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Cliffhangers (TV series)

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Cliffhangers
Title card
GenreDrama
Created byKenneth Johnson
ComposerJoe Harnell
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes11 (1 unaired)
Production
Executive producerKenneth Johnson
ProducerRichard Milton
Running time60 min.
Production companyUniversal Television
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseFebruary 27 (1979-02-27) –
May 1, 1979 (1979-05-01)

Cliffhangers is an American drama television series that aired on NBC from February 27 to May 1, 1979. It attempted to revive the genre of movie serials in a television format. Each hour-long episode was divided into three 20-minute segments: a mystery, Stop Susan Williams; a science fiction/Western hybrid, The Secret Empire; and a horror story, The Curse of Dracula.[1]

Series overview

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  • Stop Susan Williams was a take-off of the old serial The Perils of Pauline. It starred Susan Anton as globetrotting newspaper photographer Susan Williams, who is investigating the mysterious death of her brother Alan, and stumbles across a vast international conspiracy.
  • The Secret Empire was a pastiche of the Gene Autry movie serial The Phantom Empire, detailing the 1880s Wild West adventures of Marshal Jim Donner (Geoffrey Scott) who stumbles upon the futuristic underground city of Chimera, which is run by aliens. Scenes on the surface were sepia-toned, while the scenes in Chimera were shown in color.
  • The Curse of Dracula revolved around a young woman's quest to avenge her mother against Count Dracula (Michael Nouri), who is living undercover as a college teacher in San Francisco.

To add to the "in-progress" feeling of the proceedings, all three series started with different chapter numbers (although this was the first broadcast for all of them). "Stop Susan Williams" began at Chapter II, "The Secret Empire" started with Chapter III, and "The Curse of Dracula" with Chapter VI.

Cliffhangers was an expensive production due to three simultaneous production units being required. The hope was that if one of the serials caught on, it could be spun off into its own series, however the show aired opposite Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley, the #1 and #2 most popular shows in television at the time. The show was cancelled after only 10 episodes had aired, by which point only The Curse of Dracula had reached its conclusion. However, one unaired episode (which did air overseas) featured the two concluding chapters of The Secret Empire as well as the final part of Stop Susan Williams. American viewers later got a chance to see the concluding part of Stop Susan Williams when its eleven installments were re-edited into a single two-hour television movie The Girl Who Saved the World. Curse of Dracula was also re-edited as two television movies, Dracula '79 and World of Dracula.

Cast and characters

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Stop Susan Williams
The Secret Empire
The Curse of Dracula

Episodes

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No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateUS viewers
(millions)
1"Stop Susan Williams Chapter II: The Silent Enemy
The Secret Empire Chapter III: Plunge into Mystery
The Curse of Dracula Chapter VI: Lifeblood"
Kenneth JohnsonKenneth JohnsonFebruary 27, 1979 (1979-02-27)14.5[2]
2"Stop Susan Williams Chapter Three: Jungle Death Trap
The Secret Empire Chapter 4: Prisoner of the Empire
The Curse of Dracula Chapter VII: Bloodstream"
Reza S. Badiyi
Joseph Pevney
Jeffrey Hayden
Andrew Schneider
Gene Kearney
Renee & Harry Longstreet
March 6, 1979 (1979-03-06)14.2
3"The Curse of Dracula Chapter VIII: Demons of the Dark
The Secret Empire Chapter 5: The Mind Twisters
Stop Susan Williams Chapter Four: Thundering Doom"
Jeffrey Hayden
Joseph Pevney
Reza S. Badiyi
Myla Lichtman
Gene Kearney
Thomas E. Szollozi & Richard Christian Matheson
March 13, 1979 (1979-03-13)14.2
4"The Curse of Dracula Chapter IX: Depository of Death
The Secret Empire Chapter 6: Seeds of Revolt
Stop Susan Williams Chapter Five: Deadly Descent"
Jeffrey Hayden
Joseph Pevney
Nick Havinga
Craig Buck
Gene Kearney
Peggy Goldman
March 20, 1979 (1979-03-20)12.1
5"The Curse of Dracula Chapter X: Sepulchre of the Undead
The Secret Empire Chapter 7: Attack of the Phantom Riders
Stop Susan Williams Chapter Six: Watery Grave"
Jeffrey Hayden
Joseph Pevney
Sig Neufeld
Myla Lichtman
David Bennett Carren
Andrew Schneider
March 27, 1979 (1979-03-27)11.2
6"The Curse of Dracula Chapter XI: Threshold of Eternity
The Secret Empire Chapter 8: Sizzling Threat
Stop Susan Williams Chapter Seven: Cauldron of Fire"
Sutton Rolley
Tony Lo Bianco
Sig Neufeld
Craig Buck
Jeri Taylor
Richard Christian Matheson & Thomas E. Szollosi
April 3, 1979 (1979-04-03)13.0
7"The Curse of Dracula Chapter XII: Where Angels Fear to Tread
The Secret Empire Chapter 9: Mandibles of Death
Stop Susan Williams Chapter Eight: River of Blood"
Sutton Rolley
Tony Lo Bianco
Sig Neufeld
Craig Buck
Jeri Taylor
Peggy Goldman
April 10, 1979 (1979-04-10)10.5
8"The Curse of Dracula Chapter XIII: Sealed in Blood
The Secret Empire Chapter 10: The Last Gasp
Stop Susan Williams Chapter Nine: Wheels of Destruction"
Richard Milton
Alan Crosland
Dick Harwood
Myla Lichtman
David Carren
Peggy Goldman
April 17, 1979 (1979-04-17)10.9
9"The Curse of Dracula Chapter XIV: Thirst for Death
The Secret Empire Chapter 11: Return to Chimera
Stop Susan Williams Chapter Ten: Terror from the Sky"
Richard Milton
Alan Crosland
Sig Neufeld
Myla Lichtman
Jeri Taylor
Peggy Goldman
April 24, 1979 (1979-04-24)10.9
10"The Curse of Dracula Chapter XV: Please of the Damned
The Secret Empire Chapter 12: Powerhouse
Stop Susan Williams Chapter Eleven: The Villain Revealed"
Richard Milton
Alan Crosland
Reza S. Badiyi
Myla Lichtman
Nona Tyson
Richard Christian Matheson & Thomas E. Szollosi
May 1, 1979 (1979-05-01)11.2
11"The Secret Empire Chapter 13: Partisans Unchained
Stop Susan Williams Chapter Twelve: Crypt of Disaster
The Secret Empire Chapter 14: Escape to the Stars"
unknownunknownunairedN/A

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Cliffhangers: "Stop Susan Williams"". tvobscurities.com. 2005-02-15. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
  2. ^ Bruce B. Morris, Prime Time Network Serials: Episode Guides, Casts and Credits for 37 Continuing Television Dramas, 1964-1993, McFarland and Company, 1997.
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