History Main / SmashToBlack

* ''TheRundown'' ends similarly.

* ''{{Malcolm in the Middle}}'' did this in nearly every episode, complete with a door-slamming sound effect.
* [[ItWasHisSled Infamously]], ''TheSopranos'' [[NoEnding ended the]] ''[[NoEnding series]]'' this way, with Music/{{Journey}}'s "Don't Stop Believin'" cutting off mid-''word''.
* ''EverybodyHatesChris'' ended its series this way as well, mainly as a ShoutOut to ''TheSopranos''.
* ''{{Skins}}'' smashes to black so often that the one time they did the [[FadeToBlack fade out]] (Katie's S4 episode) it stood out (and some people suspected the fade out to be a lengthening device to cover up time lost from cut scenes).

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' does this frequently, as observed on TelevisionWithoutPity:

[[AC:{{Video Games}}]]

* ''MassEffect3'' ends like this, with the SmashToBlack coinciding with the final note in the ending music.

[[AC:{{Western Animation}}]]
* ''{{The Simpsons}}'' was perhaps the first show to do this consistently. Most act breaks avoided fadeouts, in part because they usually end acts on a gag and it is thought a fadeout would detract from its impact.

* ''{{Spongebob Squarepants}}'' shorts end in this manner on a regular basis.

[[AC:{{Real Life}}]]

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* Done in ''TheStanleyParable'' as well, sometimes out of nowhere, usually to indicate something bad has happened, and ''always'' [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel to great effect.]]

* ''{{Lost}}'' does this with just about every major or minor plot twist. In other words, ''a lot''.
* Joss Whedon apparently loves this trope: ''[[BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy]]'', ''{{Angel}}'', ''{{Firefly}}'', and ''{{Dollhouse}}'' all use SmashToBlack instead of FadeToBlack. According to Whedon himself, this got him in trouble with Fox, which automatically goes to commercial if there's complete black on the screen for more than one second. Since his Smashes resulted in the system automatically going to commercial, a number of operators and affiliates had to immediately override an emergency commercial that showed up with the proper commercial. Whedon, apparently, remained unapologetic. This is why he is awesome.

* ''{{Supernatural}}'' does this frequently, as observed on TelevisionWithoutPity:

* [[ItWasHisSled Infamously]], ''TheSopranos'' [[NoEnding ended the]] ''[[NoEnding series]]'' this way, with {{Journey}}'s "Don't Stop Believin'" cutting off mid-''word''.

* The ending to ''[[spoiler:{{Inception}}]]''.
* The movie ''[[spoiler:{{Avatar}}]]'' ends the same way.

* [[spoiler: TheRundown]] ends similarly.

* The ending to ''[[spoiler:{{Inception}}]]''

* ''EverybodyHatesChris'' ended its series this way as well, mainly as a ShoutOut to TheSopranos.

** Joss mentions in the commentary for ''Firefly'' that in order to avoid the automatic cuing of the commercial, they changed the color of the blackout, so Smash to Black became Smash to Almost Black But Really Just Very Dark Brown

* [[ItWasHisSled Infamously]], ''TheSopranos'' [[NoEnding ended the]] ''[[NoEnding series]]'' this way, with {{Journey}}'s "Don't Stop Believin'" [[KilledMidSentence cutting off mid-]]''[[KilledMidSentence word]]''. ([[NeverSayDie Please ignore the presence of the K-word in the previous trope,]] [[ShrugOfGod as no one was actually confirmed to die.]] It's ''just'' the music that was suddenly cut, nothing more.)

* ''{{Skins}}'' smashes to black so often that the one time they did the [[FadeToBlack fade out]] (Katie's S4 episode) it stood out.

* ''{{Malcolm in the Middle}}'' did this in nearly every episode, complete with a door-slamming sound effect.

** Joss mentions in the commentary for Firefly that in order to avoid the automatic cuing of the commercial, they changed the color of the blackout, so Smash to Black became Smash to Almost Black But Really Just Very Dark Brown
* {{The Simpsons}} was perhaps the first show to do this consistently. Most act breaks avoided fadeouts, in part because they usually end acts on a gag and it is thought a fadeout would detract from its impact.

* {{Malcolm in the Middle}} did this in nearly every episode, complete with a door-slamming sound effect.
* The ending to [[spoiler:{{Inception}}]]

* The ending to {{Inception}}