Is the internet hurting the quality of TV?

Nowadays everything is discussed in detail. We gather on message boards and try to guess endings and plot twists, we create entire Wikipedias dedicated to shows like Lost and Deadwood and we review! We review TV like crazy.
Does it make it harder for TV shows to create tension, disputes or plot twists that span over several episodes or even seasons when the internet is filled with people trying to guess how it turns out? Does it encourage the developers to create standalone stories in each episode? Does it take away some of the mystery if you go online and read people's theories? Some of them are bound to be correct. Or does it allow extra complexity? Which I think Lost was a testament to. If you missed an episode, you'd better read up on it online before watching the next one.

It's indisputable that TV suffers on the count of websites that store all the episodes. We, as an audience, don't have to pay for say HBO anymore and we don't have to watch ads, which is a bigger chore in some countries than others.

In the old days people watched Family Ties and went about their day but now everyone theorizes and scrutinizes every last detail and share it with people online. The biggest problem for me is the reviews. I can watch an episode of Heroes, a series that went down the tubes in my opinion, and find it perfectly fine. But then I go online and read people's complaints about it and all of a sudden their complaints stand out to me that much more the next time I watch it. I realize that's just the way of life but since everyone's got a platform now the whole thing becomes so much bigger and louder.

Did Lost suffer due to the added pressure of peoples' expectations that everyone shouted out on the internet? I never got into it but I heard a lot of people were dissatisfied with how much were left unexplained but I think a lot of what people wanted explained came from themselves and their own theories than from the developers. Maybe people read too much into stuff and the ball just got rolling.

With sites such as Youtube that's filled with free, quality (well some of it) content are people starting to turn their backs on TV? Is it gonna die out like radio did? Where are the game and movie reviews? Not on TV but on the internet now. Music videos, cooking shows, documentaries - same story.

What are your thoughts?

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The Freedom Roads

I think the theorising improves the enjoyment of the show. It makes you look deeper at what you're watching then just thinking 'oh this might happen'. Certainly with Lost, or complex shows with respect for intelligent viewers, internet fan speculation is part of the ride and it's in many instances helped me see things i've missed. The only real harm is when shows end and disappoint or don't pay off the thoughts you've invested. I wouldn't have enjoyed Lost nearly as much without DarkUfo and the clever clogs who interweave the shows subtle philosophical standpoints with more wider narratives and arcs.

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Fortunately, I don't care too much about TV for the most part, though I will admit that having several parts of The Wire spoiled for me was definitely irritating. I have since learned to be more careful when it comes to avoiding discussion for shows I'm still in the process of watching or have yet to watch.

I doubt TV's going to die out completely, though.

Spoilers are a whole other issues. Before the internet all you had to avoid was your dumbass friend with a loose tongue but now the internet is filled with them.

Oh, right.

I didn't mean we couldn't discuss it though.

Speaking of which, I've just come from foolishly browsing IMDBs GoT board.

If you don't want something spoiled, why go looking for sites/threads about the programme you're watching. It makes no sense.

Because for many shows it's fun to talk and speculate about what you've seen so far.

Then you take your chances.


The internet, certainly not youtube, isn't going to destroy television unless the economic model develops that they can produce television dramatic and comedic shows on the internet with the same production quality and creative talent as television, which is doubtful. Being able to discuss shows on the internet does not hurt television programs. It is a good marketing tool and generates buzz for certain type of shows. Most television shows are not discussed to any great extent on the internet, just the serialized shows like Lost and The Sopranos that capture the public's fancy.

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It reminds me of a toilet paper on the trees
- Paula

And we also get to whine about it!

If we're just talking about the fact that it can be hard to find a non-spoiler place to post things, that's understandable. Comes with the territory. But then again, that's not usually the issue. The problem is when people have to take an all-or-nothing approach because people are careless about spoilers and don't give each fan the choice to read them or not. They have to avoid discussion altogether, which seems extreme.

So... your idea is that to save television we shouldn't think about what we watch, but just "go about our day"? Your point is that we should embrace a detached stance towards a dense and extended narrative over exploring the work intellectually?

Sounds pretty awful to me. That was half of the fun of Lost. That was also almost entirely the reason why I kept watching. Then again, I hardly watch any television anymore as it airs, but there is a vast difference between a retrospective, overall evaluation and a play by play.

I would have to ponder over the merits of the latter.

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"Loves them? They need them, like they need the air."

Lost struck me a show that never was thought through, they were making it up as they go along. It was like those round robin stories where somebody writes one chapter, then with no plot outline, just what was written previously, writes the next chapter, then comes the next writer and does the same thing.

I can believe that. After 9 episodes, I couldn't find any reason to keep watching, so if you enjoyed talking about it on the net, you'd have to watch next week in order to keep up with the pointlessness of it all.

Your loss.

well, i think television has changed so much since back in "the old days" anyway. shows like Lost and The Wire with a ****ton of plot twists and narratives. especially Lost, a show that went on for... 5 seasons? (i never actually watched it) and you didn't know what was really going on until you finished the entire series. i can't believe you threw out Family Ties as a comparative show when it clearly isn't. i mean, we have shows like Family Ties still out there today, but you don't see very many boards dedicated to scrutinizing shows like George Lopez and Two and a Half Men.

i thought what Kasper was trying to say was that people take their shows so much more seriously today than they used to, and a lot of that may be spurred on by how connected we all are due to technology. "going about your day" could be another way of saying actually living in the real world a little more. but i guess that's a different issue entirely.

It really wasn't.

There have always been fans who take their shows too seriously, or at least as far back to the sixties with Star Trek. I liked Star Trek, but those Trekkies are insane. Hey, Sexy Celebrity, if you are reading this, I have a good one for you. Betty White once claimed she was a Trekkie.

Yes it was.

The point of my mindless contradiction, by the way, is to show that there's no difference between what I'm doing and the comment that prompted it. Take an empty swipe, get an empty retort.