Talk:The Andrew Neil Show (2019 TV programme)

Latest comment: 3 years ago by Andysmith248 in topic Past or present tense

Is replace by was edit

This article begins by saying "The Andrew Neil Show is a BBC political programme". Since the programme will be finishing soon, "is" will soon need to be replaced by "was". Vorbee (talk) 15:07, 15 July 2020 (UTC)Reply

  Done Andysmith248 (talk) 15:33, 15 July 2020 (UTC)Reply

Past or present tense edit

@This is Paul: I changed the inital description of the programme to past tense as the last programme was back on 11 March. Would there be a reason to use present tense given we know the show's been cancelled? Andysmith248 (talk) 21:50, 15 July 2020 (UTC)Reply

The consensus seems to be to do this with past shows, starting with the present tense with the initial description, then switching to the past tense when describing when it was on air. Check out articles on other past politics shows such as On the Record, Politics Show and Weekend World. It's never made sense to me either, but that's Wikipedia for you. This is Paul (talk) 23:08, 15 July 2020 (UTC)Reply
OK, thanks for replying. Andysmith248 (talk) 11:33, 16 July 2020 (UTC)Reply
I believe that Wiki policy was generally that TV shows, even if cancelled, are referred to in the present tense (e.g. "Cheers is a situation comedy") because even though production has finished, the programmes themselves still exist and are available to watch. On that basis I'd say that it's probably alright to use a firm "was" in any connection with a programme such as this, covering news and current affairs, as previously broadcast episodes are generally never available to watch again. Bonusballs (talk) 12:15, 16 July 2020 (UTC)Reply
Past shows such as Breakfast with Frost, Daily Politics and After Dark use "was", whilst others, such as those This is Paul mentioned above, go with "is", so there doesn't seem to be much constituency across articles. I understand what you mean by saying news-related programming is unlikely to be watched again, although having said that there are currently four episodes of this show available on BBC iPlayer. I can see arguments for both "is" and "was". Andysmith248 (talk) 13:02, 16 July 2020 (UTC)Reply