Thoughts on spoilers in general (no spoilers in the post)
So the CW, in a press release about next fall, effectively spoiled the beginning of the seasons, at least, for a number of shows -- including Supernatural and Smallville.
I'm noticing an increase in this kind of thing, where promos give away the plot, and NCIS has frequently done it with their black and white images that appear after commercial breaks.
I don't get it.
Maybe part of it is due to perception about what constitutes a spoiler: one person's spoiler is another person's teaser. Some people like hints of what's going on, like to have something to puzzle over while waiting for the show ('how are they going to get *there*?') while others don't want to know anything. In terms of the Supernatural and Smallville spoilers, maybe they figure they're not saying anything that people haven't figured out on their own. (I think this might be true of Smallville. It's not of Supernatural.)
Maybe networks are confused about what people want, and think that because they see so many clamoring for spoilers, everyone wants them. Still, the gist seems to be, 'we don't think you'll watch unless we tell you everything that's going to happen in advance.' Apparently, the possibility of people saying, 'well, since I know what happens, there's no need to watch' doesn't occur to them.
I'm rather funny about spoilers. Generally, I like hints, and sometimes I want to know as much as I can find out while other times I prefer to be surprised. This means sometimes I ask people who've seen an ep before me, and I read certain blogs that I know will spoil in a minor way while accepting that sometimes I'm spoiled on things I'd rather not have known. That's on me.
But this wholesale spoilage by networks (and 'professionals' such as the journalist who rather gleefully gave away the Bones 100th ep in its entirety the week before it aired, detailing everything that happened in his 'review') confuses me. I know the showrunners don't like it, and since money is everything, I can only assume the networks think spoilers = viewers.
Perhaps they need to think about the root of the word 'spoiler.'
I'm noticing an increase in this kind of thing, where promos give away the plot, and NCIS has frequently done it with their black and white images that appear after commercial breaks.
I don't get it.
Maybe part of it is due to perception about what constitutes a spoiler: one person's spoiler is another person's teaser. Some people like hints of what's going on, like to have something to puzzle over while waiting for the show ('how are they going to get *there*?') while others don't want to know anything. In terms of the Supernatural and Smallville spoilers, maybe they figure they're not saying anything that people haven't figured out on their own. (I think this might be true of Smallville. It's not of Supernatural.)
Maybe networks are confused about what people want, and think that because they see so many clamoring for spoilers, everyone wants them. Still, the gist seems to be, 'we don't think you'll watch unless we tell you everything that's going to happen in advance.' Apparently, the possibility of people saying, 'well, since I know what happens, there's no need to watch' doesn't occur to them.
I'm rather funny about spoilers. Generally, I like hints, and sometimes I want to know as much as I can find out while other times I prefer to be surprised. This means sometimes I ask people who've seen an ep before me, and I read certain blogs that I know will spoil in a minor way while accepting that sometimes I'm spoiled on things I'd rather not have known. That's on me.
But this wholesale spoilage by networks (and 'professionals' such as the journalist who rather gleefully gave away the Bones 100th ep in its entirety the week before it aired, detailing everything that happened in his 'review') confuses me. I know the showrunners don't like it, and since money is everything, I can only assume the networks think spoilers = viewers.
Perhaps they need to think about the root of the word 'spoiler.'