''Cliffhangers'' is an American

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

television series that aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

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 Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

hybrid ''The Secret Empire'' and a horror story, ''The Curse of Dracula''.

Series overview

* ''Stop Susan Williams'' was a take-off of the old serial '' The Perils of Pauline''. It starred

Susan Anton Susan Ellen Anton is an American actress and singer. Early life Anton attended Yucaipa High School in Yucaipa, California, and graduated in 1968. After high school, Anton attended San Bernardino Valley College. She first experienced fame b ...

as globetrotting newspaper photographer Susan Willaims, 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 Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning s ...

movie serial ''

The Phantom Empire ''The Phantom Empire'' is a 1935 American Western serial film directed by Otto Brower and B. Reeves Eason and starring Gene Autry, Frankie Darro, and Betsy King Ross.Magers 2007, p. 21. This 12-chapter Mascot Pictures serial combined the Wes ...

'', detailing the 1880s

Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

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 Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by som ...

(

Michael Nouri Michael Nouri (born December 9, 1945) is an American screen and stage actor. He is best known for his television roles, including Dr. Neil Roberts on ''The O.C.'', Phil Grey on ''Damages'', Caleb Cortlandt on ''All My Children'', Eli David in ...

), 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 ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most succ ...

'' and ''

Laverne & Shirley ''Laverne & Shirley'' (originally ''Laverne DeFazio & Shirley Feeney'') is an American sitcom television series that played for eight seasons on ABC from January 27, 1976, to May 10, 1983. A spin-off of ''Happy Days'', ''Laverne & Shirley'' star ...

'', 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

;''Stop Susan Williams'' *

as Susan Williams *

Ray Walston Herman Raymond Walston (November 2, 1914 – January 1, 2001) was an American actor and comedian, well known as the title character on ''My Favorite Martian''. His other major film, television, and stage roles included Luther Billis (''South Paci ...

as Bob Richards * Marj Dusat as Jennifer Selden ( 2–11) *

Michael Swan Michael Swan (born June 11, 1948) is an American film and TV actor. Early life Swan was born in San Jose, California, the son of actress Alys Lucille ( née Wilkinson) and Donald Arthur Swan.Albert Paulsen Albert Paulsen (born Albert Paulson; 13 December 1925 in Guayaquil, Ecuador – 25 April 2004 in Los Angeles, California) was an Ecuadorian-American actor who appeared in many American television series beginning in the 1960s, playing charac ...

as Anthony Korf ( 2–11) ;''The Secret Empire'' * Geoffrey Scott as Marshal Jim Donner *

Carlene Watkins Carlene Watkins (born June 4, 1952) is an American actress best known for such television series and films as ''Best of the West'', ''Bob'', '' Dear John'', ''The Tortellis ''The Tortellis'' is an American sitcom television series and the fir ...

as Millie Thomas * David Opatoshu as Hator ( 3–5, 7–11) * Mark Lenard as Emperor Thorval * Diane Markoff as Princess Tara ;''The Curse of Dracula'' *

* Carol Baxter as Mary Gibbons * Stephen Johnson as Kurt Von Helsing * Bever-Leigh Banfield as Christine *

Louise Sorel Louise Jacqueline Sorel (née Cohen, born August 6, 1940) is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Vivian Alamain in '' Days of Our Lives'' from 1992 to 2000, 2009 to 2011, 2017 to 2018, and 2020, Augusta Wainwright on '' ...

as Amanda Gibbons ( 5–10)

Episodes

References

External links

IMDB: * * * * Epguides: * * * {{Dracula 1979 American television series debuts 1979 American television series endings Television series set in 1979 1970s American drama television series Dracula television shows English-language television shows Television series by Universal Television NBC original programming Television shows set in Chicago

Series overview

Cast and characters

Episodes

See also

References

External links