History Quotes / CliffhangerCopout

-->--''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders WebAnimation/ButReallyReallyFast''

->"The bad guy stuck [Rocketman] in a car on a mountain road and knocked him out and welded the door shut and tore out the brakes and started him to his death, and he woke up and tried to steer and tried to get out, but the car went off a cliff before he could escape! And it crashed and burned, and I was so upset and excited, and the next week, you better believe I was first in line. And they always start with the end of the last week. And there was Rocketman, trying to get out, and here comes the cliff, and just before the car went off the cliff, he jumped free! And all the kids cheered! But'' I ''didn't cheer. I stood right up and started shouting, 'This isn't what happened last week! Have you all got ''amnesia''? They just cheated us! This isn't fair! '''HE DIDN'T GET OUT OF THE COCK-A-DOODIE CAR!''''"

-->--[[http://www.docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/the-fella-series-two.html Joe Ford]] on ''Series/DoctorWho'', [[{{Recap/DoctorWhoNSS2E12ArmyOfGhosts}} "Army of Ghosts"]]

-->-- ''Boys Will Be Boys: The Story of Sweeney Todd, Deadwood Dick, Sexton Blake, Billy Bunter, Dick Barton et al.'', E.S. Turner (1948). The phrase "With one bound he was free" is especially associated with [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Barton Dick Barton]], and has since become a metaphor for any kind of HandWave.

->"There is a delightful story, attributed to more than one publishing house, of the serial writer who disappears in the middle of a story. As he shows no sign of turning up, it is decided to carry on without him. Unfortunately he has left his hero bound to a stake, with lions circling him, and an avalanche about to fall for good measure (or some such situation). Relays of writers try to think of a way out, and give it up. Then at the eleventh hour the missing author returns. He takes the briefest look at the previous installment and then, without a moment's hesitation,writes: 'With one bound Jack was free.'"

->"With one bound Dick was free!"
-->-- A 1940s catchphrase referencing the ease with which the main character of ''Dick Barton – Special Agent'' would always wriggle out of tight spots, with all the peril of his previous cliffhanging situation apparently forgotten.

->"Dick was up to his neck in chains..."

-->-- ''Dick Barton – Special Agent''

->If they'd shown us that last time, [[EightDeadlyWords I wouldn't have spent all week worrying about him.]]
--> -- '''Tom Servo''', ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''

->With the birth of television and, eventually with it, the concept of programming breaks, the cliffhanger was put to good use ensuring that viewing audiences would be invested in picking up where they'd left off after weeks or months of no new content. And, much like with the movie serials, fans came to identify which shows deserved continued viewing ...well, if we were deciding whether a show deserves to stay on the air based on the strength of its follow through on promises, ''{{Series/Smallville}}'' should immediately be shoved in a burn bag and promptly forgotten.
-->--'''[[http://www.supermanhomepage.com/tv/tv.php?topic=reviews/smallville10-ep12 Julian Finn]]'''

->'''Joe Ford''': Meh. In amongst all of this what is Creator/DavidTennant doing?\\
'''Simon Harding''': Nothing. Serving drinks.\\
'''Joe''': There’s that massive idea of the TARDIS dying but they don’t really do much with it, do they?\\
'''Simon''': They blow up the set and [[DeusExMachina then find a light and the Doctor blows on it and hey presto]] it will be recharged in 24 hours. What? Why even bother if it was that easy? Plus he’s so over dramatic about every here – ‘we’ve reached the nowhere places…oh no wait it’s the Earth’ and ‘the TARDIS has died…oh no wait its alive again.’ Chill out, Doctor.
-->--[[http://www.docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/the-fella-series-two.html Joe Ford]] on ''Series/DoctorWho'', [[{{Recap/DoctorWhoNSS2E12ArmyOfGhosts}} "Army of Ghosts"]]

->The purpose of the cliffhanger has become lost over the years. A cliffhanger was a reference to the short serials that were shown before each feature, and which almost always ended on a moment that was overly dramatic or life threatening to the hero of the serial. The point, you see, was to encourage audiences to come back each week to find out what happened next. The happy byproduct of that was, of course, increased ticket sales for films in an era that had no television or internet to use as advertising mediums.\\\
With the birth of television and, eventually with it, the concept of programming breaks, the cliffhanger was put to good use ensuring that viewing audiences would be invested in picking up where they'd left off after weeks or months of no new content. And, much like with the movie serials, fans came to identify which shows deserved continued viewing through the magic of quality storytelling..."Collateral" though...well, if we were deciding whether a show deserves to stay on the air based on the strength of its follow through on promises, ''{{Seres/Smallville}}'' should immediately be shoved in a burn bag and promptly forgotten.

--> -- '''Tom Servo''', ''MysteryScienceTheater3000''

-> ''"If they'd shown us that last time, I wouldn't have spent all week worrying about him."''

-> ''"Upon review, the refs have decided that Cody is dead! The play stands; Cody is dead!"
--> -- '''Joel Robinson''', ''MysteryScienceTheater3000''