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. 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.