# TelevisionWithoutPity.com to close **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 27, 2014, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televisionwithoutpity-com-to-close/684706 "2014-03-27T18:29:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televisionwithoutpity-com-to-close/684706/61 "2014-03-28T20:37:39Z")
They will _not_ keep the site up for posterity. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televisionwithoutpity-com-to-close/684706/62 "2014-03-28T20:47:21Z")
This is the first I’ve heard of the site. Just as it’s about to close! That figures. I went there and read a few recaps and liked it a lot. What a shame - I’d like recaps of the upcoming show **Fargo**. ---
**Author:** ![alexandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@alexandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alexandra)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televisionwithoutpity-com-to-close/684706/63 "2014-03-28T20:49:55Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > My understanding is during the last few days of the Fametracker forum, the mods basically abandoned everything and let the trolls take over. As a result, silly threads such as the one for Jesus Christ in the Celebrity section were started without the mods quickly clamping down on it as they had done in the past. The closure of the forum (which had been announced several weeks before this happened) wiped out all these threads and posts. Pretty much. It doesn’t sound like such a big deal, but bear in mind the strictness of the moderation, and that the Internet was smaller back then, meant it was hilarious and kind of epic. [QUOTE=Alessan] I never got into the forums - I’m a one-forum guy - but I used to read the recaps religiously. Not so much in recent years, though. In the past, they seemed to either really like the shows they were watching, or really wanted to like them. Now they seem to watch them out of spite. [/QUOTE] Hmm…there was always a degree of spite in Twop’s recaps. And pedantry. That said, there were good recappers as well as bad and I think the good ones left and weren’t replaced. Aaron, Jessica & Sars all come to mind. The recappers also used to be moderators, and I think it was sensible to put an end to that. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televisionwithoutpity-com-to-close/684706/64 "2014-03-28T21:04:43Z")
I visited TWOP once or twice and quickly grew disgusted with their “everything in one stupid long ass thread” bullshit. May something worthwhile replace it. ---
**Author:** ![FlightlessBird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/cdc98d/32.png) [@FlightlessBird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlightlessBird)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televisionwithoutpity-com-to-close/684706/65 "2014-03-28T21:36:03Z")
Bummer, I will just have to [make do](http://web.archive.org/web/20131814022600/http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/alias/) with the wayback mahine ---
**Author:** ![alexandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@alexandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alexandra)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televisionwithoutpity-com-to-close/684706/66 "2014-03-28T21:48:14Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I visited TWOP once or twice and quickly grew disgusted with their “everything in one stupid long ass thread” bullshit. May something worthwhile replace it. I thought the so-called ‘basement threads’ were the best, but there were plenty of shows with sub-forums. ---
**Author:** ![Hrududu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Hrududu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hrududu)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televisionwithoutpity-com-to-close/684706/67 "2014-03-28T23:07:59Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > My understanding is during the last few days of the Fametracker forum, the mods basically abandoned everything and let the trolls take over. As a result, silly threads such as the one for Jesus Christ in the Celebrity section were started without the mods quickly clamping down on it as they had done in the past. The closure of the forum (which had been announced several weeks before this happened) wiped out all these threads and posts. Heh the Fametracker meltdown was epic. If I remember correctly Jesus was accused of kicking the backs of seats at the cinema. I preferred Fametracker for my casual time wasting browsing. But I spent a long time in college on MightyBigTV when I should have been working. Some of the Dawson’s Creek recaps made me laugh out loud. In later years it dipped in quality. Or at least the recaps I read did. I couldn’t stand Jacob and for some reason he seemed to be recapping everything I was watching. I still dip into the forums every now and again. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televisionwithoutpity-com-to-close/684706/68 "2014-03-29T00:59:12Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > Actually, thinking about this, I’m wondering what kind of a trainwreck the TWoP threads on Game of Thrones must’ve been, seeing how crazy the spoiler policy here on Cafe Society had to be to satisfy the various posters. I found the GOT threads to be really great. Like here, they have it split between Book Walkers and Unsullied. It’s the one show I read there that I think strict moderation was a GOOD thing. There was a place for everyone and some really good history of Westeros. I’m hoping the announcing of the closure so far ahead of the actual closing will give time for someone to step up and at least save the forums, if not the recaps. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televisionwithoutpity-com-to-close/684706/69 "2014-03-29T01:15:18Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > ha! that about sums it up! > > You want to talk plot points, they want to talk about Castle & Beckett’s wedding venue. And cake design. Or whether Captain Raydor and Flynn are going to get together. Or if Agent Moretti is going to hook up with Daniel or go back to her ex. They do come across like soccer moms with nothing in their lives. Then why did you read them? I never understand the need for people to attack other people’s fun activities. Find something else to do. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televisionwithoutpity-com-to-close/684706/70 "2014-03-29T01:17:40Z")
> [@FlightlessBird](#): > > Bummer, I will just have to [make do](http://web.archive.org/web/20131814022600/http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/alias/) with the wayback mahine There’s another site, started by the people known as Sars, Tara and Glark on TWOP, called [http://previously.tv/](http://previously.tv/) ---
**Author:** ![computergeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e56c9b/32.png) [@computergeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/computergeek)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televisionwithoutpity-com-to-close/684706/71 "2014-03-29T04:25:05Z")
TWOP’s moderation was way too heavy handed for me. I left for awhile in part because of the heavy moderation. I came back and read way more than I posted because it was so hard to toe their very narrow line when posting. I think I got banned a couple of times for challenging other posters on their nasty BS. I’d rather have moderate moderation than too heavy or none. Part of their issue is that they weren’t a fansite so they really discouraged a lot of fanwanking, but for me, they just made it miserable with so many things you couldn’t talk about. At least some of the moderators (or it may have been a general rule) forbade posting back to back posts. That said, I’m going to miss the place for discussion of shows I watched. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televisionwithoutpity-com-to-close/684706/72 "2014-03-29T05:01:51Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Then why did you read them? > > I never understand the need for people to attack other people’s fun activities. Find something else to do. Because, like many things in life, they USED to be something I enjoyed. You did see my comments that I used to read the recaps and the boards? Or did you just stop when you found something to be upset about? I got a lot of enjoyment reading them. But, I’m sure partly due to the heavy-handed moderation, and partly due to normal shifts in interest, the boards degraded into what they are now. Like my sticking with Star Trek Voyager to the very end, I kept with it hoping it would return to good form. And, like Voyager, I was disappointed. I never understand people who make posts like yours. It’s not an either-or situation - like it or hate it. Some people like parts and dislike other parts. Wanting something to be what it used to is fair criticism. I didn’t start a thread attacking TWoP boards - I was responding with my opinion, as were others. That’s what we do here. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televisionwithoutpity-com-to-close/684706/73 "2014-03-29T13:57:46Z")
I didn’t check out the recaps that much, but visited the forums fairly regularly. The thing I loved is how it embraced the whole of TV. Too often internet coverage of TV focuses on a few shows like “Game of Thrones” and “Community”, while ignoring shows that aren’t cool enough (no matter how popular they are). TWP focused on everything; it didn’t act that only shows with lengthy complex plotlines or heavy on pop culture references are worth watching and talking about. And, unlike most of the internet, the forums didn’t act like TV began with “The Sopranos”. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televisionwithoutpity-com-to-close/684706/74 "2014-03-29T18:25:47Z")
It seems really strange to me that any notable websites would be taken completely offline and not even have archives kept online. I can’t imagine that they can’t either 1. Sell it for a decent amount, even if it’s just the domain and not the content or 2. Get enough revenue from existing pages that could just be left up with no need for dedicated employees or much overhead at all. I say this as someone who has developed and sold many websites, owns websites that earn perpetual residual income with no effort, and does business with many individuals and firms who do similar work and rarely if ever lose money on a deal. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televisionwithoutpity-com-to-close/684706/75 "2014-03-29T21:42:06Z")
> [@FlightlessBird](#): > > Bummer, I will just have to [make do](http://web.archive.org/web/20131814022600/http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/alias/) with the wayback mahine Unless the owners are jerks and put a no-follow tag in their robots.txt. For some reason, the Wayback machine honors those retroactively. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televisionwithoutpity-com-to-close/684706/76 "2014-03-29T22:15:35Z")
The forums always made good reading. Apparently the Wayback machine isn’t going to save the threads, so I’ll have to save the most interesting ones (such as the Amazing Race “Game Design” thread) onto my own HD. Piss on them, though, for not implementing a “Display All Posts” option, or even a “200 Posts per Page” setting. (NONE of the newer forum software seems to have these, though. Was it deliberately left out in order to display more ads per thread?? ---
**Author:** ![expectopatronum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/expectopatronum/32/173_2.png) [@expectopatronum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/expectopatronum)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televisionwithoutpity-com-to-close/684706/77 "2014-03-30T00:55:37Z")
i used to hang out there all the time back in the day. i remember when it was [dawsonswrap.com](http://dawsonswrap.com) and it was just Dawson’s Creek recaps with pictures of star wars action figures. i agree with most of the comments about the forum moderation and the rules over there, which is why i never posted there all that much. i still go back from time to time and read some of the old recaps. i do hope the archives are kept online in some form, i hate to think of all that content being lost. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televisionwithoutpity-com-to-close/684706/78 "2014-03-30T01:36:19Z")
> [@expectopatronum](#): > > i used to hang out there all the time back in the day. i remember when it was [dawsonswrap.com](http://dawsonswrap.com) and it was just Dawson’s Creek recaps with pictures of star wars action figures. > > i agree with most of the comments about the forum moderation and the rules over there, which is why i never posted there all that much. i still go back from time to time and read some of the old recaps. i do hope the archives are kept online in some form, i hate to think of all that content being lost. That’s why I posted what I did about how it can be removed from the Wayback machine. Someone needs to keep a backup archive, just in case. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televisionwithoutpity-com-to-close/684706/79 "2014-03-30T02:56:14Z")
I remember TWOP helped me with my Real World withdrawals when I started graduate school and I no longer had cable. I was able to keep up with RW Hawaii from the recaps. Good times. Good times. ---
**Author:** ![bmasters1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5e925/32.png) [@bmasters1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmasters1)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televisionwithoutpity-com-to-close/684706/80 "2014-03-31T10:33:29Z")
I’ve already registered on the boards on the new [previously.tv](http://previously.tv). I’m bmasters9, same as I was on TWoP Forums. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televisionwithoutpity-com-to-close/684706.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televisionwithoutpity-com-to-close/684706.md?page=5)