Cliffhangers is an American drama series that debuted on February 27, 1979 on NBC. Each hour-long episode was divided into three 20-minute segments : Stop Susan Williams, The Secret Empire and The Curse of Dracula. The show aimed to revive the classic movie serial format but was canceled after just ten episodes due to low ratings. To add to the "in-progress" feeling of the proceedings, all three series were 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.