Previously, on the history of television....

[tzikeh]

What was the first show to use "Previously on" openers? Did Hill Street Blues use them? (At some point in my life in fandom, I remember being told that Wiseguy was the first show to do so, but I think it must have been used on Hill Street and St. Elsewhere, no?) What about before that? My sense is that this opener would have come about with the advent of story arcs on television, and Hill Street is often pointed to as the watershed moment for that, but does anyone know, or know how to find out, when it first appeared on television?

(The sad thing is discovering that many people on the internet think that the answer is Lost.)

Comments

[lydiabell.livejournal.com]

Does daytime count? Because I'm reasonably certain that daytime soaps did it before any nighttime drama.

(The sad thing is discovering that many people on the internet think that the answer is Lost.)

::cries::