Last night we tried watching a new series, called Wizard Wars, just because Penn and Teller were on it.  The show was pretty disappointing.  It tried to be Iron Chef for magicians, but for some reason seemed too "fixed".  Regardless, that wasn't the worst thing about the show.

It was how they stretched 20 mins of content into 42 minutes of show.

See if you recognize this formula:

Opening
1) show clips of the episode to tease you *
2) show a little content
3) show teasers for after the commercial break *

After Commercial (repeat as often as necessary)
1) show recap of what you just saw before the commercial break
2) show a little content
3) show teasers for after the commercial break *

Final Segment
1) show recap of everything you've seen so far
2) show a little content (with optional overdrawn "dramatic" pause to announce a winner)
3) show teasers for next episode *

* Optionally misrepresent what is being said during teasers, to suggest increased conflict

It's excruciating when the "show a little content" section is equal to or less than the duration of the other two sections in the same segment.  This show felt like that.

Clearly this formula is designed to cater to the people who tune in part way through, and tries to hook them to continue watching.  The problem is, for anyone who DOES continue watching, they end up re-watching the same content 3 or more times before the end of the show.

Or is it made for people who AREN'T watching, but have the TV on anyway?  Like they're busy texting on their phone, or playing poker, or anything that means they only give the TV about 2% of their attention intermittently?

Either way, I hate it.  Shows designed for people who aren't actually watching the show are worse than infomercials.  At least those are honest about being TV Spam.