It's bad enough when your favorite showed has a terrible finale that leaves a bad taste in your mouth. How about the shows that left you hanging when they were canceled? Check out ten of the most frustrating unresolved TV cliffhangers left behind by shows that got the ax.
Twin Peaks
![canceled tv show cliffhangers, twin peaks]()
In 1991, "Twin Peaks" ended after its second season with Agent Cooper being possessed by Killer Bob, then quickly closed out. Fans were outraged that the show dropped such an awkward unexpected bomb without any clear explanation. However, there is still hope that the eerie police drama can be resurrected with David Lynch and Mark Frost at the helm 25 years later, most likely in hopes of resurrecting this cliffhanger. Some say the ending was open to interpretation, while others say it's plain crap.
FlashForward
![canceled tv show cliffhangers, flashforward]()
The postmortem "Lost" letdown that everyone tried to get hooked on after we said goodbye to Jack, Kate and the gang failed to deliver despite having part of the "Lost" cast. Already having trouble in sustaining its audience before it was let go after a single season, its finale was already in the can before the show was canceled. The creators laid out a blueprint for a five-season run and put a lot of energy into setting up the later seasons without doing a good enough job to keep the show going that long. Characters with invested storylines and new storylines, which had no context to them, accumulated to bring on one of the worst cliffhanger finales in TV history.
Deadwood
![canceled tv show cliffhangers, deadwood]()
Trixie shoots George. George survives, wants to shoot Trixie. Johnny shoots a prostitute, hopes to make it look like Trixie. George leaves town. A stranger shows up and kills another guy. The end. That's the summary of the finale of "Deadwood," a show most people regarded as a great show until its sloppy finale with many looming questions. Though it was said to be written as a series finale, nobody can believe it after only a three-season run with so many loose ends untied.
My Name Is Earl
![canceled tv show cliffhangers, my name is earl]()
We never found out who the father was of Joy's (played by Jaime Pressly) child. The show ended its fourth season with a "to be continued," which never actually continued. That's pretty much it. This finale sucked. Couldn't they have just tweeted the results to us?
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
![canceled tv show cliffhangers, the sarah connor chronicles]()
What started as a great TV potential counterpart to the "Terminator" film series quickly lost ground before bottoming out at the end of its second season. The show ended with John Connor jumping into the future where nobody knows him and essentially killed the TV franchise with too many unexplained questions. Didn't they end up making a movie about this? Does anyone care? Are there any horse socks? Is anybody listening to me?
Southland
![canceled tv show cliffhangers, southland]()
The one thing you cannot do is end a show with someone's life on the line. The cop drama, starring Ben McKenzie and Michael Cudlitz quit rolling after season five, leaving a huge question unanswered for longtime fans about the uncertain future of the pill-popping Cudlitz. If you were hoping for a spoiler warning, consider yourself lucky as no man should have to witness a show without a little forewarning for its lack of resolve.
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
![canceled tv show cliffhangers, lois and clark tv show]()
The Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher-led Superman series ended with Lois and Clark discovering a baby, ultimately leading to the question, "Whose fucking baby is that?" The plot point itself actually led nowhere as the series concluded right then after four seasons. The former writers came out and said the baby was to be revealed as Kryptonian royalty who would grow up at an alarming rate and develop super powers before leaving Lois and Clark to return to save his people. The show was canceled before any of that anti-comic book storyline could be told, most likely because of a premature wedding proposal from the Man of Steel. If you ask us, it's a blessing in disguise for Superman fans that the cord was pulled.
Mork & Mindy
![canceled tv show cliffhangers, mork and mindy]()
In the quirky Robin Williams alien-centric series finale, Williams' character is exposed to the world as an alien shortly after Mindy's home is desecrated by an evil alien. The show ended in 1982 with Mork and Mindy stuck in a vortex, floating off into space with the last line, "Whatever happens, we'll have each other." But what about us?!
ALF
![canceled tv show cliffhangers, ALF]()
The little furball from Melmac always had a hunch the government was after him. In 1989, "ALF" had one of the worst series finale endings when ALF himself was actually taken into custody by the government, leaving people with zero resolution as to whether or not he would be OK in the end.
Pushing Daisies
![canceled tv show cliffhangers, pushing daisies]()
Here's a real kick in the nuts: The adorable supernatural baker who started off strong in her first season got an immediate order for a 22-episode second season, but when ratings dropped, the show was turned off and its second season squashed. This left looming story landmines all over its finale, and the studio heads offered some sort of compensation by suggesting a comic book or movie to help wrap up the story, neither of which are even remote possibilities now.
Twin Peaks
In 1991, "Twin Peaks" ended after its second season with Agent Cooper being possessed by Killer Bob, then quickly closed out. Fans were outraged that the show dropped such an awkward unexpected bomb without any clear explanation. However, there is still hope that the eerie police drama can be resurrected with David Lynch and Mark Frost at the helm 25 years later, most likely in hopes of resurrecting this cliffhanger. Some say the ending was open to interpretation, while others say it's plain crap.
FlashForward
The postmortem "Lost" letdown that everyone tried to get hooked on after we said goodbye to Jack, Kate and the gang failed to deliver despite having part of the "Lost" cast. Already having trouble in sustaining its audience before it was let go after a single season, its finale was already in the can before the show was canceled. The creators laid out a blueprint for a five-season run and put a lot of energy into setting up the later seasons without doing a good enough job to keep the show going that long. Characters with invested storylines and new storylines, which had no context to them, accumulated to bring on one of the worst cliffhanger finales in TV history.
Deadwood
Trixie shoots George. George survives, wants to shoot Trixie. Johnny shoots a prostitute, hopes to make it look like Trixie. George leaves town. A stranger shows up and kills another guy. The end. That's the summary of the finale of "Deadwood," a show most people regarded as a great show until its sloppy finale with many looming questions. Though it was said to be written as a series finale, nobody can believe it after only a three-season run with so many loose ends untied.
My Name Is Earl
We never found out who the father was of Joy's (played by Jaime Pressly) child. The show ended its fourth season with a "to be continued," which never actually continued. That's pretty much it. This finale sucked. Couldn't they have just tweeted the results to us?
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
What started as a great TV potential counterpart to the "Terminator" film series quickly lost ground before bottoming out at the end of its second season. The show ended with John Connor jumping into the future where nobody knows him and essentially killed the TV franchise with too many unexplained questions. Didn't they end up making a movie about this? Does anyone care? Are there any horse socks? Is anybody listening to me?
Southland
The one thing you cannot do is end a show with someone's life on the line. The cop drama, starring Ben McKenzie and Michael Cudlitz quit rolling after season five, leaving a huge question unanswered for longtime fans about the uncertain future of the pill-popping Cudlitz. If you were hoping for a spoiler warning, consider yourself lucky as no man should have to witness a show without a little forewarning for its lack of resolve.
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
The Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher-led Superman series ended with Lois and Clark discovering a baby, ultimately leading to the question, "Whose fucking baby is that?" The plot point itself actually led nowhere as the series concluded right then after four seasons. The former writers came out and said the baby was to be revealed as Kryptonian royalty who would grow up at an alarming rate and develop super powers before leaving Lois and Clark to return to save his people. The show was canceled before any of that anti-comic book storyline could be told, most likely because of a premature wedding proposal from the Man of Steel. If you ask us, it's a blessing in disguise for Superman fans that the cord was pulled.
Mork & Mindy
In the quirky Robin Williams alien-centric series finale, Williams' character is exposed to the world as an alien shortly after Mindy's home is desecrated by an evil alien. The show ended in 1982 with Mork and Mindy stuck in a vortex, floating off into space with the last line, "Whatever happens, we'll have each other." But what about us?!
ALF
The little furball from Melmac always had a hunch the government was after him. In 1989, "ALF" had one of the worst series finale endings when ALF himself was actually taken into custody by the government, leaving people with zero resolution as to whether or not he would be OK in the end.
Pushing Daisies
Here's a real kick in the nuts: The adorable supernatural baker who started off strong in her first season got an immediate order for a 22-episode second season, but when ratings dropped, the show was turned off and its second season squashed. This left looming story landmines all over its finale, and the studio heads offered some sort of compensation by suggesting a comic book or movie to help wrap up the story, neither of which are even remote possibilities now.