I know, this was weeks ago, but I thought it was an interesting subject anyway... what other shows are we fans of, and why? (And 'scuse if I ramble, blame it on the flu/medication)
Well, obviously, Buffy (since I did edit Staked Blake after all) Things they have in common are doom and gloom and wit... though I like the juxtaposition of the mundane and the fantastic in Buffy. (Though I've kinda given up on Buffy for now... sigh)
I really consider myself a fan of something if I've written fanfic or poetry for it... which could mean that I'm not actually a fan of Buffy... (shrug).
So my list is rather too long to bother (just go and look at my web page to see the universes I've written things for, but also consider that it's about a fifteen-year coverage, and some things I may no longer be a fan of...)
Babylon 5 it isn't really much of a surprise why B7 fen liked it -- it treated its viewers as being more intelligent than 12-year-olds. It was intelligent and not preachy. But I only liked the first two seasons, really.
Doctor Who, well, it's a British classic, innit?
Highlander... I actually liked Highlander before Methos came on the scene, but any Avon fan simply has to like Methos, he's irresistable. "The alternative is unthinkable" (grin). Apart from that, there's a lot of appeal with (a) the visuals (from the handsome blokes, the period costumes and the really cool swordfights) (b) the angst (Who Wants To Live Forever?) (c) the moral dilemmas -- hey, we've got more Doom and Gloom, don't we? Are B7 fen angst addicts, then? Then again, most of us wear black, don't we?
Forever Knight... was my Highlander substitute. Still got the period costumes, the moral dilemmas and the angst, though no nifty sword fights; I didn't like it quite as much, and not the last season.
Sapphire & Steel... was a little like some episodes of Doctor Who, but dark and mysterious, with the lead characters being the most mysterious of all. Spooky. Atmospheric. Hmmmm.
Tomorrow People... was unlike any of these, being relentlessly optimistic and simplistic... but I really liked the concept; I wanted to be a Tomorrow Person when I was a kid. So I guess there's a large dollop of nostalgia too.
VR.5... was so cool it had icicles. Ignore the techno crap - it was a fantasy, not SF. Very psychological, mysterious, things not being as they seemed (more doom and gloom, hmmmm). And a dark and brooding Englishman (but then I've already written an article on Avon and Oliver)
Space: Above and Beyond... like VR.5, started off looking like one thing, and turned into something a bit more dark and dangerous. Gritty. Very good character ensemble.
Stargate... has its ups and downs. Some cool concepts, some very stupid concepts, a good ensemble cast. No dark and brooding Englishmen, but I'll take an innocent angsty Archaeologist and a sarcastic noble Colonel instead, quite happily. Yeah, sometimes it's a little too up-beat, they win too easily (unlike B7) but I still like it.
Sentinel... is about as far from B7 as I can think of, really. (Well, not as far as The Tomorrow People) But it seems to be right up the top there with me at the moment. The fanfic is better than the show was. (Well, the fanfic that I *like* is). The good parts of the show are (a) the friendship between the two leads, the more so because it is improbable, a chosen friendship rather than the friendship of comrades; (b) the SF concept (lots of interesting potential) (c) the mystical stuff (as long as they don't go overboard) (d) I do like detective/cop/action shows -- but the strength of this show is that it isn't *just* a detective/cop/action show. I'll happily watch such shows, but I wouldn't write fanfic for them...
The weaknesses of the show were that (a) the Powers That Be thought of it more and more as just a detective/cop/action show (or maybe the writers simply couldn't write anything else) (b) many of the plots were stupid, the last episode being the stupidest of all (c) the Babe of the Week phenomenon (d) they had little continuity...
So why would a B7 fan like it? Hmmmm. Strong characters? Some very good episodes? No technobabble? (Mind, there was a bit of psychobabble...)
Kathryn Andersen (sniff, cough, ache) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Blair: Okay, um...my name is Blair Sandburg. And I'm working on my doctorate in Anthropology and you just may be the living embodiment of my field of study. If I'm correct, Detective Ellison, you're a behavioral throwback to a pre-civilized breed of man. Jim: Are you out of your mind? You dragged me all the way over here to tell me I'm some sort of caveman? (The Sentinel: Switchman)