes in the episode "Guess Who's Coming Out Of Joy" Harsher in Hindsight), and proves that Darnell ''isn't'' Earl Junior's dad. The episode ended just as Joy was about to begin explaining, and then the series got canceled. We don't even know how far along on his list Earl was, or what he had left to do.
** A ShoutOut in ''Series/RaisingHope'', Greg Garcia's next show, has a news anchor saying that Earl has finished his list [[LeftHanging "and you'll never guess how it ended!"]]
** According to WordOfGod, they originally planned for the series to end with Earl encountering someone with a list of their own with him on it, and when he asks them where they got the idea, they reply that they got it from someone else with a list. Earl then realizes that his list started a chain reaction of other people with lists trying to right their own wrongs, and he tears up his own list and [[RidingIntoTheSunset walks into the sunset]] a free man, after realizing that he's finally put more good into the world than bad. Also Earl Junior's father was planned to be someone famous that came to town on tour, like Creator/DaveChappelle or Lil Jon.
* ''Series/MyOwnWorstEnemy'' was cancelled after half a season on an episode which introduced ''several'' new plot threads ''and'' ended on a {{Cliffhanger}}.
* ''Series/MySoCalledLife'' ended on a cliffhanger that would have been answered in Season Two.
* Canadian series ''Series/MythQuest'' ended after 13 episodes. The final episode, despite introducing a new, potentially important recurring character, has elements of AndTheAdventureContinues. It's not clear whether it was a half-season that wasn't renewed, or an outright cancellation.
%%* ''Series/TheNeighbors''. Despite ''enormous'' potential for a third season.
* ''Series/NightCourt'' ended with an episode that seemed part {{cliffhanger}} and part WrapItUp, with roughly one third of the cast electing to stay in their current jobs and half the cast moving on to some new life outside the courthouse. While some of these career changes seemed poised to start a spin-off series (Christine is elected to Congress) most of them seemed poised to continue the series. Perhaps the strangest of these was bailiff Bull Shannon being persuaded to leave Earth by humanoid aliens who needed a tall guy to reach the things on their high shelves...
** An episode of ''Series/ThirtyRock'' was built around shooting a proper finale for ''Series/NightCourt''.
* ''Series/NowAndAgain'' was cut short after one season. The show ended on an extremely major {{Cliffhanger}}. In the making-of documentary on the DVD set released in 2014, show creator / executive producer Glenn Gordon Caron revealed that this was a deliberate ploy aimed at CBS to keep the show on the air and he never would have done it if he didn't think it had a good chance of working.
* ''Series/NowhereMan'' ended on a huge cliffhanger. Gets extra points since it was one of UPN's most-watched and most critically acclaimed shows. It was replaced by a show that was so horrible that it didn't even last 10 episodes.
* The 2002 sci-fi series ''Series/OdysseyFive'' ends with astronaut Angela Perry abducted by the [=AIs=] and scientist Kurt Mendel being arrested on suspicion of killing her. Plus the mysterious Cabal, which the team assume has something to do with the [=AI's=] and the impending destruction of the Earth, turn out to be a government force trying to ''stop'' the [=AI's=] and who believe that the Odyssey 5 team are the traitors.
* ''Series/OhDoctorBeeching'' ended without resolving the question of whether or not the railway station at Hatley, and with it the jobs of the central characters, would fall victim to the Beeching Axe, as Creator/TheBBC decided not to renew it for the third series that would have answered this question.
* Nickelodeon's ''Series/TheOtherKingdom'' gets abruptly cancelled not only with Astral's main plotline of making a decision for the crown, but also [[spoiler: with Astral's boyfriend Tristan revealing to be the lost fairy prince of Spartania, forcibly getting taken to his homeland of Spartania and Astral being forced to make a choice between her world and the other world.]] The season finale was clearly suggesting there was much more to come with the show's lore and Spartania's history. Not to mention all of the various additional unresolved plot points that never had a chance to properly get resolved or answered. More on that in LeftHanging...
* ''Series/TheOthers2000'', a midseason show on Creator/{{NBC}} in 2000, ran for thirteen episodes and ended in truly brutal fashion: almost ''every'' main character apparently [[EveryoneDiesEnding dies]] in a cliffhanger that was never resolved, since the show was not renewed for a second season.
* ''Series/ThePretender'' was canceled at the end of season four on a cliffhanger. There were two made-for-TV movies that continued the story, but didn't finish it. (There were supposed to be 4 movies made, but the last two were also canceled.)
* While ''Series/{{Primeval}}'' managed to wrap up most of its story arcs, its spin-off show, ''Series/PrimevalNewWorld'', didn't. Its first and only season ends with Evan killing the ''Albertosaurus'', only for the anomalies to start disappearing because something changed. The show ends with Evan and Dylan running towards an anomaly, and we have no idea why the anomalies began to disappear--or even if they made it back to the present in time.
%% * ''Series/{{Profiler}}'' ended on a cliffhanger.
%% * ''Series/{{Reaper}}''.
* The '90s AMC series ''Series/RememberWENN'' ended with an unresolved cliffhanger after the network's new management abruptly canceled the show.
* ''Reunion'' ended before its murderer could be revealed. A small but dedicated group of fans asked the producers to reveal the murderer, causing the producers to admit that [[ShrugOfGod they hadn't ''decided'' yet.]]
* ''Series/{{Riget}}'' ended after two seasons with many loose ends due to deaths of two leading actors, the risk of this having been heightened due to the lengthy gaps between seasons and the advanced ages of several characters. Eventually subverted, when Creator/LarsVonTrier confirmed that a new season would be released in 2022, promising a GrandFinale to the show after 25 years of silence.
* The BBC's ''Series/RobinHood'' introduced several elements in its final episodes that were supposed to set up a planned fourth series: Archer [[LegacyCharacter taking over the mantle of Robin Hood]], and King Richard being captured. But the show was cancelled and so none of these were ever resolved. However, as with the ''Series/{{Sliders}}'' example, most of the original cast had already moved on and the fanbase subsequently felt it had long since [[JumpingTheShark jumped the shark]].
* ''Series/{{Roseanne}}'' was renewed for a full 11th season (after the 2018 revival made the show the highest rated comedy and 3rd highest rated show for the season) with scripts being written and pre-production in full swing. Then Roseanne tweeted some racist, Islamophobic, and anti-Semitic remarks about Valerie Jarrett and Chelsea Clinton and the show was cancelled. The cancellation came only two weeks after Roseanne was personally introduced an ABC executive at the Upfronts [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor with a joke about her tweets]]. The series was subsequently UnCanceled as ''Series/TheConners'', the first episode of which revealed Roseanne Connor died in the interim.
* ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'' ends before resolving the identity of the suspiciously JustForFun/TimeLord-like Shopkeeper or resolving the UST between Clyde and Rani because of the [[DiedDuringProduction untimely death of Sarah Jane's actress]] Creator/ElisabethSladen. The last episode ''was'' edited to include a tribute montage of Ms. Sladen in the role, ending with the line [[AndTheAdventureContinues "and the story goes on... forever"]], however.
* ''Series/Sense8'' was canceled a month after Netflix released season 2. The series was clearly planned to have a third season as many plotlines remain unresolved to be a hook. Such as the fate of [[spoiler:Wolfgang, Whispers, and Jonas]] (or every character really, it just kinda cuts to credits in the middle of the climax of the arc). Fortunately MASSIVE fan backlash worldwide, (and accusations of Netflix cancelling it for phobic reasons rather than financial ones), convinced Netflix to announce a 3-hour series wrap-up movie, which went live on Netflix in June 2018 and wrapped everything up pretty nicely, with only a few nitpicky details not answered.
* ''Series/{{Sinbad}}'' was cancelled after only one season, which more or less gave all the characters and storylines ''some'' closure, though a mild cliff-hanging finish (a young woman [[spoiler:they had just rescued from the Land of Dead appeared to have carried an evil parasite back with her]]) demonstrates there was certainly the expectation of more episodes to come.
* ''Series/SirArthurConanDoylesTheLostWorld'': The final episode, "Heart of the Storm", ended on a cliffhanger where everyone was stranded in different timelines and in danger while Veronica attempts to fix everything with a magic talisman, only to discover she has no idea how it works. The show was canceled due to a lack of budget. However, the producers eventually released their plans for the show's proper ending.
* ''Series/{{Sliders}}'' was canceled at the end of its fifth season on a CliffHanger. A [[PsychicPowers Psychic]] tells the heroes Everybody Is Going To Die, requiring one to go on one last slide to save everything. Not every fan was broken up about the finale; for many, the show [[JumpingTheShark hadn't been worth watching for years]]. The producers did a cliff hanger because they were hoping the fans would convince the network for [[http://www.dimensionofcontinuity.com/bts.htm#cliff another season]]. In-universe, the last episode is set on an Earth where ''Sliders'' is a hugely popular [[http://sliders.wikia.com/wiki/The_Seer TV show]].
* ''Series/{{Soap}}''. Creator Susan Harris had written out a five-season arc for the show, but it was yanked by the network after season four, leaving several unresolved cliffhangers.
* The second season of ''Series/SonnyWithAChance'' ended with Sonny taking a job as a musician at a restaurant, and ''something of'' a reconciliation between Chad and Sonny, but no real ending for the series, nor if Sonny and Chad dated again after that, as the show was retooled in 2011 as the [[{{Defictionalization}} defictionalized]] ShowWithinAShow ''Series/SoRandom'' after star Music/DemiLovato decided not to return [[RealLifeWritesThePlot following their stint in rehab for bulimia and cutting]]. ''Series/SoRandom'' itself was Cut Short, only lasting for one season and 26 episodes before being cancelled in 2012.
* The final episode of the sci-fi war series ''Series/SpaceAboveAndBeyond'' sets up a great cliffhanger, with two of the main characters trapped behind enemy lines, another main maimed and possibly near death, the battle plan Earth Forces had pinned all of their hopes on compromised...and then it's over. We never even find out if Earth wins the war or not. Thanks, FOX!
* ''Series/SpaceCases'' ends before any of the various mysteries could be solved or before the characters made it home.
* ''Franchise/{{Stargate|Verse}}'':
** ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' ends with the Wraith still being a major threat to the Pegasus (and possibly the Milky Way) Galaxy. The war with the Wraith was supposed to have been wrapped up in TV movies similar to how SG-1 was finished, but the failure of ''Series/StargateUniverse'' and MGM's financial troubles basically [[FranchiseKiller torpedoed any chance of new Stargate-related content]] for the foreseeable future.
** The spinoff ''Series/StargateUniverse'' was unceremoniously cancelled midway through its second season. The series ends on something of a {{Cliffhanger}}, with [[TheResolutionWillNotBeTelevised no resolution whatsoever]] to any major plot arc. [[spoiler:Almost the entire main cast goes into stasis pods for a projected three-year bypass of the galaxy that the ''Destiny'' is in. However, the crew is short by one (1) stasis pod, and whoever remains outside it would have only two weeks to live and attempt to repair it; if he or she leaves the life support on for any longer than that, Destiny will not have enough power to make it to the next galaxy for 1,000 years or more. [[TheWatson Eli Wallace]], of all people, elects to show that he has indeed undergone CharacterDevelopment, and remains outside the stasis pod. Whether he repairs it successfully or not, and the ultimate fate of the crew of the ''Destiny'', are left completely indeterminate.]]
* ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'': An example of an unresolved story arc. The first two seasons centered around a Temporal Cold War. The storyline didn't impress fans, so it was dropped in favor of the year-long Expanse arc, and then the fourth season consisted of a number of mini-arcs. Had the series not been cancelled, it likely would have returned to the Temporal Cold War arc and wrapped it up (given past precedent of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' and ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' all more or less going full-circle in their finales). Despite the fact the Trek franchise has a healthy literary and comic book component, so far TheResolutionWillNotBeTelevised has not applied.
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' has an InUniverse example. Turns out that the adventures of the Winchester brothers were unknowingly recorded by a Prophet of the Lord, who had been publishing his writings as a [[ShowWithinAShow series of urban fantasy novels]]. Unfortunately, the publisher goes bankrupt and the last book ends with one of the main characters dragged off to Hell.
* ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'' ended its second season with a cliffhanger where John is sent into the future with a T-1001, a future where Kyle is the leader of the resistance and nobody has heard of John Connor. Sarah also remains in the past, Cameron's human double is alive, and John Henry the computer program - which was apparently built to help the resistance - has gone missing.
* ''Series/TerraNova'''s first season wrapped up the major plot arc and seemed set to start a new direction, but ended on a pretty epic cliffhanger about an old boat. Alas, the show was mercilessly (or thankfully, was mercifully) cancelled, but a make-your-own-comic internet game was created to fill up some of the sadness over the abrupt ending.
* The third and last season of ''Series/TetanggaMasaGitu'' ends without fully resolving both plotlines of the two-part finale (each couple's plan to move out and Adi—Bastian conflict), but with a promise of a new season. No such season was made.
* The ''Series/UpstairsDownstairs'' spinoff ''Thomas & Sarah'' was supposed to have a second series, but this was wiped out by a technicians' strike at ITV. The first series ended on an unresolved cliffhanger.
%% * ''Series/TimeTrax''
* ''Series/TheTimeTunnel'': ExecutiveMeddling canned the show, in spite of its success (the show aired in the FridayNightDeathSlot, but had excellent ratings), in favor of the far less successful ''The Legend of Custer''.
* The 1970s UK sci-fi show ''Series/{{The Tomorrow People|1973}}'' was cut short due to a strike at ITV. It was meant to end properly with an epic two-parter, but plans had to be scrapped.
* ''Series/TruCalling'', sadly for its unluckily small cult fanbase, not only was the final episode [[MissingEpisode never actually aired]], but even the network's ''initial'' episode order for the second season turned out to be only 6 episodes... when the writers had not only obviously been settling in for the long haul by setting up an epic-level MythArc, but, according to the writing staff, they had already planned through episode ''eight'' of that season. Not to mention, the series was cut ''directly after'' the episode with extremely important plot lines - namely that Tru had just learned that others have the same powers as her, including her own father [[spoiler:and Jason Priestley's character, although they both try to do the opposite of what Tru does i.e. make sure people stay dead]].
* ''Series/TwinPeaks'': The series ''does'' resolves its initial premise ([[DrivingQuestion "Who killed Laura Palmer?"]]), but [[PostScriptSeason then goes on]] with the related plot of dealing with the one behind it (Killer BOB) and a new antagonist (Wyndom Earle), which reaches what can potentially be seen as a conclusion (Cooper saves Annie from Earle and [[TheBadGuyWins gets possessed by BOB]]) but is really more of a CliffHanger. A theatrical film follow-up, ''Fire Walk with Me'', ended up being a prequel rather than resolving any remaining story points from the TV series. ''The Return'' finally picked up the main plot 25 years in-show and 26 real life years later.
%%* There was a WhatCouldHaveBeen for the second season with ''Series/UnnaturalHistory'''s season finale.
* ''Series/{{V 1983}}'': Both the 1984 version and the [[Series/{{V 2009}} 2009 version]] were canceled, ending on massive cliffhangers.
* ''Series/{{Victorious}}'': For some reason, Nick decided to cancel the show ''despite it getting ratings'', thus it has no proper series finale. It also led to the FandomRivalry of Music/VictoriaJustice and Music/ArianaGrande (which destroyed their friendship) to boot. The renewed friendship between Victoria and Ariana (along with some likely joking comments from Matt Bennett) have given some fans a glimmer of hope, but there are no known plans to continue the show in any form.
* ''Series/{{Voyagers}}'': Due to the show's cancellation, the plot ended with Bogg and Jeff wrapping up another case successfully (of course, there will always be another one) but failing to capture Drake.
* ''Series/Zoey101'': The popular show was cancelled supposedly because of [[ContractualPurity Jamie Lynn Spears' pregnancy and the resulting controversy]] around it, though Nickelodeon later claimed the ending of the show was planned from the beginning and her pregnancy occured after the final filming.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Manga/ActAge'' was cancelled overnight at 123 chapters in the middle of a non-concluded arc (and with a stage play adaptation underway) when its writer Tatsuya Matsuki was arrested for sexual misconduct. The manga was [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes pulled from physical and digital distribution]], the stage play was cancelled, and the artist Shiro Usazaki promptly removed any mention of the series--which was the first commercial work to bring her success--from her Twitter account.
* The anime adaptation of ''Manga/AiYoriAoshi'' only covers up to volume 12 of the manga, leaving the "Kaoru and Aoi" plot thread unresolved. (The manga ran for 17 volumes and did have a proper ending.)
* The manga series Asklepios by Tooru Uchimizu ends like this when the main characters are shocked that their ally turns out to be alive without any explanation how it happened.
* ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'''s anime adaptation ends with a set up for future plot points that would be explored in the original light novels. Unfortunately, despite the anime's popularity with North American anime fans, in Japan it did poorly in both ratings and sales and thus didn't receive a second season.
* ''Manga/{{Barrage}}'' ended with only 16 chapters as it was going through its first story arc. The finale sees Astro beating Mr. Black, [[spoiler:[[BrokenPedestal the man who had inspired him to look out for others]]]], and continuing his training to be a proper prince. Luckily, the creator's [[Manga/MyHeroAcademia next manga]] was more successful.
* This actually happened to ''Manga/{{Beelzebub}}'' for both the manga and its anime adaptation.
** For the manga, it was suddenly cancelled due to poor ratings during the last several months of its serialization. The final chapters were forced to rush the section of the Ishiyama Upstart arc to end the fight against Fuji, and then capped the story off by jumping two years ahead to a DistantFinale in the final chapter.
** As for the anime, it rushed through the climax of the Akuma Academy arc to create a GeckoEnding.
* The [[Anime/Berserk1997 1997 anime adaptation]] of ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' notoriously ends at the conclusion of "Band of the Hawks", a very long flashback that explains HowWeGotHere for the first few episodes. Not only does this leave the series with a massive DownerEnding, [[LeftHanging it isn't clear how they'd get out]] (even though you ''know'' they do because of the opening episodes), [[spoiler:because the Skull Knight - who rescues Guts and Casca in the manga - isn't in the anime]]. After [[SequelGap 18 years]] of retreading the same material that the 90s anime covered, a [[Anime/Berserk2016 sequel series]] that finally continues the story beyond the "Band of the Hawk" arc finally premiered in summer 2016.
* Atsuhi Ohkubo's first manga ''Manga/BIchi'' has an intense build-up to the final confrontation: BigBadFriend Emine starts the Gathering of the Masks, the protagonist Showtaro has [[TakeALevelInBadass taken a level in badass]] and is ready to jump in, determined to save his friend… and a big END is splashed at the bottom of the page. The series ends abruptly just before the final arc, with several questions unresolved and others only vaguely answered. It's safe to assume that it wasn't meant to end this way.
* Depending on who you ask, ''Anime/TheBigO'' qualifies. Some will argue that they tried to wrap it up when they discovered they wouldn't get a third season, others believe they left the end of season two as is in the hopes of getting a season three.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
** The anime regularly OvertookTheManga prompting [[{{Filler}} filler arcs]] lasting up to a full year. When the anime caught up to the manga again at the end of the Lost Agent arc, it was unceremoniously cancelled rather than going into filler while the final Thousand-Year Blood War arc was still in publication. An animated adaptation of the final arc was finally announced in March 2020 and premiered in October 2022.
** In interviews, Kubo Tite stated the final arc would run at least as long as the 26-volume Arrancar Arc to tie up all loose ends in the story. However, 19 volumes into the final arc, ''Bleach'' announced it would be ending, and the finale coincided with its fifteenth anniversary. Kubo had been suffering increasingly ill health since 2010, which made continuing the manga a struggle for him. Although he had known what the final chapter would be back when he began the manga, he wrapped up the story much faster than he had originally planned. The extremely rushed conclusion left many questions, and didn't even resolve the fates of many key characters.
* The anime adaptation of ''Manga/BoboboboBobobo'' ended so abruptly, even the characters (and narrator, though this is only the case in the English dub), bar Dengakuman, who announced that this was the finale, were shell-shocked; the show was pretty popular despite the MoralGuardians in Japan finding it controversial, but the reason the show ended early was due to one of its sponsors being in a financial crisis at the time.
--> '''Dengakuman''': This is the finale! Bye-bye!
--> '''Everyone else''': ''THIS IS HOW OUR SHOW ENDS?!''
* The original ''Anime/BubblegumCrisis'' OVA is rather infamous for this. It got to episode 8, which was a big CharacterDevelopment moment for [[PlayfulHacker Nene Romanova]] and the MidseasonUpgrade for everyone, and then... a combination of internal politics and budget issues caused a schism between the two companies that produced the show, ending production abruptly before the remaining planned 5 episodes could be completed. ''Bubblegum Crash!'' tried sometime later to tie things up, but didn't have everyone on board, and the result was... [[FanonDiscontinuity not well-received by fans]].
%%* ''Manga/CageOfEden''
* Poor ''Anime/CuteyHoney'' has had this happen to her plenty of times over the years.
** The original 1973 anime series got cancelled after 25 episodes due to its, at the time, racy content.
** ''New Cutey Honey'' started out as a 4 episode OVA that ended up being so popular, eight more episodes were ordered. Unfortunately, it ended up being cancelled after airing four of the eight promised episodes.
** ''Cutie Honey a Go Go!'' was cancelled right in the middle of the story after 10 chapters due to the series reaching the limit of an average serial manga series. Another reason was that the manga was meant to be an adaptation of the 2004 live-action movie, but the author decided halfway through to change it up and do his own thing, taking multiple elements from the original manga.
* ''Manga/DailyLivesOfHighSchoolBoys'' [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-09-27/daily-lives-of-high-school-boys-manga-abruptly-ends abruptly ended]] in September 2012, with a final chapter that doesn't remotely look like a finale. No reason was given for this.
* The manga adaptation of ''Literature/DateALive'' gets cut short just before Shidou's first date with Tohka, which is ''in the middle of the first volume of the light novel''. However, the reason why it ends there isn't because of ExecutiveMeddling or for unknown reasons, [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-02-23/date-a-live-manga-ends-abruptly-due-to-artist-health but because of the artist's health issue.]]
* ''Anime/{{Dangaioh}}'' was supposed to be longer than 3 episodes and was supposed to have a sequel, but that never happened, resulting in the OVA's ending on a cliffhanger. It later got a sequel named ''Great Dangaioh'' which was supposed to be 26 episodes, but it was so poorly-received by [[FanonDiscontinuity both fans and critics]] that the series was cut to 12 episodes and once again ended on a cliffhanger, effectively ensuring that the ''Dangaioh'' series as a whole would never get a proper ending, let alone resolve the OVA's events.
* ''Anime/DGrayMan'': The anime stops after Lenalee and Allen defeat the Level 4 Akuma, with Lenalee discovering the new Crystal Type Anti-Akuma Weapon. Afterwards, there's a shot of the main cast, who have survived the attack, and the Noah Clan with different appearances, indicating a time skip. The show ends with Allen and the Millennium Earl preparing for the inevitable fights ahead. The last thing we get is a cut to black with the word "FIN" covering the screen. The show was cancelled due to a combination of low ratings and the anime getting close to overtaking the manga.
* ''Manga/DominaNoDo'', where the manga just suddenly ends with no CharacterDevelopment and nothing resolved.
* ''Manga/DoubleArts'' had just finished setting up its premise, characters, the BigBad, even debuted the titular fighting style, and it was really starting to distinguish itself from its generic beginnings... [[IShouldWriteABookAboutThis when the person writing the tale closed the book saying, "I may continue it... some other time"]], ending the story after only 24 chapters. Creator Naoshi Kimi would have better luck with his later work, ''Manga/{{Nisekoi}}''.
* The 90s {{hentai}} manga series ''Dragon Pink'' by ITOYOKO had [[OrphanedSeries nothing after its fourth volume;]] it stopped on a cliffhanger of Pink, its main female protagonist, being impaled by a sword, the sort of cliffhanger you'd expect a series to follow up on. ITOYOKO himself is still active in the H manga drawing scene, making it strange how he hasn't yet finished the story. In [[WordOfGod a private email to a troper,]] ITOYOKO said he wants to continue the series and [[{{Uncanceled}} may in fact do so someday,]] but he has no time right now. Hopefully this example will eventually be removed & get replaced with a description of the GrandFinale.
* The ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'' anime was this for a long time. By the time the initial series ended, Celty still hadn't found her head, two major characters from the light novels were introduced in the ''very last episode'', and it still hadn't been revealed what [[BigBad Izaya's]] ultimate plans are. It finally got another season after 5 years which finished off the story, making this a very rare example of a light novel series that received a complete anime adaptation.
* The ''Manga/ElfenLied'' anime ended early due to marketing and broadcasting issues. Instead, the anime propels itself to a GeckoEnding, while the manga goes for a complex GrandFinale.
* ''Faeries Landing'' started off slow and then built up to ramming speed with the plot, finally hitting important and very well put together plots and scripts, introduced a new love interest, finally had the main heroine meet her parents completely and both the main villain of the heroine and the main villain of the hero attack their respective targets and just as the hero and heroine go towards their targets for battle...... the volume ends. What makes this a problem? The author dropped the series to start on another promising to come back for it and never doing so. Effectively the series ENDS on a cliffhanger just before the resolution!
* ''Anime/FinalFantasyUnlimited'' was cut short from the original 52 episodes to 24, resolving the latter parts with voiced dramas, books and a web novel that [[NoExportForYou never see the light outside Japan]].
* ''Fire Candy'' ended with a particularly violent CliffHanger after only nineteen chapters, leaving the biggest part of the plot entirely untouched.
* ''Manga/FoodWars'': After the manga's reception became increasingly cold, with sales dropping after each volume and a very poor reception to the last two major story arcs, the manga was rushed to the ending, with a 3-parter epilogue special being published later that year to try to tie loose ends.
* ''Literature/FullMetalPanic'''s anime adaptation got a third season after [[SequelGap 13 long years]]. However, the season was only twelve episodes long and as of now, there are no further plans to continue it. At least fans can turn to the light novel or the manga adaptation to learn the rest of the story.
* The ''Anime/GalaxyAngel'' anime parodies this. At the end of every single season, a huge cliffhanger is set up, and the next season makes absolutely no mention of it whatsoever.
* ''Manga/{{Gantz}}'', or rather the anime version: due to the very slow updating of the source manga, only the first three arcs were adapted before a [[GeckoEnding confusing filler ending]] concluded the series.
* The second series of ''Manga/{{Genshiken}}'' stops at a point in the storyline just before the eighth manga volume begins. It had previously added to and extended the manga's material in order to have enough for a third series. The final nail in the coffin is that the Second Generation manga (volume 10 onward) has now been adapted to anime, leaving the ending of the original series likely never to be covered, outside of the odd flashback in the new series.
* ''Manga/GetterRobo'' had the original manga come to an abrupt end during ''Getter Robo Arc'' [[DiedDuringProduction due to the sudden death of]] Creator/KenIshikawa. Subverted as [[UnCanceled Arc got an anime adaptation in 2021]].
* ''Manga/GunBlazeWest'' was cancelled after only eight months of serialization due to low volume sales; the story ends with the heroes managing to pass a test and allowed to be shown a secret way to the fabled location, but never actually showing them reaching there. The final parts of the story show an earlier character who was thought to be killed coming upon the gun he gave to the main character, who left it as sort of a bread crumb to follow him.
* This has happened to at least two separate shows in the ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' franchise:
** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' was meant for 50 episodes, but due to poor ratings the network cut them down to 39. However, the staff asked for an extension in order to wrap everything up properly, resulting in an unorthodox 42 episode run. They arguably succeeded, since the show resolved most of its plotlines well enough and didn't leave any major threads hanging.
** ''Anime/AfterWarGundamX'' was originally meant for 50 episodes, but was cut down to 39, resulting in the last arc being only 3 episodes long, and extremely rushed.
* ''Manga/HinowaGaCrush'' was cancelled after its 8th volume due to low sales.
* The anime adaptation of ''Manga/HisAndHerCircumstances'' got cut off after one season for several reasons, among them Studio Gainax having the usual Studio Gainax problems and, rather more importantly, the manga's author reacting ''very'' badly to the direction the anime took and pulling the rights.
* Happened ''twice'' with the 1999 ''Manga/HunterXHunter'' anime, at first immediately after a big [[TheReveal reveal]] right in the middle of an intense story arc due to [[OvertookTheManga overtaking the manga]]. Needless to say, fans weren't pleased and as a result the animation studio released a series of [=OVAs=] that covered the rest of the arc and the one after that. Unfortunately those ended in the ''middle of a chapter.'' This had an even worse effect on the English dub since, due to low DVD sales, Viz Media [[NoExportForYou didn't bother]] [[NoDubForYou dubbing the [=OVAs=]]].[[note]]The [=OVAs=] have Latin American Spanish and Italian dubs, however.[[/note]]
* ''Manga/HybridXHeartMagiasAcademyAtaraxia'': The anime only covers the first four volumes of the 14 light novels and ends on a cliffhanger, not counting 5 non-canon [=OVAs=] and one OVA that was basically a deleted scene. They wanted to make more seasons to cover the remaining volumes, but its studio Creator/ProductionIMS filed for bankruptcy and closed down. The manga is even worse; it only covers the first three volumes before an AndTheAdventureContinues style ending.
* Ero-manga story ''Junk Story'', featured in Eros Comix's ''Silky Whip Extreme'' ends with the heroine ?_, waiting for a rescue by a character who appears to have been KilledOffForReal. This would just be a DownerEnding combined with NoEnding, except for the fact that it ''leaves every single plot thread unresolved'', and even introduces ''new plot threads that will never be resolved.''
* The ''Anime/KillLaKill'' manga not only doesn't adapt the second half of the story, but is noticeably more and more rushed as it goes on. The first volume is pretty much an 1:1 adaptation, but then two whole episodes are skipped and the rest is abridged.
* ''Manga/TheLastSaiyuki'' was cancelled only five months into serialization, leaving the remaining chapters to wrap things up.
* The ''Manga/LoveHina'' anime finished its first season, and began setting up a second...before getting canceled a few episodes in and with zero resolution. Eventually, a few {{O|riginalVideoAnimation}}VAs came out that tried to rush through the missing plot arcs.
* The LeftHanging nature of ''Anime/MartianSuccessorNadesico'' was intentional. The non-ending of its movie continuation was not, since it was a planned trilogy that had its second and third installments canceled.
* ''Manga/{{Mx0}}'' was cut short because of low rankings in Weekly Shonen Jump. How the guy was able to continue illustrating after those is an incredible feat altogether.
* The [[Manga/MagicalRecordLyricalNanohaForce official fourth season]] of the ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' franchise seems to have gone this way, while no WordOfGod has confirmed the series cancelation, considering the fact that there has been a prolonged hiatus since September 2013 the future isn't looking so bright.
* The ''Manga/NuraRiseOfTheYokaiClan'' manga wasn't doing too hot in the ratings and ended up getting canceled shortly after chapter 207 was released. However, the mangeka was given the ability to write three final monthly chapters, 208, 209 and 210, to at least give the final battle against Seimei, and the rest of the Gokadoin household, some form of a conclusion. The anime also never went further than the Kyoto Arc.
* ''Anime/PanzerWorldGalient'': After twenty-six episodes, the anime sort of just... ends abruptly, without a final confrontation among the hero and the BigBad or his Dragon.
* ''Manga/PetShopOfHorrors'' only had FOUR episodes made, with no introduction of the plot from the manga or any explanation of why Count D does what he does; for a ten-volume manga (which is complete and with a sequel in progress) it is very disappointing that the anime didn't get into any of it.
* ''Manga/{{PhantomSeer}}'': The manga was canceled in its 30th chapter. This leaves the story with only one out of the BigBad's five CoDragons defeated, and the main villain still at large and her plan not explained.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** While not the whole anime obviously, a storyline that happened during the Unova saga of ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' was cut short by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Said storyline involved Team Rocket searching for the [[MacGuffin Meteonite]] and was going to conclude with them clashing with Team Plasma ([[MissingEpisode the episodes were even made]]) before the tsunami occurred. Because of that, the arc was never resolved and Team Plasma didn't show up in the anime until after the Unova League, and when they finally did in the Episode N arc, the two unaired episodes were {{Retcon}}ned into having never happened for the English dub. TV Tokyo still holds the two-part arc conclusion and has maintained that they will be broadcast in Japan someday, but when that someday is no-one can say. [[spoiler: Various trailers and a synopsis based on leaked information show that it went pretty much how one would expect it to go - with Team Plasma stealing the Meteonite from Team Rocket, the two teams fighting over it, and Ash intervening and having Pikachu destroy it to end the conflict.]]
** A ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' manga, ''Manga/PokemonGoldenBoys'', ended abruptly after three volumes. It didn't finish the Johto arc. Despite numerous references to Red, we never see him.
** On a more obscure note, the second installment in Creator/TakeshiShudo's [[Literature/PocketMonstersTheAnimation novelizations]] of the anime included a "to be continued" note in the afterword, but the third volume was never released, plus Shudo died in 2010.
** ''Manga/PokemonReBURST'' was cancelled after only a year and a half of serialization, likely because it deviated too much from the typical ''Pokémon'' formula; instead of using actual Pokémon to fight, the characters transform into human-Pokémon hybrids.
* ''Presents'' ends without the main plot thread resolved -- after we finally get a hint how it might be a few chapters before the end -- and the final collection ends with a piece that doesn't even match the theme of the rest of the series.
* ''Manga/PrettyFace'' was cut short a little over a year after it started. While the ending was clearly intentional, only one of the major plot points was resolved on screen, and a whole additional year passed with the basic premise, with no clear reason why that didn't deserve to be shown, whilst the year we did see did.
* ''Anime/PrincessRouge'' was supposed to be six episodes long, but funding ran dry, and it got cut off at two episodes, with the second episode even going so far as to hint at a new villain for the third episode... which does not exist.
* ''Manga/{{Prism}}'' was put on an indefinite hiatus and eventually cancelled due to scandals involving the mangaka and plagiarism.
* The anime of ''Manga/PsychicAcademy'' ends after the BeachEpisode, barely a third of the way through the manga storyline. Not only does it not resolve the love triangle, it barely managed to finish defining it!
* The ''Manga/RaveMaster'' anime just ends right after the introduction of Lucia, the true BigBad of the series, is shown. The show had promptly been canceled due to low ratings and it's assumed this was a gambit to get readers to check out the manga to see what happens next.
* The ''Manga/Reborn2004'' anime ended this way, right after the Future Arc when they come home; all they do is say that Tsuna needs more training before becoming a boss and just stare at the sky right when the credits roll.
* The manga adaptation of ''LightNovel/RecordOfGrancrestWar'' ends on a cancellation-induced {{cliffhanger}} at the end of volume 7, in the middle of the Forest of Eternal Darkness arc, only about a third of the way through the full story. The anime, at the very least, completed things.
* ''Manga/RookiePolicewomanKirukoSan'' got a lot of attention early on, with Kiruko's attractive design earning her a huge amount of fanart, but interest gradually waned as the manga continued and it was ultimately cancelled after only six months.
* ''Manga/RozenMaiden'', whose anime OvertookTheManga and whose manga tragically ended with a DeusExMachina (and an apology) following a dispute between the producers and the publishers. The manga did get a sequel that picks up almost right where the original left off.
* The ''Manga/ShadowStar'' anime ended at about halfway through the manga's story, giving next to no closure. [[DownerEnding But that may be a merciful choice]].
* Anime based upon Creator/RumikoTakahashi's manga series seem usually subject to this. The anime versions of ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'', ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'', ''Manga/InuYasha'', and ''Manga/{{RINNE}}'' were all Cut Short. Possibly because Takahashi's series are so long. However, ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'' did get a theatrical wrap-up (and eventually a 2022 reboot) and ''Manga/InuYasha'' was eventually finished with a second anime series called ''Inuyasha: The Final Act'', which covered the manga from the point where the first series left off to its conclusion, albeit in abridged form.
* ''Manga/{{School Zone|1996}}'' ends with the lead characters discovering what they have to do to put an end to the thirteen ghost stories... and ending the current crisis at the school as they start on it. It ends without their actually finishing their new task... and without fully resolving the subplot regarding the mystery of twins Mako and Miko.
* [[Manga/{{Toriko}} Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro's]] original Weekly Shonen Jump manga ''Seikimatsu Leader den Takeshi!'' was cut after five years due to his conviction of soliciting an underage prostitute.
* ''Manga/ShindereShoujoToKodokuNaShinigami'' ran for only 20 chapters before going on indefinite hiatus due to its writer Masaki Himura's illness. Himura [[DiedDuringProduction passed away a few years later]], leaving the story unfinished.
* ''Manga/SilentMobius'' ends like this. The manga, however, completes the story... and was released before the series, so it's a rare case of the trope working in reverse.
* ''Manga/SomaliAndTheForestSpirit'' doesn't have a conclusive ending; the manga went on hiatus in October 2019 due to creator Yako Gureishi dealing with health issues, but Gureishi's health worsened to the point that the manga was officially discontinued in December 2020.
* Tatsunoko Productions' '90s remake of ''Anime/SpeedRacer'' was planned to be 52 episodes, but a change in directors and a significant drop in ratings caused the series to wind up overhauled midway through production. It wound up being pulled after 34 episodes were produced. A dub of this version titled ''Anime/SpeedRacerX'' would air on Nickelodeon in 2003, but only got through 13 episodes before it was abruptly cancelled due to Speed Racer Enterprises filing a lawsuit against [=DiC=] over ownership rights to the dub.
* Seems to be a curse with ''Anime/SpiderRiders''. The manga ended after 10 chapters, when the magazine which serialized it was discontinued. It was never picked-up elsewhere. As for the anime itself, original plans for the show revealed that it would have an actual conclusive ending. However, to make room for a second season, the ending was made open instead. That second season never came, and viewers are still left wondering about Aqune's past/whether her memories will return, whether Hunter ever intends to go back to his own world, and any romantic resolution, among other things. As for the novels, there were supposed to be five. Fans get... three and a half?
* Anime original ''Anime/StarsAlign'' was planned for 24 episodes, but less than six months before broadcast, it was [[ExecutiveMeddling trimmed to 12]][[note]]Likely due to the unexpected runaway success of ''Literature/ThatTimeIGotReincarnatedAsASlime'', made by the same studio.[[/note]], leaving the staff no time to adjust it to 12 episodes. Instead the show cuts off with a double-whammy cliffhanger at the end of episode 12.
* The ''Manga/SweetBlueFlowers'' anime cuts off right at the crucial moment at which [[spoiler:Fumi realizes Akira was her first love]]. Originally more seasons were planned, but due to disappointing [=DVD=] sales it's highly unlikely any more will be produced.
* ''Manga/{{SWOT}}'' ended rather abruptly at chapter 20 due to low ratings, right after the conclusion of a fight that would've been building up to a TournamentArc.
* ''Manga/TimeStrangerKyoko'' ended prematurely with a rushed conclusion after only a year of serialization; according to creator Creator/ArinaTanemura, this was due to the manga being unpopular with her editors, as well as Kyoko's strong personality not being well-received by the manga's readers. Tanemura has remarked that the story "just wasn't released at the right time" for a strong-willed heroine like Kyoko to be considered acceptable for a shoujo manga.
* The ''Manga/{{Tokko}}'' anime ends on a cliffhanger with no resolution to the story. The manga also ends with no real conclusion, only a brief monologue by Ranmaru saying that [[spoiler: the world ended two years later]], with no further explanation.
* The manga ''Manga/TokyoShinobiSquad'' got hit with the axe at 27 chapters.
* ''Manga/ToLoveRu'', which had a very very unsatisfying ending due to the CreatorBreakdown the artist Kentaro Yabuki went through -- his wife sleeping around on him, kidnapping their daughter, ''selling the daughter back to him'', and stealing his computers ''and'' life savings. The ending was extremely, extremely abrupt, solved no plot threads, and generally pissed off the fanbase -- until Website/NicoNicoDouga and [=2Channel=] put together the news articles about the divorce and figured out what happened.
** Even though the story has taken a rather drastic change in tone and major characters, it has seemed to successfully subvert this trope and is now continuing with the sequel, "To-Love-Ru Darkness".
** Kentaro Yabuki's other series, ''Mayoi Neko Overrun'', was Cut Short as well, and far, far worse than ''To-Love-Ru'' was - at least that had an [[AndTheAdventureContinues ending of sorts]]. The last chapter of ''Overrun'' is the beginning of an {{arc}} and it even tells the reader to check the next month for the continuation. Which doesn't exist.
* While ''Anime/WildKnightsGulkeeva'' does end with the heroes having a showdown with the BigBad, [[spoiler:it's made clear that the [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt main crisis befalling earth]] hasn't been averted yet and that the BigBad's [[MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning spirit still lingers in the parallel world the heroes hail from]] and needs to be defeated before earth is totally safe]]. In addition, [[spoiler:TheDragon becomes TheUnfought because he doesn't see TheHero as worthy of a battle yet (The BigBad's physical form was defeated by a DeusExMachina partially powered by a HeroicSacrifice)]], and on top of all that, [[spoiler:a minor supporting character reveals his FaceHeelTurn]] and there's a conversation with TheDragon vaguely talking about an ArtifactOfDoom MacGuffin. It's clear the show was setting up for another story arc, but was cut due to poor ratings.
%%* ''Manga/YamatoGensouki''.
* ''Manga/{{Zombiepowder}}'' ends at only 26 chapters without a conclusion or resolution to the story. Creator Creator/TiteKubo mentions in interviews that he was going through a difficult period in his life when drawing it, which (along with low volume sales) makes it likely that it was cancelled due to a CreatorBreakdown.
[[/folder]]

* The manga series Asklepios by Tooru Uchimizu ends like this when the main characters are shocked that their ally turns out to be alive without any explanation how it happened.

* ''WesternAnimation/DinosaurIsland'' ends with the three main characters being about to escape the titular island and heading to sea, only to be stopped by the BigBad, complete with a “ToBeContinued…” Spoiler alert: it never continued.

* ''Series/AmericanGothic1995'': Although, in the words of series creator Shaun Cassidy, "we saw the ending coming soon enough to wrap the story up," the last episode left a lot of unanswered questions: what did Merlyn's disappearance mean? Was her [[spoiler:HeroicSacrifice a failure, or not? Was she absorbed into Caleb? Does he now possess her powers and innate goodness with which to fight Buck's sinister influence?]] Will Gail still be under Buck's thrall, or will she snap out of her {{Chickification}} and bite him in the balls again? Will Selena ever stop going through that HeelFaceRevolvingDoor? Is Buck going to succeed in corrupting Caleb or not? Even for a mystery show, and one which by its very nature is cyclical, not much makes sense here.

* ''VideoGame/DragaliaLost'' suddenly shut down its servers in 2022 after four years. Although it had a satisfying finale, it’s clear that there were more plans with the story and lore, with several plot threads being left unresolved, such as [[spoiler: {{The Syndicate}}‘s true leader, the Agito’s redemption, more info about [[FishPeople the Abyssians]], etc.]]

* The animated adaptation of ''Series/FraggleRock'' ended abruptly at [[ShortRunner 13 episodes]]. According to the Muppet Wiki, NBC chose not to renew it because one of the children disliked the show.

* Creator/MediaBlaster's dub of ''Anime/GaoGaiGar'' only lasted for 25 episodes due to low sales. The remaining 24 episodes were released in a box set sub-only.

* ''WesternAnimation/PlanetSheen'' was abruptly cancelled after one season before Sheen could return home to Earth or defeat Dorkus once and for all.

* ''WesternAnimation/DinosaurIsland'' ends on the three main characters being about to escape the titular island and heading to sea, only to be stopped by the BigBad, complete with a “ToBeContinued…” Spoiler alert: it never continued.

* InUniverse. The former {{Trope Namer|s}} is ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'', where Woody watches an episode of the TV show he was based on, ''Woody's Roundup'', that ends in a cliffhanger, only for Stinky Pete to inform him that the show was cancelled [[FandomRivalry due to the rising popularity of space toys]]. [[spoiler:A blink-and-you'll-miss-it MeaningfulBackgroundEvent shows that Pete was lying, and the cliffhanger was properly resolved. Unsurprisingly, this is the very same scene where Pete's [[EvilAllAlong true colors]] are revealed.]]

* Nickelodeon's ''Series/TheOtherKingdom'' gets abruptly cancelled not only with Astral's main plotline of making a decision for the crown, but also with Astral's boyfriend Tristan revealing to be the lost fairy prince of Spartania, forcibly getting taken to his homeland of Spartania and Astral being forced to make a choice between her world and the other world. The season finale was clearly suggesting there was much more to come with the show's lore and Spartania's history and Tristan would finally stop being a SatelliteLoveInterest. Not to mention all of the various additional unresolved plot points that never had a chance to properly get resolved or answered. More on that in LeftHanging...

* ''WesternAnimation/SwatKats'' didn't end on a Cliffhanger, but it came to an end when the writers still had several episode ideas to put on the table.

* ''WesternAnimation/SwatKats'' didn't end on a Cliffhanger, but it came to an end when the writers still had several episode ideas to put on the table. Consider it TooGoodToLast.

* The ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'' cartoon was canned after three seasons before it could adapt any more of the books.

[[Franchise/MegaMan]]:

* Namco's ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'' franchise was also Cut Short after Episodes ''I'' and ''II'' fell short of sales expectations. Originally intended to be six games produced over a decade and spread out across the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 and what was to become the UsefulNotes/PlayStation3, it was wrapped up after only three games, with the final one ending on a non-commital SequelHook just in case it somehow sold well enough to warrant an actual ''Episode IV''. [[DownerEnding It didn't]]. ''Episode II'' is derided as a FranchiseKiller, and for good measure (it was not a very good game), but it wasn't the only factor fans like to single out. With all of that said, the series would eventually get a SpiritualSuccessor in the form of the incredibly popular [[VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles Xenoblade Chronicles]] series.

* [[WesternAnimation/{{Hoops}} Hoops]] was cancelled after only one season due to low ratings. The series ends on a cliffhanger where Ben and Matty end up getting a flat tire while on their way to Henderson prep. It’s unknown whether or not they make it.

* [[WesternAnimation/ThePrince2021 The Prince (2021)]] ends on a cliffhanger where Kevin gives the royal family poisoned tarts. Due to low ratings, it was quickly cancelled after only one season, and with the death of [[UsefulNotes/ElizabethII Queen Elizabeth]], it’s unlikely to ever get renewed.

* [[VideoGame/DragaliaLost Dragalia Lost]] suddenly shut down its servers in 2022 after four years. Although it had a satisfying finale, it’s clear that there were more plans with the story and lore, with several plot threads being left unresolved, such as [[spoiler: {{The Syndicate}}‘s true leader, the Agito’s redemption, more info about [[FishPeople the Abyssians]], etc.]]