History Main / ViewersAreGoldfish

* In ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'', flashbacks to not even a full scene ago happen fairly often, with one flashback showing something that happened roughly ''thirty seconds beforehand''. In particular, flashbacks to the scene where [[spoiler:Kyoko first informs Makoto of Mukuro's existence]] happen on a near-constant basis during chapter 5.
* In ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'', during the second trial, the game once flashes back to something Fuyuhiko said ''earlier in the trial.'' It's a fairly significant line, but the game has no faith in the players' ability to remember something Fuyuhiko said less than an hour ago.

** [[SelfDemonstratingArticle Laconic version: You skip the filler to find the result.]]
*** In fact you may not even bother to read the abstract unless the ''title'' of the paper suggests that it's relevant: another layer of filtering, which is why they often seem pedantically wordy to the layperson.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' did this as well for all rupees above the one valued at ten. Of course, this can be justified by the game's GroundhogDayLoop plot. You get reminded about the rupees every cycle because you technically ''haven't'' picked up that color before.

* Creator/{{NBC}}:
** Loves to do this for {{Padding}} in their game shows:

** ''Series/MinuteToWinIt'' takes this UpToEleven in the GSN version, especially in earlier episodes. First, just like ''Deal or No Deal'', each contestant always has some kind of sob story to tell, which is usually showcased early in the episode. Then the show will usually proceed to incessantly derail itself between games and after commercial breaks to remind the viewers of it at every opportunity possible. And with each game, after the Blueprint video explains the game, Apolo Anton Ohno will sometimes recap the rules between the Blueprint and the game, or in a voice-over during the game (although they've gotten better about this variant lately), depending on how much {{Filler}} they need to achieve a CommercialBreakCliffhanger. If there's a commercial break before the game ends (and there frequently is), expect another recap after the break. GSN apparently not only think viewers are goldfish, but goldfish with AttentionDeficitOohShiny. At least the NBC version kept everything exciting all the time so sob stories felt a little more enjoyable. They also related to the game, not some random story that the viewers will forget right after they hear it because they want to watch the game. They also had them coming back from a commercial break, meaning you'll learn about the contestant for about 30 seconds, then get back to the game.

* The anime of ''Anime/OnePiece'' is bad for it. Really noticeable post-Time Skip where there is a series recap, opening theme, and then previous episode recap which totals up to about 6 minutes of times, this is because the Anime decides to adapt one chapter per episode and therefore there is more need to pad the episode. In the Dressrosa arc, many flashbacks are done multiple times times, albeit sometimes with minor details added as the story progressed... although it was possible to get the entire gist of the flashback the first time. Also in the same arc is the constant reminder of background stuff happening, cue shots of scenery or background characters giving exposition. Skipping all of that leaves you with approximately 8-10 mins of episode left.

*** In fact you may not even bother to read the abstract unless the ''title'' of the paper suggests that it's relevant: another layer of filtering.

* This is actually used, in a much more ''sensible'' format, in writing scientific papers. First comes the title, which is why they tend to be pedantically wordy from the perspective of a layperson. If the title sounds relevant there is the abstract, which is equivalent to a thesis, is what people reading through papers read to decide if they ''do'' care and often the part you get for absolutely free when looking through a search, and the conclusion is often what will be looked for if the reader is not, in fact, as interested in the 'how' as the 'what' of the experiment you're talking about. For example, if you're only after how long a goldfish's memory is, you are likely to skip entirely the procedure and the details of the results in favor of the conclusion which gives you the nice, short version of the answer and what this actually means.

* This is actually used, in a much more ''sensible'' format, in writing scientific papers. The abstract, which is equivalent to a thesis, is what people reading through papers read to decide if they ''do'' care and often the part you get for absolutely free when looking through a search, and the conclusion is often what will be looked for if the reader is not, in fact, as interested in the 'how' as the 'what' of the experiment you're talking about. For example, if you're only after how long a goldfish's memory is, you are likely to skip entirely the procedure and the details of the results in favor of the conclusion which gives you the nice, short version of the answer and what this actually means.

Sort of like how executives think ViewersAreMorons, they also think you have [[ForgetfulJones the memory of a goldfish]], which, according to an incorrect urban legend, lasts about three seconds.[[note]]Real life goldfish have been proven to have longer memory; a study concluded a maximum limit of seven months. And, if you don't buy that, it's also been [[Series/MythBusters busted]].[[/note]] Because remembering what happens over the course of a ''whole thirty minutes'' or, god forbid, ''an hour'', is too difficult for [[ThisLoserIsYou your general media consumer,]] there is a handy little device called a {{Flashback}} that can be used to rewind, oh, five minutes or so to say, "Hey! This just happened, moron!" [[note]][[AdBreakDoubleTake It may also be the case that a viewer has tuned in partway through the program or series, and therefore has no memory of what happened even moments earlier.]][[/note]] It may also come from an ancient survey that stated that [[WeAllLiveInAmerica Americans]] change the channel 20 times every minute on average.[[note]]Though even if that is true, for the entertainment industry to base this whole trope around it only proves that they [[LiesDamnedLiesAndStatistics have no idea how to properly interpret statistics]].[[/note]]

** The anime sometimes had this with commercial breaks, but it was more stark when an episode would start [[PreviouslyOn by spending at least a couple of minutes repeating what happened in the last episode]].[[note]]Made hilarious by [[Creator/KyleHebert the narrator]] always beginning with "[[LargeHam Last time, on Dragon Ball Z]]!"[[/note]] This made more sense in the original once-a-week schedule in Japan, but in the US it typically aired every weekday and thus felt rather redundant. This would get strange and amusing if the episode itself then opened with the sequence that ended the previous one: every episode used a different animation team, so the exact framing and depiction of the scene would be changed and essentially {{Retcon}} the last few minutes of the previous episode.

** The prequel, ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonRescueTeam'', is also very guilty of this. At multiple times during the main plot, you will have a meaningful dream, wake up, wonder what that dream was about, flash back to the dream, and then wonder some more. There is no time in between where the player is allowed to save, so the player is guaranteed to experience all of these events in one sitting[[note]]That is, unless you experience the dream, let your character wake up, and then leave your handheld to charge for a few days; but it is doubtful the developers were expecting every single player to do this.[[/note]].

* ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' has reminders about the game's magickal ElementalRockPaperScissors built into the scenery in nearly every chapter. Helpful when you're playing as Anthony;[[note]]the first character to practice spellcasting[[/note]] a bit on the condescending side by the time you're playing as Michael Edwards.[[note]]The character directly preceding the end of the game.[[/note]]

* {{LetsPlay/Skawo}} made a counter, the Orly?! [[note]] As in a sarcastic Oh, really?! [[/note]] Counter points out how much a game does this. Whenever the game tells you something you already know, [=whether it's because you were already told or it was obvious=], the counter goes up by one (for the record the highest count was a HundredPercentCompletion for VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor at 619).

** Bart can't remember when his father was a Grammy Award-winning musician with the B-Sharps. (In his defense, he was barely out of diapers at the time, while his sister Lisa was still in them.)

* ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' has reminders about the game's magickal ElementalRockPaperScissors built into the scenery in nearly every chapter. Helpful when you're playing as Anthony[[note]]the first character to practice spellcasting[[/note]]; a bit on the condescending side by the time you're playing as Michael Edwards[[note]]The character directly preceding the end of the game[[/note]].

** ...apparently has the majority of Springfield being this. In "Krusty Gets Kancelled," Bart turns on the station's camera just as Gabbo is saying that "all the children in Springfield are [=SOBs.=]" on live television, which going by Kent Brockman's story, a lot of people were upset by this. However, Gabbo ended up still being number one, only because the people's fury was redirected to Kent Brockman for making the exact same gaffe on the air and thus forgot all about Gabbo's use of the word. It didn't help that Brockman was a ''huge'' hypocrite, condemning Gabbo for using the term ''at all'' and then, two seconds later, muttering it jokingly under his breath, [[IsThisThingStillOn forgetting that the audience could still hear him]].

* The ''ComicBook/RichieRich'' story "[[http://occupyrichierich.tumblr.com/post/74597211174/slammo-ha-he-destroyed-an-expensive-thing-i The Man Who Has Everything]]" is about Richie and his friend Jackie Jokers having trouble trying to come up with a birthday present for Mr. Rich. Richie eventually asks Mr. Rich himself, who tells his son that he'll think it over. The comic then pretty much starts over from the beginning, but with Mr. Rich in place of Richie and Jackie, complete with Mr. Rich making the exact same jokes Jackie made (and having the audacity to claim Jackie couldn't make them up himself).

* ''[[https://youtu.be/BSlF6uKvsh4 Laser Optics II]]'', a 1989 Pioneer Electronics demonstration UsefulNotes/LaserDisc, ends every segment saying "Pioneer [=LaserDisc=]: It's the best show in town", and showing text saying "[[CaptainObvious You are watching a Laser Disc]]". Five segments end with "The sharpest picture, the purest sound, and the hottest entertainment to choose from". This happens after one and a half minutes at the shortest, three and a half minutes at the longest, and two minutes on average. The chapters "The Best Show in Town" and "The Hottest Entertainment" are duplicated onto side B as well. This is [[JustifiedTrope justified]] as it was played in electronics stores with potential customers spending little time watching it. At least you get to see ''WesternAnimation/StanleyAndStellaInBreakingTheIce'' in its entirety as a nice break from the repetition.

** The anime sometimes had this with commercial breaks, but it was more stark when an episode would start [[PreviouslyOn by spending at least a couple of minutes repeating what happened in the last episode]][[note]]Made hilarious by [[Creator/KyleHebert the narrator]] always beginning with "[[LargeHam Last time, on Dragon Ball Z]]!"[[/note]]. This made more sense in the original once-a-week schedule in Japan, but in the US it typically aired every weekday and thus felt rather redundant. This would get strange and amusing if the episode itself then opened with the sequence that ended the previous one: every episode used a different animation team, so the exact framing and depiction of the scene would be changed and essentially {{Retcon}} the last few minutes of the previous episode.

Sort of like how executives think ViewersAreMorons, they also think you have [[ForgetfulJones the memory of a goldfish]], which, according to an incorrect urban legend, lasts about three seconds[[note]]real life goldfish have been proven to have longer memory; a study concluded a maximum limit of seven months. And, if you don't buy that, it's also been [[Series/MythBusters busted]][[/note]]. Because remembering what happens over the course of a ''whole thirty minutes'' or, god forbid, ''an hour'', is too difficult for [[ThisLoserIsYou your general media consumer,]] there is a handy little device called a {{Flashback}} that can be used to rewind, oh, five minutes or so to say, "Hey! This just happened, moron!" [[note]][[AdBreakDoubleTake It may also be the case that a viewer has tuned in partway through the program or series, and therefore has no memory of what happened even moments earlier.]][[/note]] It may also come from an ancient survey that stated that [[WeAllLiveInAmerica Americans]] change the channel 20 times every minute on average.[[note]]Though even if that is true, for the entertainment industry to base this whole trope around it only proves that they [[LiesDamnedLiesAndStatistics have no idea how to properly interpret statistics]].[[/note]]

* Anime in general tends to overuse [[{{Flashback}} Flashback sequences]], often recapping what happened in the last episode, or even earlier in the very same episode. In the former case it can be a necessary refresher to people who are watching it on TV, especially in the case of weekly releases where viewers may not remember what happened after a week's worth of watching other programs, let alone what happened 20 episodes - 20 weeks - previously. Further, it wasn't standard in Japan for anime to be released for home viewing until the late 2000s; without them, you'd have to buy the manga from a bookshop. Today however anime can be viewed on DVD or streaming websites and entire arcs worth of episodes are binged at once, so it can come off as a waste of time today (especially with the glacier-like pace some anime move their stories along).

* ''Film/{{RoboCop|1987}}'': When RoboCop sleeps, he has flashbacks to the beginning of the movie when the gang members brutally gun him down.

This may also be a justification depending on the format. Sometimes, book series will CallBack to past events from the previous books when they were intended to be relatively standalone, or in case the viewer read the previous book, then went on to the next one a little while later. TV shows, for example, are often made around commercial breaks, so when you view it on DVD or on a channel that does not use commercials (such as the BBC) it'll seem odd. Serialized newspaper comics have to be written with the assumption that readers are likely to miss a day's installment once in a while. Even novels that were originally published in serialized chunks may seem oddly repetitive when finally printed as a single book.

* It's a fairly common joke in comedy cartoons in the '80s and '90s to have a character wondering "didn't I say that already?", especially since so many serious cartoons play it straight, [[AdBreakDoubleTake repeating the last scene you saw before the commercial break]]. (This is extra funny on releases with no commercials.)
* ''WesternAnimation/ClerksTheAnimatedSeries''
** The very ''second'' episode does this with its ''first'' episode. Though that's [[RefugeInAudacity the entire point]].
** And parodied it in the first episode. "Last time on ''Clerks:'' *cue test pattern* "

* It's easier to list political ads that ''don't'' rely on this {{trope}} to appeal to the masses. Though that's probably more to use the "repeat it enough and they'll believe it" theory, than because they thought the viewers forgot it.

* The ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'' episode "Auto-Bop" has a flashback to something that happened less than a minute before.

* In ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'', flashbacks to not even a full scene ago happen fairly often, with one flashback showing something that happened roughly ''thirty seconds beforehand''. In particular, flashbacks to the scene where [[spoiler:Kyoko first informs Makoto of Mukuro's existence]] happen on a near-constant basis.

Compare FleetingDemographicRule, where executives believe that they can recycle whole plots due to this short memory, or RepeatingAd, where it's presumed viewers will not recall ads they saw in the same commercial break. Also compare RecapEpisode, where an entire episode functions as this for a series. For characters in-story with memory this bad, see ForgetfulJones.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers of Time/Darkness'' uses this a lot more than it should. Some of the most memorable scenes get flashed back to multiple times in the same cutscene, any time you escape from danger your partner feels the need to tell you what just happened, the ending cutscene is a collection of flashbacks, and occasionally your own character will flash back to what just happened, have an internal monologue about what just happened, tell the partner what just happened, and then the partner will repeat it back to you.\\\

** ''Series/MinuteToWinIt'' takes this UpToEleven, especially in earlier episodes. First, just like ''Deal or No Deal'', each contestant always has some kind of sob story to tell, which is usually showcased early in the episode. Then the show will usually proceed to incessantly derail itself between games and after commercial breaks to remind the viewers of it at every opportunity possible. And with each game, after the Blueprint video explains the game, Guy Fieri will sometimes recap the rules between the Blueprint and the game, or in a voice-over during the game (although they've gotten better about this variant lately), depending on how much {{Filler}} they need to achieve a CommercialBreakCliffhanger. If there's a commercial break before the game ends (and there frequently is), expect another recap after the break. NBC apparently not only think viewers are goldfish, but goldfish with AttentionDeficitOohShiny

* Anime in general tends to overuse [[{{Flashback}} Flashback sequences]], often to what happened in just the last episode, or even earlier in the very same episode. In the former case, it can be a necessary refresher to people who are watching it on TV, especially in the case of weekly releases where viewers may not necessarily remember everything about the previous entry after a week's worth of watching other programs, but for viewers who are binging the series on DVD or streaming websites, it can come off as a waste of time.

** The anime sometimes had this with commercial breaks, but it was more stark when an episode would start by spending at least a couple of minutes repeating what happened in the last episode. Made a little strange and amusing by the fact that the repeat could sometimes be ''very'' different than what happened previously. One explanation offered for this was the series changing animation directors often... a new director would show up, decide he wanted someone to emote differently, be positioned differently, or say something different from what the last guy did, and thus essentially {{Retcon}} the last few minutes of the previous episode so as to do it his way.
** This was also stacked on top of [[PreviouslyOn the recaps at the start of every episode]], which just ends up hilarious as [[Creator/KyleHebert the narrator]] always begin with "[[LargeHam Last Time, On Dragon Ball Z]]!"