LJ Idol Presents:

I'm going to take your question literally and say that the last ten, fifteen years of TV have transformed serialized television storytelling into an art form that is simply glorious to partake in. We are living in halcyon days.

So, I bark like a crazy dog for shows that surpass every imaginable expectation of what TV could be, should be, has become. The Sopranos, Deadwood, True Detective, Breaking Bad, Hannibal....

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My niece has started binge-watching LOST.

She spent all weekend on it.

Which is why her Mom keeps driving her crazy telling her that "It's NOT Penny's Boat" and explaining "You'll find out what that means". :)

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Hahahaha!! I ENRAGE folks with my take on that crazy life-sucking show. I was so JUSTIFIED with that final episode I literally leapt off the couch and fist-pumped.

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*nods* It was absolutely *the right ending* for it.

I've never quite understood the negative reaction. Made me think that I must have been watching a completely different show! :)

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*high fives*

I think that phenom of "are we watching the same show" can be two-fold, or three-fold....or maybe an origami-folding. When viewers feel they cannot trust the writers, things get heated up really fast. Fandoms can take over an otherwise on-track story and derail it for other fans and sometimes for the writers themselves! Stories that take years to unfold get wrinkly.

*more coffee*

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Which brings up something from yesterday - the idea of fans "having their version" of a show/series of books in their fanfic.

I wonder how much of that started from "not trusting the writers" and how much of it is "I can do that too!" (taking the story and making it your own)

Do you think that is going to impact storytelling in the future? Will writers rooms become comment sections? ;)

(OK, not that last part - I just liked the line. :D)

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This is a serious. And complicated. Seriously complicated question. I am not savvy enough to think deeply about these sorts of cultural shifts but if you have strong essays, link me, please! Because I love to read the thoughts of others regarding entertainment and Art as entertainment...and Entertainment as Art.

I think YES. Absolutely. I think it already has. The entire phenom of fanfiction is just....astonishing, really. The phenom of cons and how seriously we have begun to take serialized television....

I'm surprised we haven't seen more experimentation with storytelling in prose form. It's all happening on TV.

*stares*

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I think some of the drive of fanfiction (or at least, what got me writing it instead of reading it) was filling in the holes in canon.

Yes, the slash was a big eventual draw too, but I was happy just reading that. Until I hit shows I was passionate about, where characters were horribly underwritten. I started out by writing 'underneath' the canon. Then it was "offscreen stuff" and "extras." It was years before I ventured into writing pre-canon, partly because it's such an excellent way to get Jossed. And sometimes, I did.

There are whole aspects of some shows I watch where I just can't buy into some of the canon events, and that more often leads to not only not 'fixing' it in fanfiction, but sometimes killing my love for the show. Rarely, but the chance is there...

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watching-ships.livejournal.com

YOU. ARE. MY. PEOPLE.

No, really. LOST was it for me, the entire run, and I loved the finale. Loved it.

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roina-arwen.livejournal.com

Loved the show, not so much the finale.

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Hee! The finale made all that came before so very, very worthwhile.

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YES. Too often we denigrate modern television instead of celebrating the awesomeness of it.

I've always obsessed passionately over tv, pulling things apart and putting them back together. My current obsessions include Sherlock and Marvel-verse and (I say with the tentativeness of knowing every time it goes well it becomes sh*t again) The Originals is awesome at the moment.

Edited Date: 2015-02-05 05:47 pm (UTC)

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Why do I always forget Sherlock when I'm listing shows? It just doesn't stay with me for some reason....

Glad you've got "shows"! I'm slightly bereft at the moment.

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Because it takes so long to get here and then it's over so quickly? ;)

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Hahaha-- that's true. Though I was lucky to finally watch it within 4-5 months of S3 starting.

OTOH, S3 took some turns I didn't care for, so I'm probably trying to forget it altogether...

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Maybe the awesomeness of Sherlock causes it to blank itself from your mind ;).

Hopefully you'll find some shows soon. Have you tried watching Revenge, or The 100? I think you might like them.

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I have Revenge queued....because Tommy. But haven't watched yet. I'm cleansing my palette with the unfuckingbelievably funny "New Girl" and am caught up now. (You should have TOLD me....about....)

Waiting for Hannibal, Justified is looking strong, and The Walking Dead this weekend. But....this time last year was all about the endless possibilities of TWD and I'm sad remembering it.

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*Hee* I'd never tell ;). New Girl is one of the shows I'm watching on UK time, so only at the end of season 3. Haven't seen any of season 4 yet. Though there's plenty pre-season 4 you could be speaking about :D.

Ah, yes, it's always very sad (and frustrating) looking back on a show that was once good and is now...not as good. I have that feeling about so many shows. It almost seems as if, if a show goes on long enough, it eventually goes down hill.

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alycewilson.livejournal.com

Love New Girl,and not just because I have had friends like her.

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It is one of the funniest shows I've ever seen - right up there with The Office. Schmidt!!!!

Zooey and Jake are treasures. Absolute treasures.

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watching-ships.livejournal.com

Got a little sniffly when I heard Hannibal isn't returning until the summer. I need it now.

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WHAT??? I am so out of the loop!

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watching-ships.livejournal.com

I don't think there's an exact date yet, but it usually returns...sometime around now and I got curious.

http://screencrush.com/hannibal-season-3-premiere-summer-2015/

And look at this:

Just the other day, ‘Hannibal’ also announced that ‘The Hobbit’ star Richard Armitage would take the role of Francis Dolarhyde / “The Tooth Fairy"

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Wow. Whoa. That's all crazy. Hmmmmm.....

Hannibal is one of those shows....that has truly given me pause. Is that entertainment? Is it uncomfortable Art? What is with this modern obsession with brutal and vicious and very individualized murder?

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alycewilson.livejournal.com

Just as well. I have waaaay too much in my Hulu queue as it is.

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!!! At least it IS returning. I thought it had been cancelled, and was not happy about that.

This is all good news to me!

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Thinking of my own fanfic experiences - is Fanfic just another form of (unauthorized) adaptation?

You get books made into movies and television shows - and movies can be made into print adaptations...

Is fanfic just "Fan adaptation"?

(I was thinking about how Walking Dead was designed to be "The zombie story that never ends" and how the television show *would* have to eventually end... but that maybe it wouldn't for the fans... and came to that thought)

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That's kind of how I've seen it. :)

I started out in Lord of the Rings fandom, though, where a lot of the stuff that's canon spans thousands of years and there's not a ton of detail given—we get a very dry recounting, instead, of what happened. Lots of space to fill in the blanks.

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I would think that would be a lot of fun - to fill in details between events, while keeping to established continuity.

With the Marvel groups I was in - there was a jumping off point where the timelines between established Marvel and our version occurred. Big cross-overs events that didn't end up happening in the same way, or whatever caused a relaunch didn't occur. That kind of thing.

Of course, working in a shared universe meant that we had to make sure that we were keeping consistent with what everyone else was doing. It was a fun way to play in the sandbox.

Alternate realities are a part of comics, so there was definitely an advantage starting there! :)

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It's what eased me into fan fiction, honestly—before that I was always like, this is so weird why would anyone write this? wouldn't you rather come up with your own characters? and then I found the community and it was like, "...I GET IT NOW!" There's standard fic, too, just exploring relationships or going for total alternate-universe-what-if-this-thing, but I totally got started in on it via the "this is in line with canon, I'm just filling in the blanks."

I can imagine the working in a shared universe thing would complicate it somewhat! But you're right—alternate realities and whatnot are part of canon, in comics, so that makes things a bit easier. :D

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Yes. It's fanfic up until someone gets the rights and someone to pay them, then it's an adaptation.

People who create adaptations are fans of the thing.

Oh and just because I'd be a bad fan if I didn't mention: SHERLOCK.

Edited Date: 2015-02-05 07:14 pm (UTC)

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Is it too late to change my ballot? If it can't be

lrig_rorrim, then lion cubs all the way. :D

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Lion cubs are *really* popular.

Also - lions. cheetahs, wildebeests and any other animal that happens to come on screen.

Foxy is ready for them!!

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Sounds like the babycat at my house and "anything that moves on Jenn's screen, incl. the mouse". :)

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alycewilson.livejournal.com

I sometimes bark at the Donald for cutting people for frivolous reasons, especially if they have been entertaining me.

As always, I love that other Idol competition, creaking into its 14th season. I am quite literally the only one posting right now in the LJ fan group for said show, buy I have been known to talk to myself.

NewNew(wish) shows that make me say "Hey, girlfriend!" are "The Mindy Project," "Brooklyn 99," "How to Get Away with Murder," "Constantine," and "Backstrom."

Bummed that "Parenthood" is over, but the finale rocked.

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"As always, I love that other Idol competition, creaking into its 14th season."

This is the first year that the Cs haven't been watching it.

I keep asking, but apparently they are no longer interested. (dropped off toward the end last year and stayed away)

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roina-arwen.livejournal.com

Current favorite shows for me: Castle, Sherlock, The Librarians, Scorpion (even though they jump the shark every now and then), Backstrom, Cutthroat Kitchen, Suits, Hawaii 5-0, Forever, and I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting, LOL.

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beeker121.livejournal.com

Justified - which is currently rocking it's final season (sniff). Someone needs to cast Timothy Olyphant in another hot-ass law enforcement roll stat.

Also, I am loving the final season of Parks & Recreation. I'm sad to see it go but am loving how carefully they are paying off jokes set up years ago.

And lots of other stuff, but I'm behind on everything except these two.

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AARGH!!! I didn't know it was the last season. That makes so much sense now. *sobs*

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beeker121.livejournal.com

Yeah, Raylon v. Boyd pretty much has to be for all of the marbles. I'm glad they were given the chance to write to what they know will be an ending, but will be really sad when it's over. I honestly think it's some of the very best dialog on TV, and their casting directors have been spot on.

Don't cry - it's not over yet!

(Also, how do I not have a Deadwood or Justified icon? I know which corner of the internet I'm exploring if work remains slow tomorrow.)

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We have two episodes of "Justified" queued up, but haven't watched them yet.

I'm almost afraid to, being both a Raylan/Boyd fan and also having witnessed the utter WTF-ery of the past season. Yikes.

Edited Date: 2015-02-06 01:27 am (UTC)

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tsuki-no-bara.livejournal.com

watch them! so far this season a big improvement over last season. so much less wtf. and ava is actually part of the story now, not just shunted into some unconnected side plot.

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I'm not a huge fan or non-fan of Ava, but her storyline last year was a timewaster, for me. Like, "Let's do Orange Is the New Black! Except, nowhere near as well!"

Also, the Crowes? Apart from Dooley as comic relief, I have no interest in them. Ma Bennett, yes. But that was not in any way Ma Bennett 2.0. :O

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beeker121.livejournal.com

It's really good so far, they're throwing a lot of interesting things into the air and I am looking forward to seeing who juggles and who drops them. The new guest stars are fabulous.

There's been one Raylan/Boyd scene so far and I rewound it to watch several times. Those two playing off each other are a joy.

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aimercat.livejournal.com

just an update....some of you may remember my 'confessions from the chair" entry which was basically about my own relationship told in a fairy tale manner.

Brendan decided to end our relationship last Saturday. I don't think there is any turning back from this. He's decided to move out of our apt by April 1. I am crushed. I now know how badly i screwed up. I can see it all so clearly now. I see how I shut him out from emotional intimacy and became all the things he said i was (like self-centered and selfish).

I destroyed his trust and faith in me to change and be a better person. I basically cheated on my boyfriend with myself. cheated on him with my ego.

I don't know if there is any coming back from this. I had planned on going back on medication for my anxiety and adhd issues anyway along with therapy. My only hope now is that maybe time can heal the wounds, I can work on my issues and maybe find a way to stay in contact with him so I can eventually show him that I TRULY have changed and can be the person he originally met over 4 years ago.

That is just an update on my life in the shitter....and why i haven't been around more.

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