Postcards from Oz - AU Edition

Yesterday evening, I tried doing one of the "My Year in Fandom" memes that seem to be floating around at the moment, but eventually I had to acknowledge the fact that my personal TV year has been far too retro-oriented to tackle most of the questions. So, here's a format-free version of the time warp that Cavendish and I have been performing...

Apart from the most current season of Doctor Who (which wasn't exactly my cup of tea), the by far "youngest", most up to date shows I watched were ST: Enterprise (2001-2005) and Farscape (1999-2003). Perfectly fine turn-of-the-millennium genre tv, and ideal for a study in contrast, regarding about every aspect that one could possibly think of.

The most noteworthy difference, however, would be how differently both Farscape and Enterprise dealt with the aftermath of 9/11. One show - the one which had started out with a clearly pacifist mission statement - suddenly laden with unreflected militarism and themes of retribution, therefore alienating a good portion of its core viewership, including me, and the other show - the often wild, violent, chaotic, over-the-top maverick - offering its viewers the much more differentiated, complex approach of "Terra Firma". My love for Farscape has never been greater than during that scene in which a visibly upset Jack tries to explain the impact the 9/11 attacks have had on American society and himself, but ultimately leaves his son John unable to understand.

Poignant and valid on several levels, just as good television should be. (Btw., when I wrote this entry, I caught myself making a rather intriguing Freudian typo, "fathermath" instead of "aftermath".) As I've already said to selenak, Farscape's S4 brought along not only some of the show's worst episodes but also the very best.

So much for my first TV highlight of 2011. For the second one I really have to thank Cavendish, who, once we had finished our business in the Unchartered Territories, kindly suggested to re-watch two of his own childhood favourites, and thus catapulted us straight into the realm of the 1970s mini-series.

Rich Man, Poor Man (1976-1977) and Roots (1977). As incredible as it might seem, to say those shows were equally fascinating to watch (the occasional "head desk" moment included), would be an absolute understatement. The creators of both shows were ambitious, the format fresh, and the production values high. I guess, to do both series justice in regard to their origins, contents, scripts, and acting I really ought to come up with another entry.

So I'll leave you with this:

Most generally underestimated actor/director of my personal TV year: Bill Bixby. Yup, the Bill Bixby.

Favourite female character: Maggie Porter (Susan Sullivan), workaholic and highly competent lawyer and part time love interest of Rich Man, Poor Man's male lead Rudy Jordache (Peter Strauss) during the show's somewhat uneven and soapy, but nevertheless extremely addictive second season.

Favourite male character: Roots' s Chicken George Moore, played by the wonderful Ben Vereen. Chicken George and his wife Mathilda (Olivia Cole) would also be my number one candidate for "favourite TV couple" and the characters I wouldn't mind being adopted by.

Sorry John, sorry Aeryn ;-)

Fandom: Farscape
Title: Prometheus' Wake
Characters: Bobby Coleman
Summary: Uncle John has shown mankind a glimpse of the universe, stolen the fire and torn the lid off the tricky box.
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1241
Author's Note: I'd like to thank my two wonderful beta readers A Damned Scientist and Cathy1967, not only for the great job they did with this story but also for their willingness to help out when help was needed. Additional thanks go to Kernil Crash who came up with a very pragmatic solution for a rather embarrassing problem. Seriously, guys, without you this little piece would have likely ended in cold storage.
Story on AO3: Here

( Prometheus' Wake )

You know, some months ago, when the Multiverse ficathon was announced, I chose that really nice sounding prompt involving both Rory Williams (Doctor Who) and TNG's very own Lt. Commander Data debating the experience of being plastic.

Yup, I can write that, I thought. Turned out both characters strictly refused to get into talking. Or maybe the problem is just that my brain is currently still high on Farscape. Cavendish and I have reached season 4 by now, btw.

So, one week after the official submission deadline, it appears I'm stuck with a poor excuse of a 500 word mini vignette in desperate need of some proof-reading. Even if it's too late by now I would like to deliver at least something...

Any volunteers willing to give it a quick check?

I saw this nice little meme when catching up with my f-list, and while it's rather old I think I've never done it myself before...


( Fandoms as love interests, here we go... )

Back in 2003 I finally succumbed to the Dark Side started journaling just a couple of weeks after selenak had introduced me to Farscape. So out of sheer curiosity I went back to check my old journal entries for any Farscape-related thoughts I might have posted during that period, only to find that apparently I had never shared this poor little ficlet in my journal (which is kind of odd, because up to this very day it is one of my personal favourites)


Title: Floating
Author: Bimo
Setting: S1, right after the pilot episode
Summary: How do you cope with completely alien surroundings? As long as there are miracles, there's hope...
Notes: Thanks to Selena, for introducing me to the wonderful world of Farscape, and to Kathy, for beta-reading :-)


( Floating )

The poll regarding the question which series cavendish and I should take into consideration for our next rewatch project resulted in a clear tie between Blake's 7, Babylon 5 and Farscape. So I took liberty to follow my instincts and gently coerce into convince Cavendish to try out Farscape for a change. An endeavor which, at first, was met by much skepticism from Cavendish's side. After watching the pilot episode he uttered "Do we really have to watch this for four full seasons?" to which I replied with the usual "Trust me, this show will evolve into something radically different, just wait until we reach the end of the first season" speech.

On the plus side of things:

By now we have safely progressed to ep 1.8 "That Old Black Magic" without any further complaints. Also he doesn't seem to mind the muppets, even has expressed sympathy for poor, stressed-out Pilot.

As of last week, our grand (re)watch of every single Star Trek series from TOS to ST: Enterprise has finally finished. I must say that except for that one Klingon episode too many for most of the time, it has been an endeavor well worth it. Over a period of nearly two years cavendish and I rediscovered an awful lot fannish goodness and also caught up on a lot of stuff we had missed during the original airings of the respective shows.




To sum up viewing experiences in just a few words:

The Original Series: The re-mastered DVDs, which kind of started the whole re-watching business *g*, are worth every cent. The colours, the carefully modernised special effects, wow, just wow!

TNG: Much love, accompanied by occasional wincing. If there is a Starfleet captain I would love to serve under as an officer, it is cleary Picard.

DS9: Capturing and thought-provoking, even after all these years.

Voyager: The biggest surprise, by far, and I hasten to add the surprise has been an unexpectedly positive one. During the show's original run, neither Cavendish nor I had watched any further than season three. Also the re-watch which resulted in the most nick-naming of characters with regard to certain episodes. GI-Janeway. Ethno-Chakotay *g*

Enterprise: Moments of wonder, moments of greatness, moments of repeated head-desking. The red-headed stepchild of the whole Star Trek franchise with an awful lot of wasted potential. The final ep These are the Voyages does not exist. T'Pol, Phlox, Macolm, Hoshi, Shran, you're brilliant. Trip, dear, you're too good to be true. Most hilarious moment during the rewatch: the episode where I discovered my husband's a secret Trip/T'Pol shipper.




Not having any Star Trek to turn to in the evening feels kind of strange. So, dear f-listers, I ask you

Leaving Voyager behind us, we've now progressed to the first season of ST:Enterprise, the read headed stepchild of the grand, mighty ST family.

I can't help myself, I still do love that show (well at least seasons 1 and 4) quite a bit, its sense of adventure and exploration, the touch of history and nostalgia it conveyed. Oh, and the characters.

During Enterprise' s original run, I viewed each of the episodes just about once and didn't read any fan fiction, because, at that time, I couldn't find the kind of stories I was interested in. You know, political intrigue on Andoria, non-shippy Reed, Phlox-centric stories, stories that make sense of Archer... that sort of stuff...

And now, watching the first few episodes of season 1 has put me back into full squeeing mode.

Life as a fan can be weird, sometimes.

* Reply to this post with ICON ME! and I will pick five of your icons.
* Make a post (including this info) and talk about the icons I chose.
* Other people can then comment to you and make their own posts.
* This will create a never ending cycle of icon glee...



selenak ( chose the following )

Fandom: Star Trek: DS9
Title: Mimesis
Characters: Bashir, Odo
Summary: A glimpse at Julian Bashir right after the "In Purgatory's Shadow /By Inferno's Light" two-parter
Rating: PG-13
Author's Note: To selenak, because it was just after re-reading some of Selena's older DS9 stories when inspiration suddenly struck... :). I also would very much like to thank my betas tli and revdorothyl for doing such a great job :)


( Mimesis )