By:Â Blaine Bassett
Introduction: SPOILER ALERT: A revolution is transpiring that will leave television so changed twenty years in the future as to make it unrecognizable to viewers from twenty years in the past. What is more, this proposition is hardly controversial. The ubiquity of the phrase “SPOILER ALERT†itself—now commonly applied in reference to scripted television shows, reality shows, sports contests, and other television programs to warn those who have not yet watched  the referenced program that possibly unwanted plot disclosures are to follow—illustrates the reality of the television revolution as well as anything. When people limited their television viewing to live television programs on the days and times scheduled by television stations, there was no need for such a phrase in the television context. But “SPOILER ALERT” is seen everywhere today because, to exaggerate only slightly, “the nation’s greatest secrets no longer are housed in military installations. They exist in the last seven minutes of . . . television shows. The country’s greatest fear is . . . accidentally hearing what happened 20 minutes into your third favorite television show on Wednesday nights, the ending everyone else watched two days ago.â€