History Main / CommercialBreakCliffhanger

* Jeff Foxworthy tries to imitate Howie on ''Series/AreYouSmarterThanAFifthGrader'', but he talks so slowly that you can see the commercial coming a mile away. It's even worse there because one can easily look up the answer on Wikipedia before Foxworthy even announces the commercial break. Its sister show ''Series/DontForgetTheLyrics'' also plays this trope.

* Done with ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' as well. After the family is tricked by a commercial [[spoiler:into a trap set by Sideshow Bob]], Homer proclaims that the next time a commercial comes on, he'll close his eyes, cover his ears and scream. Fade to black, cue Homer screaming, cut to commercial.
** Another episode features the Power Plant in danger of meltdown and Homer tries to work out which button he must press before it happens. He presses a button and...cut to black!

** And in another episode, with Sideshow Mel narrating the story of Lisa's comedy rise to fame, he says something along the lines of "You'll find out how show business is a business in three... two... one..." fade to black.

--->'''Homer:''' ''(seeing Bart and Lisa walking off)'' Hey! Where are you going?\\

'''Marge:''' I'll stay here, but I'm going to think about products I might like to purchase. ''(closes eyes)'' Ooh...mmm...ooh, I don't have that.

** Yet another episode has Sideshow Bob threatening to explode a nuclear warhead. The commercial break starts right when Bob finally pushes the detonator button and an explosion is heard. [[spoiler: Turns out the nuke is expired and doesn't work.]]

** Also, it's done in another episode, where Bart finds a phone while picking up golf balls on a golf course, and he says "Hey! you can watch commercials on it!" and holds the phone up to the TV, and then it goes to a commercial.

* An episode of ''Series/UprightCitizensBrigade'' used a variation of this trope by claiming that they had succeeded in creating a batch of mind-numbingly unbearable commercials, then pressing play and treating the actual commercials as the ones they were referring to. It was claimed before each subsequent break that an even worse batch than the last one was cued up to play.

* Japanese game shows in general get their own example. Quite often, they will smash cut to commercial in the middle of a game round with no warning, especially if the main game is nearing its conclusion.
** Any Japanese show with a bonus round where [[OneHitPointWonder a wrong answer ends the game in a loss]]. If it cuts to commercial at any point before the final question, it is a 99% guarantee that the bonus game will be lost after returning from the break. It completely destroys the tension for anyone who recognizes this pattern.

* Jeff Foxworthy tries to imitate Howie on ''Series/AreYouSmarterThanAFifthGrader'', but he talks so slowly that you can see the commercial coming a mile away. It's even worse there because one can easily look up the answer on Wikipedia before Foxworthy even announces the commercial break.
** Its sister show ''Series/DontForgetTheLyrics'' also plays this trope.
* ''Series/{{Duel}}'' played with this a bit one day. The contestants had just given their answers to a question, and then one of them griped that, well, of course now we're going to go to commercial. ({{beat}}) "Just for that..." Cue commercial.
* ''[[Series/{{Boom}} BOOM!]]'' occasionally does this after a contestant cuts a wire, with the voice counting ''"3... 2... 1..."'' before cutting to black.

** ''Series/MinuteToWinIt'' in particular appears to be making a valiant attempt to top ''Greed'' and ''Series/DealOrNoDeal'' at this. At the end of one episode, the contestant had to make a stack of martini glasses and Christmas tree ornaments which would stay standing by itself for 3 seconds for a guaranteed $250,000. She finishes the tower and lets go, and three... two... one--TO BE CONTINUED. Though any viewer who's watched the show before probably saw that one coming a mile away. Ten bucks says the outcome won't be shown until after at least one commercial break into the next episode.
*** Unless you happened to catch a promo for the [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil same contestant doing a different game]].

* Any episode of ''Series/AmericanIdol'' that ends with a winner uses this trope (along with a nice healthy serving of {{Filler}}) so often that Ryan Seacrest gets hate mail about it.
** Subverted in exactly one episode of ''Series/CanadianIdol''. The host said he will reveal the winner. After a second delay, the audience announced it to be after the break, but the host replied [[ToBeContinuedRightNow "right now, actually"]].
* ''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard'' typically had these, accompanied by a freeze-frame shot, a dramatic musical {{sting}}, and a [[QuipToBlack pithy comment]] from {{narrator}} Music/WaylonJennings.
* If a patient on ''Series/{{House}}'' suddenly has a seizure/heart attack/projectile vomiting/stops breathing/anything involving bleeding/bizarre rash out of nowhere, expect the screen to go black in about 3 seconds...
** Note, that in 5 years of the show's run, no patient has '''''ever''''' died during the commercial break. The show will always return from the adspot with a somewhat-stable patient, and a their doctors will be in a completely different part of the hospital.
* ''Series/{{Bones}}'' must get a cookie for this one: The team figures out that the remains that has been dead for a month was in fact raised in the 19th century. ''da-da-dum!'' Cue opening. Was it time travel? No, 30 seconds in the actual show it turns out the kid was Amish.
* ''Series/{{Lost}}'' does this. Repeatedly.
** A particularly awesome (or frustrating, YMMV) one was in the finale, when Jack and the Man in Black faced off in the rain on an actual cliff. Just as Jack charged at MIB, it cut to commercial.
** Channel 4 tried to stick with the US advertisement frequency when showing ''Lost'', because of its cash-printingly huge popularity, but got [[http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1647935,00.html a pile of viewer complaints and a rap on the knuckles from a regulator for their trouble]].

* Totally subverted on ''[[Series/TwentyFour 24]]''. Because the show is played in real time, there can't be any cliffhangers before the commercials, because that would mean that either all of the action would play out during the commercials, or none of the characters would do anything for 4 minutes.
* ''Series/HellsKitchen'' does this in a ''very'' predictable pattern. 1) During the challenge of the day, cue the long dramatic pause on who the winner will be, COMMERCIAL! 2) Dinner service starts, drama ensues, Ramsay gets pissed off and yells at the chef who screwed up and seems to want them out, COMMERCIAL! 3) Elimination comes around, one chef is asked who they voted to kick out, dramatic pause, COMMERCIAL! Also, at some point during the episode, someone will probably cut themselves or trip over something... COMMERCIAL!
** ''Series/TopChef'' seemed to be ripping the first one off in their Washington DC season. Normally on quickfires, the winner is announced right after the challenge, but they started putting a commercial break in. No idea why, and they've gone back to their normal style for All Stars.
* If not every episode, 95% of the episodes of ''Series/PrisonBreak'' have ''at least'' one of these.
* For a while, ''Series/GetSmart'' had a lot of these before the last segment where it looked like Max had been killed. Of course if it ''had'' happened, the show wouldn't have gone much further...

** In "[[BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E18Entropy Entropy]]", Anya uses her newly regained powers to wish that Xander had never been born. After a commercial break, it cuts to Anya being shocked to find that her powers aren't working, as she is unaware that she can't grant wishes on [[NoSelfBuffs her own behalf]].

* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': There's a rather glaring one in the last episode of the first season. Spock is ambushed by a deranged man holding a heavy instrument. Spock wards off one swing, then the two face each other to the tune of a dramatic cue. Cut to commercials. When we get back, Spock easily neutralizes the man within about 2 seconds. Onwards with the episode.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' loves this trope. Something alarming happens just before a commercial break, dramatic music swells and the camera very slowly zooms in on a character's concerned expression. It's amazing how often Star Fleet officers are frozen in place for several moments when decisive action is needed.
* Another game show, ''Series/CashCab'', has done this after an answer is locked in.
* ''Series/FearFactor'' does this whenever a stunt might go wrong.
* And then, there's the French version of ''[[Series/TheMillionPoundDrop Money Drop]]''. It might not be the TropeCodifier, but it happens at the '''very last moment'''. We wait about 30 seconds to see what the wrong answer is, and suddenly, at the very last second, there's the commercials.
* ''Series/{{Angel}}'' did this very frequently. A notable subversion occurs in "Hell Bound".
-->'''Fred:''' Spike told me where he goes when he disappears. It's...hell. He's slipping into hell. ''(suspenseful music cue)''
-->'''Gunn:''' Kinda figured.
-->'''Wesley:''' Of course.
-->'''Gunn:''' Where else would he be going?
-->''(cut to the next scene)''
* ''Series/FearItself'', the NBC version of Showtime's ''Series/MastersOfHorror'', used a lot of Commercial Break Cliffhangers. The thing is, while that's fine for ''suspense'', since it (ideally) keeps the audience in their seats to see what happens next, it's not so good for ''horror''. Commercial breaks take the audience out of the action and remind them that they're just watching a TV show, which kills the mood (and horror's all about mood).
* ''Series/StorageWars'' does this '''''Every. Single. Commercial. Break.''''' [[DrinkingGame Take 2 shots]] if it shows someone opening a trunk, chest or safe. Three if it's Barry.
* The Food Network's chopped does this with the first two chefs to be cut. The host Ted Allen then averts this with announcing the last contest to be "chopped", which in turn reveals the winner. If you watch the show enough, you can time the commercials breaks to the second and the winner will always be announced in the last three minutes.
* All 3 ''Series/{{CSI}}'' series do this repeatedly, but especially toward the end of an episode. And they love it even more when a main character is in some kind of danger.

* Given that ''Series/TheWildWildWest'' used an ArtisticTitle that froze the last frame of each act into a panel, it's unsurprising that they used this trope at least OnceAnEpisode (and usually more than once - some episodes, like "The Night of the Gypsy Peril" and "The Night of the Hangman," had cliffhangers for three of the four acts!).

* The 2010s revival of ''Series/ToTellTheTruth'':
-->"Will the real [person who did this incredible thing] please stand up...when we come back!"[[note]]Originally, it was "Will the real [person's name] please stand up". Additionally, there were no commercial breaks when this happened.[[/note]]

* An early episode of ''Series/AirCrashInvestigation'' attempted one of these. Just before the commercial, the narrator notes that rescue services are on their way and leaves the viewer with the question of whether they will arrive in time to save the first officer from a horrible death. Quite a cliffhanger -- if not for the fact that the episode had already shown multiple clips from said first officer's survivor interview.

* Believe it or not, Wrestling/{{WWE}} programs do this on a frequent basis. Whenever a wrestler gets tossed outside the ring, expect the announcer to cue up the oncoming commercial break by asking if the aforementioned wrestler can make a comeback when the show returns. However, due to the nature of the program, the match will pick up from the break, still in progress. Any action during the break is shown via split-screen.
** ''[[Wrestling/WWESmackdown Smackdown]]'' has recently averted this, with picture-in-picture of the match off to the side as the commercials play.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' episode "King Yakko":
-->'''Yakko:''' [[NoFourthWall We're gonna need a few commercials to figure this one out]]!
-->[soon...]
-->'''Dot:''' You think this plan will work?
-->'''Yakko:''' It better; we don't have any more commercial breaks!
** Sometimes in some episodes, if a certain segment featuring Yakko, Wakko, and Dot is more than eight minutes, the segment will be split into two parts, with an act break in-between.

** [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E7TheInitiative "The Initiative"]] has a commercial break between a serious scene of Spike about to kill Willow, and the comedic reveal that Spike now has a RestrainingBolt preventing him from hurting anyone.

* ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}} Next'' usually uses these quite well. One memorable instance occurs when dramatic tension mounts until Gaav is about to attack the gang, Martina appears and the main characters scream "MARTINA!" in comical fashion. Cue cheerful EyeCatch, followed by Martina making a complete fool of herself to her signature comical tune. They don't always work very well though - the cliffhanger/eyecatch combination jarringly backfires when Lina casts the perfected Ragna Blade and Gaav looks worried for the first time, almost ''afraid''. The dramatic mood is sliced to bits by the cheerful EyeCatch.

** ''"[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E7TheInitiative The Initiative]]"'' has a commercial break between a serious scene of Spike about to kill Willow, and the comedic reveal that Spike now has a RestrainingBolt preventing him from hurting anyone.

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

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' does this sometimes. Usually, it's only once an episode or so, though.

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

* Chris Tarrant, the UK presenter of ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire'' has a reputation for dragging out the "Is that your final answer?" bit until he can announce a break immediately after the answer has been confirmed, but before he says if it's correct. This includes Judith Keppel's million-winning question, which led to frustrated gasps from everyone else. There even was one instance in which he was about to announce the final answer, but the siren went off and Chris declared we'd have to wait until tomorrow!