Original Desmond

For me it is without doubt Angel, Series 4 Episode 10, "Awakening".

Sure rewatching the episode a few times, all the signs are there but watching it the first time, it had me totally and was just awesome.

atari2600

what does bait and switch mean when talking about tv shows?

Giantrobo

The show seemed to go one way but the resolution was totally unexpected? I don't know....

j123vt_99

there have been a few south park episodes where they build up expectations and then don't deliver.. lemmiwinks, cartman's mom.. but not sure if that is what you mean

Groucho

I'm not entirely sure what is meant by this, but using Giantrobo's definition, I'd have to go with the pilot episode of "The Shield."

Doughboy

I'll admit it did surprise me somewhat. But imagine how effective it would've been had Mutant Enemy not been so open about Angelus returning. Not to mention the WB's promos showing the final shot of the episode!

resinrats

7th Heaven has done it a few times. The commercials make it seem the story will go one way but in the actual episode, it is totally different. Example: A few years ago, Simon was make to look like he out drinking and got drunk. In the actual show, he drank spiked punch that he didn't know was spiked.

Original Desmond

I never saw any of that promo stuff, that might have helped me enjoy the episode more

Red Dog

Probably not the best but the most infamous is Bobby Ewing opening that shower door.

Tommy Ceez

The best 'bait and switch' was the Growing Pains when Mike and Boner got the job at the stereo store and they were told to say the sale item was sold out, but the really expensive stereo was the way to go.

Manager "Mike, do you know what Boner made last week in commisions? $2.48"

Mike " Is that net or gross?"

Manager "His net IS gross"

milo bloom

Oh dear Lord, I do remember that... damn you!


crawls under desk and cries that he remembers crap like this, but can't remember his parents' birthdays

DeadLamb

yeah but all of those are more plot twists then the real bait and switch IMO..

worst bait and switch so far this season has been a few of the WB shows where they were showing clips from eps 3 or 4 eps down the road as if they were this weeks ep.. So you watch, then the show has zero anything from the clip in the ad.. Errr of course in this case we I'm talking about the WB show "They Moutain" and heck even I stopped watching that after 5 eps or so..

Las Vegas does some good bait and switch stuff too.. being you never really know if the guest star will be part of the show or just "playing a hand of blackjack" and wave hi or whatever.. The always make it seem like "Ohhhh next week we have......." then they are on for all of 3 min, maybe..

of course the great classic bait and switch move is still when they go on and on about a cast member no longer being on the show.. then they ax off someone you sort of kind of maybe saw for a ep or two 3 months ago.

edit.. Oh and I sort of rem an ep of Married with Children where Al wants a new car.. then they sell him his old car back for even more $$$.. All time car shaft bait and switch

Superman07

The "Superbowl" episode of Alias definitely comes to mind.

Michael Corvin

Still not sure what is intended by Desmond, but the whole nature of 24 might be a good example. Of course that takes place over a whole season, but it starts out one way and ends in no way imaginable from the info you are givin from the first dozen episodes.

AndyCapps

The WB has the use of bait and switch with their previews down to a science.

milo bloom

I remember ST Voyager was particularly bad about this. Esp when it came to their Borg episode promos.

johnglass

If you're talking about the previews showing something, and the episode being totally different, The Sopranos has been the worst offender of this over the past few seasons.

riley_dude

I didnt know what Bait and Swith meant either.

Hmmm. Well I sure didnt think Angel would be turned evil at the end of the Buffy episode in Season 2 and staying like that and killing people was even more of a surprise. Usually if something like that happens on TV, it is resolved by the end of the episode. Not the case here. That's when I knew Joss wasn't playing it safe.

Groucho

This thread is hilarious. Since nobody knows what the original poster was talking about, we're all interpreting the comments and putting out "examples" based on those interpretations. You could get similar results by starting a thread titled "Type in random things about tv shows."

Tommy Ceez

All of a sudden

"Suprise plot twists"

now means

"Bait and Switch"

Joe Molotov

Does that mean this thread is a Bait and Switch? It certainly wasn't what I expected when I read the title.

Timmio

Almost all reality Tv shows do this in their promos.
"You won't believe what happens in the boardroom next week"

Shots of a shark in the water, then quick camera movement and a scream..
"Someone" shots of teary eyed contestants
"Gets" (contestent1 "There was so much blood")
"HURT!"
It actually means somebody wins an award to swim with sharks, a different person cuts themselves making a shelter and the people were crying because someone got voted off the island...

Jadzia

My favorite "bait and switch" moment occurred in Buffy (can't recall the episode title when Cordelia and Oz discovered Xander and Willow kissing and Cordelia fell through the steps and was impaled. Xander rushes to help her. They cut to the next scene which is a funeral taking place. Suddenly Buffy and Willow walk past the funeral scene and ask "How's Cordelia?" "Oh, she's recovering." I love that moment because it plays on every movie/TV cliche that has a character die in one scene and the very next is the dramatic outdoor funeral scene. I always find that cliche cheap since usually funerals take place several days after a death and instead of showing you the immediate response to a person's death, they FF to the cheap, obvious funeral shot.

milo bloom

I'm still mad about this voting crapola on Survivor. That's not Survivor, that's democracy on an island. I have harbored a grudge against this series eversince finding out how it would work.

JasonF

Speaking of which, Ralph Wiggum has got to be the best recurring character on the Simpsons.