Why do shows on streaming platforms waste time with "previously on" recaps?

TachyonTele@lemm.ee to Ask Lemmy@lemmy.world – 30 points –

Everything from the Boys, to Marvel shows, to Lower Decks waste so much time every episode recapping what happened previously. We're watching these shows on demand. If we needed a recap we simply watch parts of the last episode. Binging shows is so normal it's a meme now.

Do the people making these shows seriously think there's a possibility of network syndication or something? As if we'll eventually go back to the network model?

What do you think?

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A lot of times they re-cap the bits from previous episodes that are relevant to the one you're about to watch. They aren't random flashbacks.

Yeah. They always show that old character that you forgot about in the "previously on" right before his surprise comeback.

If they need a recap for the viewers to remember what’s going on then it’s bad storytelling.

Or possibly the viewers have more going on in their lives than focusing on one TV show.

Oh yeah, because everyone will obviously remember what a guy mentioned off hand on a random episode 5 years ago.

I agree that a "previously on" for what happened the previous episode is bullshit, but that's almost never the case.

Not bad, just extended. If you're watching season 3 and there's a throwback to season 1, it's good to have that reminder.

Not everyone binges shows, and some release weekly, and in either case are following the pattern of recaps for those who didn't just watch the previous episode before starting the current one.

I'm just glad all of the ones I can think of have a skip recap button. Same for intros!

I tend to watch shows three or so episodes at a time, but then it can be a few days or even weeks until I get back to it.

Side note: I really appreciate shows that put out a proper recap of the last season. I ain’t rewatching an entire season just so I can watch the new one.

I'd rather watch the recap than manually skip around through a previous episode. And if the recap leaves me confused then I'll looks at the last episode.

So much time being 30s in an hour long episode?

I appreciate the 30 second heads up of which exact previous scenes will be important in the upcoming episode.

Even if I've just binged a bunch, and don't need a recap of the broader story arc, there may have been a name drop or specific reference that could have been missed.

I think there are loads of people that watch several shows at once and get their wires crossed. But there are platforms that are able to skip those

I presume they do it for the people who don't binge watch or who end up dropping a show for a while, only to come back and not remember what happened last episode.

I personally enjoy them considering there are times I watch shows with breaks of weeks in-between episodes and need it. Saves time.

Who's "we"? I love recaps at the start of an episode when the last one I watched was a week ago. If you don't like them, it's streaming video. Just skip forward!

I don't always binge watch shows. And I'm not going to rematch all the episodes every time I come back to a show. And as an ADHD person I appreciate the reminders of what happened.

I'd also consider "volume quotas".

I'll assume that the show creators have a set format/time per episode. Recaps are a "good" way to have filler time, meeting the target episode's length without too much additional effort.

Personally, i feel like the recaps are somewhat of a spoiler to the episode. Usually these recaps are aimed at reminding you of things that you will need/want for the current episode (e.g. who was that character?). If you do remember the previous episode, these edits almost spell out what parts of the plot will be developed in the current episode.

I'd appreciate a solution like the one @vinny_93 mentioned, where the recaps exist, but I can skip them on demand.

I agree on the spoilers thing. Like, remember that bombshell someone dropped four episodes ago and then they never addressed? And that character from last season that left to go investigate on their own?

Most don’t, and the good shows have no problem with content. They have to cut things down.

I've been watching Murder She Wrote and each episode has a "this time on Murder She Wrote" at the beginning that is kind of a convoluted spoiler for the episode. I don't know who would want that, especially on a mystery show.

Murder She Wrote was made with old people as the target demographic and old people have terrible memories. I imagine this greatly cuts down on the "Who is that person?" "Where is she driving to?" "When are they going to catch the killer?" type questions one generally hears when watching an episode of anything for the first time with their elderly parents.

I hate those too. Especially on Murder She Wrote. I skipped every one of them.

I love those, gives you a feel for the type of episode you are about to watch

I don't feel like there is a big variety in vibes from episode to episode on Murder She Wrote. But if they make you happy, I'm glad they are there for you.

Not so much in the first seasons but there are several episodes in the later seasons where Jessica Fletcher doesn't show up at all

I like them. I watch stuff in bursts. Like ten episodes at a time, then I don't have the time to watch anything for a month and my memory gets sketchy.

And The Boys recaps are funny.

If I'm binging, I'll skip them if the option is there. Otherwise, they help when I remember a show exists and I come back to it.

I watch shows 1-2 episodes at a time, then switch to another show.

My only gripe with this is with anime like Bleach. Each episode is 3 minutes of recap, 12 minutes of actual show, and 5 minutes of credits and the outro scenes that have nothing to do with the story. It's somewhat infuriating to watch a recap of something that happened 10 minutes ago 4-5 times an hour.

Apart from that I don't mind them as there is so much content out there and many shows are doing weekly releases, making it easy to forget details.

I don't binge. Can be helpful if it's been a few weeks since I last watched one, although if it's been that long and I can't remember what happened then it's probably not that good a show anyway.

Maybe have the recap as a separate bit that plays only if you're not?

Honestly, the best treatment of this was in the pre-streaming world with the "next time on Arrested Development."

The running joke is that they would pretty much never happen, except once in a while when they did.

You refer to "Previous Leon"? He's a pesky bugger. Always interfering. Best you can do is hold on and wait until you get through the opening title.

I don't mind it. I wouldn't care if they stopped doing it, but I don't skip it when they come up

I like it. First reason is I don't always watch just one show, sometimes I'll move between 3-4, so it can be a week before I see the same show again. Just because a lot of people binge doesn't mean everyone does.

Secondly there's no way on earth I'd want to scrub through the previous episode trying to find and remember the important points, especially with buffering, it'd probably take just as long as rewatching the episode.

Third is that it's not always just the last episode they're recapping, sometimes it'll be something from episode 2 that's only now become relevant in episode 5, and without binging it I definitely prefer the reminder, sometimes even with.

My last point isn't really a point explicitly in favour of recaps, but finally, you can skip them very easily if you don't want them. Most if not all streaming services literally build in a skip button for the theme/opening/recap. But even if they don't it's pretty easy. So I don't really see it as a big deal in the end.

I think they should just number the episodes on the title screen, like Ninjago did. Even with the recaps helping me determine what happened in the previous episode, shows like Avatar often left me in the dark because the recap clips were almost never the parts of the previous episode I remembered.