Mobilizing a Fan Base: The Campaign to Renew Forever

MOBILIZING A FAN BASE: THE CAMPAIGN TO #RENEWFOREVER
By Courtney Lockhart

It’s an all too common tale these days: The unique, entertaining program that got cancelled before it’s time.  Search “Best Cancelled TV Shows” and you will retrieve dozens of lists and comment sections full of fans still grieving.   One fandom isn’t taking any chances. Even though their show is still currently in production they want to make sure things stay that way and so they are taking to social media with a single message #renewforever. 

Cast L-R: Joel David Moore as Lucas, Judd Hirsch as Abe, Ioan Gruffudd as Henry, Alana De La Garza as Detective Jo Martinez, Donnie Keshawarz as Detective Hanson and Lorraine Touissant as Lt. Joanne Reece. (ABC/Bob D'Amico)

Forever is a procedural crime drama with a twist. Dr Henry Morgan works in the New York City Medical Examiner’s office. He has an uncanny ability to read the bodies that come into his morgue and as such has struck up a partnership with Detective Jo Martinez of the 11th precinct homicide division. There is one mystery Henry can’t figure out however- his immortality.  I reviewed the first four episodes  for this site back in October and since then, my enthusiasm has only grown. 

However, despite a wonderful supporting cast, great writing and a People’s Choice Award nomination for Favourite New TV Drama, the show is a common target for cancel/renew scorecards and has been listed by sites such as TVLine as unlikely to reach the second season. Forever regularly draws over 5 million viewers live. It has always increased, and occasionally doubled, those numbers by the time DVR figures are available.  However, the critics believe that for a show on a major network those numbers aren't promising even though they surpass those of other freshman hits. 

This is where our intrepid fans comes in. A group of Foreverists have decided to let the network know exactly how loud 5 million voices can be. An old fashioned letter writing campaign has been organized with the goal of flooding the ABC mailroom with notes and calendars telling the network it’s time to renew.  

Photo Credit: Emma Reed

Deb Survey and Lin Blank co-admin both The Official Ioan Gruffudd Group on Facebook as well as a second group specifically dedicated to the show called Foreverist Group for Forever Fans. “We’re doing our best to keep Forever around for a long time,” they said. “We find the writing clever and spot on, and the characters are drawn in a rich and human way. Seeing the fans unite in support of this show is amazing.”  

On top of the letter writing campaign the fan community around Forever is extremely active. There is a weekly live tweet event during the show’s Tuesday night airings where cast and crew have been known to pop in as schedules allow. Tumblr is full of fan art prompt games, discussions and gif builders highlighting some of the quintessential moments of the first half of the season. If you pop on the Facebook pages, you are greeted with reminders to vote for Forever in the People’s Choice Awards as well as lists of all the ways you can get in contact with ABC to show your support.  They are a loyal and vocal team. Hopefully by showing exactly how much they love their show, they will be able to help secure it’s future and keep it off the “Best Cancelled Shows” list for… a very long time. 

Forever airs Monday night at 9pm on CTV, Tuesdays at 10pm on ABC and is available to stream at ctv.ca on Wednesdays. 

Courtney Lockhart lives in the west end of Ottawa with her husband and step-cat.  She is polishing her skills to pursue one of her dream careers as either a costume drama character, Torchwood operative or executive assistant to a billionaire vigilante. You can follow her daily mission to DFTBA on Twitter @corastacy

Fall Frosh: Forever, Selfie, The Flash

FALL FROSH
By Courtney Lockhart

We are a few weeks into the new TV season and I'm already behind.  I haven't seen Gotham or caught up with old friends like Bones or Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D  but that's what long weekends and random mid season breaks are for.  However, I have managed to check out  three of this year's freshman class. One was a sure bet confirmed, another a pleasant surprise, the third has potential but I'm reserving judgement.

SURE BET: THE FLASH

Barry Allen is a nerdy, clumsy, awkward forensics expert. That is, until the day he is struck by lighting caused by the STAR labs particle accelerator blowing up. He wakes up from a coma nine months later with killer abs, fast healing and super speed. With these new abilities will he become the hero he wants to be?

I've been counting down to premiere day since the first trailers came out.  As a spin off from Arrow  this show had a lot to live up to and it did. The new cast  featuring familiar faces like Grant Gustin, Jesse L Martin, and Tom Cavanaugh  gels well right from the start. The origin story wasn't rushed passed for the new people, nor did it drag on for the well-versed.  The pilot sets up the possibility of good old fashioned 'bad guy of the week' stories  alongside the larger story arcs. With excellent writing and a last scene twist that had me talking back to the television, I'm looking forward to seeing if lightning will strike twice for executive producers Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisburg.

PLEASANT SURPRISE: FOREVER

I checked this one out purely on a whim, and I have to say it was a very good whim.  Forever follows the new rulebook of network cop shows: sensible police officer plus off-beat but brilliant expert solve crimes while trying not to flirt with each other too much  for the first few seasons.  However, as with most storytelling it is the nuances that make it unique.  Dr Henry Morgan (Ioan Gruffudd) works in the New York medical examiner's office and is very good at his job. He strikes up a working partnership with Detective Jo Martinez (Alana De La Garza) thanks to his Sherlock Holmes worthy deduction abilities.  But Henry has a secret- he's been alive over 200 years and can't die. 

This is another show that thrives on good writing. The cases presented are interesting but it is the dialogue between Henry, Jo and the rest of the cast that charms viewers to keep watching. The first four episodes offer glimpses into Henry's past, particularly a lost love named Abigail who left Henry and their adopted son Abe (portrayed in modern times by Judd Hirsch) for reasons that have yet to be explained. There is also the promise of a Big Bad in the form of a mysterious caller who not only knows Henry's secret, but claims to have the same condition.  There is a lot of potential in this series and I truly hope that ABC gives it the chance it deserves. 

UNDECIDED: SELFIE

There were two things that peaked my interest in checking out  this modern manners sitcom. The first is my inner theatre geek was intrigued by the idea of a Pygmalion/ My Fair Lady modernisation. The second, I adore Karen Gillan and wanted to support her. Gillan  plays Eliza Dooley, a successful sales rep who realises she has thousands of online followers, but no one to check on her when she gets food poisoning.  She asks her company's new marketing and branding guru Henry, a delightfully bitter and grumpy John Cho,  to help revamp her image and her life.

I'm not sure however that actor loyalty and a familiar premise will be enough for this show.  The awkwardness and humour based on annoyance can be grating at times but on the plus side Cho and Gillan have great chemistry. If the show doesn't get on it's feet quickly it may not get a chance.

Courtney Lockhart lives in the west end of Ottawa with her husband and step-cat.  She is polishing her skills to pursue one of her dream careers as either a costume drama character, Torchwood operative or executive assistant to a billionaire vigilante. You can follow her daily mission to DFTBA on Twitter @corastacy.

Doctor Who Series 8 premiere: The Doctor is In

THE DOCTOR IS IN
By Courtney Lockhart

I have to admit- this time last year I was a very disappointed Whovian.

I was at a friend's cottage desperately checking my twitter to discover who was going to replace Matt Smith in the iconic roll of The Doctor.  When they announced Peter Capaldi- I was upset.  Because of my obsession familiarity with Torchwood, where Capaldi had portrayed major series 3 antagonist John Frobisher,  I felt it would be impossible for an actor already strongly associated with a signifigant character to  shift to being the main character of the universe.  In my mind it was  like Tom Hardy being named the next Batman.  I was predicting a series 8 that I would suffer through to support the show but not necessarily enjoy.

Today I am happy to admit that I was completely wrong.

The series 8 premiere, written by show runner Steven Moffat, was moving, entertaining and action packed.  Regeneration has temporarily fried The Doctor's brain. Not only is he trying to figure out his new body and personality, but he can't decide whether to trust his friends to help him. The regeneration confusion leads to a great deal of the episode's humour and amuses in a way that doesn't distract from the main conflict.

Capaldi's doctor is finding a place in my heart. I'm a 10th doctor girl and the introduction to Twelve strongly reminded me of how I felt after watching The Christmas Invasion.  He's a complete 180 from Matt Smith with the exception of still being able to  rock those amazing speeches that Moffat gives The Doctor.  I'm also wondering if " Shut up!" is going to be the new Geronimo?

The supporting crew in this episode, Strax, Vastra, Jenny and Clara- or as the doctor refers to them at first: Grumpy, the green one, the not green one and the one that asks all the questions- were a joy to watch. The 'give Team Vastra their own show'  contingent in the fandom will be louder than ever after this one. They  handle both sides of the regeneration angst argument brilliantly. This episode also gave me a very Sherlock vibe in that a lot of the supporting dialogue seemed to be the writers attempt to verify that they are listening to the fans.

The episode passes the group viewing test with flying colours. We all had  different levels of familiarity with the Whoniverse and were all highly entertained. There are easter eggs galore and little things that I'm sure will mean more in the future, but for those watching who aren't as fluent in Who it is still a great introductory piece.  The best part is, for the first time since series 5 we will get all twelve episodes in one go, no breaks!

Doctor Who airs Saturdays at 9pm on Space, You'll be able to meet previous Who stars Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvil  at Fan Expo this month. Matt Smith and a special mystery Whovian guest will be appearing at Montreal Comiccon in September.

Courtney Lockhart lives in the west end of Ottawa with her husband and step-cat.  She is polishing her skills to pursue one of her dream careers as either a costume drama character, Torchwood operative or executive assistant to a billionaire vigilante. You can follow her daily mission to DFTBA on Twitter @corastacy.

Bears and Beets and Battlestar Galactica

BECAUSE DWIGHT ISN'T THE ONLY ONE WHO THOUGHT IT WAS THE BEST SHOW ON TELEVISION

By Baz Miller

Back in 2012 I found myself in a very strange place.

I was 20, had recently moved back into my mother's basement, and had recently signed up for an account on a popular online dating website after having ended a 5 year relationship with my high school sweetheart.

I met my current partner there, we had been talking for a while and I had been fairly obvious about my love of Sci Fi and character-driven dramas. He was surprised that I had never watched Battlestar Galactica.

Katee Sackhoff

I rooted around for a bit and eventually scrounged up a copy of all four glorious seasons of the 2004-2009 show, as well as two movies, and the accompanying Caprica sereis.

The problem with Battlestar Galactica is you can't simply stop watching Battlestar Galactica. Roughly 70 hours later I emerged from my mother's basement in a daze, staring warily at the toaster and wondering if my brother was a robot.

Battlestar Galactica is about space travel, and Artificial Intelligence, and People. Mostly People.

It's a show that appealed to my mildly obsessive attitude about prejudices. Gender roles, religious extremism, what makes a person a person? It's all there but it doesn't insult your intelligence by telling you what to think, or how to feel. The character's react, but because they're all amazingly flawed and kind of horrible people sometimes you don't feel like any one point of view is there to make you say "Ah yes, this is the good guy so all his opinions are on the moral high ground and I should agree with him".

Katee Sackhoff as Starbuck is a force to be reckoned with. The woman owns the show. A female character who is a badass but still has moments where she's able to be a screw up, feminine and loving. It makes you forget that Starbuck in the original series was a dude.

Mary McDonnell

The other female lead, President Laura Roslin is played by Mary McDonnell. She takes office at the beginning of the series and spends the duration of all four seasons battling a terminal breast cancer diagnosis and still finding the strength to not only manage the fractured remnants of the human race, but to serve as the democratic buffer to the show's militarist male lead (Edward James Olmos as William Adama).

Those two women (and Jaime Bamber in a fat suit) are a huge part of my love for Battlestar. It is a show that has taken the time to represent people like me, and people who I want to be like. Strong, intelligent, powerful women who are still imperfect and a little crazy sometimes.

Two years later I'm still a huge fan of the show, and have the coaster's to prove it.

Baz is a chronic doodler and has a habit of subjecting her friends to long rants about feminism, video games, and whether or not Thorin is the hottest Dwarf. She's using Capital Geek Girls to channel some of that energy. You can also find her at facebook.com/bazcave

Guillermo Del Toro's "The Strain"- Geek Girl Review

TV REVIEW: GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S “THE STRAIN”
By Marie Victoria Robertson

We may be starting to break free of the Twilight craze and its sexy, sparkly vampires, but it’s still going to take a lot to give vampires their scary dignity back. Guillermo Del Toro’s “The Strain” might just be what the doctor ordered.

Mía Maestro as Dr. Nora Martinez, and an unfortunate pilot

“The Strain” premiered on FX on July 13^th, 2014. We are two episodes into a slow-paced, but promising new horror series. Of course, I write this review having read the trilogy on which the series is based- “The Strain”, “The Fall”, and “The Night Eternal”, written by Guillermo Del Toro (co-authored by Chuck Hogan)—and knowing that while the story takes its time to unfold, the pace will soon be dizzying, weaving together several storylines against the backdrop of a vampire “plague” invading New York City.
In the first episode, a plane lands in NYC, with all shades but one drawn and no signs of life. 

When the CDC is called in to investigate, they find a plane full of dead passengers, with the exception of four survivors, who are soon released (despite looking pale and sickly as can be.) An elderly pawnshop owner, Abraham Setrakian, takes a keen interest in the plane, and more importantly, a wooden box that was transported on it. On the flip side, we have a rich, ill, elderly follow named Eldritch Palmer who seems on the verge of making a deal with the devil, and his oddly vampiric companion who employs Latino gangbanger Gus Elizalde to do his dirty work. 

Guillermo Del Toro has a keen eye for bizarre body horror, so it stands to reason his take on the vampire mythos comes with gruesome reimagining. His vampires don’t sparkle in the sun and don’t feed with dainty little fangs; the transformation from human to vampire is brutal, as the “vampire infection” is spread through creepy little worms, causing the host to slowly die and to grow an extending stinger from their throats (the better to drink your blood with, my dear!) 

The horror is nice, but it’s really the characters that sold me on the book trilogy, and the reason I’m excited to follow the series. Corey Stoll as Dr. Ephraim Goodweather, the CDC epidemiologist who is tasked with investigating the mysterious outbreak that killed the plane passengers, is pretty bland (of course he’s a recovering alcoholic and of course he’s in the middle of a divorce) and Mía Maestro is given very little to do as Dr. Nora Martinez, though she is very promising as our female lead. Sean Astin is already starting to shine as CDC administrator Jim Kent, a sweet guy who’s clearly got some interesting secrets. 

Miguel Gomez as Gus is your pretty stereotypical thug, but watching him get caught up in a vampire horror is fun to watch, and Gomez does a pretty good job with the character. Russian exterminator Vasiliy Fet (Kevin Durand) has only gotten one scene so far, but it’s a terrific scene, and 100% on track with how I pictured the big, sweet, unflappable character from the books. I’m hoping the series will go on for a few seasons just because I really want to see his storyline develop on-screen.  

David Bradley as Abraham Setrakian

The series’ standout character, to me, is Abraham Setrakian. Fans of Harry Potter and Game of Thrones will recognize David Bradley in the role of the vampire-hunting Holocaust survivor who has unfinished business with the Master of this whole vampire plague. To say that Setrakian is a badass grandpa is an understatement.  

As an adaptation, “The Strain” is pretty faithful so far. As a horror series, it’s pretty darn entertaining. For anyone looking to put a bit of horror back in their vampires, this is a series you’ll want to follow.  

Marie Victoria Robertson is a published speculative fiction writer and playwright, as well as the board president of Jer’s Vision: Canada’s Youth Diversity Initiative (www.jersvision.org). When all the other girls wanted to marry Johnny Depp, she wanted to run away with Worf on the Enterprise. She enjoys giant robots, time-travel paradoxes, and forcing her son to watch Futurama.

2014 Emmy Nominations Roundup

2014 EMMY NOMINATIONS ROUNDUP

By Marie Victoria Robertson

The 2014 Primetime Emmy nominations were announced today. I’m not going to transcribe everything, so please take a look at the Emmys website for all the nominees.

Anyone who was within ten feet of a computer today is guaranteed to be aware of two things related to the nominations:

1. Holy crap, Game of Thrones! Leave some nominations for the others, okay?
2. Orphan Black is, it seems, the best new show you, and the nominating committee, have never heard about.

Game of Thrones, with its 19 nominations including Outstanding Drama Series, an Outstanding Supporting Actor for Peter Dinklage, Outstanding Writing, and a good helping of technical awards, is leading the pack this year, though it remains to be seen how many awards will be taken home. 

Peter Dinklage

It’s up against some stiff competition for Outstanding Drama, if you ask me. Breaking Bad’s final season was amazing and True Detective is another top contender. On the comedy side, Orange Is The New Black is enjoying a nice haul itself, racking up 12 nominations. 

Laverne Cox

Speaking of OITNB, Laverne Cox got a nom for Outstanding Guest Actress. This makes her the first transgendered person to be nominated for an Emmy. Congratulations, Ms. Cox! I hope there’s a win in the near future!

But oh, where is the love for Tatiana Maslany? No nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress , though a lot of worthy ladies are on that list and nothing for Orphan Black. See, Orphan Black is an odd little beast; a niche sci-fi show that seems to be flying under everyone’s radar. While the nominations are packed to the gills with various levels of sci-fi and fantasy (I was thinking of compiling a list of all the nominees that could even remotely be considered “geeky”, but man, that list would be huge!), award shows always seem wary of rewarding shows that may seem too “sci-fi”, too high-concept. I wish I could speculate why. All I’ll say is, Orphan Black and Tatiana Maslany need love. Spread the word.

In a shocking twist, The Simpsons didn’t earn a nod in the outstanding animated series category. I’m half-sarcastic when I call it a “shocking twist”. I think it’s a sign to start packing things up, Simpsons. I got a happy little grin from seeing Futurama get a nom though. I don’t think it’s a strong contender, but it’d be a nice send-off. 

I know most people tend to pay attention to the main categories, but I’ve always had a little thing for the technical awards like writing, editing, stunts, costume, makeup, etc. Fans of Arrow who were also looking at these categories probably noticed the snub for Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Drama Series, Miniseries, or Movie, a category for which series lead Stephen Amell had been actively campaigning for. 

It’s a shame, especially when a cool show like Arrow is habitually snubbed in every other category, but Stephen Amell is being cool about it. As he said on his Facebook page earlier today: “Instead of getting mad that Arrow wasn’t even nominated for Outstanding Stunt Coordination at this years [sic] Emmys, I think we’ll just go on producing the best action on television for the third consecutive year.” Right on, Mr. Amell. 

In other technical awards news, Key and Peele received a nomination for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics. I read their nom was for their parody song of Les Misérables, which is a total winner if you ask me. 

Do you agree with the nominations? Who else was undeservedly snubbed? The 2014 Primetime Emmy Awards will be taking place on August 25^th, 2014. Who do you all think will come home with an Emmy?

Marie Victoria Robertson is a published speculative fiction writer and playwright, as well as the board president of Jer’s Vision: Canada’s Youth Diversity Initiative (www.jersvision.org). When all the other girls wanted to marry Johnny Depp, she wanted to run away with Worf on the Enterprise. She enjoys giant robots, time-travel paradoxes, and forcing her son to watch Futurama.

Leaked Content: To Watch or Not To Watch

LEAKED CONTENT: TO WATCH OR NOT TO WATCH
By Courtney Lockhart

 Last week, it was discovered that five of the series 8 Doctor Who scripts had leaked online.  It is theorized they were left on a less than secure server  by staff at the BBC's translation department. The network has begged fans to not share the leaked scripts "so that everyone can enjoy the show as it should be seen on 23rd August."

Last month, The Flash's premiere made its way onto torrent sites. The CW has largely remained silent  about the leak, the second since production began.  Reaction from fans who have seen the contraband material  has been very positive, leaving the cynics in the comments sections to wonder if the leak is more clever marketing than shoddy security. 

No matter how the leak happens,  the question ultimately becomes- Are you going to watch it? 

The temptation is definitely there.  It would be instantly gratifying and there aren't any real repercussion or consequences unless you are the person who leaked the files originally. But then there are the possible drawbacks. 

You could end up with a fake. The version that has leaked may be an alternate  or unfinished cut. It is entirely possible that the best or worse aspects of the show are no longer there in the final product.  For example, would I be happy if drafts one and two of this article were what you read instead of this tuned up piece? Not really.

There are also the social implications.  Some of these events are much more thoroughly enjoyed  when you can laugh/cry/livetweet along with other members of the fandom.  An episode can only be enjoyed for the first time once. 

If you do go for it and partake of the leaked content remember the rules of spoilers: Don't say anything until after it has aired and you know the person wants to hear it.   

Courtney Lockhart lives in the west end of Ottawa with her husband and step-cat.  She is polishing her skills to pursue one of her dream careers as either a costume drama character, Torchwood operative or executive assistant to a billionaire vigilante. You can follow her daily mission to DFTBA on Twitter @corastacy.

Dear Bronies: An Open Letter to My Little Pony Fandom

DEAR BRONIES: AN OPEN LETTER TO MY LITTLE PONY FANDOM
By Mj Baker

     I was browsing around on Netflix last night looking for a new documentary and “Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony” turned up as a suggestion for me from the Netflix Wizards. My initial reaction was a snort and an eye roll. I’m going to be honest; like many others, I have definitely participated in the joking about Bronies and their deep love of My Little Pony (henceforth referred to as MLP) fandom. After the eye-roll though, I realized that when all was said and done; I honestly didn’t know anything really about MLP or the Bronies. How could I in good conscience make the jokes then? The answer to that was that I just can’t. I don’t want to be that person. I hit ‘Play’ and you know what? I am so glad that I did!

     I realized that Bronies are no different than any other fan base for anything else. That should be obvious right? I feel ashamed that I hadn’t thought about it like that before. Being a geek and having some cos-play good times myself, how could I not realize this? I hadn’t given it any thought and was quick to judge. As I watched the documentary and saw so many young men being interviewed said  they felt like they had to hide it from their parents. They were scared to tell their family, they were scared of getting beat up by other guys, they were scared what their friends would think. As a queer individual I was shocked by hearing such familiar sentiments. I had just never given it any thought. Seeing all of the Bronies at BronyCon just made me smile and my heart happy. They were in a safe space where they all had something in common, which was how I felt when I went to my first Pride parade and it’s how I feel whenever I go to a ComicCon.

Pictured: Menaces to Society and Gender Roles

 I also hadn’t thought about how terrible it is that we are faulting boys for liking ‘girl’ things! I mean seriously, the show is called ‘My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic’ and promotes the values of generosity, kindness, loyalty, honesty and laughter. How could we not want to encourage these things in everyone!! Some make the argument that Bronies  are creepy/perverts/weirdies and turn MLP into something dirty. You know what? There will always be some who do that with anything. Rule 34 and all that. Why paint everyone with the same brush? Some argue that the shows target age is for kids, and I reject that. I never get tired of watching Sponge Bob and Bugs Bunny. Has the world forgotten that The Transformers was a kids cartoon? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Maybe the lesson is that if Michael Bay reboots it, grow-ups can like it too. If you want to see some of the ‘creepy/perverts/weirdies’ that make up Bronies then I encourage you punch “Bronie fundraising” into your Google machine. The Bronies have done an incredible amount of fundraising for a wide variety of causes including sick children, international aid, and setting up a permanent scholarship fund at CalArts for aspiring animators. 

Those Inhumane Beasts!

I guess ultimately what I want to say to all the Bronies out there, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I judged you when I had no understanding about you or MLP. I was completely wrong and I see that now. I’m currently watching an episode of MLP while I write this and you know what? You guys are right! This show is awesome! It’s not even a guilty pleasure because a guilty pleasure is something you feel bad for liking and I don’t. Not one bit. I think maybe MLP has actually made me about 20% cooler.

MJ Baker is a baker (no lie); she owns Bake It So! Bakery, a custom-order bakeshop in Ottawa. She is also a lifelong geek, first and foremost a fanatical Star Wars fan. Her head holds more geek and science trivia than Wikipedia. MJ is the co-star of Capital Geek Girls' YouTube show, 'Two Girls Talking'. She loves fireflies, coffee, and books of all sorts.

Looking Back at Lexx

THE CULTIEST OF ALL CULT SHOWS: A LOOK BACK ON LEXX
 By Marie Victoria Robertson

A love slave, a security guard, an undead assassin and a robot head steal a ridiculously-overpowered, phallic spaceship. Oddly enough, the only thing they never did was walk into a bar.

They’ve destroyed a universe, destroyed heaven and hell, and destroyed Earth, though each completely by accident. Really, they just wanted to go about their lives, find a nice place to live, and hopefully have a bit of nice, casual sex along the way.

Does that sound utterly ridiculous? Congratulations, you’ve been introduced to Lexx, a joint Canadian/German production and one of the cultiest of all cult TV shows to air during the late 90s. And yes, it was completely, unapologetically ridiculous, which is probably what made it so darn fun. A cult television show is a show that, due to its nature, quality, quirks, etc. never quite appealed to mainstream audiences, but nevertheless inspired a rabid fan-following. My cult favourite will always be Lexx, and the reason why may not be what you expect.

The appeal of Lexx comes mainly from its characters, and its silly (lack of) premise. The titular Lexx is a city-sized, dragonfly-shaped ship with the self-awareness of a small child.  Zev/Xev Bellringer (Eva Haberman played the first Zev, who was killed and later re-grown as Xev, this one played by Xenia Seeberg) grew up in a box, was transformed into a love slave with a raging libido and cluster lizard DNA (a lizard got stuck in the love-slave-making machine). Stanley Tweedle (Brian Downey), the most ineffectual security guard in the two universes, is also the captain of the Lexx, due to accidentally receiving its key from a much more capable hero who was busy been eaten by another lizard. Kai (Michael McManus), the last of a race of warrior poets, has been dead for two thousand years and reanimated via ‘protoblood’ as an assassin for the Divine Order, the ruling force of the show’s universe. 790, a robot who lost his body, is crude, abusive, and is first madly in love with Xev, later Kai.

The first season, actually comprised of four made-for-TV movies with the alternate series title of Tales from a Parallel Universe, was arguably the most ‘normal’ of the four seasons, with a story arc involving the defeat of the tyrannical Divine Order. The disjointed (but still awesomely irreverent) second season was responsible for giving Lexx its reputation as a silly sex-obsessed series, though seasons 3 (involving planets standing in for heaven and hell) and 4 (where the crew found Earth) also had their share of wink-wink-nudge-nudge. While Lexx was not the softcore porno its advertising made it out to be, sex, along with hunger and boredom, was often the catalyst for an episode’s plot.

And that right there is why Lexx has such cult appeal. Unlike other famous sci-fi series of the time, such as Star Trek and Stargate SG-1 with their broad themes of humanity and exploration, Lexx was all about crude, flawed humans being human and using a stupidly powerful ship to joyride and have fun. Nothing about this show was clean and polished; the writing, acting, and set design was often met with healthy doses of “wtf??” and yes, sex was a recurring theme. The main female character was a beautiful, lusty woman, after all. But despite the potential for such a character being misused in a grossly offensive way, I love Lexx because it took things the other way.

Xev was no busty, brainless bimbo. She was a kind, smart, badass woman who happened to love sex, a lot. She was able to separate the enjoyment of sex from romantic love (for a long time, she nursed a crush on the asexual Kai), was selective about her partners, wore a short skirt because she liked it, was never slut-shamed for wanting and enjoying sex, and was only ever portrayed as being free and happy about her sexuality. 

Think for a moment about how often you see such a highly sex-positive female character on television. As a young woman, it was great to have a role model like Xev, who showed me you could totally be a compassionate and intelligent person and still love to have sex because you damn well wanted to. 

But don’t worry; Lexx maintained its status as a cult favourite with ludicrous things like carnivorous plant-ladies and talking brains and anal probes shaped like carrots and crazy musical numbers about planets blowing up. Not to mention Kai’s insane hair. Lexx just happened to be a lot more progressive than people gave it credit for. 

Marie Victoria Robertson is a published speculative fiction writer and playwright, as well as the board president of Jer’s Vision: Canada’s Youth Diversity Initiative (www.jersvision.org). When all the other girls wanted to marry Johnny Depp, she wanted to run away with Worf on the Enterprise. She enjoys giant robots, time-travel paradoxes, and forcing her son to watch Futurama.

Flash Forward: Hopes For CW's The Flash

Spoiler Alert: There are some very mild spoilers for season two of  Arrow in this article. You have been warned.

FLASH FORWARD: HOPES FOR CW’S THE FLASH

By Courtney Lockhart

If you caught the season finale of Arrow on regular broadcast television, You were given a sneak peak of Grant Gustin in his full Flash ensemble.  However, if you were like me and watched through Itunes or one of the authorized apps, then the extended trailer The CW released the next day  made up for missing out.   Check out the videos below:

Other than the fact that the show was happening and Gustin’s casting, until these clips Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg  had kept somewhat tight lipped about  what would be going on in Central City this fall.  The lengthy first look helped, but  still left a lot of room for interpretation.  Based on  the few interactions Team Flash and Team Arrow had this season and the previews above here's what I'm hoping to find on Tuesday nights.

TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE:

Back when a new Star Trek series every few years was more of a thing, I used to joke that if you wanted an extra season of Next Generation just watch the first six months of Deep Space Nine. There tends to be a learning curve on any new television show. The writers need to get to know the actors, the actors need to understand their characters. Spin offs have a secondary problem. They also have to find their own unique voice separate from the product they spun off from. 

The Flash can’t try to be Arrow. It needs to be The Flash. The dark, militaristic, survivor viewpoint of Oliver, Diggle and Roy is going to look pretty misplaced on Barry and company.  Likewise, if the tall broody crew tried to be too awkward and up the humour quotient, it would look fake and disingenuous to the characters we care about.  I’m hoping the rookie show will learn from its older brother’s mistakes and we’ll see a cohesive product far before mid-season.

PROCEDURAL IS NOT A DIRTY WORD

While long elaborate story arcs are rewarding for long term viewers, there is something to be said for some straight forward bad guy of the week action. Especially in the early days, when drop-in viewers are most likely. I’m hoping they will take advantage of Barry’s day job in forensics to take us on some good old fashioned whodunit cases. It has already been established that he has a habit of dropping everything to follow strange and unusual cases, that is how he got to Starling City in the first place. Which brings me to my final wish:

REALISTIC CROSSOVERS

Felicity is already buddy-buddy with the S.T.A.R Labs crew and the extended trailer shows Barry asking Oliver for some advice on life under the mask. Obviously, this means they are planning on a certain level of fluidity between the two shows. Which I love, as long as it makes sense.  Some programs dutifully squeeze in a crossover every sweeps to the point where you can almost predict when that story will happen. 

What I would like to see is smaller, more appropriate swaps.  Is A.R.G.U.S going to decide that Flash is a threat to national security?  Without handy access to Queen Consolidated Applied Sciences division is Oliver going to need to ask Caitlin and Cisco to help him synthesize some pit viper venom or anti-toxin herbs? There is a fine line between acknowledging you are occupying the same space and relying on it. 

Even if I don't get everything on my wish list, given the cast and  production team I am very excited to add The Flash to my viewing list. Serious question though: Do you think it will download faster from iTunes than the other shows? 

Courtney Lockhart lives in the west end of Ottawa with her husband and step-cat.  She is polishing her skills to pursue one of her dream careers as either a costume drama character, Torchwood operative or executive assistant to a billionaire vigilante. You can follow her daily mission to DFTBA on Twitter @corastacy.

OMG They Killed {Redacted}!! A Guide To Surviving Character Death

OMG THEY KILLED {REDACTED}!!  A GUIDE TO SURVIVING  CHARACTER DEATH
By Courtney Lockhart

Well, it’s happened again. That person you love, the one who never got enough screen time yet was so crucial to the very heart and soul of the show is now dead.  No matter how many times it happens, and in genre TV  it seems to be at least once a season,  it never seems to get easier.  

Too Soon? Source: Kotaku

The emotional connection that a fan feels towards a character can be overwhelming. I’ve been banned from watching certain shows while my husband is home after he walked in on me crying my eyes out over a character death on The Vampire Diaries.   If you find out one of your friends is mourning,  the best way to find out where they are in the five stages of grief is to check their twitter:

Denial: “NOOOOOO WHAT JUST HAPPENED?? NO NO NO NO!

Anger: They did not just do that! @showrunner How could you? I’m never watching this show again!

Bargaining: Let’s send a message! Maybe if we get #bringbackcharacter trending they’ll listen!

Depression: #imnotover Character’s death.  Seriously… I just can’t..

Acceptance:  Time for another #tvshow marathon!

The fact that viewers can feel this strongly is a huge credit to the writers and actors on these programs.  They have created characters that resonate, that we care about.  If we weren’t gutted or shocked when these things happen it would mean they haven’t done their jobs. 

Source Anitasnotebook.com

“But why do they have to die?!” I hear you lament.  There has to be a risk. There needs to be suspense and something to lose.  If you were promised that all the character would make it home from every single conflict or mission the show would get boring very fast.  Change is necessary to keep dramatic shows dramatic.   If the show is about saving the world, fighting a war or explicitly states “what we do is dangerous”, it’s even more obvious that eventually,  someone is not going to be on the cast anymore. 

So next time it happens, have a good cry and text your buddies to wallow together.  After that, maybe send the writers and actors a little note to thank them for taking you along for the ride. 

Courtney Lockhart lives in the west end of Ottawa with her husband and step-cat.  She is polishing her skills to pursue one of her dream careers as either a costume drama character, Torchwood operative or executive assistant to a billionaire vigilante. You can follow her daily mission to DFTBA on Twitter @corastacy.