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SpoilerTV - TV Spoilers

Spoiler Alerts - A Manifesto

1 Jul 2011

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Thanks to Bruce_F for sending us this funny article on Spoiler Etiquette.

What are your opinions about Spoilers and how long you should wait?

Read Article Here
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28 comments:

  1. klutzy_girl1 July 2011 at 21:12

    Ah, I was thinking of posting this! I think it's pretty true!

    Also, slight error. It's a manifesto, not manefesto! Figured you'd want to know.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bruce_F1 July 2011 at 21:13

    That's my fault.  I rushed through the form when I sent this in.  It's my typo.

    ReplyDelete
  3. DarkUFO1 July 2011 at 21:14

    Fixed :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. klutzy_girl1 July 2011 at 21:14

    It's okay! We all make mistakes sometimes.

    It is a pretty interesting article! I loved reading it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. MurderMondays1 July 2011 at 21:17

    I think, when posting spoilers, it depends on context. If you're among die-hard fans then let the spoilers fly but if you're around casual viewers who aren't seeking them in any way then be nice.

    Many great shows can be ruined by careless spoilers.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Linlighthouse1 July 2011 at 21:19

    Hilarious! A spoiler in which we discover that watching Katherine Heigl movies can lead to death, and that there is a show called Killing Yourself with the Kardashians. LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Bunky Bunk1 July 2011 at 21:20

    Ironically, the article spoiled me the end of the 1st season of Tremé. Fraking idiot.

    The asshole is even spoiling about the end of episode 9 of Game of Thrones...

    I didn't read the whole thing and I won't but this guy should know better, clearly. Not because you saw it means everybody saw it man, that should the be first rule of any spoiler manifesto.

    ReplyDelete
  8. darq1 July 2011 at 21:29

    Thst is AWESOME and heretofore my guideline for spoilery on this and any site!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Bruce_F1 July 2011 at 21:31

    It's unfortunate that those two episodes were spoiled for you but I'm not ready to grab torches and pitchforks for a guy who talked about a three-week old episode and a year-old season finale, respectively.  There are limits.  It's lamentable but not an offense.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Karen1 July 2011 at 21:42

    Loved the article.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Bunky Bunk1 July 2011 at 22:12

    What bothers me is not that he talks about these 2 big twists, it's the way he does it.

    No warning, no red flag indicating people who are not up-to date with Tremé and Game of Thrones should check out now, no note at the top of the article saying "I will tell you in the most random, blatant way I can think of the name of two characters getting killed".

     A big red external link that catches the eye next to the name of an actor and the verb "killed", in a generic article about spoilers in general, excuse me but that's just not right,

    I have seen the whole season of Game of Thrones so that doesn't bother me especially but I felt bad for all the people who haven't already seen the latest episodes (they exist). Getting this twist ruined like that is just wrong.

    Granted, it's been a year since Treme's first season finale but to me, a spoiler is a spoiler no matter when the episode aired, as long as it includes someone giving up a major twist. I would have been just as pissed if the guy talked about the season 2 finale of X-Files. He can talk about the Treme finale all he wants, as long as he has previously mentioned with a warning or a flag that he'll talk about it.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anthea Buckley1 July 2011 at 22:13

    Problem with spoilers for me is when I am about to see some series (like the whole 7 seasons of it) and on the web there are conclusions everywhere! When I was taking my time with Grey's Anatomy it didn't really help knowing the whole Alex/Izzie situation just by entering any forum I know :D

    ReplyDelete
  13. Ricky Terry1 July 2011 at 22:24

    I understand your frustration, and I too agree with you that one should at least say something to the effect of: don't read the rest of this paragraph if you don't want to get spoiled on Treme season 1 or GOT episode 9. 

    But having said all that, had this particular writer done that, he'd have completely undermined his own manifesto. So like Bruce said it's unfortunate, but it's his manifesto, and like it or not he is true to his own advice.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Bruce_F1 July 2011 at 22:33

    I think you've gotten to one of the main points of this person's article - that, past a reasonable time frame, "spoiler alerts" for plot points of film and television shows are unwarranted regardless of the context in which they're revealed or discussed.  Precautions should only be expected to be taken within a reasonable passage of time from the original air date or release date (for films).

    I Believe that it is unreasonable to expect people to extensively account for all viewers, especially those whose viewing is extremely time-shifted. 

    In a nutshell, I just don't agree with you here, Bunky Bunk.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Dahne2 July 2011 at 00:03

    I think that SpoilerTV is exempt from all of this.  If you come on a site called SpoilerTV, you should expect spoilers.  I know someone who was mad because they saw something in the recent comments table and they were avoiding spoilers.  Why come if you don't want spoilers?  Same thing goes with Twitter.

    Also, I don't think you should have to wait an entire week to talk about a TV show.  If you haven't seen it in 3 days tops, you're out of luck.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Dahne2 July 2011 at 00:05

    I agree with him.  If it's that old, it's fair game.  Happened to me with 6th Sense but in all honesty, it was my own fault for not seeing it sooner.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Linlighthouse2 July 2011 at 00:41

    I just decided recently I wanted to find out what this Buffy phenom is all about, so I've been picking up DVDs and watching in order, being careful to avoid sites that might give up spoilers. I turned on one of the commentaries in season 3, and I totally didn't expect it but they were chatting about plot lines of future episodes. That'll teach me. Don't turn on the commentaries until you're ready.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Dahne2 July 2011 at 01:28

    So how are you liking Buffy so far?  I have to say that season 2 was one of my favorite TV seasons of all time.  It did go down hill (season 5 and on) at the end though to me.

    ReplyDelete
  19. jillyanne2 July 2011 at 01:55

    In these days of live streaming and kind people who do slightly less than legal stuff with dl's it's relatively easy to keep up with the one show I never ever miss. 


    I used to hate spoilers. Now I still hate them but I'm addicted to them.  And the great thing about SpoilerTV? - I ALWAYS know if I come here there will be spoilers. Plus I get to hang out here with lots of other awesome spoiler addicts.

    And if I truly don't want to be spoiled I stay away. Simple.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Airbat2 July 2011 at 02:39

    "If you can't stay on top of the conversation, then you shouldn't be having it in the first place."

    I have to agree to that. I myself have been spoiled a dozen times over the year but really I was asking for it. I just couldn't keep my nose out of articles concerning my show and it was bound to happen. If I really, really don't wanna be spoiled (season finale are such times), I just don't turn on my computer. Simple as that. I can't expect other people to wait for me to catch up on everything. After a year of hanging out with  people of a fandom I get the excitement you have after watching your favorite show and the need to share it with others. It's not their fault I live in another time zone. Especially I was to be a season or more behind.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Linlighthouse2 July 2011 at 04:15

    Buffy is addictive and I'm loving it. I liked season 2 but also 3, with Faith and the mayor. 4 was interesting, different, and I just started 5.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Dahne2 July 2011 at 04:32

    Agree - season 3 was also great.  Not a fan of (SPOILER ALERT - :-P) Dawn.  Everything went downhill.  

    ReplyDelete
  23. Cadence2 July 2011 at 15:41

    Hmmmm, I think that a lot of what the author says is very true, but I have to agree with Bunky Bunk (although I'm not personally offended).
    I watch a lot of television on DVD. If I am going to an article about Treme (or its IMDB or wikipedia page), then certainly, I should be aware that Treme is going to be spoiled in some way; HOWEVER, this article is about spoilers in general. No where does he say "I WILL MENTION THESE THINGS". I mean, I understand that that's his entire point, that he shouldn't have to, but the fact that he so flippantly chooses half a dozen shows/movies to spoil at random for the purpose of making that point is frustrating. I think that it is completely unreasonable to expect people to follow every single piece of pop culture the moment it emerges... especially when the viewership is low (as in the case of Treme). Sure, things get accidentally spoiled all the time, but this article went out of its way to do so with no actual context.There are books I've been planning on reading, shows and movies I've planned on watching, and video games I've wanted to play for a decade. I would be pretty annoyed if someone spoiled those plots for me. Sure, I'm late to the game, but that's hardly the point. It isn't like any of us were around when Shakespeare wrote Taming of the Shrew or Emily Bronte wrote Wuthering Heights... But I don't want those books spoiled for me until I have read them.Book 2 of Game of Thrones has been out for something like 15 years. Does that mean that I can write an article about book spoilers and point out how everyone should have read the books at this point in their lives and then mention a dozen major spoilers? I'm sure that many new viewers and readers would be enraged. Yes, everyone knows that Snape killed Dumbledore... then again, what about new readers? Should a 10 year old reading the series for the first time be expected to be up to date on pop culture? I think not.For example, I'm a huge fan of M*A*S*H, but I was born in 1989 (half a decade after the show ended). Everyone who watched the series finale (and there are a LOT of people who did) knows how the series ended. Does that mean that I want to read an article where someone spoils M*A*S*H? If you go looking for spoilers, it's your own fault, but I think that a general article about television should ALWAYS contain spoiler alerts for major twists as you can never be certain which shows different people have watched. 

    ReplyDelete
  24. Cadence2 July 2011 at 15:45

    I'll make this brief (unlike my above post). I come to SpoilerTV for spoilers all the time. I read spoilers about the shows I have watched. Should I be expected to follow every single show on the air live? Of course not. If I go to a Fringe spoiler thread, then I will likely be spoiled for Fringe. That's my choice. If we were to start being this flippant about spoilers, then I might find things ruined for a show I haven't even watched yet. I'm about to start watching Burn Notice and White Collar. I don't really want to read spoilers about a S3 or S5 finale while part way through S1. So I avoid threads about those shows. 

    ReplyDelete
  25. KF2 July 2011 at 17:58

    First of all, the original manifesto was hilarious, and I agree with most of it. But I do think a couple more tweaks are needed. I agree with peeps here that SpoilerTV and twitter should get more slack. For STV, the site title should give a little more leeway, but I do agree with Cadence that it's nice to keep aiming for spoilers to be mostly single show-specific.

    Twitter should be considered a free-for-all where hardcore fans can chatter away about even scripted shows in real-time live airing, except for treading carefully about the few huge, MAJOR twists, especially if you're on the East Coast.

    My addition: Within scripted TV, there should be different rules of thumb between free network TV/basic cable and those on pay channels like HBO and Showtime by writers in venues other than SpoilerTV and Twitter, especially if they're not yet being streamed on Netflix. One week is not enough for scripted shows on premium pay channels--there are many people these days that are on a budget rather than staying out of the conversation by choice. So the original offense that inspired the hilarious manifesto is actually not that irritating.

    ReplyDelete
  26. leakeylover2 July 2011 at 19:02

    I applaud calls for praising etiquette in the face of dwindling compassion. Get up and give your seat to the pregnant woman or the man with the cane, please. And don't make a fuss about it. Concerning TV show spoilers, not so much. Read them or not, just take responsibility for your choice.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Bruce_F2 July 2011 at 20:09

    "Does that mean that I can write an article about book spoilers and point
    out how everyone should have read the books at this point in their
    lives and then mention a dozen major spoilers?"

    Yes.

    "Does that mean that I want to read an article where someone spoils M*A*S*H?"

    Of course not but if it happens then so be it.  It's unfortunate but not something to be blamed for.

    Unless someone is posting spoilers with the specific intent of ruining something for people then it's fine.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Emily3 July 2011 at 02:57

    I love this site and read 80% of the articles, but when I decided to wait to watch the latest season of the Mentalist (hellatus relief!) I made sure I avoided all mentions thereof. This included _not_ reading any remarks with references to it, even in the Ausiello shotgun spoiler articles. And I made it through the season with only a few minor hiccups, and got to enjoy my binge over the last couple of weeks. Moaning about spoilers being around is like a dieter taking an axe to any fast-food signs: self control, people! 

    ReplyDelete

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