February 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
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.
"The Curse of Dracula Chapter X: Sepulchre of the UndeadThe Secret Empire Chapter 7: Attack of the Phantom RidersStop Susan Williams Chapter Six: Watery Grave"
"The Curse of Dracula Chapter XI: Threshold of EternityThe Secret Empire Chapter 8: Sizzling ThreatStop Susan Williams Chapter Seven: Cauldron of Fire"
"The Curse of Dracula Chapter XII: Where Angels Fear to TreadThe Secret Empire Chapter 9: Mandibles of DeathStop Susan Williams Chapter Eight: River of Blood"
"The Curse of Dracula Chapter XIII: Sealed in BloodThe Secret Empire Chapter 10: The Last GaspStop 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 DeathThe Secret Empire Chapter 11: Return to ChimeraStop Susan Williams Chapter Ten: Terror from the Sky"
"The Curse of Dracula Chapter XV: Please of the DamnedThe Secret Empire Chapter 12: PowerhouseStop Susan Williams Chapter Eleven: The Villain Revealed"
"The Secret Empire Chapter 13: Partisans UnchainedStop Susan Williams Chapter Twelve: Crypt of DisasterThe Secret Empire Chapter 14: Escape to the Stars"
^Bruce B. Morris, Prime Time Network Serials: Episode Guides, Casts and Credits for 37 Continuing Television Dramas, 1964-1993, McFarland and Company, 1997.
