A film and television director, producer, and screenwriter with decades of experience in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, Dean Zanetos has contributed to programs on diverse budgets and from diverse genres. While working at NBC, Dean Zanetos produced the drama series Cliffhangers.
Aired between February and May 1979, Cliffhangers consisted of 10 60-minute episodes, and an eleventh episode not aired in the United States. Each episode contained three 20-minute parts and told a distinct story. The three serials, Stop Susan Williams, The Secret Empire, and The Curse of Dracula was not connected thematically. They ended in cliffhangers as promised by the series name to encourage viewers to watch the following week. The show’s format provided a safety net in case any of the serials were discontinued prematurely. Their short series length would leave room to create a new one to replace it.
At the time, Cliffhangers aired on Tuesdays on NBC at 8 p.m to compete with ABC’s high-performing sitcoms Laverne and Shirley and Happy Days. To rationalize the show’s creation and placement in this time slot, executives pointed to ABC’s sitcoms’ long time on the air of more than five years. Cliffhangers’ freshness would draw in younger and older audiences who did not watch the competition.
Though a novel concept, Cliffhangers was not renewed for the second half of 1979. NBC later released the content from Stop Susan Williams and The Curse of Dracula as TV movies. They renamed The Girl Who Saved the World and The World of Dracula.
Aired between February and May 1979, Cliffhangers consisted of 10 60-minute episodes, and an eleventh episode not aired in the United States. Each episode contained three 20-minute parts and told a distinct story. The three serials, Stop Susan Williams, The Secret Empire, and The Curse of Dracula was not connected thematically. They ended in cliffhangers as promised by the series name to encourage viewers to watch the following week. The show’s format provided a safety net in case any of the serials were discontinued prematurely. Their short series length would leave room to create a new one to replace it.
At the time, Cliffhangers aired on Tuesdays on NBC at 8 p.m to compete with ABC’s high-performing sitcoms Laverne and Shirley and Happy Days. To rationalize the show’s creation and placement in this time slot, executives pointed to ABC’s sitcoms’ long time on the air of more than five years. Cliffhangers’ freshness would draw in younger and older audiences who did not watch the competition.
Though a novel concept, Cliffhangers was not renewed for the second half of 1979. NBC later released the content from Stop Susan Williams and The Curse of Dracula as TV movies. They renamed The Girl Who Saved the World and The World of Dracula.