Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

crashfrog t1_jdo856y wrote

Does anyone know the trope namer for this? What was the first episodic drama to end with a guy literally hanging from a cliff?

3

AmnesiaInnocent t1_jdo8ox7 wrote

According to Wikipedia, the term came the serialized novel A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy which was published in a magazine (I'm guessing one chapter in each issue?) in 1872-1873. And yes, at one point the hero is left hanging of the side of a cliff.

13

GrumpigPlays OP t1_jdo8cce wrote

That is an extremely good point, and I want to know now

1

daninlionzden t1_jdo8uvg wrote

Not TV, but the movie the Italian job (1969) ends this exact way - all the characters on a bus about to tip over the edge of a cliff - this is the likely origin of the phrase

−12