Taping TV? Hope you're not 'spoiled'

[vashti1999]

New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com

Taping TV? Hope
you're not 'spoiled' by David Bianculli

Thursday, August 11th, 2005

TV technology has evolved so quickly these days, with the advent of digital video recorders and time-shifting services such as TiVo and video on demand, that many of us are being spoiled.
We're able to watch what we want when we want, rather than when the networks feed us.

Yet as some of us become spoiled, others - and I'm speaking as a TV critic - are being thrust into an unwanted role as spoilers.

I've always prided myself on writing reviews that spoil very little - on letting the reader experience most of the same surprises I did and not giving out too much detail about plot twists, dialogue or unexpected surprises. Once the program airs, though, I've figured it was fair game to discuss things, just as you would at the water cooler.

Based on reader E-mails, I may have to rethink things.

New technology has changed the way we watch TV. More people are delaying their TV gratification because of easy-to-use technologies. The on-demand digital and cable services work like an electronic library where you can check out whatever's in stock. And with TiVo and other DVR hardware, recording a show whenever you're busy and having it waiting when you're ready to watch, is the biggest gift to TV fans since the advent of color.

But a few weeks ago, when I was stunned by the character Nate's unexpected death on HBO's "Six Feet Under," I wrote about my reaction, and the implications for the remaining few episodes in the series, in a column published two days after the episode was televised. For every E-mail I got from a reader thanking me and appreciating my analysis, I got another one chastising me for revealing a secret the writer had yet to discover because he stored it on TiVo.

"Maybe next time you should wait a few more days before giving away such a surprising plot twist," Rose Mueller of the Bronx wrote.

And yesterday, in response to a column complaining about ABC's incomplete cycle of "Lost" reruns, I received a grateful E-mail from Robin Kestlinger, a teacher from Brooklyn who came freshly to "Lost" this summer and is upset that ABC isn't showing every episode. She also was a bit upset with me, noting that I "did let a spoiler slip about Walt, to those of us who didn't know."

A spoiler? From an episode originally televised seven months ago?

I'm not sure at all what to do here. My inclination is to insist that once something has been broadcast, it's fair game for postgame analysis.

Incidentally, David Poltrack, CBS' executive vice president for research and someone keenly aware of TiVo and video-on-demand trends, said earlier this year that in TiVo homes, of the most popular 20 shows, only three were watched live rather than later - and one of those was "Lost."

I'm a little lost, too. If part of my job is to remain current and to discuss whatever people are talking about regarding TV, then avoiding that for the sake of a few viewers-come-lately seems self-defeating.

Sorry if that spoils anyone's day.