History Main / SpoiledByTheFormat

* In ''ThePrincessBride'', when the [[EverythingsWorseThanSharks sharks]] are circling around Buttercup, the [[LemonyNarrator narrator]] points out that "since the book's called ''ThePrincessBride'' and since we're barely into it, obviously, the author's not about to make shark kibble out of his leading lady," though he was glad that his father told him that she doesn't get eaten at that point since he was a kid back then and not GenreSavvy enough to rule out the possibility.

* In ''ThePrincessBride'', when the [[EverythingsWorseThanSharks sharks]] are circling around Buttercup, the [[LemonyNarrator narrator]] points out that "since the book's called ''ThePrincessBride'' and since we're barely into it, obviously, the author's not about to make shark kibble out of his leading lady," though he was glad that his father told him that she doesn't get eaten then since he was a kid back then and not GenreSavvy enough to rule out the possibility.

* The Gamecube version of ''TalesOfSymphonia'' does this. [[spoiler: The supposed point of the game is to get to the Tower of Salvation, which you do after around 10 hours. Mission accomplished, right? Well, it'd seem that way if there wasn't that other disc in the case. The real BigBad shows up, twists the plot, and this seemingly short, 10 hour game goes on for another 50 hours]].

For example, when reading a book, you can tell exactly how much of it there is remaining. If you're near the end, you might realize that the [[CosmicDeadline end must come in a certain specific way as any other way would take too long to resolve]]. If you're not, you might know that the [[NotSoFastBucko apparent resolution can't possibly last as there's too much book left.]]

-->"''(On ''LeisureSuitLarry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards'') 1.6 seconds! We've managed to beat the current champion ''GrangeHill''. Can we do better? Of course we can, there's still a fair bit of video time remaining!"

--"[[{{ptitlen5oa6kgtqkst}} Oh, Gonch. Gonch!]] You're never going to get an acting job in ''{{Eastenders}}'' now."

-->"Can we do better? Of course we can, there's still a fair bit of video time remaining!"

* The Gamecube version of TalesOfSymphonia does this. [[spoiler: The supposed point of the game is to get to the Tower of Salvation, which you do after around 10 hours. Mission accomplished, right? Well, it'd seem that way if there wasn't that other disc in the case. The real BigBad shows up, twists the plot, and this seemingly short, 10 hour game goes on for another 50 hours]].

A similar phenomenon can happen for TV broadcasts due to their generally fixed length. For example, in a DramaticHourLong episode, any solution to a problem that comes after 20 minutes will generally fail, while any solution that takes 35 minutes will generally succeed. Even if your time sense is poor, you can often figure out whether the currently proposed solution is the correct one by counting commercial breaks.

* Deconstructed in David Lodge's ''{{Changing Places}}''. The last chapter finishes with one of the characters talking about how he believes film is a superior medium to books because you can't tell when the story is about to end just by noticing how many pages are left. He laments the fact that the only way for a writer to avoid this would be to simply refuse to resolve the story at all. At that moment, the book abruptly ends, with its main conflict left unresolved. This is followed by several blank pages. Only after the blank pages does the book inform you that this is actually the first part of a trilogy. Thus it's a double subversion: The reader assumes there will be a resolution, both because of the low remaining page count, and because he doesn't know there are two sequels. Just to drive the whole movie point home, the last chapter is done in script format (the rest of the book is prose). The novel ends with the "film" burning up in the projector before the story can be resolved.

* "You can't die in the middle of the fifth act" (from ''Peer Gynt'' — see below) is quoted by a GenreSavvy character in JosteinGaarder's magnificently metafictional novel ''[[SophiesWorld Sophie's World]]''.

* Pretty much any of the early episodes of ''{{Star Trek Voyager}}'' where they would stumble across gateways, wormholes, or advanced alien technology which gave them the possibility of getting home early. If it happened in episode #2 of series #1 you didn't need to wait for the 60 minutes to be up to know they were going to get the {{Negative Space Wedgie}} in the end.

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* Lampshaded on ''TheSimpsons''; "Who Needs The Kwik-E-Mart?"
--> '''Homer:''' "Everything's wrapped up nicely. Ooh, much quicker than usual, too!"

[[AC:WebOriginal]]
* Lampshaded in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA3WogFaeFQ one video by Dr. Ashens]], on the subject of the fastest game-overs in video game history:
-->"Can we do better? Of course we can, there's still a fair bit of video time remaining!"
* TelevisionWithoutPity will occasionally snark about the episodes they are recapping in this fashion. For example, in ''{{House}}'', when House makes his first misdiagnosis, the recapper might say something to the effect of: "Since this is just the 15-minute mark, we know that whatever treatment he's prescribed will just make things worse."

[[AC:{{Webcomics}}]]
* The ''Gödel, Escher, Bach'' scenario is referenced in [[http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/1402.html this]] ''IrregularWebcomic!'' strip's annotation, and indeed it does the same thing itself.
* Subverted by a ''PennyAndAggie'' storyline, in which a chapter numbered "N of 15" suddenly has a quintuple-length WhamEpisode on the 11th update, marked "page 11-15".

* See any Youtube fighting game video. If the vid isn't even halfway done when the second round starts, expect whoever won the first round to lose the second round, setting up a third round with everything at stake. If the vid is halfway or more than halfway done when the second round starts, well, no surprises on who's going to win this fight.

* Averted in ''Hopscotch'', which (if read from the first chapter to the last of the main story, in order) ends with about half of the pages still unread. (The remainder of the book consists of short chapters which can be read in between the chapters of the main story according to an alternate order; in this order, the first four chapters one reads are those numbered 73 - 1 - 2 - 116.)

* Pretty much any of the early episodes of {{StarTrek Voyager}} where they would stumble across gateways, wormholes, or advanced alien technology which gave them the possibility of getting home early. If it happened in episode #2 of series #1 you didn't need to wait for the 60 minutes to be up to know they were going to get the {{Negative Space Wedgie}} in the end.

* Lampshaded in an episode of {{Pokemon}} where, after several incredibly dumb attempts to steal Pokemon, Team Rocket actually tries something that might work. James wonders why they didn't start out with this plan, and Meowth replies that they needed to fill an episode.

* U.S. poker-based shows that use the "all in" rule (a player bets all his chips). If there are two players left and:

* The Japanese edition of ''WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire''''?'' always have the current player's round ending by the end of the edition, something {{lampshade}}d in ''LuckyStar'': the whole Hiiragi family watches a quiz, and Tsukasa says that the current player certainly answers wrong, because the quiz show is too close to the end, thus ruining all the climax caused by commercial.

* NealStephenson's work just keeps going at the same pace until about 100 pages after you've finished reading the book, until you realize that you've actually ''read'' the ending in the last 50 pages or so. ''{{Cryptonomicon}}'' goes even further, having having an ending before the end of the ''setup'', before ending a subplot you weren't actually aware existed.
* Averted in books like TheLordOfTheRings that have long appendices, as well as those that give a preview of the next book in the series.
* Averted in ''Hopscotch'', which (if read from the first chapter to the last of the main story, in order) ends with about half of the pages still unread. (The remainder of the book consists of short chapters which can be read in between the chapters of the main story according to an alternate order; in this order the first four chapters one reads are those numbered 73 - 1 - 2 - 116.)
* Deconstructed in David Lodge's ''{{Changing Places}}''. The last chapter finishes with one of the characters talking about how he believes film is a superior medium to books because you can't tell when the story is about to end just by noticing how many pages are left. He laments the fact that the only way for a writer to avoid this would be to simply refuse to resolve the story at all. At that moment, the book abruptly ends, with its main conflict left unresolved. This is followed by several blank pages. Only after the blank pages does the book inform you that this is actually the first part of a trilogy. Thus it's a double subversion: the reader assumes there will be a resolution, both because of the low remaining page count, and because he doesn't know there are two sequels. Just to drive the whole movie point home, the last chapter is done in script format (the rest of the book is prose.) The novel ends with the "film" burning up in the projector before the story can be resolved.

* "You can't die in the middle of the fifth act" (from ''Peer Gynt'' -- see below) is quoted by a GenreSavvy character in JosteinGaarder's magnificently metafictional novel ''[[SophiesWorld Sophie's World]]''.

* Averted in TheDresdenFiles book ''Changes''. [[spoiler: It certainly seems like everything's going to be okay, and Harry and Murphy will finally hook up, and then in literally the last two paragraphs, Harry is shot and killed.]]

* ''LawAndOrder'' is built on a very consistent pattern: The first half is detective work, the second half is the prosecution, and the episode ends with the verdict. Some episodes avert this by having the criminal caught and convicted within the first fifteen minutes. The audience knows that a stunning twist or a second crime is about to occur because the show violated its format.

* 50 minutes ([[DramaticHourLong out of a usual 60]]) into ''BattlestarGalactica's'' season 2 finale, everything seems back to normal, even if our heroes had to [[spoiler:rig an election]] to do it. Then the fraud is exposed, and the episode runs an extra 30 minutes to end on a cliffhanger for the next season to resolve, being the series' first extended episode.
* The real-time format of ''[[TwentyFour 24]]'' means that most of the major action scenes don't take place until 3/4's of the way through any given hour (with very few exceptions). Also, any time an episode's final split-screen is shown with three or four minutes remaining before the beginning of the next hour (especially in later seasons), it's a sign that there's one more scene afterwards (usually as a cliffhanger). Somewhat surprisingly, this is fairly often lampshaded by characters saying something like "I'll be there to meet the shipment at the docks in 20 minutes." If the viewer checks her watch, and it's 9:35, she can be pretty certain something important/exciting/surprising will be happening at said docks.

* Lampshaded on TheSimpsons; "Who Needs The Kwik-E-Mart?"
--> '''Homer''': "Everything's wrapped up nicely. Ooh, much quicker than usual, too!"

* In an article written years ago by sportswriter Phil Mushnick in ''TVGuide'', he complained about the same-day, time-delay broadcasts of the Olympics (and other sports) spoiling the endings. The specific instance mentioned was a tennis match, and although the announcers were asking "Will X make a comeback?" there was only five minutes left in the broadcast, so '''of course''' there wouldn't be a comeback, because there wasn't enough time. If there had been a comeback they would have edited it so there would be time.

* TelevisionWithoutPity will occasionally snark about the episodes they are recapping in this fashion. For example, in {{House}}, when House makes his first misdiagnosis, the recapper might say something to the effect of: "Since this is just the fifteen minute mark, we know that whatever treatment he's prescribed will just make things worse".

* The ''Gödel, Escher, Bach'' scenario is referenced in [[http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/1402.html this]] ''IrregularWebcomic''! strip's annotation, and indeed it does the same thing itself.
* Subverted by a ''PennyAndAggie'' storyline, in which a chapter numbered "N of 15" suddenly has a quintuple-length WhamEpisode on the eleventh update, marked "page 11-15."

* Subverted by ''{{Portal}}''. The New Game level selection menu clearly shows a list of the testchambers, [[spoiler: which make up only the first half of the game]]
* As mentioned in DiscOneFinalDungeon, a lot of the time you know you haven't ''really'' defeated the BigBad and saved the world because you've got another three discs to go through.
* Subverted by La-Mulana. While you can look around the game's files and hear the soundtrack and see the graphics for all the levels and bosses... The graphics for ''that'' cutscene are all mixed up.

* The ''Gödel, Escher, Bach'' scenario is referenced in [[http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/1402.html this]] ''IrregularWebcomic''! strip's annotation, and indeed it does the same thing itself.

* Subverted by {{Portal}}. The New Game level selection menu clearly shows a list of the testchambers, [[spoiler: which make up only the first half of the game]]

* Subverted by {{Portal}}. The new game menu clearly shows a list of the testchambers, [[spoiler: which make up only the first half of the game]]

* The Tortoise and Achilles discuss this problem in one of the dialogues in ''[[GodelEscherBach Gödel, Escher, Bach]]'' by Douglas Hofstadter. They decide that books where this is a problem should have a variable amount of {{padding}} at the end. Of course, if the padding consists of blank pages, or pages with some simple typographical pattern on them, anyone who casually flips ahead will know when the book is about to end, so you need the padding to actually look like a continuation of the book (but to be thematically different enough that a sufficiently assiduous reader can determine where the book actually ends). Just when they've figured this out, [[SelfDemonstratingArticle two police officers show up to arrest the Tortoise for theft, and the dialogue ends]].
** They also discuss other means of indicating the location of the "real" end, such as a hidden message or a rash of typographical errors; and sure enough, those are ''also'' used by the dialogue itself. Of course, this is an ironic example because it occurs in a ''dialogue within a book''. You can't tell from the weight of the book how much of the dialogue there is to go!

* Averted in Hopscotch, which (if read from the first chapter to the last of the main story, in order) ends with about half of the pages still unread. (The remainder of the book consists of short chapters which can be read in between the chapters of the main story according to an alternate order; in this order the first four chapters one reads are those numbered 73 - 1 - 2 - 116.)