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Anatomy of a serial addiction
I guess I could sing "Not an addict" like K's Choice used to. But I'm a tv show addict. I don't watch that much tv but the series I follow, I can't bear to miss one episode!
I can't wait for the new season of BSG, Lost, Dr Who...and I sooo want to see Ashes to ashes ! I guess that I will follow Torchwood despite its flaws and weaknesses, if only for Gwen and Owen. Nip/Tuck is the only show I'm not that eager to see again, I think it jumped the proverbial shark at the end of season 3 but I know me I will probably watch the 5th season nonetheless! And I will watch Grey's Anatomy too even though its soapish side often bothers me.
There are shows I'm not addicted to. I never followed Alias for instance, I saw a few episodes though. Sometimes I catch and watch Desperate Housewives or Bones on French tv but I don't follow them either. And I am not feverishly catching up with Rescue Me. Those shows aren't necessarily bad, some of them are quite decent, but I'm not hooked. Most of the time I've only seen a few episodes and missed many episodes inbetween so I never became an addict.
So apart from a very good writing and intriguing plots and endearing characters, I think it's all about the serial side of tv shows. Cliffhangers aren't what makes you keep going. Provided that the whole thing doesn't completely suck, once you're on the train, and after several successive episodes it's difficult to give up. You just go with the flow, and of course the more you do the more you're hooked. Maybe that's the reason so many Buffy viewers that obviously despised the late seasons kept watching the show while cursing Joss' choices.
As soon as you're an addict you may become a fan and do crazy things such as posting on a fan forum or discussing your favourite show on LJ. It's the next step but it doesn't necessarily happen. I'm obviously addicted to several shows, some of them I did love, but BTVS and possibly BSG are the only ones that turned me into a fanatic. If you've become a fan it's doubtful that you could ever be cured of your addiction for you will keep feeding it even after the show has ended on screen. You will watch your show on DVD, you will go on mentioning it on the Internet years after its end, you will use quotes from episodes at several occasions and gather with people from the same fandom. And of course you will read fanfiction.
One last thing. I believe that the Internet increases the possibility of becoming an addict, and of course a fan. It's so easy to get tv shows online these days. It's even easier to follow a series than on tv because you can just go by your personal RL schedule and catch up afterwards, or make up for a possible unavailablity.
I can't wait for the new season of BSG, Lost, Dr Who...and I sooo want to see Ashes to ashes ! I guess that I will follow Torchwood despite its flaws and weaknesses, if only for Gwen and Owen. Nip/Tuck is the only show I'm not that eager to see again, I think it jumped the proverbial shark at the end of season 3 but I know me I will probably watch the 5th season nonetheless! And I will watch Grey's Anatomy too even though its soapish side often bothers me.
There are shows I'm not addicted to. I never followed Alias for instance, I saw a few episodes though. Sometimes I catch and watch Desperate Housewives or Bones on French tv but I don't follow them either. And I am not feverishly catching up with Rescue Me. Those shows aren't necessarily bad, some of them are quite decent, but I'm not hooked. Most of the time I've only seen a few episodes and missed many episodes inbetween so I never became an addict.
So apart from a very good writing and intriguing plots and endearing characters, I think it's all about the serial side of tv shows. Cliffhangers aren't what makes you keep going. Provided that the whole thing doesn't completely suck, once you're on the train, and after several successive episodes it's difficult to give up. You just go with the flow, and of course the more you do the more you're hooked. Maybe that's the reason so many Buffy viewers that obviously despised the late seasons kept watching the show while cursing Joss' choices.
As soon as you're an addict you may become a fan and do crazy things such as posting on a fan forum or discussing your favourite show on LJ. It's the next step but it doesn't necessarily happen. I'm obviously addicted to several shows, some of them I did love, but BTVS and possibly BSG are the only ones that turned me into a fanatic. If you've become a fan it's doubtful that you could ever be cured of your addiction for you will keep feeding it even after the show has ended on screen. You will watch your show on DVD, you will go on mentioning it on the Internet years after its end, you will use quotes from episodes at several occasions and gather with people from the same fandom. And of course you will read fanfiction.
One last thing. I believe that the Internet increases the possibility of becoming an addict, and of course a fan. It's so easy to get tv shows online these days. It's even easier to follow a series than on tv because you can just go by your personal RL schedule and catch up afterwards, or make up for a possible unavailablity.
Before I left for Greece I downloaded the whole season of Heroes because I got frustrated with the dubbed version they were showing on TF1 (French network )and because I knew I would miss about 7 episodes while being on vacation.
Now that I've seen every episode of season 1, I want to see season 2 of course! I'm clearly hooked. Yet I don't think that Heroes is that great. It's good, there are some briliant ideas, but I must say that I didn't like everything and was really disappointed by a very predictable finale.
The characters and storylines I ldid love:
1-The character of Hiro and the Hiro comics by Isaac. Now that was a great idea!
2- Isaac Mendez' tragic storyline
3- Niki/Jessica. I loved how they revisited the Jeckyll/Hyde stuff, and how they used mirrors to do so...even though the ending, after Liberman took Micah, was foresable. But when Niki hit Sylar, she rocked! Ali Larter was incredible during the whole season and sometimes reminded me of Caprica Six from BSG.
4 -Claire (perfectly cast!) and her gift provided irony (aren't pretty blond girls always regenerated on American tv?) and funny moments but she was also touching. Too bad the character lost a lot in the last episodes. I blame the Petrelli family and its soapish side.
5. Mr Bennet...btw for some reason Jack Coleman kept reminding me of David Boreanaz!
6. The invisible man aka the former Dr Who aka Christopher Eccleston
7. Mr Muggles...I loved loved the shot on his face when the Bennet house was burning, and then we got to see a portrait of Mr Muggles burning as well!
I also enjoyed the episode set in the future, when Sylar was President and fooling everybody as Nathan Petrelli.
Speaking of Nathan Petrelli, I liked him at the beginning and I liked the brothers stuff then (especialy when it turned out that Nathan was actually the flying man which made sense given his ambition)but the supposed twists about him being good or evil weren't well done and his finale sacrifice was obvious from the first time Peter had the dream.
I can't really decide whether I like Peter Petrelli or not. He sometimes annoys me the way Jack does in Lost. He's too whiny and he kinda look like Xander which is distracting...Although his talent (a metaphor of his empathy as a nurse I suppose) is interesting and his darker self (the one in the alternate future that dated Niki) was cool in a Neo-from-Matrix-kind-of way. The problem is that it's too obvious that he's sold to the audience as the good guy of the story, Claire's hero and therefore the true Hero we all should relate to. I like it when characters blossom out into interesting on screen, I don't like it when they are kind of forced on me.
Also the exotic Indian touch with Mohinder made me roll my eyes more than once.
And the finale battle had plot holes, just in order to allow Nathan to sacrifice himself. Okay Niki hitting Sylar was exciting, but he should have heard her. And Claire not being capable of shooting Peter now that was quite lame. And was Peter so absorbed (pun intended) in blowing that he couldn't fly away by himself ?
At the end of the day, Heroes is a strange mixing of clichés and refreshing stuff, a bit like Lost, but I suppose it's the right combination to make a success these days. The skills the Heroes have tend to be all metaphors of the characters' personality/journey but it isn't too obvious and the characters are still fleshed-out.
Now that I've seen every episode of season 1, I want to see season 2 of course! I'm clearly hooked. Yet I don't think that Heroes is that great. It's good, there are some briliant ideas, but I must say that I didn't like everything and was really disappointed by a very predictable finale.
The characters and storylines I ldid love:
1-The character of Hiro and the Hiro comics by Isaac. Now that was a great idea!
2- Isaac Mendez' tragic storyline
3- Niki/Jessica. I loved how they revisited the Jeckyll/Hyde stuff, and how they used mirrors to do so...even though the ending, after Liberman took Micah, was foresable. But when Niki hit Sylar, she rocked! Ali Larter was incredible during the whole season and sometimes reminded me of Caprica Six from BSG.
4 -Claire (perfectly cast!) and her gift provided irony (aren't pretty blond girls always regenerated on American tv?) and funny moments but she was also touching. Too bad the character lost a lot in the last episodes. I blame the Petrelli family and its soapish side.
5. Mr Bennet...btw for some reason Jack Coleman kept reminding me of David Boreanaz!
6. The invisible man aka the former Dr Who aka Christopher Eccleston
7. Mr Muggles...I loved loved the shot on his face when the Bennet house was burning, and then we got to see a portrait of Mr Muggles burning as well!
I also enjoyed the episode set in the future, when Sylar was President and fooling everybody as Nathan Petrelli.
Speaking of Nathan Petrelli, I liked him at the beginning and I liked the brothers stuff then (especialy when it turned out that Nathan was actually the flying man which made sense given his ambition)but the supposed twists about him being good or evil weren't well done and his finale sacrifice was obvious from the first time Peter had the dream.
I can't really decide whether I like Peter Petrelli or not. He sometimes annoys me the way Jack does in Lost. He's too whiny and he kinda look like Xander which is distracting...Although his talent (a metaphor of his empathy as a nurse I suppose) is interesting and his darker self (the one in the alternate future that dated Niki) was cool in a Neo-from-Matrix-kind-of way. The problem is that it's too obvious that he's sold to the audience as the good guy of the story, Claire's hero and therefore the true Hero we all should relate to. I like it when characters blossom out into interesting on screen, I don't like it when they are kind of forced on me.
Also the exotic Indian touch with Mohinder made me roll my eyes more than once.
And the finale battle had plot holes, just in order to allow Nathan to sacrifice himself. Okay Niki hitting Sylar was exciting, but he should have heard her. And Claire not being capable of shooting Peter now that was quite lame. And was Peter so absorbed (pun intended) in blowing that he couldn't fly away by himself ?
At the end of the day, Heroes is a strange mixing of clichés and refreshing stuff, a bit like Lost, but I suppose it's the right combination to make a success these days. The skills the Heroes have tend to be all metaphors of the characters' personality/journey but it isn't too obvious and the characters are still fleshed-out.