Can I just tell you how much I hate, loathe, despise and generally am incredibly annoyed by the increasingly ubiquitous, unavoidable television-series practice known as the "season-ending cliffhanger"? Put aside the fact that it leaves us viewers, well, hanging all summer long waiting for the resolution. That's not half of what bugs me.

It's the blatant manipulation on the part of the series' writers and producers, in many cases under pressure from you, the suits who cut their checks. It screams insecurity on their and your parts—craven, gibbering fear that your loyal, faithful viewers won't come back in the fall for the season premiere without a nail-biting two-parter to keep them talking and fretting about their favorite characters for three months. It's a cheap stunt, it's overused, it's predictable and it's unoriginal.

I've hated it at least since the notorious "Who Shot J.R.?" season-ender on Dallas, way back in the day. I hated it when almost all the Star Trek shows did it, which was every single damn season. (Star Trek: Voyager at least had the guts to do without it for one or two seasons.) Used to be, just about every show on TV ended its season with a nice, satisfying, self-contained episode that didn't leave any major characters in danger of their lives or the status quo disrupted. But very few do now. And I place a good chunk of the blame where it rightfully belongs: squarely on your Armani- and Prada-suited shoulders.

And you're still at it today, as this season ends with finales this week and next. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Tuesday night? Partial cliffhanger at least. Smallville tonight? Cliffhanger. Supernatural? Them, too. ER? You guessed it. Especially with May being not only finale month but sweeps month as well, every last blasted one of you seems to feel pressured to bring on the stunt casting, the big stories, the shock endings. (And what's with ending the writers'-strike-shortened season now, anyhow? You really ought to give us an extension on this season, considering the strike—which you, by the by, caused by your intransigent unwillingness to treat your shows' writers fairly—cost us three months' worth of a whole season's order of episodes you've already paid for.)

It's ridiculous, it's dishonest, it's exploitative and you don't need to do it, and never have. The ratings have obviously shown you how loyal we are, since you've picked up the shows for next year. A good show doesn't need a cliffhanger and a bad show can't be saved by one. So cut it the fuck out. NOW. Give us some closure in our TV seasons again.

No love,
TCC