to be continued

A lame plot device consisting of a disclaimer often seen at the unexplained or hasty ending of a TV programme informing the viewer that either: -a main character may have possibly died or left permanently (but usually hasn't, if they have the actor likely quit working on the show due to pay disputes) -the script writers are fresh out of ideas until next week/month -the director of the TV show believes viewers actually have attention spans longer than goldfish, absolutely no lives and care enough about the characters & plot that they are willing to sit on their ass for days and nights patiently awaiting the conclusion of last week's cliff-hanger -the director believes making an audience wait anywhere from 24 hours to 1 week for a continuation will actually build anticipation and suspense among them and generate more interest in his show (instead of actually annoying the living shit out of them) -the script writers got over-ambitious or just plain fucking lazy, and couldn't finish the episode within the deadline -the episode has gone over it's allotted TV channel timeslot and hence will be replayed sometime later -there wasn't enough time to finish the episode within 5 minutes -technical/financial/on-set/casting difficulties made finishing the episode impossible -a cliff-hanger/what-if/multi-part story arc has been planned for future episodes (usually occurs when one season of a show ends, the following episode will begin with a recap of the previous one)