A sense of time

My son's been complaining about a book he's reading. He objects to the way the author introduces a situation, then spends the next few pages, or chapters, explaining how the situation came about. My son complains about TV programs too, when they start with the heroes in some unexplained danger then cut to "fifteen hours earlier," "three days earlier," or whatever...

I'm guessing the TV writers do this for a reason. Do they want us glued to the box because we want to know how the situation came about? Do they want us watching with that curious sense of dread that wonders how on earth things will fall apart so badly? Or do they just want us passively waiting to get back to the "exciting bit."

They tell us as writers that our first sentences should grab the reader, preferably by the throat (alas poor reader). D'you suppose they're right? Is my son the exception to the rule, and everyone else wants the exciting bit to come before the mundane? Or are we just substituting re-ordered information for interesting information? Wouldn't we do better to write the story forwards and make sure it's all interesting, keeping the reader actively engaged in wondering what will come next?

What do you think?