Dear Basketcases,
Come sit. We need to have a little talk.
We’re starting to get a lot more spoiler-spoileresque comments. Deborah and I deleted about five from this week’s open thread.
Please check our About section for our spoiler policy. G’head. I’ll wait.
Okay, get it?
Here is an example, with the spoiler content edited out, of what seemed innocent but crosses the Basket Boundaries:
But I tell ya, I have read several places that someone is going to blah blah blah this year on MM, so you gals might be right, blah blah blah blah!
See, one of the things that happens is that you start to get mixed up. Between what you saw in a preview (which is not considered spoiler) or what you read in an article or what you heard as an educated guess in here or what you heard from a friend who got it from an actual spoiler site. All mixed together in your brain.
But the other thing is there are super spirgins who don’t want to know one single tidbit beyond, perhaps, the promo for the following week. They don’t want to know episode titles in advance. Don’t want to know legitimate scoops hand-fed from Mr. Weiner himself to say, Mo Ryan. We try to protect all our readers, so even when Deborah and I publish a scoop, we always do so below the fold.
Please see fold for demonstration.
Hidey! Welcome to the underside of the fold.
Look, we love you guys, and we get it. You get excited, you want to discuss it all. But not everyone is in the exact same place or of the exact same mind. So we are erring on the side of extreme caution. Because we want the Basket to be a safe space for fans of this show.
Adjacently, if you all want to discuss things amongst yourselves, you can email us (contact also in About) to give your email address to another Basketcase. If you ask us for someone’s email, we won’t give it out, but if you are the ‘giver’, we’re happy to.
Hang in there. Growing pains and shit.
Kisses,
Roberta Lipp
15 Responses to “Please don't spoil the Basket”
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Okay, so I read your site via the RSS feed in my firefox browser, so I feel I should let you know that when you click the entry in the RSS, there is no fold. It automatically takes you to the opened-up link for the single blog entry. Maybe a few stars, or just a "now this is under the fold" or something might help because I don't like to read spoilers, though I'm not all scream-from-the-belltower about it, some of the other RSS readers just might be.
Good point, Shina. I use an RSS feed as well (I mean, not for the Basket, but for other blogs) and I know whereof you speak.
There's some kind of code where you can allow only a portion to appear in the RSS feed, and force the reader to click through for the full post. Which is an all or nothing thing; you can't do it just for some posts.
In the meantime, stars or something are doable.
Can I input something and I hope that I don't offend Matt. I have decided that I am not going to watch the Inside Season 2 videos anymore. The reason is that I think it takes away from the boards. I really enjoy when we all dissect the show and throw around theories. But last night, I jumped ahead and watch the Inside video where Matt explained the deal with Don and his daughter. I found it interesting at first but then felt I had found a spoiler.
One reason that I think The Soprano's was so successful (I know I try to keep the comparisons down though) was we did not always know what in the hell David Chase was thinking when he wrote a scene. And the dissecting and theorizing added to the fun. Kinda like taking a class on Shakespeare and already knowing all the answers. Isn't it fun hearing everyone elses interpretations and sharing ideas about story plot and characters.
People have been analyzing Dante's "Inferno" for decades, but what if they author had written a tell all saying exactly what he meant in every single word.
I think they would be a great addition to the DVDs, because they are kinda tributes to the shows. But right after the show airs, the audience, especially us superfans (i.e. basketcases, I think I am one of those too) really like to talk about them.
So in the future I am gonna avoid that section, at least until I have had time to talk with you guys first.
I actually enjoy the Inside Season Two videos for a couple of reasons. First, since the show is on Sunday night at 10 p.m., I usually go to sleep right after. (Not by choice, believe me, but if I don't, I won't make it to the gym the next morning.) I don't have time to watch it again right away and there are a number of things I've failed to absorb.
Second, Matt Weiner is establishing himself as a director. He wants to make his work approchable. David Chase, on the other hand, didn't care. He wanted mystery, to a fault. It may have driven Matt crazy, too, because he's gone in the other direction.
As for spoilers, I love them! If there's any way to set up a spoiler thread, I'd visit. But it would need to be clearly marked so people wouldn't wander in and be disappointed.
I think AMC is experimenting with different ways of building buzz and using a website as a part of that. I agree with Ell a little, but I also watch them. I do kind of wish it wasn't so easy, and those videos give the illusion of making it easy, but y'know what? Weiner doesn't have all the answers. A great writer brings forth ideas without actually knowing where they're coming from. The creative process is mysterious to the creator. So Weiner's insight is just part of the equation.
Elle, I actually think that's an awesome idea. Even once the season is over, wait a week or so and then watch all the rest of them.
However, I can't protect you (and I don't think you're expecting me/us to) from those of us who do watch them bringing those ideas into the conversation. To treat those as spoilers is just not an option.
But hell yeah, don't watch. I'm going to try to keep away myself… (it won't work, but I'll try.)
Ever since I saw Robert Altman on The Dick Cavett Show back in the 70's trying to explain his film Nashville and sounding ridiculous in the process, I avoid artists explaining their work. As Pauline Kael later said in trying to make excuses for Altman "If you backed James Joyce against a wall and made him explain the 'Nighttown' section of Ulysses, he probably wouldn't sound very coherent either." If they could explain what they meant that directly, then they wouldn't need to write the book or play or script in the first place. As Woody Allen's character says in Shadows and Fog when asked if he believes in God, "I don't know how to answer that. Maybe if you gave me a few weeks, I could come back and dance it for you."
Sometimes the show recaps on the AMC website can be problematic. I post on Television Without Pity, where we have healthy discussions about the show. As people were speculating over one of the "mysteries" of the show, someone linked to that episode's recap where they pretty much gave away the answer.
I have to say, we wouldn't have been sure right away about Sal's marriage if the credits hadn't listed "Kitty Romano," and AMC hadn't said 'Sal is home with his wife.'
I love, love, love you guys for helping us spirgins stay as spirginal as possible on the nettywebs.
(And also for using the word spirgin.)
Our pleasure
BUT if you say "nettywebs" again I'm going to hit you over the head with a series of tubes.
I'm all for spoiler free for those who want to be, me I'll take all that I can get, (yes I'm the one who read the last chapeter of the 7th Harry Potter to see how it ended first).
I love seeing how the little things you know are coming are built in and around. but I totally respect those who don't want that. I often have a chance to read the "live" threads before I get to see the whole episode… which is a spoiler unto itself
It might be fun to a spolier thread that is obvious in it's nature…
Brandy, if we find out things legitimately (like in a preview) but they might be considered spoilers, we use the "below the fold" method. And in such cases, comments are not safe if you don't want spoilers. Like the open threads each week; they're not for people who haven't seen the episode yet and don't want to be spoiled.
Wait! Roberta…..You mean there are spoiler sites?
I have a hard enough time just digesting the weekly episodes,( I mean thats why I am here)