LOS ANGELES — It became one of the most talked about “Jersey Shore” moments.
Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and an unidentified male partygoer sloshed drinks at each other in a berserk bar brawl. The slaphappy altercation, however, hasn’t aired on MTV. That’s because the boozy battle was hastily captured on a low-grade camera and posted online months before the cultural phenomenon’s second chapter is scheduled to debut.
The just-push-upload incident is the latest example of how instantaneous media is simultaneously building buzz and spoiling reality TV.
“It’s a blessing and a curse,” said “Jersey Shore” executive producer Sally Ann Salsano. “You’re always grateful when people want to talk about your show, but in the end, those same people are the ones that take things, like what happened with Snooki, out of context. I know I’ll have a chance to tell my story, but more people are going for the cheap shot.”
Reality TV spoilers have been around since CBS first stranded a group of 16 strangers in Borneo for the inaugural season of “Survivor.” Restrictive nondisclosure agreements that threaten legal action, signed by anyone exposed to a reality-TV production, are usually enough to keep the most important plot lines from leaking onto the Internet or elsewhere.
Curiosity remains high though, especially when cracks emerge in the barrier between a show still in production and the rest of the world.
“We glean information from wherever we can — Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, whatever,” said college student Ron Lee, who operates the spoiler website TVFanSpace.com. “That’s the nature of the fun that comes from trying to spoil reality TV. You try to get as much information as possible since everyone is chomping at the bit to know what’s going to happen next.”
Fans share those findings online, attempting to deduce such elements as who the suitors are on the next season of “The Bachelorette” or what the route will be on the CBS globe-trotting contest “The Amazing Race.” RealityFanForum.com members were able to figure out almost the entire course of the 16th season of “The Amazing Race” months before it premiered.
“I can’t speak for the network or the production, but I really like that people see us when we’re traveling around the world,” said host Phil Keoghan. “If you’re a fan of the show, you’re not going to go, ‘Oh! I can’t watch the show now because I know where they’re going.’ If anything, you’re going to be more excited because you want to see what happens.”
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