TVSquad

I avoid them like the plague. I don't watch commercials for anything I'm watching at the time, and I don't even watch the previews for the next week's episode.

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I have to say, my experience is different. Obviously, the scale of potential spoilers was much smaller, but when I was growing up in the 70's and 80's, I loved reading the TV Guide. Under each show would be a small blurb and sometimes a larger feature describing each show, and you may have been spoiled about a significant detail or two.

I also remember when I saw Star Trek II in the theater and was shocked by Spock's death, but hearing afterwards that Trekkies in the know were aware of his imminent death and were outraged by the storyline.

P.S. Of course there was an internet, just not the one we know today.

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I hate hate hate spoilers in every form! I even try to avoid all the little details as much as possible...because I prefer to be surprised! But things have been ruined for me from time to time.

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My biggest problem is the shows that I TIVO. I have to skim TVSquad so I can avoid the "reviewcaps" that go into detail for the episode until I have watched it. Then I go back and read them after I watch.

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Seriously, do you really get paid to write about stuff that people already write about?

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I like light spoilers, where I get just enough information to know what to look forward to, but not ruin any plot twists.

So, I try to only read spoilers several months before the start of a season. Right now is a good time for 24, Lost, and BSG spoilers because you're not likely to find specific details.

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The asterisk spoilers were really funny.

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My avoidance of spoilers depends on my interest in the show. A lot of stuff I don't care if I miss and episode or three so spoilers aren't a problem. But those few shows in which I shift my schedule around to view(TIVO them? please! I can barely wait 10 minutes to timeshift them as to skip the commercials in the first 30minutes.) I avoid news about them like the plague.

Similar with movies, the more I'm interested in seeing it, the less information I want to see about it.

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When it comes to spoilers, I like only the most basic information. Episode title, basic description, and an idea of where things are going overall and what to look for. Revealing giant mysteries and telling who's going to die, those are the ones I avoid. Tell me someone's going to die, but don't tell me who.

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I totally avoid spoilers, any kind. And yes I do think casting spoilers are evil spoilers!!!! I never checked if the Winchesters were dead or not after the season one final, no Lost spoilers for me, no nothing. Just letting the shows take me by surprise. And I love it!

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I think a more important issue on whether a person likes spoilers or not is how websites like this can make themselves more flexible to either kind of person. It's surprising to me that with so much coding and technology behind websites, they still don't implement one of several techniques that can be used to hide spoilers.

Personally I think spoilers should be hidden from viewers, but made easily available to those who want to read them. To that end, I setup my blog to include spoiler blocks which hide the spoiler text until you mouseover the block. You can see an example on this review of the Entourage finale:
http://symbii.com/stories.php?sid=657&tid=56

Why force everyone to read spoilers or omit spoilers entirely? Either way you're disappointing a group of people. There's an easy way to please both.

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I'm with #1. What kills me is when a show cuts straight to the "Next week on..." when the episode ends, which was a problem with Friday Night Lights two weeks ago, since it revealed a plot point of this past episode right off the bat. Give me a few seconds to find the remote, damnit!

I don't watch much on the CW anymore, but it (and the WB before it) used to be awful. at like 7:59:50pm, they'd show a "Tonight on Gilmore Girls..." and it would often include the plot point from the very last scene of the episode.

Although the worst example I ever saw was in one of those "what we've seen so far" things. Around the half-hour mark, they showed a recap of the first 40 minutes or so, which involved showing a few scenes that hadn't even happened yet. Fortunately, it was during Las Vegas, a show I don't really care about. If they did that during Lost of Battlestar Galactica, I might've destroyed my television in a fit of rage.

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@ 12 Bill:
Yup....I know the episode you mention. I thought that was on too soon (recap) since that scene hasn't happened yet.
I also do not wait for next week's preview for a few reasons, it's over hyped and they make something out of nothing and then you wonder if you missed something.
Also, I'm going to watch it anyway so why not get some more dishes washed.

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I have adult ADD...I think. I can read all the spoilers I want, and still be shocked when the show airs.

I read the Lost 'game changer' spoliler a week before the season finale, and I was floored when I saw the episode. I only remembered reading the spoiler when someone else reminded me.

I love my brain.

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Like Billy (comment #6) I like light spoilers, or synopses. Growing up I used to grab the TV listings from the newspaper or the TV Guide every week and read the synopses of TV shows.

I try to avoid direct spoilers/details but it's not easy. It's even harder in this day in age of internet + Tivo, PVR, episode downloads, etc. It used to be that if you missed an episode you either taped it or waited for the rerun, and risked hearing people talk about it. Now we've got the internet and more means of acquiring an episode for later viewing. A lot of us miss shows when they first air and then watch full seasons on DVD.

I watched all three seasons of Grey's Anatomy over the summer knowing that Addison left Seattle Grace for her own spin off and knowing the Burke was gone but I avoided learning why Addison left and I scrolled past all the Isiah Washington stories in attempt to avoid knowing how the character was written out.

That all said, I tend to forget what's going to happen anyway and even if I remember there's still surprise when I actually see it.

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