And even though I had planned not to step into the fray on this one... As for Spoiler Alerts...
Yes, sometimes, in the rush and excitement to describe/discuss things, a Spoiler Warning will not be posted. Yes, DRs from time to time have asked that they be posted, and for the most(!) part, they have been. And when they don't, well... It happens.
And it's not just an East Coast/West Coast thing. There have been times when some of us East Coasters have recorded the program to watch it later while the West Coasters have watched it live - at least in their time zone.
I think the most important thing to keep in mind is that it's just TV. That may sound like a truly simplistic blanket statement, and, well, it is. And with all the coverage about television program and movies elsewhere on the web and in print, you may find yourself "spolied" just by a casual glance at a homepage or the cover of TV guide. In turn, you may find yourself reading something you didn't want to read. Again, that happens. Is your life going to fall apart knowing that a favorite character got killed?, or knowing in advance that there's going to some sort of major twist at the end?
No.
HHW has always been a place of respect, a "living room" as DR MusicGuy coined a few years ago. And there's bound to be some missed spoiler warnings, slightly hurt feelings, misunderstandings, and mis-readings from time to time. But we all manage to hug (and sometimes kiss) and make-up eventually.
In regards to DR MattH, I don't think it's been an secret - even to the newer DRs - that he watches and loves his television programs (and DVDs). Heck, he's even a reviewer for a website as DR Ron Pulliam stated, so he spends a lot of time in his Media Room. Technically, he should (have) post a SPOILER WARNING before a majority of the posts he's posted. -I know I haven't seen all the movies he's been reviewing and watching for his own pleasure. And will the fact that I know how a certain classic film ends spoil my possible future viewing of it? No.
So... If you we happen to know that a certain TV program was on "last night", and we know that certain DRs happen to watch certain programs, well, there's always the scroll and "page down" buttons on your computer's keyboard. -And if you happen to miss an interesting, non-TV-related bit of business, well, that happens too. I think it's wonderful that we all try to be conscientious about reading each and every word in each and every post, but sometimes that's just not possible for all of us to do every single day. -Am I right about that?
I do hope that Matt comes back to the site sooner rather than later. (And there are times when we all takes breaks from the site anyway.) In the meantime, I think we all just need to take a deep breath, and remember how much LOVE comes from this site when someone is in pain, sick, has a death in the family, etc. That's all certainly more important than knowing in advance,
by accident, what happened at the end of a television program.
*I have about two weeks of shows on the DVR here that I have yet to get to - and I don't even know when I'll get to them. -And, yes, some of them have been "spoiled" for me - although mainly through casual conversations with some friends. I'm still going to try my best to watch them. I simply enjoy the programs, and there are programs I watch more than once - and they're just as if not more enjoyable on the second - or even third or fourth - viewing. Heck, there have been whole seasons of show I was only able to catch during their summer reruns, and I was certainly not going to ask that there be no discussion about those shows until
I had seen them. Sheesh, that would have cut the number of postings down quite a bit!
