'There Should Be a Statute of Limitations on Spoiler Alerts'

We did not choose our featured comment today because it was overly pithy or insightful, but because it made a point that's worth more discussion.

We did not choose our featured comment today because it was overly pithy or insightful, but because it made a point that's worth more discussion. Richard Lawson's post on actors learning their characters are going to die was filled with careful spoiler alerts, but as it turned out, even the lead photo was a spoiler, and that rankled at least one reader. But people, this post was about a show that aired on Sunday. So reader Nicholas suggests a solution:

There should be a statute of limitations on spoiler alerts -- if you haven't watched by Tuesday, too bad.

The question of whether and when spoilers are acceptable gets renewed from time to time, so as a culture we're clearly not done thinking about it. Nicholas's suggestion that we all agree on a social norm for when it's ok to talk about a show or movie bears discussion and, if possible, implementation. Should it be 48 hours? 72? How long does one's DVR queue deserve protection? But since we all like to talk, write, and read about TV and movies, some widespread agreement on when we could do so freely would make things a lot easier.