History TrailersAlwaysSpoil / LiveActionTV

** 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".
** 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 "Good Dog School".

* The social media account for ''Series/DonkeyHodie'' occasionally spoiled plot points from future episodes on their social media:

** 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"]].

* For ''Series/TrueBlood'', it wasn't a trailer but ''the news'' that spoiled a Season 7 plot element. It was reported that actor Luke Grimes--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/WandaVision

** The clip show in season 2's DVD menu shows Bobbi Morse fighting a bunch of guards while Simmons watches just next to them -- the scene that reveals Morse to be a ReverseMole within HYDRA.

** Seriously, just about every episode does this now. Recently examples include spoiling the funniest (in an episode which wasn't especially funny to begin with), and 'climactic' scene in "iSpace Out".

** Not to mention [[spoiler: Wolf stopping the Huntsman from killing Virginia at the end.]]

* ''Series/BarRescue'': Up until the O-Face Bar, Taffer had never walked out on a rescue. The fact that he does walk was advertised beforehand, and the show had the hashtag [=TafferWalks=]. The walkout would have had more of an impact without the advertising, as it seemed like any other episode up to that point.

* ''Series/DealOrNoDeal,'' like many modern game shows, has a "Coming up..." bumper right before the ad break that shows what will happen after the break. If the Banker calls immediately after the break, but the bumper showed the contestant still playing and picking out cases, it's obvious that the contestant isn't taking the Banker's offer and walking.
* Excellently subverted with ''Series/Deception2018''. ''None'' of the show's ads or trailer gave any hint to the twist in the first act of the pilot that main character Cameron has a twin brother named Jonathan, whose arrest in a murder frame-up kicks off the series.

** 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 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 ''Radio Times''.

*** 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]].
** Subverted ''oh so very much'' in the BBC trailer for [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E9ForestOfTheDead "Forest of the Dead"]].

** 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 space suit.]] The trailer for Part Two not only [[spoiler:shows the girl alive and well, but also where the bullet harmlessly penetrated the space suit.]]

* ''Series/DowntonAbbey'' does this EVERY OnTheNext summary at the end of EVERY episode.

* The TV version of ''Film/{{Fame}}'' began each and every episode (barring the concert specials) with a 30-second mini-trailer for the episode which zig-zagged with this. 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.

* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'': A well-known TV example would be the trailers for the ''pilot'' (if you can call it that, considering it was the last episode aired). The major act break at the half-way point of the two-hour episode was supposed to have been revealing what was in the box Simon was so anxious to keep secret. This was ruined by the fact that the FOX promos spoiled it from the get go, as well as showing the moment the box was opened in the opening credits.
** The suspense of "Which passenger is actually a spy?" is ruined by the fact that the answer is pretty obviously "the one guy who isn't in the opening credits."

** Some trailers for the ''Series/GoodLuckCharlie'' ChristmasSpecial spoil Amy's pregnancy.

* ''Series/HenryDanger'' does this twice. The Toddler was shown a lot in the promos for "Danger and Thunder" but the scene where he makes is appearance in the episode was shown to make it a surprise.

* ''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]].

* ''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 have ordered ABC not to show any footage of season 6 in trailers for the next--and final--season. This is both because they want 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.

** The previews for the last few episodes have done exactly this, and show absolutely nothing from the upcoming episode. It's nice.

*** 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.

** 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]].

* ''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...

* ''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.

* For ''Series/OneTreeHill'', Creator/TheCW did this to themselves with a Season 7 episode. The OnTheNext preview that aired after 7x08 had Brooke's voiceover stating that she thought she could be pregnant. Later, the CW released the clip where she confesses this to Haley before a concert Haley will be playing that night at the town's nightclub. Then the CW releases a promo photo of Brooke drinking at Haley's concert, clearly revealing she ''wasn't'' pregnant.

* The trailer for series 3 of ''Series/{{Primeval}}'' shows the scene where [[spoiler: Helen shoots Nick.]]

* ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'' always has trailer between the cliffhanger and closing credits, with only a few seconds of warning. [[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.
** CBBC's trailer for [[Recap/TheSarahJaneAdventuresS3E5E6TheWeddingOfSarahJaneSmith The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith]] was essentially Part One's cliffhanger and a caption with the start time. Given that the two parts aired only a day apart, spoilers were unavoidable if CBBC wanted more than 24 hours to promote David Tennant's guest role.

* ''Series/SingleFather'': Let's say that ''Series/DoctorWho'' isn't the only Creator/DavidTennant dramas subject to this trope. The Next Time trailers for ''Single Father'' 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....

*** "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.

*** Also occurred in the episode "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.

*** The announcer notably said in that episode's trailer: "They fall into a surprise attack of the replicators!" as the trailer shows...a Wraith ship attacking.

** 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/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.

** The episode "Ice Cream for Ke$ha" has the gang trying to win a contest to get Ke$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.]]

* ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'' {{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.

* ''Series/{{Chuck}}'': 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.]]

* ''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 form the episode.

* When ''The Event'' came back following its Christmas break, the ads made a huge deal out of revealing the origin of the aliens on the show. The show itself does not reveal this until the very last 5 minutes of the last episode, about six episodes after the ads started mentioning it.

* ''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/TheWalkingDead'': 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.

** 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 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 Daleks being the BigBad was treated as a shocking twist in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E12BadWolf "Bad Wolf"]]. However not only was it spoiled by the trailer for that episode, but the ''Radio Times'' revealed this three months earlier when the series began.

** The worst example in the history of the new ''Who'' is the episode [[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 ''Radio Times''.
** The American recut trailers on Sci-Fi are 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.

** [[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.

** Brilliantly subverted with Part One of the Series 8 finale [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E11DarkWater "Dark Water"]], the trailer for which utilised misdirection and TrailersAlwaysLie 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 giving 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 Villain Protagonist, 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 the Christmas Episode 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]].

* As the U.S. ''[[Series/DragonsDen Shark Tank]]'' approached $100 million in deals, they began displaying a countdown to this and the episode in which it actually happened was promoted directly as having it happen in it. Actually somewhat [[JustifiedTrope justified]] on the part of the network because they wanted to promote the fact that the Sharks were going to be on ''Series/TwentyTwenty'' following the show to celebrate it. However, since it happened on the last deal of the episode, it made it obvious that that business was going to walk away with a deal.

* Up until the O-Face Bar in BarRescue, Taffer has never walked out on a rescue. The fact that he does walk was advertised beforehand, and the show had the hashtag [=TafferWalks=]. The walkout would have had more of an impact without the advertising, as it seemed like any other episode up to that point.
* ''Series/{{The Big Bang Theory}}''

* When ''[[Series/BlakesSeven Blake's 7]]'' 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.

* The first full trailer for ''Series/{{Batwoman}}'' gives away that one of the agents of Crows Security is working with Alice, the main villain.

** The preview image for the {{Webisode}} [[Recap/DoctorWho50thPrequelTheNightOfTheDoctor "The Night of the Doctor"]] showed [[spoiler:Paul [=McGann=]]], 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 TrailersAlwaysLie 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 giving 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 Villain Protagonist, 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/{{Eastenders}}'' {{subverted|Trope}} this in the late 90s, when ''fake'' spoilers were inserted into trailers. One gave the impression that club owner Steve was going to be killed by his girlfriend, whereas the actual episode had it happen the other way around. Steve then framed his colleague, who subsequently escaped from prison and returned for revenge. The trailers for that episode implied that he had booby trapped several lightbulbs with explosives as revenge, but the episode had no exploding lightbulbs in it at all.