Poor ratings doomed The Whispers, the now-cancelled ABC TV series based on Ray Bradbury’s short story “Zero Hour.” Unfortunately, the fans of the summer series were left with a cliffhanger ending.

Phil Nichols comments on Bradburymedia —

As it turns out, only thirteen episodes were made, and in the face of declining ratings ABC decided not to bring it back for a second season.

This, of course, leaves viewers of the series with unanswered questions, principally “what was that all about?”

Cast member Barry Sloane thought viewers deserved a broad hint.

Found a @TheWhispersABC tee shirt we had made for the crew. This was an ongoing joke. #TheWhispers @MiloVentimiglia pic.twitter.com/lP7T387tGE

— ???????????????????? ???????????????????????? (????????????????????????????????) (@BarrySloane) October 16, 2015

Nichols has a better solution –

Most casual viewers will have no clue that The Whispers was “Zero Hour”. But if any of those are left disappointed by a lack of a solid conclusion, point them to the original short story – which has one of Bradbury’s finest endings.

[Thanks to John King Tarpinian for the story.]