See It Now

A lot of TV shows start with a quick catch-up of relevant scenes from the past.  I'm not a fan of this--these moments give away what's coming--but I can understand them, as some might have missed previous episodes.

Far worse is letting you see what's next.  You've already got me, why are you ruining what's about to happen? Yet this strategy seems to be happening more and more. The first time I ever saw such a thing was, I believe, on Hill Street Blues.  But I don't recall anyone imitating that strategy for a long time.

Now, however, there's so much competition that producers figures they have to grab you and hold you as never before.  So it turns out many of them feature coming attractions, as it were, at the end of an episode to show you what to expect next week.  However, on some channels--HBO comes to mind--they rerun the coming attractions just before the show officially starts.  Why?  Would you want to watch a film's trailer just before the film itself?

Yet there's something much worse, and I've seen it on two new shows, Colony and Hap And Leonard.  During commercial breaks, while the show is playing, they give previews of what you're about to see--actual footage that will be aired in a few minutes.

Who okayed this?  These aren't helpful, these are spoilers.  We're already in the middle of watching the show--presumably we like it.  Do they figure viewers are so jittery they need to be reminded of the great moments coming up? I hope these two shows are an anomaly and this sort of promotion is never featured again.