Fanfare pony request: Ability to not specify an episode September 24, 2014 10:06 AM   Subscribe

Inspired by this post, I've got a feature request for Fanfare: In the "Episode #" drop-down, add "N/A" as an option. This signals that the post is for the entire season. I think there are a lot of shows that would benefit from single-post discussions (The Fall was previously mentioned, I think) rather than one thread per episode.
posted by jbickers to Feature Requests at 10:06 AM (33 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite

Not sure how feasible this would be but yes please I think this would be lovely!
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 10:14 AM on September 24, 2014


It's something we can talk about, yeah. We've been pretty tied up with other site stuff recently so while there was a bunch of good feedback about FanFare in the recent Metatalk thread including I think a variation or two on this idea, we haven't really had a chance to unpack and look at all of that to the point where we can give an prompt firm answer.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:21 AM on September 24, 2014 [2 favorites]


Well if we start here for 'Fanfare summary for S01' then do we also make a post for 'Fanfare summary for entire series'?
posted by komara at 10:23 AM on September 24, 2014


I'm against it! I am very episode-centric.

The spoilers threat should be a concern, I think.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 10:27 AM on September 24, 2014


I like this idea, although it'd be great if there were season-threads along with series-threads.
posted by griphus at 10:39 AM on September 24, 2014 [1 favorite]


Metafilter: give an prompt firm answer.
posted by Melismata at 10:40 AM on September 24, 2014 [1 favorite]


Um, if we don't implement this I will never be able to create a real version of the Good Wife/Orphan Black/Stockard Channing Fan Club MCMikeNamara and I have in my head SO ACTUALLY I think it's basically a critical update.

Somehow I believe this is a step in the direction of my dream becoming a reality although I have never told anyone about it before so maybe that would have been the real first step. Mostly I just want to talk about The Good Wife and compare her hair in various seasons and stuff with anyone who will listen. Don't take that away from me.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 10:42 AM on September 24, 2014 [1 favorite]


An unnecessary use of "an" is the clearest sign of august commentary. Like how everybody in media still says "an historic" even though they know how idiotic that is. Because it's fucking august, man.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:42 AM on September 24, 2014 [4 favorites]


I'm now thinking there should be an unexpiring, permanent FanFare thread just called "Law & Order," open to any/all conversation about the show.

But just the vanilla one. SVU and Criminal Intent and so on get their own threads.
posted by griphus at 10:49 AM on September 24, 2014 [3 favorites]


Well if we start here for 'Fanfare summary for S01' then do we also make a post for 'Fanfare summary for entire series'?

I think we should also be able to have posts on channels and on mediums.

CBS: FOR or AGAINST?

Television: WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR or WHAT ISN'T IT GOOD FOR?

But actually I am in favor of season/series pony even if I will probably never ride it.
posted by anotherpanacea at 10:50 AM on September 24, 2014 [2 favorites]


Mediums: Are they messages?
posted by griphus at 10:51 AM on September 24, 2014 [4 favorites]


I'm backing this pony! GO, PONY.
posted by two or three cars parked under the stars at 11:06 AM on September 24, 2014


I was also thinking about something like that. Specifically how to solve situations where multiple seasons already aired and a new season is just about to start (thinking of my post re: Homeland here).
Several seasons spanning over the course of years means there would be a lot of old eps that could be added to FF. Which is not always feasible. On the other hand, just jumping into season four without any discussion of older events feels a bit odd.
Someone suggested to me to just post the very last episode of the last season to provide a space for general discussion before the new season airs. That might work in this instance. I don't know if it would help in every case.
posted by travelwithcats at 11:25 AM on September 24, 2014


Because it's fucking august, man.

keep up, cortex- it's september already.
posted by zamboni at 11:25 AM on September 24, 2014 [6 favorites]


I remember this coming up before, I think it was within the FanFare talk thread for Orange Is the New Black? It would have been also great for weird shows. With Louie this season it was more like a movie aired in random bunches than specific episodes.
posted by bleep at 12:12 PM on September 24, 2014


If a show cannot sustain discussion on an episode by episode basis, then I suggest it shouldn't be on Fanfare. I fear this way lies madness wherein I may not be able to stop myself from creating a Manimal entry if this was a thing. You've been warned.
posted by FreezBoy at 12:19 PM on September 24, 2014


I think this would solve a lot of the issues with Fanfare - it would cut down on the overall volume of posts, making it easier to find the things one is interested in, as well as allow individuals participate in multi-season rewatches at their own pace.

I endorse this pony. Pony '14!
posted by donajo at 12:20 PM on September 24, 2014


I support this but I don't think it will solve much actually... People will shoot their wads when the thread is first posted and then it will sink into sequential post soup never to be viewed or discussed again.

(If you can't mix metaphors around here, what can you mix?!)
posted by latkes at 12:26 PM on September 24, 2014


Maybe in the episode drop-down put "other as specified" and a box pops up and you can input "Fall" or "September/October" or "1-6" or "whole season" or whatever.

I would really like to discuss "Reign" on FanFare, because I think MeFites would have a rollicking good time discussing the plot twists, medieval lesbians, spy hookers, bizarre clothing choices, many strange methods of murder, and the continuing awesomeness that is Megan Follows chewing the scenery as Queen Catherine ("Must I do everything? Shall I catch my head in my own hands too???"). But the fact is that it's just too slight a show to be worthy of single-episode threads that run more than a dozen comments, because there's not a lot to analyze. But a thread where we could carry out a conversation over a 13-episode half-season talking about Kenna's terrible life decisions and Mary's non-medieval undergarments and Which Evil Catherine Plot Is The Best Plot and whether Frary or Mash is the OTP, that'd be a lot of fun.

(PS, if you're not watching Reign, there's time to catch up before the premiere, it is Ren Faire Fan Fic as clothed by Hot Topic where Nostradamus is BFFs with Catherine d'Medici who is inexplicably who Anne of Green Gables turned into when she grew up. And it's on the CW so there are lots and lots of male characters whose sole function is to be eye candy. IT'S SO GREAT.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 12:37 PM on September 24, 2014


I support this but I don't think it will solve much actually... People will shoot their wads when the thread is first posted and then it will sink into sequential post soup never to be viewed or discussed again.

(If you can't mix metaphors around here, what can you mix?!)


Various fluids that shouldn't be mixed, evidently.
posted by jbickers at 12:51 PM on September 24, 2014 [1 favorite]


Various fluids that shouldn't be mixed, evidently.

tears and earwax.. it will all end in tears and earwax.
posted by edgeways at 1:15 PM on September 24, 2014


I want this pony (will also accept real life pony) but in the meantime, couldn't the last episode in a series be used for a summary? I'm thinking more of shows where no other episodes in that season were posted.
posted by Ik ben afgesneden at 2:28 PM on September 24, 2014


I'm for this. Mostly because some shows are really more like a split up movie than individual episodes, to the point that it feels like it's supposed to blend together in your head.
posted by emptythought at 2:54 PM on September 24, 2014


Fanfare pony request: Ability to not specify an episode

It's called a pony request because the show is about a horse!
posted by Room 641-A at 2:56 PM on September 24, 2014 [1 favorite]


I like it. Especially when posting about a semi web non-US airing series like I started to. Or like, an adult swim series. The ep by ep model works best for sequential drama shows. Sometimes it's most appropriate to be like "SEASON ONE OF THIS SHOW AMIRITE?"
posted by Potomac Avenue at 4:05 PM on September 24, 2014


I would pet and feed this pony.
posted by Jacqueline at 12:50 AM on September 25, 2014 [1 favorite]


I would visit and bring sugar cubes to this pony.
posted by Margalo Epps at 9:29 AM on September 25, 2014 [1 favorite]


This might be cool for things like, Fall Pilot 2014 as a show, where you want to discuss them but a lot of them aren't going to survive.
posted by typecloud at 12:05 PM on September 25, 2014 [1 favorite]


Matt was not super-enthusiastic about this when the Wire watchers brought it up a while back. Now that FanFare has been around a little longer, I hope the question can be reconsidered.
posted by box at 12:58 PM on September 27, 2014


Okay, my suggestion is that for every series added there's a general post created for that series which would show up on the main page like usual (at the time of creation) but also be a main link on the show's index page. So then there'd always be that thread within which people can talk about the show generally and, also, there'd be a mechanism by which a new show is introduced to the FanFare community with a new post which people will see and comment within if they wish.

My thinking is that this can be done two different ways. First, like a regular post. For example, I posted the first episode of The Honourable Woman but, really, that would have worked better as a general series post calling attention to it and inviting general discussion about it. Then individual episode posts could have followed if there was interest.

The other way would be that when someone wants to post an episode thread for a show that is new to FanFare, when the new show is approved there could be a generic post created for it that would appear along with the person's episode post. This way there'd always be a general post even if no one ever went to the trouble of crafting one explicitly. I mean, I know that it would be nice for posts to be community authored and interesting and all but, really, a general show post is pretty straightforward and doesn't need to be content-rich in itself. And admins have to manually add shows and their graphics and stuff to FanFare anyway, so a general series post wouldn't be much more trouble than what already is done.

Back-creating general posts for series we already have would be some work and I don't think such posts should end up on the FanFare main page (although that would break the paradigm), but it would certainly answer what I think is a very big demand.

I totally understand the desire and rationale for sticking with the MeFi format of chronological posts that everyone sees in a main page. I really really don't like the idea of subdividing into different sections and such. But I think such a general show thread for every approved show is the one necessary exception to this very good rule. And I think that in the normal course of things such general show posts should be normal posts, in keeping with the paradigm, but I suspect that people would navigate to them again and again directly from the show page because, frankly, as discussed in other threads there's not enough interest in FanFare to sustain all the posts but there would be more interest for whole-series threads. And that wouldn't preclude episode posts but, also, there wouldn't necessarily need to be episode posts in some cases. Like The Honourable Woman, which is only an eight-episode BBC/Sundance series that has already aired in both the UK and the US. With enough people who are watching it over time who want to avoid being spoiled, there might be a need for episode posts. I'm a big believer in episode posts. But general posts answer a different but overlapping need and it's a need that is going unmet in FanFare at present.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 10:16 AM on September 29, 2014 [1 favorite]


I'll piggyback this pony request instead of starting a new Meta.

Could we pretty pretty pretty pretty please get a space to discuss previews? Because IIRC, discussing previews for next week's episode is not allowed in this week's episode thread as per the spoilers policy, but sometimes those previews are just so OMGWTFBBQ!!!! that people are reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally going to want to discuss them right away.

Like I'm sort of losing my shit over the preview for a certain show I follow right now and I bet I'm not the only one.
posted by Jacqueline at 7:25 PM on September 30, 2014


Are previews verboten in Fanfare? I assume you're not talking about anything web-only/"special CoolShowCon exclusive"-type stuff, but just regular "Next week on Cool Show..." type previews, right? IIRC people were discussing those in the GoT newbie threads, which seem to set a comfortable upper limit for spoiler-free.
posted by kagredon at 1:29 PM on October 2, 2014


We've asked that people keep preview stuff for e.g. Next Week's Episode out of a thread about This Week's Episode, regardless of whether it aired right after the episode; if you want to talk about preview stuff for episode n+1 it's fine to do it in the thread for n+1 but it rather undercuts the idea of keeping an episode-specific thread spoiler free to start talking about spoilers that the TV network decided to run in a promo.
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:34 PM on October 2, 2014


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