Gallant Pig

I love love love Lost.

But I find it almost impossible to discuss on this forum for 2 reasons:

1) People who watch "next week on Lost" previews and openly discuss them in the current episode thread.

I hate hate hate "next week on Lost" previews, they need to die.

2) People who read spoiler blogs, trade mags, or Groucho's Clue Book and openly discuss (and by openly I'm also referring to spoiler tags, because lots of times you don't know what the spoiler is about until you read it) future spoilers.

Is there a way we could have a discussion thread about episodes without either of the 2 things above or am I SOL? Or maybe an ongoing thread for this type of discussion? I don't mind predictions but when you have insider knowledge based on 1) or 2) above, it's no fun at all.

And yes, I realize 1) isn't a huge deal for most people but I think they suck and totally ruin episodes, yes I'm anal as hell.

bboisvert

I'm with you 100% except for this part. If you're avoiding spoilers, why would you read *anything* within a spoiler tag? It doesn't make sense to me to read it, and then be upset because it spoiled something you didn't want spoiled.

I'm fine with anything being discussed within tags. But people openly discussing anything that has not yet aired (including stuff spoiled in previews) is frustrating for any show.

Gambit

The next week's previews is shown in conjunction with the episode. It would be reasonable to expect that pretty much anyone who has watched the show has also watched the preview and would like to speculate about it along with everyone else.

The creators of the show have thrown a lot more content out there other than the show itself (i.e. the mock websites, phone number, etc.). These all provide additional info and insight into the show.

I doubt it would be possible to find any forum where people view the show in isolation and not bring in the other info to discuss. And even if they didn't openly discuss it, they would have that knowledge and it would influence their theories.

das Monkey

I rarely read Lost threads anymore and haven't for a long time. I'll post in one every now and then, but it's usually a drive-by posting. So much of the threads are devoted to page after page of nonsensical speculation with little basis in reality, and it just doesn't interest me. I like to talk about what happened and how well the episode worked with maybe a little speculation for the future. Don't get me wrong -- I don't begrudge those who want to flood the threads with wild speculation and theories -- but it's just not the way I want to spend my time, so I stay out of the threads. It's just that kind of show. I don't particularly enjoy discussing it with my coworkers either for similar reasons. That said, people really should do better when it comes to the spoiler rules, but I think you're probably SOL when it comes to detaching the speculation from the analysis. They're just too intertwined with this show.

As for previews, it's TV Talk policy (and has been in a sticky atop the forum for years) that we don't discuss them without spoiler tags. So let's not get into that argument.

das

Charlie Goose

It's not reasonable. I, and many others, try to avoid previews.

Jackskeleton

Simple answer. Have any shows previews put into spoiler tags and have that inforced by some means. This goes for 24 or any other show. If you don't spoiler tag a preview or preview discussion then you get a day suspension.

I personally don't jump into LOST threads because it's all the same. a couple of pages "OH MY GOD!" "WTF!!!" and then a whole lot of circle jerking over small clues while feeding personal beliefs that they are already dead.

Gambit

OK, maybe I shouldn't use the word "reasonable". Since it is still speculation on my part, I guess I could take a poll and see out of all the people who discuss the show on forums like this, what percentage watches the previews, obtains any sort of external info from tv guide, blogs, etc. As opposed to those who strictly watch the episode and nothing more.

I am under the impression that the majority does end up watching the preview (either after the episode or any other time it happens to air). Is it your impression that this is actually not the case?

I'm not debating whether there should be discussions on it or not, just that if most people have that knowledge, most likely people will incorporate that into their discussions.

Michael Corvin

Not the case here. I have a large office and dart across the room when a promo comes on the radio to change the channel. It's simple. If it hasn't aired, I don't want to know about it.

cracksky

When the Lost logo comes up, the episode is over. On the DVD's, you would next see the credits in full-wide-screen. On TV, they try to get you to watch the next episode naturally. Not me. I immediately mute it, change channels or skip ahead. This has nothing to do with extraneous web sites which have never spoiled specific scenes from upcoming shows.

It's always extremely annoying when someone starts talking about the previews.

Once again. ASSUME WE DON'T WATCH THEM

Gambit

Like I said, maybe it's not "reasonable" for me to just assume that the majority of people have watched the preview or have somehow gained some knowledge of what is in the next episode. It's not just Lost, but for a lot of shows, it's sort of expected that there is going to be a preview. It may air after the show, it may air in a commercial break some time during the week. They want to bring viewers in to watch the show.

Maybe the solution is to just have two threads. One for those who want to discuss just the current week's episodes, and the other that is open for any and all discussion.

Jackskeleton

two threads wont work because people are posting as the show is going. It's very simple. Once the previews come on, put it in spoiler tags and give the warning about it.

Patman

And keep reporting the problematic posts, and have the mods still with the not-so considerate of us here.

cracksky

It's very simple. Learn to use spoilers or this isn't the place for you.

Count Dooku

A DVD TALK poll about watching next week's previews has already been done, and the overwhelming majority of the voters said that they watched the previews and considered them part of the episode they just watched.

Despite that opinion, it is the policy of the DVD TALK forums that the previews are considered spoilers, and any discussion of them should be spoiler tagged.

Gambit

Gallant Pig was suggesting to not have any discussion on what was in the previews. Not whether they should be in spoiler tags.

cracksky

The poll is meaningless. It is a black and white issue. The previews are not part of the show. This is not an opinion. They are commercials and should never be discussed openly.

I think spoiler tags are perfectly fine. It's up to anyone who wants to explore it. I usually just tag the most important words or phrases that can give away the surprise, leaving the other words alone. Instead of tagging the whole paragraph unless it's completely necessary. That way it's easier for someone to decide whether they want to reveal it or not.

spainlinx0

I would like to chime in and say that I never watch the previews for practically any show, and since I have Tivo and satellite radio I rarely even see commercials mentioning what's going to happen on future episodes. As someone else mentioned when the Lost logo pops up, I hit the menu button and I'm on to the next show. I don't read TV guide, blogs, show sites, or anything that I think is going to ruin future plot developments. I understand that some people like to have stuff spoiled for them, but I like to watch episodes with a clean slate.

I think the problem is that people simply don't understand how the spoiler rules work. Take for example this weeks Lost thread. People were complaining about reading spoilers for the episode that was for that date. To me, if you don't want to know anything about that episode, you don't read the thread. If someone comes in and posts a complete synopsis a day before the episode airs I have no problem with that, and think it's fine because that's what that thread is for. To discuss that episode.

One thing I would like is if people were more clear about what they are spoilering. Sometimes people spoilerize discussion about the current episode and I have no idea why. I always try to at least put a description on my spoiler tags instead of posting with just a black box there and no hint of what I'm going to be referring to. I don't mean putting "discussion of upcoming death of a character" as a spoiler description and then discussing who dies either which some people do, but a generic "discussion of upcoming episode rumors" would be sufficient.

maxfisher

I always use spoilers if discussing the previews in Lost threads, but am probably in the minority in wishing we didn't have to. If we're discussing an upcoming movie and a new trailer comes out, I'm pretty sure we aren't required to use spoilers. If that's the case, I don't really see why it's different with Lost or any other tv show. If anything, the previews for Lost are much better at just giving a few shreds of info with a lot of misdirection, while film previews often give away all kinds of major events.

That said, my biggest problem with the way things are now is that often you don't know what a spoiler is unless you click on it. If it's speculation based on some tiny thing shown in the preview, I enjoy reading theories on it. If it's inside information someone got from another board, it probably gives away too much and I'd rather not know. I can't think of a specific example, but there have been at least a couple times this season where I clicked on a spoiler I expected to be about the 'Next on Lost' preview, only to find out it's something found out through leaked shots of an upcoming episode or someone being on set during filming. I agree with others who said it would be nice if people mentioned what's actually in the spoiler tags, instead of just having a black box.

Gil Jawetz

I barely ever visit Lost threads for all the reasons stated. It's nearly impossible to discuss the show without speculation and even reading other people's guesses as to what will happen bugs me. I don't mind reading people guessing as to whether or not Roy and Pam will call off their engagement on The Office but I don't want to see crackpot theories on Lost. But the alternative is threads that say "Remember when Michael shot Ana-Lucia. Yeah, that was cool. Huh huh." So, yeah, Lost is a tough one for messageboards.

Morf

Can't you see that although no one is disagreeing with you that the previews are not part of the show, the majority of people will watch said previews without hesitation and consider them a part of the "Lost night" so to speak. Although DVDTalk has requested that previews be spoiler tagged, many people (a majority, even) will easily slip up and mention them in passing. Best to report those people to mods so they get the picture - that is the best course of action.

DVD Josh

As someone who posts more spoilers in the LOST threads than just about anyone, I would gladly honor any thread whose purpose was to have a spoiler-free discussion. That's assuming that there would be two threads, which as a mod, you have to know would be counterproductive to the whole discussion board system.

The best we can do is hope that people honor the spoiler system.

Jimmy James

LOST in particular blurs the line between show and preview thanks to the ABC practice of airing them immediately after the LOST slate at the end of the show most of the time. I don't see how you folks who don't watch them (and that's your right) manage to avoid them. Most other shows give you a commercial break or two in between.

FatTony

The problem with the next week previews is that it starts a chain that usually ends up in some info being leaked (sometimes without spoiler tags). People begin openly discussing next week's episode and eventually someone will let something slip that everyone else sees as a spoiler. Granted, this board is nowhere near as bad as some of the other boards discussing LOST, but it's still annoying.

For me, the biggest annoyance in the LOST threads (and many of the show threads in this forum) is the asinine posts of "WTF!?" and "OMG!!!" and "i did NOT see that coming!" while the episode is still airing. We all get it, you're watching the episode too. I don't get to watch an episode until 3 hours after many of the users have alerady cluttered the threads with such posts that I then have to navigate through to find any actual discussion. Can everyone just agree to stop posting like that? For the children?

cracksky

Reporting people who can't figure out the spoiler task is useless because the damage is done. If I'm carefully reading through a thread and not looking at spoiler-ed comments and someone throws in something from the preview, I cannot un-read it. Who cares if I snitch on them. The point is: I apparently can no longer enjoy any Lost threads here if I have to wait until the end of the season to read them.

Groucho

This was the exact point I was going to make. It doesn't just apply to Lost threads (although they are big offenders), but I'd like to see whole "play by play" nonsense come to an end.

For one thing, this is not a chat room. Take that sort of thing to IRC.

For another thing, the conversation makes no sense out of context. If you aren't reading the thread in real time while watching the show with people who are in the same time zone as you, it's gibberish.