History TrailersAlwaysSpoil / LiveActionTV

* The game show ''Series/AreYouSmarterThanAFifthGrader'' did a Georgia Special where the contestants were that year's Miss Georgia and the current superintendent of Georgia's schools. At the very beginning of the episode, the voice-over announced "One of them will win the million! Maybe they both will!" Up first was Miss Georgia, who wiped out after the first few questions. Gee, I sure do wonder how the superintendent did....

*** The best part of it is that the Dalek attack scene isn't even in "Army of Ghosts" � it's from the episode after that, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E13Doomsday "Doomsday"]].
** The worst example in the history of the new ''Who'' is [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E4DaleksInManhattan "Daleks in Manhattan"]]. The twist ending of this is the revelation of the Dalek-human hybrid � whose picture was on the front of the ''Magazine/RadioTimes''.

** By comparison, the BBC did a '''lot''' of this for the final three episodes of Series 9. The press releases and official trailer for [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E10FaceTheRaven "Face the Raven"]] revealed that the antagonist was Ashildr/Me and strongly suggested that Clara Oswald would be KilledOffForReal; there were fans who believed the second part '''had''' to be more misdirection and that somehow ''the Doctor'' would bite the dust in the Tonight Someone Dies plot, but no. The press release for [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E11HeavenSent "Heaven Sent"]] revealed the Doctor returning to Gallifrey at last, which in the episode is part of both TheReveal and the {{Cliffhanger}}. And press releases, trailers, '''and''' photos for [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E12HellBent "Hell Bent"]] (plus the synopsis for the followup ChristmasEpisode [[Recap/DoctorWho2015CSTheHusbandsOfRiverSong "The Husbands of River Song"]]) revealed that Ashildr/Me and Clara turn up, the Doctor temporarily becomes a VillainProtagonist, and he doesn't get Clara back as a companion in that SeasonFinale. This is especially odd given that up to that point they'd done a good job of ''avoiding'' this trope, such as hiding that Davros � both as his usual self and as a boy � was featured in the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E1TheMagiciansApprentice season]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E2TheWitchsFamiliar opener]] and the aforementioned Ashildr/Me was central to the StoryArc, and having no Next Time teaser at the end of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E7TheZygonInvasion "The Zygon Invasion"]], only featuring the villains in the official trailer for [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E8TheZygonInversion "The Zygon Inversion"]] to preserve suspense over the OurHeroIsDead {{Cliffhanger}}.

* In the {{Franchise/HarryPotter}} themed quiz show ''The Hogwarts Tournament of Houses'', in the last commercial break before the final round of the episode 3 "wild card" match, a commercial for the next week finale proudly announces the three-way competition between Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, five minutes before they beat Gryffindor to qualify for the finale!!

** Creator/producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse ordered ABC not to show any footage of season 6 in trailers for the next � and final � season. This is both because they wanted a large amount of suspense going into the show's conclusion, and because showing any footage at all would explain the results of season 5's massive cliffhanger.

* ''Series/{{MadTV}}'' regularly spoofed this with fake trailers (notably the one for the Rocket Revengers in Excito-Color movie). The narrator asks the audience various things like "Who will die?", followed by footage of that person dying, going so far as to even show the ending of the film. ("You'll have to pay big money to find out Tooka's secret; that she's carrying Tiny's baby!")
** However, a year before ''Series/{{MADtv}}'' debuted, local Seattle show ''Almost Live!'' did their own fake trailer, which you can see [[http://youtu.be/fiC2J4yoPHI here]].

** On a similar note, the US previews [[note]]This US-based troper is unsure whether the UK preview was the same[[/note]] for season 4 opened with "The king is dead", successfully spoiling the third episode before even making headway on the season premiere. Not to be deterred, it went on to display Merlin and the Dorocha that (successfully) attacked him and the aforementioned carrying scene. And also Uther's body [[DiggingYourselfDeeper for good measure]]. [[DeaderThanDead Just to let us know they were serious]].

* ''Series/TheWalkingDead'':

** Since it was UnCancelled in the 2000s, the show has a strange relationship with this; for the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors, even though sneak peeks are run at the end of most episodes, they make sure that any trailers for the second part of a two-parter are given as much warning as possible, moving them to the end of the credits and giving plenty of room for a continuity announcer to explain. Creator/RussellTDavies is a very vocal critic of spoiling trailers, and often directed editors to screw around with press copies.

* ''Series/RuPaulsDragRace'': This trope is the reason why the series eventually stopped showing previews of the season and the queens' runway outfits. Because if a queen was up for elimination but there was an outfit in the previews that she hadn't worn yet, obviously she was going to stick around long enough to wear it.[[note]]Granted, sometimes an eliminated queen is allowed to return, but that doesn't happen every season.[[/note]] Nowadays, trailers for the season are a production of their own, without footage of the actual show.

* ''Series/{{Degrassi}}'' does this often, especially from season 10 onward. The commercials also weirdly combine this with TrailersAlwaysLie in that they take dialogue out of context.

* ''Series/RuPaulsDragRace'': This trope is the reason why the series eventually stopped showing previews of the season and the queens' runway outfits. Because if a queen was up for elimination but there was an outfit in the previews she hadn't worn yet, chances were she was going to stick around long enough to wear it.[[note]]The only way this was subverted was if an eliminated queen was allowed to return, but that doesn't happen every season.[[/note]] Nowadays, trailers for the season are their own thing, without footage of the actual show.

* ''Series/The10thKingdom'': Creator/{{NBC}} was notorious for doing this during most if not of all of their miniseries "events", but a particularly egregious example occurred ''twice'' for ''Tenth Kingdom'': just after the suspenseful scenes in which Virginia and Tony were trying to buy the Traveling mirror at auction, the trailer revealed [[spoiler:that it gets broken]], and right as we're wondering if the heroes will get to the ball and stop the Evil Queen's plot in time, the trailer revealed [[spoiler:all of Wendell's guests collapsing from poison.]] Next commercial break then shows us ''both'' [[spoiler:the same guests awakening, revealing they weren't really dead]] and [[spoiler:Prince and Wendell switching back--though granted, this was something of an [[TheUntwist Untwist]] by that late in the game]]. About the only major plot point not revealed by the trailers, thankfully, was that [[spoiler:the Evil Queen was Virginia's mother]].
** Not to mention [[spoiler:Wolf stopping the Huntsman from killing Virginia at the end.]]

** Season 3 had a very notorious example. At this point in the season, there was a powdered form of a virus being transported in a plastic bag by a mule (just a kid who agreed to carry something over the Mexican border). CTU spent the entire episode trying to track down the package and the kid. Then, after the episode was over the preview literally had [[spoiler:Jack Bauer yelling "THE VIRUS IS OUT!" in absolute panic]]. Granted, it turned out to be [[spoiler: a false alarm]] but 24 fandom was so pissed off at potentially being spoiled that complaints were flown at FOX's direction and addressed. This resulted in the previews being treated as spoilers in 24 fandom discussion.
** A trailer for an episode late in season 4 spoiled the return of [[spoiler: David Palmer]] in the episode even though he was uncredited to keep his return in it a surprise.

** Making it even more surprising the one time it did happen: [[spoiler: Tobias sneaking into the blind attorney's home.]]

** The previews for [[Trivia/ArrowS5E10WhoAreYou "Who Are You?"]] revealed that the [[spoiler:Laurel seen at the end of [[Recap/ArrowS5E9WhatWeLeaveBehind "What We Leave Behind"]] isn't really a resurrected Laurel, but really [[Series/TheFlash2014 Earth-2 Laurel/Black Siren]] pulling a DeadPersonImpersonation.]]

* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'': This trope happens pretty often in the show's trailers. The promo for "Resurrection Ship, Part 2", apparently attempted to be discreet in its final frame, which showed a hand holding a gun, aimed at Admiral Cain's head. However, the shot of the hand was detailed enough that many astute viewers were able to determine that it was [[spoiler:"Gina", the Number Six Cylon imprisoned on the Pegasus]], well before the resolution aired.

** In the trailer for "Revelations", [[spoiler:every scene but one has already occurred by the episode's apparent ending, and that one scene can literally be missed if the viewer blinked. Even when you see it, it's ambiguous.]]
** The trailer for "The Ties That Bind" pretty much gives away the fact [[spoiler:that Cally doesn't survive the episode]], though how and why are still a mystery.

** "The Hub" had an interesting case. The trailers showed the newly-ressurrected [[spoiler: D'Anna]] telling [[spoiler: Roslin]] that she is a Cylon. Many viewers wondered if it was real or creative editing. As it was revealed, [[spoiler: D'Anna]] ''did'' say that to [[spoiler: Roslin]]. However, she said to to mess with [[spoiler: Roslin]]'s head. In the commentaries of the episode, [[WordOfGod Ronald D. Moore]] expressed great anger that they ruined the joke by putting it in the trailer.
*** Not to mention showing [[spoiler: D'Anna]] was a spoiler in itself.

** The episode "The Hesitation Ramification" showed [[spoiler: Penny proposing to Leonard]]. Immediately the next day the show's Facebook page showed a picture of the scene, ruining it for everyone who planned to watch the episode on rerun/DVR, and also to everyone from countries where the episode hadn't been transmitted yet.
** The show's UK broadcaster E4 is particularly bad at this with the trailer for the Season 8 episode "The Expedition Approximation" (Sheldon and Raj try to spend twelve hours in the university steam tunnels as preparation for an expedition to a salt mine) by showing all of the key plot points like [[spoiler: the presence of rats in the tunnel, Sheldon bailing on the experiment and leaving Raj in the tunnels alone, and Raj's climactic cry of "You ran away leaving me to fend off a family of rats!"]] which comes less than thirty seconds before the end of the episode.
* If their trailers for ''Series/BigTimeRush'' are of any indication, {{Creator/Nickelodeon}} is just plain terrible at making trailers. The hour-long special ''Big Time Concert'' showed various clips of the boys [[spoiler:back in Minnesota, which implied that they had failed in some way and returned home.]] Worse than that were the clips of [[spoiler:the guys reuniting happily, followed by a detailed sequence of them getting kidnapped by Hawk moments before their show, escaping via Carlos's... bravery, and performing at their concert.]] Let's hope the channel never picks up a mystery series, since every trailer would reveal the culprit-of-the-day.[[note]][[spoiler: Yeah... [[Series/HouseOfAnubis about that...]]]][[/note]]
** Another notable example of this is the Christmas special. The first promo showed the weather forecast stating that the airports at Minnesota have been shut down due to a snowstorm, [[spoiler: which happens less than four minutes from the end of the episode,]] then shows the boys and Kendall's family greeting Mr. Bitters on Christmas morning, which happens in the next scene after that.
* When ''Series/BlakesSeven'' was released on DVD, the third season box set included a trailer for the fourth and final season... which focused pretty much entirely on the very ending of the very last episode in which [[spoiler: all the Seven are gunned down by Federation troopers]]. Whilst that one's pretty much ItWasHisSled, there must be ''some'' people out there who were coming to the show for the first time.

** Creator/TeenNick, when they were about to run ''Series/{{Buffy|TheVampireSlayer}}'' repeats, came out with an ad that shows [[spoiler: Buffy and Spike kissing]]. OK, maybe that's ItWasHisSled by now, but the commercial is aimed at people who are not familiar with the series, who will now probably be quite confused when they start watching season 2.
** When Fox ran trailers for the season 5 finale it prominently featured [[spoiler:Buffy's gravestone]], giving away the ending. Worse yet, it was practically played on a loop, making it near-impossible for viewers not to get spoiled if they simply tuned into the channel.
** As for ''Series/{{Angel}}'', the promo for the series finale fairly clearly shows [[spoiler: Lorne shooting Lindsay]].

** During the third season, one episode ended with the implied death of [[spoiler: Devon Woodcomb, aka, Captain Awesome. However, almost immediately afterwards, we see him in the next time trailer, still alive.]]
** Even worse, one episode ends with Chuck about to meet his father (who ran off years ago) in a trailer in the middle of nowhere. The episode ends with the door opening, and Chuck's father hidden. Immediately afterwards the next-episode trailer proclaimed "Next week on ''Chuck'', [[spoiler:Scott Bakula returns to NBC!]]"
** Done again in the fifth season, with "Chuck Versus the Curse" ending with [[spoiler: a jail cell about to open, and the scene abruptly cutting after that.]] Lo and behold NBC's next-episode trailer revealing that [[spoiler: Daniel Shaw]] is the person who's about to exit the jail cell.
* Ion TV's airings of ''Series/ColdCase'' are particularly bad. They do a "Next on..." clip before each episode, and there's a decent chance it will be a major spoiler. One episode, about an aspiring singer killed in the 50's, featured Lilly confronting a suspect (granted, we don't see them) with song lyrics. Since their significance isn't apparent until the last few minutes, it becomes obvious that the first witness to bring them up (casually, and for no good reason) is the killer. [[spoiler: The lyrics were written the night he died, so only three people knew them: the victim, his aunt who help him write them, and the killer.]]
* ''Series/ControlZ'':

** The second season trailer also reveals that Gerry is wanted by the police for Luis's murder, Raúl's unfair return to the school through blackmailing means, Luis' drawings being the source of torture the avenger takes advantage of to hurt the students whom they believe are at fault for his death and the money stolen from Raúl inside Luis' locker, which would later unwittingly seal Susana's doom.

** The DVD release of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E4TheEnemyOfTheWorld "The Enemy of the World"]] shows the very final scene of the story, including the shot of [[spoiler:Salamander being sucked out into the Time Vortex]], which is literally the last thing before the credits roll.
** The Radio Times would occasionally spoil surprise reveals during the show's run. The preview for [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E3TheInvasion "The Invasion"]] included a photo of [[spoiler: a Cyberman]], who don't show up until the end of ''Episode 4''. The production team titled the first episode of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E2InvasionOfTheDinosaurs "Invasion of the Dinosaurs"]] as simply "Invasion" to avoid giving away the reason for London being deserted too early, only for Radio Times to not only announce the full title months in advance but include a cartoon of [[spoiler: the Doctor and Sarah being attacked by a Pterodactyl]] with the first episode listing.

** Played straight with the first {{cliffhanger}} of the revived series; [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E4AliensOfLondon "Aliens of London"]] ends with [[spoiler:the Doctor being electrocuted to death by the Slitheen]], which then immediately cuts to a OnTheNext trailer not only showing the Doctor [[spoiler:very much alive]] but also telling [[spoiler:the army]] about the Slitheen's plans!

** The sneak peek for [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E12ArmyOfGhosts "Army of Ghosts"]] at the end of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E11FearHer "Fear Her"]] all but gives away that the "army of ghosts" is made up of Cybermen. This was not actually much of a surprise when you consider that the fact had already been reported in various media. However, [[spoiler:the Daleks also appear]] at the last minute of the episode, a fact that the show's creators went to great lengths to keep secret... only to be spoiled by a glaring shot of [[spoiler:the distinctive XRaySparks effect of a Dalek DeathRay]] in the same trailer.
*** The best part of it is that the [[spoiler:Dalek attack]] scene isn't even in "Army of Ghosts" — it's from the episode after that, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E13Doomsday "Doomsday"]].
** The worst example in the history of the new ''Who'' is [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E4DaleksInManhattan "Daleks in Manhattan"]]. The twist ending of this is the revelation of the [[spoiler:Dalek-human hybrid]] — whose picture was on the front of the ''Magazine/RadioTimes''.
** The American recut trailers on Sci-Fi were even worse about this. The trailer for [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E11Utopia "Utopia"]] gives away the last minute twist of [[spoiler:the Master's return]]. Perhaps they thought Americans wouldn't be up enough on ''Doctor Who'' history to understand it when it came, so they spelled it out for us.

*** This, however, doesn't excuse what they did for the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E13JourneysEnd fourth season finale]]: the ''very first thing they show'' is [[spoiler:Creator/DavidTennant's face, spoiling that he doesn't really regenerate]], and it goes downhill from there. It's like they ''want'' Americans to pirate the show from the UK...
** [[DiscussedTrope Discussed in the DVD commentary]] on the Next Time trailer at the end of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E11Utopia "Utopia"]], where the producers point out that they deliberately avoided using any shots of [[spoiler:the Doctor, Martha or Jack, implying that they were still trapped like they were in the cliffhanger]]. This might also count as NeverTrustATrailer, as it implied that [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E12TheSoundOfDrums the episode]] would [[spoiler:focus on the Master rather than the Doctor and his companions]]. In the actual episode, [[spoiler:the Doctor's successful arrival in modern London is literally the first shot]].

*** Sci-Fi's version (as usual) pretty much ruins it, what with [[spoiler:Donna being alive]] and [[spoiler:River biting it]].
** Alternatively, for [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E12TheStolenEarth "The Stolen Earth"]]. The protagonists finally learn what has caused the Earth's movement, and that there is reason to be very very afraid, and the audience should also be very very afraid and surprised... except that [[spoiler:the Daleks]] had been on the trailer for the entire series, broadcast a least once a night for the past three months, and hadn't yet appeared in a single episode.
*** Though as "The Stolen Earth" used [[spoiler:Daleks]] on a public location shoot for the first time since 1988, keeping their return under wraps would have been all but impossible.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]]'s DVD menu is basically a montage of the first episode's cliffhanger, giving all the plot twists away. [[spoiler:It's almost entirely made up of clips of the Master zapping around or taking control of the Immortality Gate or turning everyone into himself.]] Nice one, BBC.
*** The BBC website spoiled the [[spoiler:return of the Master]] in the 2009 Christmas Special. In September.
** However, it was played with quite well in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E3VictoryOfTheDaleks "Victory of the Daleks"]] getting a ''Radio Times'' cover. It got three, each showing [[spoiler:a different Paradigm Dalek,]] but since these [[spoiler:Daleks]] had three with the colours of the major British political parties they played it off as for the election, one for each. Still spoiling, but covertly.
** The cliffhanger at the end of the opening [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E1TheImpossibleAstronaut two]]-[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E2DayOfTheMoon parter]] of Series 6 centers around [[spoiler: Amy shooting a little girl in a spacesuit]]. The trailer for Part Two not only [[spoiler:shows the girl alive and well, but also where the bullet harmlessly penetrated the spacesuit.]]
** One of the trailers for [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E5TheAngelsTakeManhattan "The Angels Take Manhattan"]] shows Amy and Rory [[spoiler:falling. So the minute they get to the roof, you know what's coming...]]
** The preview image for the {{Webisode}} [[Recap/DoctorWho50thPrequelTheNightOfTheDoctor "The Night of the Doctor"]] showed [[spoiler:Creator/PaulMcGann]], whose appearance within the episode is treated as a surprise.
** Brilliantly subverted with Part One of the Series 8 finale, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E11DarkWater "Dark Water"]], the trailer for which utilised misdirection and NeverTrustATrailer to the nth degree. The Cybermen had already been seen on location outside St Paul's Cathedral, so the trailers featured them heavily with clips from both "Dark Water" and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E12DeathInHeaven "Death in Heaven"]] being used to hide the plot points that [[spoiler:Danny dies at the start of the episode]] and Missy [[spoiler:is actually the Master]]. It also took a number of clips entirely out of context to give the impression that [[spoiler:Clara becomes a villain and that she was using some kind of false identity all along]].
** By comparison, the BBC did a '''lot''' of this for the final three episodes of Series 9. The press releases and official trailer for [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E10FaceTheRaven "Face the Raven"]] revealed that the antagonist was [[spoiler:Ashildr/Me]] and strongly suggested that [[spoiler:Clara Oswald would be KilledOffForReal]]; there were fans who believed the second part '''had''' to be more misdirection and that somehow [[spoiler:''the Doctor'' would bite the dust in the Tonight Someone Dies plot]], but no. The press release for [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E11HeavenSent "Heaven Sent"]] revealed [[spoiler:the Doctor returning to Gallifrey at last]], which in the episode is part of both TheReveal and the {{Cliffhanger}}. And press releases, trailers, '''and''' photos for [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E12HellBent "Hell Bent"]] (plus the synopsis for the followup ChristmasEpisode [[Recap/DoctorWho2015CSTheHusbandsOfRiverSong "The Husbands of River Song"]]) revealed that [[spoiler:Ashildr/Me and Clara turn up, the Doctor temporarily becomes a VillainProtagonist, and he doesn't get Clara back as a companion]] in that SeasonFinale. This is especially odd given that up to that point they'd done a good job of ''avoiding'' this trope, such as hiding that [[spoiler:Davros — both as his usual self and as a boy —]] was featured in the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E1TheMagiciansApprentice season]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E2TheWitchsFamiliar opener]] and [[spoiler:the aforementioned Ashildr/Me]] was central to the StoryArc, and having no Next Time teaser at the end of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E7TheZygonInvasion "The Zygon Invasion"]], only featuring the villains in the official trailer for [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E8TheZygonInversion "The Zygon Inversion"]] to preserve suspense over the OurHeroIsDead {{Cliffhanger}}.
** Series 10 was '''even worse''' regarding its two-part SeasonFinale [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E11WorldEnoughAndTime "World Enough and Time"]]/[[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E12TheDoctorFalls "The Doctor Falls"]]. First, one of the very first plot points the BBC revealed was that the original Mondasian Cybermen would appear, when the former episode is mostly spent building up to TheReveal of their presence. Then the second trailer for the season aired at the end of the season premiere [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E1ThePilot "The Pilot"]] had a shot of [[spoiler:John Simm as the Master]], the '''second''' big twist of "World Enough and Time", which to judge by Creator/StevenMoffat's comments — including asking an audience at a screening prior to the episode's initial airing on April 15, 2017, to close their eyes before they could see it — he would rather hadn't been in the trailer at all, considering how {{unexpected|Character}} this appearance was. It wouldn't have mattered if they did, though — once [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E10TheEatersOfLight "The Eaters of Light"]] aired, that twist was spoiled '''everywhere''' — the Next Time preview of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E11WorldEnoughAndTime "World Enough and Time"]], the poster for the episode... all for something only revealed in the last few minutes of the episode. The same Next Time trailer heavily implied that [[spoiler:Bill Potts, the primary companion in this season]] would be the mysterious character the Doctor had "pledged to protect" yet would witness the death of that Moffat teased in his pre-air synopsis, when up to that point it was just as likely to be [[spoiler:Missy, of all people]] given how the StoryArc was shaping up. Then other trailers for the episode strongly hinted at [[spoiler:Bill getting Cyber-converted]], the '''third''' twist of the episode and the ultimate {{Cliffhanger}}! About the ONLY major development not spoiled, partially because the relevant scene was left off of the earliest preview copies, was that [[spoiler:the story led up to the Twelfth Doctor being fatally wounded and facing regeneration — though he managed to put it off through to the end of ChristmasEpisode that followed]]. Moffat, [[spoiler:John Simm himself]], and many, many reviewers and fans were vocal about how badly this storyline was spoiled.
** Subverted with the trailers for the 2017 ChristmasEpisode [[Recap/DoctorWho2017CSTwiceUponATime "Twice Upon a Time"]]. They gave away that [[spoiler:Bill Potts and the Doctor are reunited]], which doubled as a LateArrivalSpoiler for a major twist in the previous episode, ([[spoiler:Bill's restoration to human(oid) form]]). The subversion? [[spoiler:She's actually a Glass Person avatar of Bill, who is elsewhere living her own life. For all intents and purposes they're the same person, but it's hard for the Doctor to accept this idea.]]
** ''All'' the pre-publicity for Creator/JodieWhittaker's first season spoils the end of the first episode, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E1TheWomanWhoFellToEarth "The Woman Who Fell to Earth"]]. The publicity [[spoiler:made much of the Doctor's three companions, Graham, Ryan and Yasmin]]. So when the episode [[spoiler:features a ''fourth'' member of the group, Grace, Graham's wife and Ryan's gran, who is the most enthusiastic about entering the Doctor's world]], it's fairly obvious [[spoiler:she's not going to make it to the end credits]].
** The Christmas Day teaser for [[Recap/DoctorWho2019NYSResolution "Resolution"]] revealed that the New Year's special's mysterious villain was [[spoiler:a Dalek]]. This is treated as a major reveal in the episode proper, and was kept a secret until then.

** To announce the week of new episodes beginning August 9, 2021, they posted an image of Purple Panda with a megaphone. This seems to be okay at first, but then you realize that in the first episode of that week's premieres, "The Cow and Potato Bug Opera", [[spoiler: Donkey has to become an actor in the play and let someone else direct, and this spoils who gets to become the director]].
** The "Get To Know" profile for Duck Duck, which was posted in May 2021, mentions [[spoiler: her book swap box]] from "Bye Bye Book", which would premiere in August 12, 2021.
** When the social media posted their "Get To Know" post about Bob Dog in May of 2021, it mentioned that [[spoiler: he loves to tap dance]], which isn't revealed until a brief scene in "The Cow And Potato Bug Opera", which aired on August 9, 2021.
** In the "Get To Know" profile for Stanley the Dragon in July of 2021, the post mentioned that he [[spoiler: becomes a substitute walking stick for Grampy]] in "Walking Stick Blues". It also spoiled [[spoiler: an episode in which he puts on a one-dragon show]], which didn't air until June 7, 2022.

* ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'' got hit with this ''hard'' during promotion for the multi-parter, "Really Big Shrimp". One of them showed the entire resolution of the episode, which is everyone at Helen's [[spoiler:wedding]], Josh [[spoiler:wearing the gold vest]] '''AND''' [[spoiler:dancing with Mindy]] (another ad showed them [[spoiler:kissing]]!!!), and Drake performing [[spoiler:his hit song]], interwoven with clips from the episode.

** Take the season 3 episode "A Friend in Need": While the opening reel showed [[spoiler:the substitute's backing out of the production being revealed to everyone]], it didn't show exactly ''why'' he did so.
** Played straight with "Who Am I, Really", in which a photographer comes to the school, [[spoiler:Nicole finds out that the photographer is her MissingMom who gave her up for adoption, and is persuaded to stop seeing her by her birth parents]]. This was all played up in the preview.
* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'': Season four episode "John Quixote" includes a reappearance by Zhaan who had been KilledOffForReal the previous season. Her appearance was supposed to be a surprise but the Creator/SciFiChannel decided to include the reveal in the trailers, something fans and reviewers immediately mocked them for.

* ''Series/{{Frasier}}'': The producers had to pull a fast one on Creator/{{NBC}} in order to {{avert|edTrope}} this. In the "Adventures in Paradise" two-part episode, Frasier finds himself at a Hawaiian resort in a room next to his ex-wife, Lilith. The second part ended with a dream sequence where Frasier was back at the resort, this time next to [[spoiler: [[Series/{{Cheers}} Shelly Long as Diane Chambers]]]]. The producers were worried that NBC would heavily promote the surprise cameo, so they shot the scene in secret and turned in a copy of the episode without the scene, only giving the real episode to the executives at the very last minute.

* ''Series/{{Glee}}'' did this in a season 2 episode, showing [[spoiler: Kurt, who has been at a rival school for ten episodes,]] standing at the top of a staircase yelling [[spoiler: "Kurt Hummel's back at [=McKinley=]!"]]

* ''Literature/GreatExpectations'': PBS' trailer for the newest adaptation gives away [[spoiler:how Miss Havisham dies]], even though the official website goes out of its way to stick "Spoiler Warning" on the production designer's discussion of that event.
* ''Series/{{Grimm}}'' is somewhat notorious for this to a point at which some fans stopped watching the trailers. One of the worst examples was showing that [[spoiler:Cinderella/Lucinda was a Wesen even though the episode itself did its very best to draw the attention of the audience to another character]].

* ''Series/H2OJustAddWater'' got a major Season 2 plot point spoiled by Nickelodeon before the series aired in the UK. Previews showed [[spoiler: Charlotte underwater with a mermaid tail]] - which does not happen until well into the second half of the season. Also not as bad, as the first episode hinted at it, but the previews implied that [[spoiler: Charlotte would also be an antagonist]], which again doesn't happen until the season is nearly over.
* ''Series/HannahMontana'': The promos for the final season episode "Hannah's Gonna Get This", spoiled the fact that [[spoiler: Hannah ended up recording the song as a duet with Iyaz]], something which doesn't happen until the ''last minute'' of the episode.

** In the preview for "Sister Twister part 1", it was explained that [[spoiler: Piper found out her brother and his boss are Kid Danger and Captain Man]] despite this being the surprise ending.
* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' on Creator/{{NBC}}'s online streaming is only for spoilerphiles and people who click "Play" faster than they read. Their single-sentence summary for "Angels and Monsters" manages to completely give away the ending of Claire's plotline: [[spoiler:the guy kills himself]].

** The preview for the finale of Season 6 on British TV spoils the surprise ending: [[spoiler: Cuddy leaving Lucas and telling House that she loves him]].
** Each episode on the British Season 4 DVD boxset is accompanied by a still from that episode. The still for 'Wilson's Heart' shows [[spoiler: a distraught Wilson lying with Amber on her deathbed.]]

* ''Series/HowToRock'': A particularly infamous example was TheReveal at the end of "How To Rock A Love Song" was spoiled in a promo for the episode: [[spoiler: Zander Robbins didn't write his love song about Kacey Simon or Stevie Baskara, but about his dog]].
* In the {{Franchise/HarryPotter}} themed quiz show ''The Hogwarts Tournament of Houses'', in the last commercial break before the final round of the episode 3 "wild card" match, a commercial for the next week finale proudly announces the three-way competition between Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and [[spoiler: Slytherin]], five minutes before they beat [[spoiler: Gryffindor]] to qualify for the finale!!

* ''Series/ICarly'': Commercials for the hour-long special "iPsycho", in which a crazy girl locks the trio in her basement, featured about no clips from the first half-hour of the episode. Instead, every commercial emphasized [[spoiler:their friend Gibby coming to save them,]] which literally happens within the last 5 minutes.

** In multi-parters they often have spoilers in the "Next time" segment. For example, the NextTimeOn for [=iStill Psycho=] part 1 spoils [[spoiler:Nora's seemingly normal dad being in on the scheme and Mrs. Benson and T-Bo coming the gang's rescue]].

* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'': In the Season 2 episode that introduced Tara Cole, [[spoiler: she was posing as their client's uptight lawyer to "audition" as a stand-in grifter for Sophie - a fact she didn't reveal to the team (or the audience) until the end.]] Unfortunately, that was given away in one of the promos that aired just prior to the actual reveal in the last segment.
* ''Series/{{Life on Mars|2006}}'': Mere minutes after the last episode had finished on BBC One, fellow BBC channel BBC Three's ''60 Seconds'' (presumably attempting to encourage viewers to watch the episode) announced that the final episode had been shown and, in under ten seconds, spoiled that [[spoiler:Sam had been revived in the present and jumped to an apparent death to return to the '70s]]. It was followed by an (unscripted, one imagines) apology for those that had recorded the episode to watch later.

** Creator/producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse ordered ABC not to show any footage of season 6 in trailers for the next — and final — season. This is both because they wanted a large amount of suspense going into the show's conclusion, and because showing any footage at all would explain the results of season 5's massive cliffhanger.
*** ABC, however, did not listen to them and began showing new footage just a couple of days before the season's premiere. Due to how season 5 ended, almost any footage would have spoiled the basic premise of the season. They also spoiled specific things like the fate of [[spoiler:Claire]].

** "Everybody Loves Hugo"'s final scenes include [[spoiler:Desmond]] being tossed down to a well, possibly to his death. Cue the next time trailer for "The Last Recruit", which shows [[spoiler:Desmond]] alive and well.
*** To be fair, no one who watches ''Series/{{Lost}}'' religiously would have had any doubt about [[spoiler:his fate]] anyway. If we didn't see it, it didn't happen.

** On a similar note, the US previews [[note]]This US-based troper is unsure whether the UK preview was the same[[/note]] for season 4 opened with [[spoiler:"The king is dead"]], successfully spoiling the third episode before even making headway on the season premiere. Not to be deterred, it went on to display Merlin and the [[spoiler:Dorocha that (successfully) attacked him]] and the aforementioned carrying scene. And also [[spoiler:Uther's body]] [[DiggingYourselfDeeper for good measure]]. [[DeaderThanDead Just to let us know they were serious]].

* The promos for the ''Series/MyBabysittersAVampire'' season finale when it aired on Creator/DisneyChannel pretty much spoil what was probably intended to be a {{Wham E|pisode}}nding, showing clips that make it blatantly obvious that [[spoiler: Jesse bites Ethan and Sarah sucks the vampire venom out of Ethan, becoming a full vampire in the process]].
* ''The Mysteries of Laura'': The trailers for the pilot (to repeat, '''the pilot''') give away that the killer in the case Laura is investigating is [[spoiler:her own boss]]. Not that that was the only problem critics and viewers had with the show...
* The trailer for the television series based on ''Literature/TheMysteriousBenedictSociety'' gives away that [[spoiler:Mr. Benedict and Mr. Curtain are twins]], even though in the TV series, this is intended as a major shock and surprise, just like in the books.

* ''Series/NCISLosAngeles'' did this at the beginning of season three. After shooting [[spoiler:Hetty]] at the end of the premiere, they went on to reveal [[spoiler:that she survived the shooting]] in the promo for the next week's episode.
** Although they do subvert this in the promo for the fifth episode of season four [[spoiler: in which all of the footage is from the continuation of the episode airing two weeks later. Seriously, nothing that that promo happened in the episode. Not a damn thing.]]

* ''Series/TheOC'': Creator/NetworkTen purposely ruined the shocking twist in the finale of the third season for Australian viewers. Instead of letting us think she was getting PutOnABus, the channel decided to start showing ads three weeks before the finale saying "[[spoiler: MARISSA... WILL... DIE]]".
* ''Series/OnceUponATime'' is terrible at this. Between the trailers and the lengthy promos ABC releases before every episode, you barely need to watch the episode at all. Most recently the trailers for season two episode 'The Doctor' gave away the big twist the writers had been keeping secret from fans since season one, that Doctor Whale's Fairytale Identity is [[spoiler: Doctor Frankenstein]].

* The promo for ''Series/PersonOfInterest'''s "If-Then-Else" played with this with shots of four of the five main characters taking apparently fatal wounds. Savvy viewers figured out that things weren't what they seemed because [[LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt there's no way the show would kill off that much of the cast]]. It turned out that most of the episode was indeed not really happening, but there were some real shots (in particular, [[spoiler:Shaw's last stand and apparent death]]) mixed in.
* The trailer for series 3 of ''Series/{{Primeval}}'' shows the scene where [[spoiler:Helen shoots Nick.]]

* The promo for "[[Recap/ResidentAlienS2E5FamilyDay Family Day]]" from ''Series/ResidentAlien'' spoils the big twist by showing [[spoiler:Liza saying "Hi, Dad" to Harry, revealing that the real Harry Vanderspeigle was Liza's father.]]

** The preview for episode 3 [[spoiler:gave away the fact that Miles and Bass co-founded the Monroe Republic and her Militia.]]
** Far worse is the episode 4 promo, which reveals [[spoiler:someone dies in the episode, and it was very easy to deduce that it would be Maggie.]]

** [[Recap/TheSarahJaneAdventuresS1E1E2RevengeOfTheSlitheen "Revenge of the Slitheen"]], for example, goes strait from [[spoiler:the children being cornered by the Slitheen child to them all running out of the room they were trapped in with no consequences]]. At this point, SJA's parent show ''Series/DoctorWho'' was regularly moving "part 2" trailers to after the credits to make them more avoidable.

** The 1987 direct-to-VHS CompilationMovie ''Learning to Add and Subtract'' provides another "Video Descriptions Always Spoil" example. The plot involves Big Bird needing to learn how to add and subtract "just in time", with Maria constantly asking "just in time for what" but Big Bird not revealing why until the very end. But those who read the description on the video box would already know why Big Bird wanted to learn addition and subtraction so quickly - [[spoiler: because he promised to give Elmo the same lesson.]]
** In a similar scenario, the 2001 CD/audio play ''Elmo And The Orchestra'' revolved around Elmo, upon coming across a bird orchestra tuning up, trying to remember a symphony he'd heard once. The track listing might clue you in to what that song turns out to be: [[spoiler:Beethoven's 5th Symphony]].

* ''Series/SingleFather'': Let's say that ''Series/DoctorWho'' isn't the only Creator/DavidTennant dramas subject to this trope. The Next Time trailers repeatedly revealed major plot points. You'd think that for a show where a major, tension-creating plot element would be [[spoiler:about who fathered whose children]], you wouldn't give the answer away in the trailers. But no....
* One episode of ''Series/{{Sliders}}'' had the title group land in a version of UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco where those in charge force everyone to use some kind of buddy system. If one guy does something illegal, the other one is killed. The area is also more prone to earthquakes than the normal San Francisco and everyone knows that a big one is imminent. Quinn asks one authority figure why nobody tries to leave because of this. The man tells him something the audience learned from the promos: [[spoiler: this version of San Francisco is a maximum security prison.]]

*** "200" {{lampshade|Hanging}}d this, along with pretty much everything else. According to Website/{{Wikipedia}}, the twist they're talking about ([[spoiler:Jack O'Neill's sudden appearance]]) actually made it to the commercials for the episode.

*** Also occurred in "Fragile Balance". A boy of approximately 15 years attempts to gain access into the SGC. After a little info checking, the boy convinces everyone that he ''is'' Jack O'Neill. A genetic test reveals [[spoiler:that he's a clone which, for some reason, didn't age properly.]] Rather than let us find out about this little twist during the episode, the trailer showed ''adult Jack O'Neill'' stating it in no uncertain terms.

** EVERY SINGLE promo for ''Film/StargateContinuum'' shows [[spoiler:Ba'al being betrayed and killed by Vala/Qatesh]], which is really supposed to be a surprise.

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' could be pretty awful about this too. Perhaps the most JustForFun/{{egregious}} was the trailer for the episode, "The Most Toys" which showed Data being captured by aliens, a woman alien offering to help Data escape, and a man [[spoiler:incinearting the woman with a phaser]]. When the episode aired, the man was the villain of the episode while the woman was his loyal assistant...and was a major character throughout the entire episode, not doing her HeelFaceTurn and getting [[spoiler:zapped [[RedemptionEqualsDeath by her boss]]]] until within the last 5 minutes of the episode.

* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' had one immensely frustrating one. At the very end (literally in the last five seconds) of the otherwise unrelated episode "Blood Fever", the crew discover [[spoiler:a Borg corpse, setting up the [[WhamEpisode next episode, "Unity"]], and the primary threat of the remainder of the series. It was pretty effective -- it came completely out of left field and chillingly evoked one of the most terrifying enemies in the Trek mythos (regardless of how unforgivably {{Villain Decay}}ed they would subsequently become)]]. So what do the producers do? Why, they put that scene right in the trailer, of course.
** ''Voyager'''s "The Chute" is a classic example. Paris and Kim are thrown in an alien prison, and about halfway through comes the revelation that [[spoiler:they can't break out because the prison is in space]]. It's a very dramatic shot that would no doubt have been more effective if it hadn't ''been in the commercial''.

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'''s trailers are infamous for this. For example, the season 3's big cliffhanger ending of [[spoiler:Dean being sent to hell]] was kind of ruined since the original episode promo showed [[spoiler:Sam crying over Dean's dead body.]] More recently, the episode promo for season 7's "Repo Man" completely ruined the episode's big twist of [[spoiler:the apparent victim actually being a villain and trying to let a demon that once possessed him once again inhabit his body]] by actually making it the ''focus of the trailer.''

** In the ''Boukenger'' episode called "The Golden Sword," the MonsterOfTheWeek is NighInvulnerable and utterly tearing the Rangers a new one. The trailer reveals that in the following episode, a new character could turn out to be friend or foe and might even fall under the bad guy's control. [[spoiler: Then it goes onto show the Rangers handily beating up the monster that was killing them in the current episode, then said new character joining in and later posing with the Rangers' HumongousMecha.]] Not much is saved for the actual episode at all.

* For ''Series/TrueBlood'', it wasn't a trailer but ''the news'' that spoiled a Season 7 plot element. It was reported that actor Creator/LukeGrimes--who played Jessica's boyfriend James introduced in Season 6--was [[TheOtherDarrin replaced]] because Grimes didn't want to act out a gay love affair with Lafayette. But the story broke shortly after the Season 7 premier, where the two were still platonic and only had a single conversation onscreen (about [[spoiler:Tara's True Death]] and how James was brutally murdered before being made into a vampire) that didn't indicate any sexual attraction between the two.
* ''Series/TrueJacksonVP'' did this for one special. The trailers posed the question of whether True and Jimmy will become a couple or not [[spoiler: while almost simultaneously showing the two kissing, which happens mere seconds before the episode ends.]]
* For ''Series/TheTudors'', a trailer for season three aired before the season began showing Henry [[spoiler: being introduced to his fourth wife, with a voice-over of how marriage to her would add military might to England]], thus spoiling the mid-season plot point of [[spoiler: Queen Jane dying]]. Granted, the series is based on real events, so this must happen eventually, it does put a rather rigid timeline on what should be a sudden and jarring event.

** While not as bad a letout, the first promo for the episode "Robarazzi" shows Robbie being worried about his blog, then humiliating Tori after the video of her playing with her pimple is let out. Then, in another ad promoting the block it was going to be aired in (with ''Series/ICarly'' and ''Series/BigTimeRush''), it shows [[spoiler: Tori and Jade filming Robbie in his gym towel against his plea, implying that they set up a revenge plot, which happens about three minutes from the end of the episode.]]
** The episode "Ice Cream for Ke$ha" has the gang trying to win a contest to get [[Music/{{Kesha}} Ke$ha]] to perform live in Tori's house. [[spoiler:The promo literally says that it has a live performance of Ke$ha on it, while showing her performing in Tori's house.]]

** The Season 2 Comic-Con trailer shows a quick clip of [[spoiler:Guillermo, the leader (and caretaker) of the retirement home in the first-season episode "Vatos"]] lying dead on the ground, while Rick and the others fend off a contingent of walkers massing around the area near his body.
** Previews for the episode "Clear" averted anything that would spoil TheReveal, which harked back to an episode from some time ago, and which formed the basis of the entire episode. Too bad the PreviouslyOn blew that because whoever is in charge of it thought it was worth protecting new viewers from ContinuityLockout with a brief, out of context flashback at the cost of ruining the surprise for anyone else.
** After the Season 5 Comic-Con trailer was released, fans were able to piece together the fact that [[spoiler: everyone would get out of Terminus alive]] by looking at the scenes that obviously took place elsewhere and making sure all the characters were accounted for.

** After season 6 ended with one of the heroes being brutally executed by Negan, AMC faced the challenge of how to market season 7 without spoiling the victim's identity, knowing anything they put out would be dissected by fans. For the Comic-Con trailer, they merely opted to not show ''any'' of the potential victims (which also made for a pretty bland trailer, since that included most of the main cast). A sneak peak was later shown that revealed Rick survived, but given he's the main character, [[PlotArmor that wasn't a huge shock]]. The real spoiler came along when a foreign TV spot clearly showed [[spoiler: Daryl and Michonne]], spoiling the fact that they weren't the victim. AMC quickly had the footage pulled, but by that point, the damage had been done.
** In the promo for ''Series/FearTheWalkingDead's'' Season Two promo, a quick shot revealed that one of the characters from the ''Flight 462'' webseries ([[spoiler:Charlie]]) was still alive, despite airing two weeks before the webseries in question actually ended. As a result, there was no tension over whether the character in question would survive or not.
* ''Series/Warehouse13'' {{avert|edTrope}}s this by [[spoiler: not showing Artie in ads for season 2, since he is supposedly dead]]. They did the same for Myka in season 3 and Jinks in season 4.

** During May 27-30, 2013, the show's on-air promos ''and'' online trailers both were pretty heavy with spoilers towards [[spoiler:a contestant winning $1,000,000]].
* ''Series/WhiteCollar'': Creator/USANetwork's promos for the season 3 finale spoiled the sudden WhatNowEnding about [[spoiler:Neal cutting his anklet.]]

** The promo for the "Wizards vs. Werewolves" special showed Alex's new boyfriend, Mason, (who was introduced in the previous episode) [[spoiler:screaming in front of a full moon as if he was about to undergo some kind of a transformation into a werewolf]]. Guess what?

** Also the episode "Everything's Rosie For Justin". Not only was it advertised as the first episode in the [[spoiler: "Wizards vs. Angels" trilogy, but the promos featured her with angel wings and Justin saying "She's an angel". Them finding out about Rosie being an angel actually happens near the very end of the episode, and is probably supposed to be a surprising twist.]]

* ''Series/TheTenthKingdom'': Creator/{{NBC}} was notorious for doing this during most if not of all of their miniseries "events", but a particularly egregious example occurred ''twice'' for ''Tenth Kingdom'': just after the suspenseful scenes in which Virginia and Tony were trying to buy the Traveling mirror at auction, the trailer revealed [[spoiler:that it gets broken]], and right as we're wondering if the heroes will get to the ball and stop the Evil Queen's plot in time, the trailer revealed [[spoiler:all of Wendell's guests collapsing from poison.]] Next commercial break then shows us ''both'' [[spoiler:the same guests awakening, revealing they weren't really dead]] and [[spoiler:Prince and Wendell switching back--though granted, this was something of an [[TheUntwist Untwist]] by that late in the game]]. About the only major plot point not revealed by the trailers, thankfully, was that [[spoiler:the Evil Queen was Virginia's mother]].

*** "200" {{lampshade|Hanging}}d this, along with pretty much everything else. According to Wiki/{{Wikipedia}}, the twist they're talking about ([[spoiler:Jack O'Neill's sudden appearance]]) actually made it to the commercials for the episode.

* Series/WandaVision

** Taken UpToEleven when a PBS Kids parents article about how to help kids resolve disagreements was posted on May 17, 2022. Not only did said article use a screencap from "Super Duper Magic Fun Box", which aired on June 8, 2022, but the quotes it used from the episode spoiled the episode's conflict and how it was resolved.

** When the social media posted their "Get To Know" post about Bob Dog in May of 2021, it mentioned that [[spoiler: he loves to tap dance]], which isn't revealed until a brief scene in "The Cow And Potato Bug Opera".