Over in this thread, I goofed, and spoiled aspects of the latest episode of The Mole when the show finished its East Coast airing, forgetting that West Coasters still hadn’t seen it. About 24 hours later, C K Dexter Haven saw fit to modify the thread title and the OP to avoid spoiling it. That’s fine, I have no problem with it.
But was it strictly necessary, a full day later? What’s the statute of limitations for spoiling a weekly primetime reality show? Wouldn’t shortly after the West Coast airing be okay? And certainly by the morning of the next day, when even Hawaiians will have seen it?
I know there will be people who have recorded it and haven’t watched it yet, and mentioning spoilers in the thread title is a painless courtesy, I suppose. But surely after it’s aired in every time zone, shouldn’t people naturally expect to find open spoilers, whether it’s stated or not?
You put the main spoiler in the first line of your OP. Anyone who mouses near your thread will get a mouse-over pop-up with the major spoiler right there. Some of us read really fast so telling us to “just don’t read it” doesn’t cut it.
It’s polite to leave spoiler space so people don’t see the mouse-over pop-up with spoiler info in it.
This isn’t about west coast vs. east coast. I’ve only seen episode one. Now I know who got eliminated in episode two, without even having read the thread, or watched the show.
I do see that neither of those mentioned people recording a show to watch later, which is a very good point. I thought it did, and I’ve amended.
Also, this is really “etiquette” rather than a hard-and-fast rule. It’s often unclear whether spoilers are needed or not (so I’d say, err on the conservative side.) This is NOT an offense or rules violation, it’s just a minor blunder. It doesn’t go on your permanent record.
Yes, I get your points, levdrakon and Quartz, and I admit I goofed in this week’s Mole thread. I apologize for the inconvenience, and won’t do it again.
My question is, shouldn’t anyone coming to a thread about a weekly show more than 24 hours after it has aired expect open spoilers (outside the mouseover space of the OP) without being told? I can see putting plot twists and surprises for current movies in a spoiler box months, sometimes even years, after they come out, but surely spoilers aren’t necessary for a weekly reality show, right?
Well, I can’t watch on Wednesday nights, so usually record and watch later in the week (usually on the weekend.) One show, we recorded all the episodes and watched them all over a two-night period.
(For me personally, of course, since I moderate this forum, almost everything gets spoiled, I’ ve just learned to live with it.)
I hadn’t seen CKDH’s post when I posted mine. But even his updated guidelines don’t directly answer my question, except here: “First, if you’re in that situation, where you haven’t seen the work and you don’t want to have plot elements revealed, then the safest approach is NOT TO READ any thread about that work. We’ll try our best to avoid spoiling things, but you must take some responsibility on your own.”
I’m just saying the spoiler standard for a weekly TV show is lower than for movies, novels, and other works with a longer shelf life, right?
But aired where? Take Battlestar Galactica. It used to air in the U.S. months before it aired over here. (I don’t know the situation now). What about Doctor Who? It airs over here well before it airs in the US. Take Doctor Who again: it airs in one timeslot on Saturday and is repeated on Monday evening for those who missed it on Saturday. Those who view it on Monday would not appreciate seeing unspoiled threads on Monday morning.
I’m guessing that these days the number of shows in which there are such wide gaps in air dates is rather small. Furthermore, if the thread title indicates a date or an episode that one hasn’t seen, that should be sufficient warning, shouldn’t it?
All I’m saying is that, outside the thread title and the mouseover space, shouldn’t the burden be on unspoiled viewers of most weekly TV shows to avoid opening threads for eps they haven’t seen, rather than on posters inside the thread?
Here is a universal spoiler for reality shows, large and small.
[spoiler] This is not reality. It isn’t even much like reality, unless you live in a comic book. This show has script writers who come up with the unreal difficulties and the unreal methods of elimination from the “competition.” As if to point out the unreality, the writers are excluded from writers’ strikes and pay agreements. “Why, they’re not real writers!”
The producers are playing the viewer for a fool. Even with the elaborate hurt-proof stunts and the prize money, this show is very cheap to make. They get you to pay full price (your viewing time) for a slapped-together plot, underpaid actors, underpaid “unreal” writers, cheap (if any) sets, and the illusion that reality is happening. Ahem. With all due respect. [/spoiler]
I don’t believe I’ve ever seen such a tight call on threadshitting as that.
I didn’t swear.
I didn’t mention any specific show.
I didn’t mention any person.
I followed the title of the thread.
Still, you’re the umpire. I won’t throw my hat, kick dirt on you, or disparage your mother.
Maybe my call is a bit tougher than others, but I do feel that when someone comes into a thread discussing how to handle a subject and makes a comment that is a slam at the subject matter in toto, that is threadshitting. It’s expressing a negative opinion on the subject when opinion was not being solicited.
If that’s overly harsh, I’m willing to be educated differently.
While I agree with this, I also believe that we should (ideally) be able to start a thread about a show, put NO SPOILERS PLEASE! in the thread title, and have a discussion thread about whether people like the show. Alas, that doesn’t seem possible.
Example: I’m not sure whether I want to see Such-and-Such, but I value the opinions of many people on these boards. So, I start a thread: Did you like it? Should I see it? NO SPOILERS PLEASE!
The problem is that never works. Someone comes along and throws in spoilers, for whatever reason. The thread gets long, an important point needs to be made, whatever.
So, we really do not have the option of “No spoilers in this thread please” which would be the best case scenario in the ideal world. Hence, we have to go with warnings of OPEN SPOILERS, preventing mouse-over spoilers, and using spoiler boxes. It’s second best, but it works reasonably well.
That’s not the point. The point is not putting the major spoiler in the first line of your OP, or within the mouse-over space. I think we’ve already covered that.
It would also be nice to put the season and episode number in the thread title, instead of just 6/10 or whatever. That says nothing to someone who’s watching the show later.