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    “Previously...“

    When did this become the norm in serial TV drama? If my memory isn’t playing tricks, I think the first show I heard it used was ER. But that started in 1994, there must be earlier examples.
    Last edited by Sits; 08-10-2020, 11:25.

    #2
    Soap did this way back when. A summary of the (bizarre) happenings from the previous episode, followed by "Confused? You will be!".

    I still use that line. I work in insurance, so it gets trotted out a lot.

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      #3
      Yes Soap came immediately to my mind too when I read the question - and presumably given the style of the show they were parodying what was already by then an established trope.

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        #4
        Yes, I always assumed it was taken from US daytime soaps.

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          #5
          According to this article it first was seen on a TV show called The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp in the 50s https://www.theatlantic.com/entertai...-recap/385036/

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            #6
            My entirely unreliable recollection is that on programmes like Dr Who (1970s, Tom Baker era) they didn't say "previously" or anything at all, but they did rewind the tape a bit, so you saw the end of last week's episode as the start of the new one.

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              #7
              I always thought that the "This week on..." bit at the start of some US series where they showed a precis of the episode that you were about to watch was peculiar.

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                #8
                I'm not a huge fan of "Previously" because of the way that the editing lets you know what will be important in this episode. But it is infinitely better than the "coming up" that occasionally befouls US TV shows that basically make watching the show redundant and seems to be used as filler because there's not enough actual content.

                (Cross post with Benjm)

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by San Bernardhinault View Post
                  I'm not a huge fan of "Previously" because of the way that the editing lets you know what will be important in this episode. But it is infinitely better than the "coming up" that occasionally befouls US TV shows that basically make watching the show redundant and seems to be used as filler because there's not enough actual content.

                  (Cross post with Benjm)
                  This does seem to have reached a ridiculous level with some (non fiction) programmes where they show you at the start what is "coming up" for the whole episode, then another before the ad break to tell you what is coming up in the next section, then after the ad break they do a recap of the previous section, and so on - as you say it's a way of stretching out the slim content they do have even thinner.

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                    #10
                    Did they not do this kinda thing at the start of Dallas (and perhaps Dynasty and what have you)?

                    Perhaps I'm imagining that. I was one of about four people in the UK that didn't watch it.

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                      #11
                      Originally posted by San Bernardhinault View Post
                      I'm not a huge fan of "Previously" because of the way that the editing lets you know what will be important in this episode.
                      I am a huge fan of "Previously...." because I have trouble following multiple story threads, and the recap is invaluable in reminding me who did what to whom so that I don't spend half the episode asking L who that person is and why they're trying to kill so and so, or where they've been for the past 4 episodes.

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                        #12
                        Worth noting that no 'Previously...' was needed on the Rockford Files. Just another reason why RF was gold.

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                          #13
                          Originally posted by Walt Flanagans Dog View Post

                          This does seem to have reached a ridiculous level with some (non fiction) programmes where they show you at the start what is "coming up" for the whole episode, then another before the ad break to tell you what is coming up in the next section, then after the ad break they do a recap of the previous section, and so on - as you say it's a way of stretching out the slim content they do have even thinner.
                          Yes ;I saw a programme recently about food production (how jelly beans have nothing to do with gelatine etc) which stretched 15 minutes of real content to something like double the length using this maddening method.

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                            #14
                            In Game of Thrones the vast number of characters and storylines meant that "previously" could be a couple of seasons ago. In the last season "previously" even went back to the first (Jaime chucked kid Bran out the window, now they meet again as adults).

                            I wonder what the longest period covered has been ("previously on Roots" and it's a hundred years ago in Africa, that kind of thing).

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                              #15
                              Originally posted by Benjm View Post
                              I always thought that the "This week on..." bit at the start of some US series where they showed a precis of the episode that you were about to watch was peculiar.
                              Even worse is "Here's what you're going to see after the ad break" followed by "Here's what you saw before the ad break".


                              Edit: I see WFD beat me to it.

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                                #16
                                "I'm looking for a gift for my aunt"

                                https://youtu.be/7MFtl2XXnUc

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                                  #17
                                  Originally posted by Walt Flanagans Dog View Post

                                  This does seem to have reached a ridiculous level with some (non fiction) programmes where they show you at the start what is "coming up" for the whole episode, then another before the ad break to tell you what is coming up in the next section, then after the ad break they do a recap of the previous section, and so on - as you say it's a way of stretching out the slim content they do have even thinner.
                                  It was supposed to make you excited about what was coming up. Ironically, actually changing the channel was a lot more work back then and there were fewer things to switch to so they really didn't need to try so hard to keep our attention compared to now when most people watching TV are also looking at their phones.

                                  All of that kind of thing has been reduced or eliminated, including show intros/credits. Remember there used to always be up to a minute of intro and credits?
                                  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrGr...ature=youtu.be

                                  I looked up the Cheers intro. It's about a minute. But writers don't want to give up that much time, especially for a show that's only going to have 22 minutes of actual content. Some shows keep a relatively long intro because, I guess, people just like the intro. Fans liked the Big Bang Theory's intro, which lasts about 23 seconds. I know this because I usually hit the "15 seconds forward" button when I was bingeing it.

                                  Same with Mad Men, which lasted about 40 seconds, but that was for an hour show.

                                  But the very short intro, like Better Call Saul, which lasts about 13 seconds and doesn't have much information, is more common now, I guess. The Scrubs intro with that bit of Lazlo Bane's "Superman" song is 12 seconds. They tried a longer one in the second season, but ditched it because it relied on a remix of the song that people didn't like as much. And when it was shown on syndication, they truncated that to about four seconds, as I recall.

                                  I also recall reading that George Lucas was, essentially, kicked out of the directors guild for refusing to put credits at the beginning of Empire Strikes Back. Now it's pretty much standard not to have few or no credits at the start. And if they are, they're computer generated on top of the actual story. No more of those endless "title cards."
                                  https://filmmakeriq.com/lessons/cred...-rise-digital/


                                  Speaking of "Coming up..." DYK that Paul Thomas Anderson's dad was the iconic voice of the ABC preview ads in the 70s and 80s? That voice is burned into my brain. He was so good at switching from previewing something dumb like The Love Boat to switching to "a very special episode" of some shit.
                                  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUs4tNDb9GU




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                                    #18
                                    ...on LA Law”

                                    which was sometimes necessary when they were recapping things from several episodes ago.

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                                      #19
                                      Originally posted by tee rex View Post
                                      My entirely unreliable recollection is that on programmes like Dr Who (1970s, Tom Baker era) they didn't say "previously" or anything at all, but they did rewind the tape a bit, so you saw the end of last week's episode as the start of the new one.
                                      Also, for Colin Baker’s final season and Sylvester McCoy’s first, the BBC continuity announcer would give a short 10-15 second precis on the story so far, over some stills, before cueing in the opening titles.

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                                        #20
                                        'next time on Arrested Development...'

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                                          #21
                                          Originally posted by tee rex View Post
                                          My entirely unreliable recollection is that on programmes like Dr Who (1970s, Tom Baker era) they didn't say "previously" or anything at all, but they did rewind the tape a bit, so you saw the end of last week's episode as the start of the new one.
                                          That's not entirely true. (Why yes, I have been watching classic Who through the pandemic for the first time.)

                                          You see a slightly different version of the end of the previous episode at the beginning of the next. Sometimes it appears to be done to act as a better precis of where the story is but a lot of the time it merely appears to be a different take.

                                          It makes a lot of sense in a time before video and in week repeats (the previously bit, not the reshooting the end of the previous episode thing).

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                                            #22
                                            I have one of those old 1940s sci-fi serials on DVD. It was originally shown at the beginning of theatre movies in 8 minute segments, week after week. When strung together, with all the "last time on..." previews, I'd swear it's only about 15 minutes worth of content dragged out over an hour. It's sheer agony to watch.

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                                              #23
                                              Originally posted by WOM View Post
                                              Worth noting that no 'Previously...' was needed on the Rockford Files. Just another reason why RF was gold.
                                              Indeed.

                                              Any excuse to post a pic of one of the greatest tv characters of all time.

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                                                #24
                                                Did the Adam West Batman actually resolve the cliffhanger from the episode before? As a child I only ever saw occasional ones and never in order. I came to imagine that one of the "bits" of the series was that it always started by resolving a non existent cliffhanger before ending with a cliffhanger which would never be resolved.

                                                That seems unlikely though.

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                                                  #25
                                                  Originally posted by Cal Alamein View Post

                                                  Indeed.

                                                  Any excuse to post a pic of one of the greatest tv characters of all time.

                                                  I concur. The shady character in '70s cop shows - Angel, Huggy Bear, Rooster - was a welcome addition to the episode. A gritty Deus Ex Machina who could find shit out and get shit done.

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