Cindy, the difference is that if you know something and can't discuss it that inhibts the discussion but you can still discuss. Dialing down isn't optimum but you can still play.

That's true, insofar as there's something left to talk about. Please remind me, because I can't remember after all this talk, do you, Elena and other very unspoiled posters you know vacate NAFDA when the promos start rolling, or do you typically let yourselves know the information at that point.

Regardless, at some point people run out of conversation. And it may not be technically impossible to speculate about those elements for which you're still unspoiled, but knowing there are three cast changes is going to make what people *aren't* saying, as plain as what they are saying. If nobody (of those you know for certain is spoiled) speculates on the fates of characters A, B, and C, isn't that going to make you suspicious that A, B, and C are no longer on the canvas?

If Jim hasn't run away and changed his name, I'll mention this again to him again, but, I think summer rules (should they pass) should build in ample time in which a NAFDA show thread is still casting news free. I don't want to see people chased out the day of the finale, just because the network makes their renewal and cast announcements that day.

That's true, insofar as there's something left to talk about. Please remind me, because I can't remember after all this talk, do you, Elena and other very unspoiled posters you know vacate NAFDA when the promos start rolling, or do you typically let yourselves know the information at that point.

I do, or did in summers past.

If Jim hasn't run away and changed his name, I'll mention this again to him again, but, I think summer rules (should they pass) should build in ample time in which a NAFDA show thread is still casting news free. I don't want to see people chased out the day of the finale, just because the network makes their renewal and cast announcements that day.

I like that suggestion.

What Vonnie said. This makes perfect sense to me. fwiw.

What Vonnie said. This makes perfect sense to me. fwiw.

Cindy, the difference is that if you know something and can't discuss it that inhibts the discussion but you can still discuss.

Yes I can discuss it, IRL with friends. I just have nowhere on the board to discuss it.

I'm another plot-spoiler-phobe who likes to know summer casting changes. I rarely post in show threads, and I'm way behind in the Angel thread, so my discussion is not being inhibited. However, I also feel like we used to talk about these things in the show threads.

I like that suggestion.

Thanks. I made it yesterday too, but probably too far down in a too long post.

Say this proposal does passes, and say Jim agrees to build in some safety time for a season post-mortem. How long is good.

Does anyone know:

When are shows typically renewed (Angel was renewed very late this year, I remember, but not how late).?

When are cast line ups typically announced?

How long before our post-mortems usually wrap up?

The upfront presentations are usually around mid-May. The 15th is a good estimate. [That's when FBC's was this year.]

Cindy, as I recall, renewals for shows are usually announced in the spring, usually through March and April. I'm pretty sure, however, that Fox announced the several-season renewal of The Simpsons as early as January.

Casting announcements don't always come with renewal notices, though. A lot of that comes out of the network up-fronts, which are done in late May.

Of course, further cast changes can be made later in the off-season, after the up-fronts. As an example, key members of The Practice appeared at the ABC up-front only to find a week or so later they were losing their jobs.

Would somebody in the industry please correct me if I'm wrong?

The most certain renewals happen the earliest. But everything is announced by the end of May. Even then, sometimes shows can still wind up getting dropped after that (see: The GG spinoff that was picked up, and then it wasn't).

Casts on most shows actually don't necessarily happen all that often, but when they do, they actually get announced as neccesary.