[maplezbear]

Rules for the Gilmore Girls spoiler free are the same as rules for the OTH Spoiler-free board -- Idea brought over by Naleylove22 (aka Stefanie)

Because so many GG fans avoid promos and episode descriptions, we have added a rung to the ladder for Spoiler-free GG fans.


What is a spoiler?


What it means to be Spoiler-Free?

It is unique to every member. A "spoiler" is something different for everyone, and it is up to you to decide what rung on our ladder of spoiler freedom you want to stand on!

Ultra-Spoiler Free (Rung #0) Includes those who avoid any and all information about upcoming episodes, regardless of whether it has been made public or not. Those on this rung of the ladder believe that the series is best enjoyed with no promotional materials giving away bits and pieces of the plot.

Spoiler Free (Rung #1) are those who think spoilers are any posted non-public information- meaning, anything behind-the-scenes, from unofficial sources, and/or rumored. Those of you on this step of the ladder do not consider WB Official Summaries to be spoilers. WB Summaries (which have a tendency to incorrectly emphasize many points/plots) are official releases by the WB about the episodes. These are usually found on the official WB website or in TV guide. This information is public, so many do not consider it a spoiler.

Spoiler-lite (Rung #2) are those who consider casting notices and releases (which sometimes hint at plot or character turns) and location information (which may also hint at plot), as "OK." They may look at pictures or other information.

The 11 Steps of Spoiler Recovery (by: Anonymous)

1. Admit that we were powerless over wanting to know more about an upcoming episode.

2. Come to believe that the skills of a fabulous writer should not be compromised by having every plot twist anticipated.

3. Make a searching and fearless inventory of past episodes.

4. Admit to ourselves and another Gilmore Girl fanatic the nature of our wrongs.

5. Be entirely ready to face an episode spoiler-free.

6. Humbly ask others to avoid tempting us.

7. Make a list of all those we have offended by accidentally revealing a spoiler for an upcoming episode.

8. Make such amends to those we have offended.

9. Continue to take an episode inventory and when we notice a plot that was different from a spoiler or speculation, promptly admit it.

10. Seek the power to remain without prior knowledge of the next new episode.

11. Will have an awakening as the result of these steps, we try to carry this message to spoiler-aholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Reasons to stay spoiler free:
1. I can always be optimistic about what is going to happen.
2. I don't have to try and figure out cryptic spoilers
3. I don't have to follow the
4. Our spoiler-free community rocks!!!
5. I like being surprised.
6. I'm happier not knowing.

Past thread titles:
1) Spoiler Free is The Way to Be #1
2) Because we'll make it through any hiatus!
3) 'Cause we're stronger together
4) 'Cause we trust ASP in her own time
5) 'Cause There is Strength in Numbers
6) Summer Hiatus: The Calm Before the Storm
7) Spoiler-whores Leave us Be!
8) We can always be optimistic!
9) (Lost in the unfortunate server upgrade)
10) (Lost in the unfortunate server upgrade)
11) 'Cuz every Tuesday is like a surprise party!
12) Safe Summer, Smiling Sepis
13) 'Cause we Don't care to look, no time to look
14) 'Cause it's no fun when you're spoiled!
15) To err is human, to spoil is just not cool!
16) 'Cause we really like it better not knowing!

Our MEMBERS: (support group/sponsors) Hello, my name is... (screennames in italics -- if your screenname or your real name is missing it is because I don't know it. I'm sorry if I should PM me and I'll fix it )

1. Stefanie (~Naleylove22~)
2. Christine
3. Colleen (llanoestacado)
4. Ania R
5. Vicky (Lookin_for_Luke)
6. Ayelet
7. Yvonne (pinkpaisley )
8. Maddy
9. Carmen
10. beccabv
11. Daph
12. Annick
13. Nate the Lizaphile
14. Soulstarshine
15. Jenna (Jennarose)
16. ConnieB04
17. Sarah (hotplates)
18. Mayra (phyco52)
19. Lindsey (Gilmrgrladdict)
20. Bri (DiMeraBaby)
21. Yvi (Jean_Grey)
22. Kris (oywllalrdy)
23. *Rach*
24. .::Tati::.
25. bptrackgirl
26. Cheryl (PinkMartini)
27. Cat (Java_Angel86)
28. Valerie (KCsGirl)
29. Maxymama
30. Pao (litty)
31. Catherine (Kona40)
32. Carisa (shrty1283)
33. angela (dinergirl)
34. Kathrin (sunny sunshine)
35. jenna_mariexx
36. lukelai_lover
37. Rachel orangesherbet7
38. Chloie (go_clo)
39. Nancy (dayzy27)
40. Steph (maplezbear)
41. Kari (dramaqueen125)
42. Carolyn (lukelover87)
43. Tasha (fish_sandwich)
44. Con (LL-Freak)
45. Stephanie (MickeyJr3000)
46. Juli (iheartbsb)
47. Maria (hasi1908)
48. Ane (ainie)
49. Shannon (LG Rocks My Socks)
50. Chelsea (SoSaysI81)
51. PinkPastry

We decided to call ourselves the SEPIS the idea was derived from this article. Also Kathrin suggested the name.

Stop it, you're spoiling me!
Friday, April 08, 2005
BY ALAN SEPINWALL
Star-Ledger Staff

The link stared out at me like it wanted me to eat some forbidden fruit or smash my boat up against a rock. My right hand gripped the mouse, index finger poised over the left button, but my left hand was on the verge of slapping the contraption away before I could make the fateful click. I glanced at my watch, and realized I'd spent the last five minutes staring at one bold-faced word:

"Spoilers."

Now, I hate spoilers. Have long considered them the scourge of my existence as a pop culture junkie. I once risked losing my job for loudly arguing with an editor who wanted me to write a column spoiling the "Seinfeld" finale, all because another paper had already done it. (I was at least as mad at the fact that she had spoiled it for me as at her demand that I spoil it for everyone else.) For me, the name is perfect, since spoilers ruin my enjoyment when I know what's going to happen before I watch.

So what on Earth was I doing wasting large chunks of my day pondering the link to a spoiler Web site for this season of "Survivor"?

I was tempted by the spoilers because I wanted to know if Tom and Ian were going to do well. For those who aren't watching this season of the show (one of the best, with the awesome car-wreck spectacle of one team losing every single immunity challenge), these are two of the more likable contestants ever. Tom's a New York fireman who's incredible at everything -- physical challenges, building team morale, even shark-catching -- while the lanky Ian is his goofball surrogate son, as well as appearing to be part man, part dolphin.

I haven't felt this attached to two reality show contestants in a while, and since my "Survivor" favorites never win, I wanted to brace myself for their inevitable departure from the game.

I've resisted the siren song of the "Survivor" spoiler sites for now, but spoilers overall are just so tempting and so ubiquitous that I don't always have that level of self-control. I went to the Internet Movie Database last week to find out whether "Project Greenlight" director John Gulager would be allowed to cast the four lead roles of "Feast" with members of his immediate family. And when I was pondering whether to give up on this season of "The Apprentice," I checked the spoiler sites to see if I cared about either of the two alleged finalists. I didn't, so I stopped watching.

Spoilers have been around in one form or another forever. As a kid, I remember a classmate telling me that Spock was going to die in "Star Trek II" months before the movie came out, and I'm sure some loudmouth in Elizabethan England stood outside the Globe to tell people that everybody dies at the end of "Hamlet."

But the spoiler culture has exploded over the last few years. The things are everywhere now, attempting to spoil movies, TV shows, even politics. (What were all those blogs reporting Kerry/Bush exit polling, if not electoral spoilers?)

And it's not just anonymous people on Web sites. Some critics often give away half the plot without meaning to, and TV promos and movie trailers -- made by the people who want you to watch their product -- often reveal the big jokes or the surprise ending.

At the same time, it's hard to tell what is and isn't a spoiler now. Between TiVo, On Demand and the DVD boom, you can never tell when someone is going to get around to seeing a movie or TV show you want to talk about. A few months after the first season of "24" had ended, some friends of mine on an e-mail list started talking about the death of Jack Bauer's wife, when one complained that he had been waiting to see the show on DVD. And early in the first season of "Deadwood," participants in one message board were torn on how much to discuss the real-life fate of Wild Bill Hickok with those who didn't know; as one put it, "Is history a spoiler?"

Dan Kaiser, a former theater manager in the Loews Cineplex chain and the founder of TheMovieSpoiler.com, would argue with the idea that spoilers do harm, even as he jokes about the fact that five theater chains have gone bankrupt in the two years since he started the site.

"I think that in fact, my site helps the movie business," he says. "It helps generate word of mouth, and there's nothing wrong with thousands of people talking and reading about current movies."

Kaiser wasn't planning to see "Be Cool," for instance, until he read the spoiler written by one of his contributors and decided the movie sounded like fun.

On the other hand, when the controversy erupted over "Million Dollar Baby" -- with critics who liked the ending fighting to keep it secret, while ones who didn't loudly announcing the twist to their readers -- he made sure not to read any spoilers until he had seen the film.

Linda Holmes doesn't have that luxury. As a recapper for TelevisionWithoutPity.com, she writes biting weekly summaries of "Survivor," "The Apprentice" and "The Amazing Race," and part of the job involves moderating the message boards for all three shows -- including the spoiler sections.

"I have always kind of not wanted to know things," she says. "I try to think of that as the default position. Unfortunately, it's pretty much impossible to remain unspoiled doing what I do."

"Amazing Race" is one of her favorite shows, and for the first two seasons it was relatively unspoiled. But early in the third season, someone spoiled the final three, "and at that time, for that show to get spoiled for me was so heart-breaking. I kept hoping that something would happen to prove it wasn't true."

Even now, spoilers aren't always that reliable. Advance spoilers for this "Apprentice" season suggested that flirty lawyer Erin would be in the final two, and she got fired weeks ago. Earlier this week, when word began circulating that "American Idol" would be doing a show tunes night, someone posted a bogus list of songs to be performed that included the head-scratching notion of hard rocker Bo Bice doing "Edelweiss." (For that matter, the early Kerry/Bush poll data pointed to a result that turned out to be wrong.)

Holmes doesn't like spoilers, but she understands their temptation.

"I think it comes from impatience, for one thing. Like what you're saying about Tom (on 'Survivor'), kind of wishing that you knew. Like people think, 'If I knew my favorite person was going to do well, then I could sit back and enjoy the season.'"

She does, however, admit to checking out spoilers for things she doesn't intend to see, like the film "The Village."

That may be the most common use of spoilers these days. Because there are just so many entertainment options out there, because we're all so busy, and because we're a nation increasingly obsessed with pop culture, nobody wants to be left out of the discussion. They want to know what everyone's talking about, even if they don't want to waste the time or expense of watching it.

Kaiser says most of the e-mails he gets are "letters of thanks for saving people money."

I've hated spoilers for so long that it's been hard to accept the idea that they might have some value for me. But my resolve is definitely weakening. As much as I'm loving this season of "Survivor," it can't be over soon enough, if only so I'll stop wasting so much time agonizing over whether to spoil the results.

And in the meantime, I have to go find out how "Miss Congeniality 2" ends. Will Sandra Bullock finally figure out how to use that eyebrow pencil?

Go check it out!
A Link to our Spoiler-free Friends on the Scott Patterson Board
A Link to our Spoiler-free Friends on the Lauren Graham Board
Live Journal Community ggspoilerfree

Spoiler Free is the way to be!

[lukelover87]

Thanks for the new thread Steph!

[LG rocks my socks]

Thanks Steph!!

[maplezbear]

Yall are welcome.
Ok so linking to new threads using quick reply does not work. It double posts the link and takes you to the intro board.

[iheartbsb]

So I just finished reading the last couple posts on the other thread...You know, I was never SF for all the shows I watch. It used to be just GG. I used to actively seek out spoilers for ER and Las Vegas and whatever else there was just out of sheer boredom. Then I started taking a peek at GG spoilers. Then I stopped. But if I ever got spoiled on ER or whatever, it didn't matter. I didn't really care.

This season though, I'd rather not bother with spoilers at all. Could be the lack of time, could be that I just don't care, or it could be that I like being SF. It adds to the show.

[llanoestacado]

Thanks for the new thread, friends.

[PinkPastry]

Hey!

Could I be added to this list? I hate spoilers... except I always watch the promos and then it feels like a waste that I avoided spoilers. I don't see why GG promos have to give away so much -- I watch promos for all my shows, and this is the only one where they seem to ruin the surprise. All the scenes seem to be from the end of episode ((or like three ahead )). Sooo... I want to avoid the promo tonight. I'll probably watch it anyway, but I figured posting in this thread my up my chances?

[go_clo]

welcome to the thread Pinkpastry!

I know what you mean!
During the summer, I said I would alow myself to watch promos and read titles this year because they don't really give much away plus they either exagerate or underestimate stuff but for some reason, this year they have been giving away practically the whole story to the episode. I have been really trying to avoid promos but everyone keeps talking about them so I end up watching them on the internet. I will try harder to stop now though!

[Mareike]

Then you'd love german promos - we have the most pointless ones ever lately. The teaser for the next ep.

[maplezbear]

Welcome to the thread PinkPastry! You have been added to the list

I don't like the promos either. I try and avoid them. They always seem so evil, lol.
It is a little hard to avoid them though if you watch Veronica Mars because it's on right after. And I don't know about yall, but I don't want to miss anything for that.

[PinkPastry]

Thanks!

That's the biggest problem. I watch VM too and I have this thing about not missing any little bit of episodes, especially VM, since it's my favorite. I don't get it though, VM is on the same channel and those promos haven't bugged me at all.

[lukelover87]

Welcome PinkPastry!

[iheartbsb]

Yay a new member to the Sepis crowd! Welcome!

Two things: To avoid the promos for GG, I just fast forward. hehe. Okay, it depends on the situation. If I have to tape GG and VM, then it's easy to avoid the promo. If I'm watching in real-time, then I just leave the room or start yelling and close my eyes! lol Someone usually has to tell me when it's safe to come back, but it works.

Secondly, I peaked at a spoiler. And it was a big one. I know this. Funny thing is that I'm not even that upset. It all started when I discovered how un-entertaining this week's episode was. (Can I say that now? I forget when we can discuss an episode. Anyways, so I was almost tempted to watch the promo hoping for something more entertaining, but I didn't. I fast-forwarded right to VM. But then, this article was posted from Ausiello over on the Studio 60 boards. I was so excited that I clicked ont he link and then just kept surfing the site. I was scrolling through the blog posts not really reading anything when I saw the big headline. He tried to use that dumb starring out the letters of the word, but it was too obvious. Oh well.

Back to Studio 60. hehe.

[dramaqueen125]

You know, I'm just going to say this. Spoilers should be kept on spoiler boards. I hate spoiler bars. I hate them. It's like why have them, then spoilered people can just discuss spoilers everywhere. There's a whole couple threads for it here and other places, why must people feel it's necessary to discuss them everywhere just because they can use spoiler bars.

This is especially a complaint from me, who just kind scrolls through stuff and by accident highlights stuff that I did not want to know. It was also interesting how it had nothing to do with the rest of the conversation that was going on, so really why post it? It wasn't FF. That's not my problem. But really, when there are spoiler bars here I could by accident do the same thing. I know they're allowed and everything, it's just annoying, there's are reason for spoiler threads.

[go_clo]

^oh I am so totally with you on that Kari, like I do like having the option of spoiler bars to talk about new aired episodes that people may not have seen but lately they have been really taken advantage of, they like use them to discuss spoilers where ever and whenever they want! Its annoying.

Spoiler bars aren't only annoying because of what they are used for and how they are taken advantage of but they also make me really suspicious, like someone will sort of hint something in there post and then put a little winking emoticon and then put a spoiler bar right underneith that. Like come on! Might as well just put the spoiler right smack dab in the middle of the post for all to see! I also hate how spoiler bars don't cover emoticons, or people won't put emoticons in the spoiler tag, they will just put a little smiling or sad/mad emoticon in there post and then put the spoiler tag, now THAT is annoying!

Geez I had no clue I hated emoticons and spoiler tags so much well I have had alot of problems with them lately!