Originally, this public television series was intended to be produced in various cities with local newspaper film critics featured for their reviews. However, the Chicago film critics of the first incarnation of this intended TV franchise, Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, proved so popular that it was decided that their show would be distributed nationally instead.
During the Siskel and Ebert period, the series had a regular feature called "Dogs of the Week" where a dog, such as Spot the Wonder Dog, barks and joins the critics where they derisively review the worst films of the week. In this section, the short reviews rarely featured clips of the films; instead, publicity photos and/or the often trashy newspaper advertisements for them were typically displayed instead.
According to Thea Flaum, the Chicago PBS series producer, PBS stations in New York and Los Angeles initially refused to air Sneak Previews. They apparently saw it as a local Midwestern production not at their equivalent intellectual level where they had film critics of their own. Eventually, due to its popularity, they relented and the series was aired in their markets.
As the show began to be distributed nationwide on PBS affiliates, the original title, "Opening Soon at a Theater Near You" was judged too long and cumbersome for printed TV listings, which often abbreviated it to "Opening Soon," which seemed confusing. To deal with that, executive producer, Thea Flaum's, husband, among others, suggested a new title, "Sneak Previews" would be more concise. Although Flaum was initially hesitant, since a "sneak preview" meant in the film industry as specifically a genuine surprise movie screening for audiences to judge a film, she agreed to the change and the name stuck.