The other night, a TV commercial ran a brief preview of the next
episode of ?Medical Investigation? in which the lead character
dramatically announces, ?It?s smallpox!?

Tonight, that very episode ran on TV and, for the first 15 minutes,
the medical investigators were trying to figure out what the disease
was that was afflicting a young family.  I kept thinking to myself,
?It?s smallpox. We already know that it?s smallpox.?

I always watch my favorite programs (if they?re not repeats), and I
want to be entertained from beginning to end.  I HATE it when
commercials tell me what the next episode is about.  I usually grab
the remote and hit the mute button as fast as I can so that I don?t
hear anything during the commercial or preview.

The only thing I need to know is if the next episode is all new.  I
don?t want to know anything else.

So, my question is, why on earth would TV producers give away part of
the plot when advertising the next episode of ANYthing?  Have studies
been done to suggest that loyal viewers won?t watch the next episode
if you don?t tell them what it?s about?

I agree with you completely. I hate spoilers in TV promos (and in
movie trailers, where plot details are often revealed). But,
amazingly, not everyone dislikes spoilers. Note the comment here by
tnsdan-ga:

http://www.answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=425813

Alright, apparently some people like previews (and some even like to
know the ending!)

But would those people refuse to watch an episode if there were no preview?

I just don't understand why producers would show a preview.  Just whom
are they trying to attract?  Won't loyal viewers always watch every
new episode, even if there is no preview?

When they show a preview, they are annoying some loyal viewers (e.g. ME!)

Hi Rambler and Pink,

As Nelson-ga also pointed out in that thread #425813, good site
reviews post a "spoiler alert". Perhaps TV pre-advertising could do
same. The same as when a newsreader suggests turning your TV down with
the upcoming sports results, when shift workers want to watch the
replay as if it was live.

Re the smallpox issue Rambler, was there also a further twist to the
story which made that initial revelation insignificant to the whole
story? Was the main plot really only revealed after watching the full
show?

Phil

I am one of those people that likes the preview.  I just like that
superior knowledge of what is happening.  Maybe it is genetic.  My
father cannot follow the plot of a movie.  Someone has to sit beside
him and tell him what is going on and then  he enjoys the show.
(making us unpopular at the theater - but that is another subject). 
However I might add that I HATE it when the same thing happens with
books.  I had started reading one book in a series and checked Amazon
for a brief description of the next book.  The subplot in the first
book was a romance - a whole will she won't she get together with this
guy.  The summary from the second book started out... "Our heroine is
back, married to so and so, and now throwing up because she is
pregnant."  Really ruined the whole thing for me.  I think I will go
to Amazon now and complain.

To Silver777:

You asked, "Was there also a further twist to the
story which made that initial revelation insignificant to the whole
story?"

Answer:  Yes, the bigger plot line was "where did the smallpox come
from", and that's what the remaining 45 minutes concentrated on (and
it was interesting to watch).

BUT -- the first 15 minutes of the program were an annoying waste of
time for me because, as I said, I already knew that the disease was
smallpox.  I would have enjoyed the entire 60 minutes if I hadn't seen
the preview.

To nkamom:

You said that you are "one of those people that likes the preview."

My question to you is, if no preview were shown, would you then refuse
(or fail) to watch your favorite TV show?  Wouldn't you watch it
anyway?

The TV show previews are not so much for loyal viewers, but for the
occasional viewers who may or may not watch depending on the topic of
the program and for someone who has never seen the program who may get
sucked in by a good commercial.  As you saw when you watched the full
show, the smallpox was not the important part of the plot, rather the
source of it was.  Try not to get yourself so worked up over something
so minor.  There's enough in the real world to worry about.

As for a movie, unless it's a sequel, nobody really knows what it's
about without learning some details of the plot.  I wouldn't pay $10+
(I'm in N.Y.C.) to see a movie I knew nothing about.