The TV IV:Proposals/Spoiler Free Episode Page

While this is mainly a problem I have with TV.com and the lax editing that they have, do we want to allow episode pages contain spoilers for upcoming episodes? Not so much previous ones and definitely not the current, but it is reasonable to assume to that person reading the entry hasn't seen all of the episodes beyond the page they're reading.

Comments

1. I vote spoiler free. While working on the Buffy pages I would routinely come across spoilers for seasons 6 and 7 even though I was only looking through pages for season 5. And I don't mean little stuff, I mean huge things that change the entire flow of the series. Massive plot points ruined entirely because somebody thought it was coincidental that something happened in both episodes. I say, if you have one of those trivia facts, put it in the newer episode rather than the older. --IndieRockLance 04:06, 9 Sep 2005 (PDT)
2. I think that there should be no information on episode pages that assume someone watched any episode after that. Especially for a really plot-driven show like Babylon 5, it'd be a waste even looking at them if the page for the first episode spoils what happens in the final one. --Wizardryo 19:45, 10 Sep 2005 (PDT)
   1. Umm, not to put too fine a point on it, but the first episodes of Babylon 5 themselves contained spoilers for the final episodes. You might want to pick a show that didn't make heavy use of flash-forwards (say, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, for instance) to make your otherwise quite reasonable point. ;-) --Ray Radlein 02:10, 14 Sep 2005 (EDT)
   2. Should we consider the type of show when handling spoilers? For example, sitcoms have the occasional plot twist, but knowing them ahead of time doesn't detract from one's knowledge that much. Also, with some popular older shows, potential spoilers may have become common knowldge. It seems like virtually everyone would've seen a commercial for Alias with Lena Olin, or would've noticed her on the cast listing, and theoretically that would've been a huge spoiler to someone watching the first season.--gma
3. I vote for a special section or page which is specifically announced as containing spoiling material. If I've been following a show but want to know in hindsight in which episode a certain character left or died, I want to be able to find out about that. And we can't really have any trivia info, quotes and whatnot without that being spoilerish.--Skye 09:25, 13 Sep 2005 (EDT)
   1. But why can't information like that be put on the page where the character leaves or dies? Let's say an episode foreshadows the death of a character in the next season. It would be improper to put that information on the episode page because it's unreasonable to believe that the spoiler information is known by the reader. That same information could be put on the episode page of when the character actually does bite it. I don't mean no spoilers for the episode at hand, that would be entirely impossible. I mean no spoilers for events in upcoming episodes. --IndieRockLance 07:33, 14 Sep 2005 (EDT)
4. Spoilers could be introduced through special spoiler sections which are hidden by style sheets by default and can be made visible through either javascript class replacements or alternate style sheet importing. Not sure if text web browsers would handle that appropriately though, or if they are a major concern when discussing site aesthetics.--Offput 23:23, 13 Sep 2005 (EDT)
   1. You mean something like SPOILER: Hover or select to reveal  this? We have that ability already.  --CygnusTM 19:26, 14 Sep 2005 (EDT)
      1. Like I said on the talk page for the spoiler template, I think that it should be changed to mimic Wikipedia's. Most novice users would be quite confused at the blackness in the middle of the page, and even fewer would know to roll the mouse over or CTRL+A. --LoganK 21:47, 18 Sep 2005 (EDT)
         1. The consensus among the early visitors was that Wikipedia handling of spoilers sucks. That's why I made the spoiler template. It mimics the behavior of the spoiler tag on the SA forums. I agree that it might be confusing, though. I added and explantion to the template. That should help. --CygnusTM 23:29, 19 Sep 2005 (EDT)
5. As far as I'm concerned spoilers are incredibly important part of any TV site, however every user should have the option to avoid them should they choose to do so. We definitely need to find some middle ground here but not end up with a completely spoiler-free site. I do like the idea of either linking to spoilers or having them hidden.--Quickblood 11:50, 13 Sep 2005 (EDT)

1. I think we should include spoilers, but they should be easily avoidable. Why not just have a special page for the spoilers? If they are real large like Wikipedia, they probably would need their own page anyways. --Matt 21:52, 14 Sep 2005 (EDT)

1. IMDB and the old TVTome does a good job with hiding or warning of spoilers. We should really keep with this spirit as well. I just had a great plot twist ruined for me because I was looking at an episode page for a show I was watching to try to identify a guest star and blammo, the ending is ruined for me. --Stace 21:55, 19 Sep 2005 (CDT)
2. I would say that spoilers are inevitable, but there should be a warning similar to wikipedia's spoiler warning template. Jacoplane 09:56, 29 Sep 2005 (EDT)
3. I'm adamently against spoiler warnings of any kind, and against spoiler-free episode pages. The middle ground is simple, at the top of the episode page where general information is give about the episode (before guest stars are listed) you should put a short summary of what the episode is about (spoiler free) and then under plot overview you put the complete episode details. I think this is pretty much how everyone does it now anyways. There is no reason for someone to read an episode page if they have not seen the episode, and if they are just wondering what it's about they can see that at the top of the page. Spoiler warnings and spoiler tabs look tacky IMO. --MateoP 20:38, 24 Nov 2005 (EST)
   1. The problem is spoilers for later episodes and in those cases blackout works. --Inmac 16:09, 21 Dec 2005 (EST)
      1. Maybe we can find a way that there's a little thing that says "Click for spoiler", and once clicked it pops down the spoiler.