# Post -commercial "recaps" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 31, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-commercial-recaps/645688 "2012-12-31T18:20:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-commercial-recaps/645688/1 "2012-12-31T18:20:45Z")
What is it with those idiotic recaps after a commercial break during a documentary? (I use the term ‘documentary’ loosely - usually a true crime thing.) There was one the other night that had to go on for a full minute, maybe more. One or two lines? O.K. but to re-tell the whole damn story each time is a little much. Can’t they come up with enough material to fill the allotted time? Or is it that the average viewer has such a short attention span that this is necessary? I guess it says something about the quality of TV I’m watching. Which says something about me.:eek: ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-commercial-recaps/645688/2 "2012-12-31T18:33:35Z")
If I had to hazard a guess it would be that they know most channels have commercials on about the same time. Viewers from other channels may start surfing around and land on their program. The recap is there make them interested enough to stick around. Without the recap they might not understand what’s going on and they’ll move on. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-commercial-recaps/645688/3 "2012-12-31T18:36:23Z")
It’s paying concession to the modern television audience that channel flips, or comes into programs in the middle rather than starting at the beginning. They hope the recap will catch their attention so they will be drawn in. If the show just picked up where it left off, they wouldn’t have the hook to know what was being discussed, and would change the channel. I also see it in competition shows like _Face Off_ and _The Voice_. Coupled with in-show promos just before commercials (coming up…) and the dreaded post commercial promo (coming up…, _but first_…) I hate the “but first”. There was one news story type show that went “but first” into every segment. I mean I stated paying attention because it was so common, and it literally started every single segment “Our top story is…, _but first_”. I started joking that they went butt first everywhere. The season finale of _The Voice_ was particularly bad about this. Carson Daly was doing the butt first move pretty heavily. One segment had “coming up just after the commercial: \_\_\_” and then after the commercial “but first…” It’s a giant insult to the people who actually commit to watching a show through. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-commercial-recaps/645688/4 "2012-12-31T18:38:23Z")
You’ve answered the question yourself in the OP, but I noticed it too. Those programs must appeal to a certain sensibility that doesn’t mind the constant repetition. In fact, I believe that the fans of those shows don’t watch them just to ascertain the facts regarding a particular event that occurred. Rather, they watch them as a kind of fiction which satisfies a prurient and developed recreational outrage, with clearly defined “bad guys” they can excoriate as a form of enjoyment, to elevate their own sense of self- righteousness. So the recaps aren’t annoying repetitions for them–instead, they make up a kind of sneering leitmotif. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-commercial-recaps/645688/5 "2012-12-31T19:18:16Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Carson Daly was doing the butt first move pretty heavily. Some people would probably say that’s how he pretty much goes through life in general. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-commercial-recaps/645688/6 "2012-12-31T19:32:47Z")
It cheaply kills a lot of airtime. You can start with a 30 minute documentary, tack on opening and closing credits, some recap filler plus the ads themselves and tada!, it’s now 60 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-commercial-recaps/645688/7 "2012-12-31T21:55:28Z")
It’s why (well, one of several reasons) I stopped watching _Dateline_. First commercial [before]: “Coming up, after the break [story #1 details]. And later [story #2 details].” First commercial [after]: “Remember that … [recap of story #1].” Second commercial [before]: “Coming up, after the break [the same story #1 details]. And later [the same story #2 details].” Second commercial [after]: “Remember that … [recap of story #1].” Third commercial [before]: “Coming up, after the break [the same story#2 details].” Third commercial [after]: “Remember that … [recap of story #2].” _60 Minutes_ is deeply refreshing in contrast. Short clips from all three stories at the beginning and that’s it. ---
**Author:** ![Opus1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/858c86/32.png) [@Opus1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Opus1)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-commercial-recaps/645688/8 "2013-01-01T02:13:51Z")
Mandatory Mitchell and Webb link: [That Mitchell and Webb Look - Gift Shop Sketch I'm looking for a gift for my aunt - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MFtl2XXnUc) ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-commercial-recaps/645688/9 "2013-01-01T05:34:38Z")
> [@Opus1](#): > > Mandatory Mitchell and Webb link: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MFtl2XXnUc](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MFtl2XXnUc) Hey, that was pretty good! ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-commercial-recaps/645688/10 "2013-01-01T17:56:38Z")
I prefer recaps of Kellogg’s commercials. Tastier. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-commercial-recaps/645688/11 "2013-01-01T18:53:40Z")
My niece was visiting for the holidays and she’s addicted to trashy reality shows. So I’ve been exposed to more reality TV this past week than I’d normally get in a year. And I noticed exactly what the OP is talking about. Everytime _My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding_ or _Maximum Security Lockup_ or _Border Patrol Wars_ or _I was a Teenage Mother_ cut to a commercial, there’d been a voiceover telling you what was going to happen next. And when they came back from the commercial, there’d be another voiceover telling you what had already happened in the episode. I also found out that they don’t run these shows one episode at a time. When one episode of one of these shows ends, likely as not, the next show will be another episode of the same show. Sometimes it seemed like there were five or six episodes of the same show in a row (not repeats - they were sequential episodes). Is that the normal way they broadcast these or is this something they do at the end of the year? ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-commercial-recaps/645688/12 "2013-01-01T18:56:27Z")
**Nemo** -On the night the show airs, the lead-in is frequently the previous episode(s). Bravo does this alot. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-commercial-recaps/645688/13 "2013-01-01T18:58:14Z")
I think they use this to extend 1/2 hour shows into an entire hour. Shows like this get tiresome fast (and maybe they would without the repitition also). The only one I watch regularly that does some of this is Gold Rush. ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-commercial-recaps/645688/14 "2013-01-01T19:42:39Z")
This thread remind me of the Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom pre-caps. Much like the boa constrictor wraps around Jim’s neck in a death grip, Mutual of Omaha wraps your family in a feeling of insurance security… ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2013, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-commercial-recaps/645688/15 "2013-01-02T00:55:53Z")
_Mythbusters_ is pretty guilty of this. If they cut out the recaps, they could fit the show into a half hour slot.