Leaked Pilots, Spoilers, … What Is Ruining Your TV Experience ?
By fred | June 24, 2008
I could talk about all that, but that’s not even why I wanted to address this stand. It’s because of something else he said :
I just can’t help but think that these more and more common ‘first looks’ and ’sneak peeks’ of our favorite shows in June are causing irrevocable damage to what was once the most exciting month of the year to be a TV Addict.
Now that got me to react, because I honestly do not feel like watching pilots can hurt anything. However, his statement strikes me as odd when coming from someone who’s regularly posted spoilers over the years, because that is, to me, really hurting television.
We now live in a different world, when it comes to television, than we did decades ago. When I grew up, there was no such things as “spoilers”, and the only way to know what would happen on a show, was to tune in and watch it. But today, we live in a new world, and I do not think that it is things such as TiVo, DVR, online viewing or “illegal” downloading that are hurting our television experience. No, I believe spoilers are.
Of course, everyone is different and we all have different tastes and different ways to deal with things, but here’s the thing : I know that there is one thing very unique, exciting, thrilling, and that can only be experienced once, just once. And I love nothing more than going into a story, should it be through a book, a movie, a TV episode or anything else, I love nothing more than diving into a story without having any clue of where it will get me.
And you can only do it once! You only have one, and only one single chance, to get into a story without knowing what will happen, what it’s about, without having any clues, any facts, anything known before hand, thus leaving you guessing, wondering, trying, and all the while getting shocked, disappointed, overwhelmed, surprised… There’s a unique feeling and taste to a story when you are discovering it (for the first time), something that can occur only once, and something that spoilers prevents you from ever experiencing.
Because while it can happen only once, there’s no guarantee that it will happen at least once ! There is a way to be denied this experience, to never know what it feels like to go into a story completely unaware of what it has to offer, what it will reveal, there is one way to get spoiled from this unique feeling and this (huge) part of the fun : spoilers.
Which is why I not only do not like spoilers, and I honestly do not understand their appeal. Of course, I can see why someone would want to know what will happen before everybody else does, why you can’t wait and must know what the Hell is going on on that damned Island ! But in all fairness, if I was to get a call from, say, Damon Lindelof, and he offered me to know what’s going on, if he asked me if I wanted to know what would happen next season, what’s up with the Island and who really is Jacob, I would say “thanks, but no thanks”.
I really would, because of course I’m dying to find out, but I also want to find out the way we are supposed to, I want to keep guessing, wondering and theorizing, I want to be surprised all the way through and I want to find out only when we are supposed to, because the time has come, because we have gotten there, to this point in the story that Lost has to offer us, where we can now be told. Knowing it before doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the show, but I really feel it would mean I couldn’t enjoy it as much, and I don’t want that.
So yes, I do believe that spoilers are hurting us, that they are ruining our experience of television. But not the early (leaked) pilots.
When I watched Fringe, I had stayed away from spoilers, as I always do, and what I did in the end wasn’t to possibly ruin my experience of the show, or prevent me from this complete discovery of what the show had to offer, I only went through it a few months earlier than I should have, or otherwise would have. There is a huge difference between watching an episode a few months before it is supposed to air, and actually knowing some of the (main) plot twists that will occur during said episode, before you watch it for the first time - whenever that may be.
So as we’ve seen, it’s not the only reason, but for that reason only I disagree with this stand. If I was to take a stand, it’d be against spoilers !
But let me ask you, now : did you get to watch pilots before series premiere ? Would you watch any such pilots if you could ? Are you a spoiler addict ? Would you want to know what will happen on a show before watching it ?
And, which of those two things do you think is hurting our television experience more, leaked pilots, or spoilers ?
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