Thursday, March 06, 2008
Comment moderation has been enabled
Because "The Wire" finale has now been leaked and several other sites I know of are being plagued by people "guessing" every single thing that happens, I'm going to comment moderation between now and Sunday night. I'm sorry if that slows down the flow of discussion -- especially overnight tonight, when people want to talk about "Lost" -- but I can't take any chances. As Matt Seitz reminded me a few minutes ago, we have to nuke the site from orbit; it's the only way to be sure.
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24 comments:
Alan,
I appreciate the thought behind this move, but since I've already seen the leaked episode, I'd really prefer that you leave comment moderation off.
Heh.
Seriously, though, while the expected dearth of comments will make me sad, I think it's the right move.
Mazel tov.
Alan,
Since the episode is already out there, have you considered putting the review up early if it's ready to go?
that way at least there's a place for people who've seen it to post - its not THAT different from the on Demand situation.
James, I've said in several other threads where people have asked that I'm not going to do it. Enabling discussion for a legal means of distribution like the On Demand episodes is one thing; I'm not going to encourage it with an illegal download.
Hi Alan,
Thanks for the reply. I doubt that you posting would encourage anyone who hasn't already, but I understand your position and am happy to wait for yours and Matt's reviews on schedule.
For frustrated On Demander's (sheeeeeetiiitt), here's an article on CNN.com about the agonizing wait we've been going through for the past 2 weeks and the anticipation for the finale:
Fans demand their 'Wire' -- but they'll have to wait
Alan, you remind me why you're my favorite. At least I have one safe haven for the next few days. I'm worried to even type "The Wire" into Google at this point.
Which reminds me, I referenced you in an FNL post we did on Sporting News:
http://www.firstcuts.com (scroll down a bit)
Well, if this helps, we can pretty well guarantee that absolutely none of these predictions will come true. If they do, there will be a lot of confused Wire fans come Monday.
Well, we can pretty well guarantee that none of these predictions will be correct. If they are, it's going to be a long and painful night for Wire fans.
http://foodcourtlunch.com/?p=656
Thanks for this, Alan. I've stopped reading comments on this and other sites recently for fear of spoilers: I'd already had the Omar scene spoiled two weeks early by some worthless piece of excrement on another site who slipped the news in during talk about another show, and I didn't want a repeat of that disappointment when it came to the finale. So now, with moderation here, I can enjoy the Lost discussion this morning without worry.
Thanks Alan -- I appreciate your attention to letting the story be told without leaks.
That said, I am traveling this weekend and will be in a hotel which may or may not have HBO. I went ahead and got the final episode to watch Sunday night with the rest of you. But it's there, on my hard drive, and this may be the most self-control I've demonstrated in quite a while!
Hi Alan,
No real spoilers here, but I understand if you want to delete my comment. I just need to say that the series finale was FANTASTIC. David Simon truly put David Chase to series finale shame. (For the record, yes I illegally downloaded the episode, but I am also an HBO subscriber so I don't feel too bad).
Anyway, I look forward to reading your review. Thanks for all the insight, it's good to get a dose of sanity from you every week after suffering through the "I've never seen a newsroom like that" crap at Slate.
Alan,
Good call. And the right call.
Will the Ledger be devoting as much space this Sunday as you did for the premiere? The coverage then was fantastic.
JZ, there will be a column on Sunday -- a kind of The Wire's greatest hits piece, with a slight twist -- and then on Monday we'll have an edited-down version of the David Simon interview (the full transcript of which is going live Sunday night and is absurdly long) and possibly an abbreviated version of the episode review. Even though the show never had the audience, nationally or locally, as Sopranos, I argued that we should give it a similar treatment at the very end, because it's awesome.
Alan,
Well done. An awesome move to moderate until the details are out. I have been a fan of the show since Season One and only found your blog this season. Its been an amazing outlet to see what everyone else thinks of the show and to see how many of the intricate details are noticed as well.
Looking forward to the review... ( and the comments :)
Scoob
re:Rhyader - I worked in the news business for 12 years and have seen more than my share of newsrooms that were exactly like that. Simon nailed the essence of the day-to-day and more.
Re: the "anonymous" that sent an re: to me -- Yeah, that's what I expected. Plotz and Goldberg (especially Goldberg) at the Slate.com TV Club won't stop whining about how "unrealistic" the newsroom scenes are, no matter how many actual newspaper people have contradicted them. I guess Goldberg thinks that because the show does not fit his personal experience perfectly, it cannot be accurate in any way.
Alan, I am looking forward very much to the full Simon interview. He may hold grudges and be a bit of a curmudgeon compared to most hollywood types, but the man is a genius.
Is it sad that I'm still laughing at the Aliens quote? Alan, I've really enjoyed these posts, and I'm glad that I can go somewhere and not get Sunday's episode spoiled. Sheeeiiiittt
I know I must be very naive, but I would like for someone to explain to me how it is possible "The Wire" is consistently "leaked"? I think the whole On Demand thing was bad enough, but the steady leaking of things like Omar's demise, Snoop's demise, etc. on various internet sites was simply deplorable- it's like people from within the show were sabotaging it. Am I right in my assumption that "The Wire" was the most consistently leaked show ever?
Alan, I've got a Wire-related question about a character no longer with us (Snoop).
Much as I always wondered how Clay Davis' catchphrase started, I've similarly wondered what the hell that noise is that Snoop would make, it sort of sounded like a small animal being stepped on. Snoop did it when she pulled up to tell Michael they were going to do a hit last week. Anyone?
"Am I right in my assumption that "The Wire" was the most consistently leaked show ever?"
I don't know if that's true for the first 3 seasons, but yes it's true for season 4 and 5. The problem is that just about the full season is given ahead of time to critics. All 13 episodes of season 4 were given to critics before even the first episode aired, and someone leaked them really early. I wonder if HBO caught the guy who leaked them...
Same thing with season 5. Eps 1-7 were given to critics and they were leaked. Eps 9-10 were also given and they were leaked. HBO needs to start plugging some holes. Alan can you tell us what would happen if they found out who the source was?
The Omar spoiler didn't leak through the screeners given to the critics though. It was definitely someone involved with the show somehow. Man that REALLY pissed me off...
Respect Alan. The spolier thing must be bad emough for you over there but imagine what its like for us in England where the final series doesn't premiere untl July.
So does this mean there won't be any Journey in the final episode? What a travesty!
Actually, I liked the Sopranos abrupt ending, but then I also liked No Country for Old Men, so I am okay with a lack of conclusion. I don't think that this will happen for the Wire because it has never veered from reality, and in fact has been too real most of the time. However, if McNulty gets a dream sequence in this episode, I will assume that David Simon has lost his mind.
And I don't think HBO will stop the leaks, only because I think this is what has gotten the Wire some additional attention, and with the intricate storylines and high rewatch factor, there will probably be many Wire DVD sets purchased in the upcoming weeks.
Chris Littmann, I've wondered the same thing. That time, it sounded like a "yoo-hoo!" in a strange voice.
She also did something similar last season as sort of a signal, once for delivery of Marlo's package when Bodie agreed to work for him, and also Little Kevin's demise.
SJ: "Alan can you tell us what would happen if they found out who the source was?"
I would like to think HBO would strike that person from their screening list forever. But I have no idea how seriously HBO actually takes this sort of thing.
In case anybody's interested: every HBO screener is burned for the critic that requested it, and the critic's initials (or some sort of institutional code) are in the upper-right hand corner of every frame on the disc. It should be quite easy to determine who leaked the screeners, or at the very least, what institution or department was responsible for the leak.
But echoing other comments in this thread: HBO gets more free publicity through these leaks, so maybe they don't really care.
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