TV creators respond in a variety of ways: some battle the gossip, others harness it as publicity. The producers of "Sex and the City" cunningly combined the two techniques. First they filmed three separate endings to the series, which went off the air in February, in order to foil leaks, and then they publicized the whole strategy, in order to build anticipation for the finale. Behind the scenes at action shows like "Angel," computer files are encrypted with special passwords, scripts are doled out with identifying codes and fake tidbits are distributed to flush out in-house moles. On "24," the final scripts are printed on red paper to make them harder to photocopy.

Other television creators have simply given in. The producers of "Friends" have publicly stated that they made no special efforts to prevent spoilers for their season finale. And many creators go the mobster route: they pay protection, letting columnists in on minor intelligence in order to keep them from revealing more shocking twists. "It's sort of `I'll wash your hand, you wash mine,' " Ms. Veitch explains. "They want to leak if the buzz has died down, and get people talking. But if things are going well, they detest spoilers."