A good "statute of limitations"? Day after first official broadcast, wherever in the world that might be. If you care that much, then make a point of seeing it right away. After that, it should be fair game.

Note, this still should not include pre-air leaks of spoilers, even if they are official. Just because they are officially telling everyone that wants to listen what is going to happen doesn't mean it isn't a spoiler.

I wouldn't mind a specific list of shows that will be covered in Morning Spoilers posted before the jump so I know not to accidentally read down, as I did with this post in particular. Here I just thought it was Who and Lost spoilers, (which I could care less about) but then I got spoiled for Torchwood too. At least let us know what shows you'll be covering in the post! Tha tags aren't available before the jump.

Rule of thumb I use is if its been five days its wide open for discussion. Anyways, people complaining about spoilers far too much. Just because you may know what will happen doesn't really distract from a really well acted and well written story. Most of the time you can see what's goona happen a mile aways.

If it says Spoiler, then any time is fair. If I see a post and I haven't seen the show yet, I just pass on it. This is the 21st century, and Information Wants To Be Free. People need to grow up and stop acting like a bunch of spoiled brats.

I think front page talk of and episode that has aired is fine 24 hours after it was on. This should be limited to the actual episode, however, as "Next time on" sequences are something people often skip when possible, especially in light of some shows giving the entire episode away in those sequences (whats up Doctor Who?).

Isn't Wilf (Dr Who) played by Bernard Cribbins?

If so it'll be the second time the poor sod has had to deal with invading daleks - he was in the "Dalek's Invasion of Earth" film back in 1966.

Once it's been premiered it should be fair game, as long as there is a "here be spoilers!" notice attached.

@twreckx: I think the point of the question, though, was when you no longer need to announce that there are spoilers.

@ElijahDProphet:
Well, once the show has aired, I think common sense takes over. I mean, if you see a bunch of Doctor Who topics a day or two after a new episode airs, it is fairly safe to assume that there are going to be spoilers.

when, oh when is Doctor Who starting again in the UK? Why does the BBC keep us hanging...

@Ryan H: Exactly. I think it usually takes 24 hours for discussion to start anyway, so as a policy it works for when to post things in the headlines like "Holy Crap, The Doctor Killed Captain Jack".

Well, the last episode of Torchwood's season will be broadcast by the end of March. And the first episode of the new Who season has been announced to show in April. I can't imagine that they are going to have a huge gap in between so I figure we are only two or three weeks away.

If a show has been broadcast or premiered, you should know about it and act accordingly. It's not up to everybody else to cater to your time management choices.

@RhymePhile: Sorry about that! Normally I do list everything that's covered in Morning Spoilers, but I used up all the above-the-fold space talking about the Vulture flap this time around. I'll be more careful in future.

if by "broadcast and premiered" you mean actual tv, then I'm down.
But reviews of shows or spoilers from shows that can only be viewed on the internet or bittorrent is the crap that pisses off my piss off button.
(cough) Torchwood (cough)

They take the TARDIS to the Crucible? Could that be a mis-heard reference to The Cruciform, which the Master remembers the Emperor taking control of during the Time War?

I agree with the "if it's broadcast it's fair game" idea.

I've seen too many people complain about "spoilers" when they're for things that came out months, if not years ago. If you're going to wait for the DVD, don't complain. just don't read the posts.

Oh -- Darth Vader was Luke's father. So there.

@Plague:
Every Torhwood episode has been reviewed on this site only after its been shown on TV. New episode every Wednesday on the BBC. Oh, wait, you meant shown on American TV. Well, sorry can't help you there.

Unless you are suggesting that we can only talk about shows after they have been shown in every major market? Fair warning then, there is often a six or eight month wait before a lot of American shows get aired in the UK or Australia.

@RhymePhile:

Exactly. I avoid BSG spoilers, but will read most others.

Could you put a heading on which shows are spoiled before the jump? And maybe break it up by show after, again with a headline?

@Ryan H:
I would say the majority of us are stateside. And that should be the deciding factor.
You know, mob rules and all.

@Plague:
Bagh. If you're willing to wait for the official US broadcast you're not a true Who fan anyways, so your vote doesn't count ;)

Besides, it's a British show shot in Britain for a British TV station. The rest of us are just lucky they are willing to share.

I'm surprised I didn't catch it the first time you posted it, but I recognize the background of today's Morning Spoiler logo: the cover of Heinlein's Have Spacesuit - Will Travel.

@Plague: Well, usually we keep the spoilers below the fold in our Torchwood recaps. Plus we're hoping the blog will have a large British readership, so it's in our interest to be current with British programmes.

@Seth L: I will be way more careful about mentioning before the jump which things are being spoiled in the post. And maybe I'll experiment with your idea and break things up into sections, with mini-headlines. Thanks for the feedback!

who in the US waits for the official broadcast of anything from the BBC anymore?

i don't mean me, of course. i wait like a good girl.

@Charlie Jane Anders:
Maybe the "spoilers" are below the jump, but you give away the gist of the episode with a big photo and title.

Oh, why am I bitching. It's not like Torch has been that good this season anyway.

@Plague: Actually, I've been pretty careful about that. My Torchwood recaps usually have a super non-spoilery image for the clip, usually just one of the main characters. And the headlines tend to be pretty non-descript, while still making the post sound interesting. Most recent one was "circus of pain" which doesn't really give away more than the trailers for the episode.

@Charlie Jane Anders:
But you make me realize that I HAVE TO WAIT TO WATCH IT!

@fritosforlunch: I do.

Hell, for "Torchwood", I even wait the extra 2 weeks till it comes on HDNet. It's just so much nicer to see it on satellite, high definition, not edited.

@Plague: I think so too. Pfffbth.

Once it's aired, it's already out there.

You could just as easily overhear someone on the train talking about last night's episode, as you could stumble across it on the web or anywhere else.

Insisting the whole of the Earth cease and desist from discussing an episode until you've gotten around to watching it is much less considerate of others than a spoiler ever will be, anyway.

Do what I do if you don't want to be spoiled: don't visit sites you know have spoilers until you've seen the episode! Then jump on in to the discussion and have some fun.

One of the people who dies IS Owen, but there is another death - and it IS NOT Ianto.

wow the doctor who looks almost real there ...

Doctor Who: [long vehement string of curses at Rose returning]

Torchwood: all you needed to say was "Captain John"