Talk:Cheers season 7

December 2016 copyedit

George Ho and interested parties, here are my copyedit notes:

• The summary for episode 20 mentions "Anthony", a name that does not appear anywhere else in the article. It is unclear who Anthony is. If this is a very minor character, it might be better to not name him at all.

Regarding the length of the plot summaries: MOS:TVPLOT recommends 100–200 words for these "short summaries". There are two reasons for this.

1. A technical limitation in the MediaWiki software which caused strange errors when there was too much data. However, this was only an issue when there were ten seasons of a show in one call of {{episode table}}. Also, I believe the issue was addressed with a recent update of the MediaWiki software.
2. As a policy issue, if the plot is described in minute detail it might be considered a derivative work or in violation of Wikipedia's interpretation of fair use. It is generally preferred that articles give more weight to secondary sources (ie: analysis of episodes, their themes, reception, cultural impact, etc.) than primary sources (ie: plot, setting, and character summaries).

Many of the plot summaries were a little over at 200–250 words, but some were over 450 words. I've gotten 10 of them to 200 words or less, without sacrificing content. I'll come back to see if I can adequately summarize some of the bigger ones. If you feel I've gone too far, I don't mind reverts (hopefully partial reverts). I'm not a deletionist and respect the detail of work you've done, but I feel that I should try for MOS-compliance if I'm being responsible in filling a GoCE request. – Reidgreg (talk) 21:18, 15 December 2016 (UTC)

Thank you, Reidgreg, for reducing words without sacrificing quality. I know some episode plots may be complicated, but I don't mind removing irrelevant detail, especially when, per WP:spoilers, the endings resolve their own plots. I trust you. George Ho (talk) 22:31, 15 December 2016 (UTC)

Or, Reidgreg, you can leave one plot alone if it is too complicated to skim further. George Ho (talk) 07:55, 16 December 2016 (UTC)

When I look at the three longest summaries (300+ words), they really do have more-complex plots: the Bloody Mary contest where there are multiple scheme, subterfuges and fake-outs; the dog-sitting adventure which becomes a farce with Rebecca directing Sam and Woody in and out of the house with the two dogs while trying to hide all of it from her boss; and the episode where the Cranes try to nurture Ludlow, which requires a fair amount of information to establish the premise. So maybe it's not so unreasonable. Reidgreg (talk) 18:20, 16 December 2016 (UTC)

I thought about comparing this season to other seasons. However, looking at one of past revisions and current revision of season six, I realize that the episode summaries of season seven are a little more complicated than previous seasons, especially season six. Again, take your time... and you may stop trimming one of plot summaries if it is too complicated for you. But let's not compare other seasons and treat season seven as its own beast, not like any other seasons. George Ho (talk) 19:05, 16 December 2016 (UTC)

Did a little more pruning. They're under 200 words except for four summaries which are around 300 words: "Bar Wars II: The Woodman Strikes Back", "Adventures in Housesitting", "I Kid You Not", and "The Gift of the Woodi". I would appreciate if you could concentrate on those four and any inessential content that could be trimmed. Reidgreg (talk) 22:42, 17 December 2016 (UTC)