Seems to me that an actor returning to a show s/he has previously appeared on would be considered spoilery, regardless of the character s/he would be playing. But it also seems fairly unlikely for a returning actor to *not* be playing the character s/he was playing before.

I've seen it twice, but, yes, fairly unlikely. And I would guess that especially in sci-fi shows, even if the promotional material states that the returning actor is definitely not, certainly not playing the same character, there is room for a ~*twist*~. But it would be a twist for everyone, so I guess it wouldn't count as a spoiler to parrot the party line.

it also seems fairly unlikely for a returning actor to *not* be playing the character s/he was playing before.

Unless the show is filmed in Vancouver. Or is Law and Order, where people appeared across the franchise or showed up as someone new all the time. Similarly, to a lesser extent, the CSI family.

Except that if it's posted in black font, it means he's not Ianto, which may not spoil exactly who he is playing but does say something that could be considered spoilery.

Yup. I accept that. I don't think it's spoilery enough or prevalent enough to prevent me proposing said change, but I get that people will vote against it for that reason. It's all good.

There are very few occasions where someone famous enough to warrant a post is playing two different roles on a show.

There are very few occasions where someone famous enough to warrant a post is playing two different roles on a show

Famous, or niche? Because I am all about the niche. Is is accurate to say I've tracked more than one actor across multiple identities on CSIs, and CSI sucks. If someone else were to ever give me a heads up, I'd be grateful.

There are very few occasions where someone famous enough to warrant a post is playing two different roles on a show.

Cecily/Halfrek?

[edit, nevermind I completely misread your post.]

Famous, or niche? Because I am all about the niche. Is is accurate to say I've tracked more than one actor across multiple identities on CSIs, and CSI sucks. If someone else were to ever give me a heads up, I'd be grateful.

Is it gonna happen enough that there's a press release about it and someone here posts about it to justify an extensive exception to the rule other than "err on the side of whitefont"?

I'm not proposing any exception to the rule. It's perfectly postable by the boundaries of what I currently intend to bring to the vote. It's precisely the sort of thing I *don't* want to have be a spoiler.

The Law & Orders' multiple uses of the same actors could be very distracting. My brain would keep saying, "She can't be the victim. She murdered two people a couple of years ago."

To make this more on topic, I'll say that I can't offhand think of any case in which it would have been a spoiler, except the reappearance of Alex Cabot from witness protection.

The Press announcement is up:

Voting Has Begun!

And with that, I close this thread.