Misery Loves Company or WHY Do We Want It Back?
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| Title: | Misery Loves Company or WHY Do We Want It Back? |
| Creator: | Hephaistos |
| Date(s): | November 18, 1998 |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom: | The Sentinel |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | Misery Loves Company or WHY Do We Want It Back?, Archived version |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Misery Loves Company or WHY Do We Want It Back? is a 1998 essay posted at alt.tv.sentinel by Hephaistos.
Some Topics Discussed
- canon vs fanon
- disappointment in canon
- The Sentinel
- lack of fan service in The Sentinel
- liking the potential of a show more than the show itself
- liking the fanfic of a show more than the show itself
- shirtless Blair Sandburg and shirtless Jim Ellison
- fan campaigns
- being at the mercy of TPTB
- virtual seasons
The Essay
Sorry, I'm feeling somewhat bummed.
In reading some of the posts for Sentinel Too Two, and what may occur in that episode, I can't help but think "Well, they've screwed up again." Which led me to ask myself, "Why on earth do we work so hard to bring the show back?"
PLEASE don't get me wrong, I WANT it back! But I'm not sure why.
First, from what I've watched myself, and what I've read in fan fiction episode reviews and posts on the NG, there have been MANY episodes we've hated.
Second, even the episodes we've loved were SERIOUSLY lacking... When I finally was able to see some of the earlier shows, I found myself rushing to the Missing Scenes section of GuidePosts for some satisfaction. Is there any episode ever made of the Sentinel that anyone out there found complete and satisfying, with no need for a missing scene? There are still many I haven't seen, so I hope there is.
Third, many of us (I include myself) became fans of the show through the incredible visions of the fan fiction writers, not because of the show itself. I had seen some episodes BRFF (Before Reading Fan Fiction) and was completely indifferent. It was the fan fiction writers who created the Sentinel World for me (and the acting/personalities of RB, GM, BAY), not Danny Bilson or his demographically-conscious writers. It's like they've been given these beautiful precious diamonds, and they use them as drill bits for grinding rocks. Or something like that. We don't like The Sentinel, we like the POTENTIAL of The Sentinel.
Finally, I ask myself if we wouldn't be better off having fan fiction writers sign up for Wednesday nights throughout the year, and on his/her given night, he/she posts a "could-be-an-episode" story at exactly 8 p.m. EST. No worry about being canceled or pre-empted or written off by TPTB for purely political reasons. (Of course, the problem with this is also no RB, GM, BAY, etc.)
There are 3 bazillion Sentinel Too Two epilogues out there (I counted) and every one of them is better than the potential TV version (as described on the net). I sincerely hope I'm pleasantly surprised when the show is actually aired.
Now I'm really bummed. Please somebody cheer me up.
Excerpts from the Comments
[Dawn C.]:
First, from what I've watched myself, and what I've read in fan fiction episode reviews and posts on the NG, there have been MANY episodes we've hated.
Yes, there were many episodes that weren't all that great. For example, I first watched The Sentinel with Foreign Exchange. Oh, sure, I'd seen an episode here and there before, but the show never impressed me. Foreign Exchange, actually, was pretty bad and it did not endear me to the show. I only watched it for Peter Wingfield. However, what did get me into the show was the Season Finale (thank goodness I caught it!). Then I went to the fanfiction to find out what the heck was going on... and that's how I got hooked.
Second, even the episodes we've loved were SERIOUSLY lacking... When I finally was able to see some of the earlier shows, I found myself rushing to the Missing Scenes section of GuidePosts for some satisfaction. Is there any episode ever made of the Sentinel that anyone out there found complete and satisfying, with no need for a missing scene? There are still many I haven't seen, so I hope there is.
Yes! Yes! Yes! The Sentinel's biggest sin. The writers just don't give us the scenes we so desperately want to see. You know, I can deal with one less thing blowing up if I can see Blair recovering in the hospital or Jim unstrapping Blair from Lash's dentist chair. Really. :-)
Third, many of us (I include myself) became fans of the show through the incredible visions of the fan fiction writers, not because of the show itself. I had seen some episodes BRFF (Before Reading Fan Fiction) and was completely indifferent. It was the fan fiction writers who created the Sentinel World for me (and the acting/personalities of RB, GM, BAY), not Danny Bilson or his demographically-conscious writers. It's like they've been given these beautiful precious diamonds, and they use them as drill bits for grinding rocks. Or something like that. We don't like The Sentinel, we like the POTENTIAL of The Sentinel.
Exactly. I agree. Like I said, I do like the Sentinel, but I never got into the show on the show's merits. The acting of the peripherals isn't all that great and some of the dialogue leaves much to be desired. Now, there have been a few good episodes... Warriors, for one. That Blair-Jim-Incacha death scene was one of the best scenes in all of the Sentinel.
Now that I have been reading the fanfiction, I can pick up on (or at least imagine) little things btwn the two main characters that I completely missed the first time around. Like the little looks, etc. But, again, that's due to the fanfiction.
The ending of Sentinel Too, however, still gives me shivers... but its the ending that makes that episode. I really hope they give us what we want next season. I guarantee if they did started writing the things we wanted to see, the shows ratings would skyrocket! Why? Because the "casual" viewer would say "wow, this is pretty good". When I was a casual viewer of the show (and I mean I only watched it if there were absolutely nothing else on and I was bored out of my mind), I really wasn't all that impressed with the show. I do remember catching BMB's one day way back (the second half) and the car scene was pretty cool (you know, Blair and the Golden) but then it just cut from the hospital and we didn't see any of the "aftermath". That right there turned me off to the show and I didn't even know who the characters were at that point. I just knew I wanted to see a bit of melodrama and emotional angst and the writers didn't provide it.
I think the show focuses too much on the 'cop' aspects. I mean, a cop show is a cop show is a cop show. I watch it for the characters! The show would be less expensive and higher rated if they changed it just a little to give us a bit more Jim-Blair stuff.
[ZAguilera]:
Personally for me, there are very few I hated, and even those had their merits. You know, like Jim-flesh, or an angel shot of Blair, etc.
...one of the things that I tell people when I'm explaining the show is that TS isn't exactly Emmy caliber. Sometimes the plot lacks or the acting is a bit off. Buy most shows are. Even The Highlander and Due South have had their moments for me. And of course taking into consideration that they can only show 45 or is it 42 minutes of the actual show, well I can understand how they can't get everything in (I'm used to seeing some of my favorite books chopped up in movie form)....
Geez, how many of us got hooked on the Sentinel from fan-fic anyway? But while I love much of the fan-fic that is out there, it could never take the place of the show . Course it's probably just me. No matter how much I read stuff on the net I'm always wondering, what would the shows writers do, how would they write it? And besides, not to offend anyone or anything, but there are some writers who just don't write the guys that well. Their characterizations are off (way off sometimes), the plots are weak or cliche. Of course this is true for all fandoms. As a writer myself I would rather screw up my own creations (or at least okay it), then have someone else do it. All right, flame away. Just keep it to a minimum people.
[Susanne Woelbing]:
No flame here from me. I started watching The Sentinel after seeing a promo for it during ST-Voyager. What intrigued me was the unique premise of The Sentinel- senses ( and a picture of GM >g< ). I watched every single ep and enjoyed almost all of them greatly. Sure, there are plotholes and cliches, but what show is perfect anyway?
At first the senses kept me watching, then the friendship aspects, the mystical and the humor became a big reason for me to stick with the show. I didn`t discover fanfic until after season 2 and I do love it, especially the missing scenes. But I wouldn`t want just the Fanfic. I am a very visually oriented person and really need to see the show to be able to enjoy the fanfic. I`ve never been drawn into a fandom by just reading about the characters first....
yes, I am a little worried about S2 part2 too. Even though we`ve only had a few snippet-spoilers, it doesn`t sound like anything, I had envisioned at all. But I am known to worry a lot , so I`ll just wait and see, what will happen.
As long as they`ll show new eps, I`ll be happy. Hopefully UPN won`t cave in completely until they`ve shown at least the 8 eps ( and maybe another season!).
[Luci]:
Well, you can never really get a *good* picture of the program from just a few spoilers. If I went on spoilers alone, half of the episodes I have watched and enjoyed I wouldn't have bothered with. And as for working to bring the show back (I've been doing it since May if in lurkdom<g>) I for one would be ecstatic over seeing a NOT damp and a NOT dead Blair. *THAT* is why I'm working so hard and I have a feeling that's the thing that has prompted everyone else also.
As for finding things to like, well I have enjoyed some of THE most hated episodes. I can think of merits to *Inside Man* (Jim without a SHIRT! Yeah!) and I thought that episode was kinda sweet...in a two part effort, we could have seen more of the side of Jim that would like a home and family. I have to believe that there is part of him that wants that, even if he can never have it.
And *Love Kills*>>>I thought there were some fantastic moments of humor - like when Jim flies down the steps after Lila asking *Can I call you a jet?*<g>, it was just so MALE<g> - or when Blair askes him *You took pictures?*...or how about when Jim asks Blair *Did you think think that this was the *one*?* and Blair gets that blank look and says...*Uhmmm...no.* And Jim is like *why do I bother?* I didn't get any feelings of great chemistry between Lila and Jim but I do pan for gold in the things I can find. (And did I mention we also see Jim without a shirt in this one too? <g>)
So even in the eps that lacked that certian something, I think we can find stuff to like.
As for Sentinel,Too pt 2, I am going to wait and watch. Although I can't imagine ANYTHING worse than what happened at the end of part one! Great angst and all but so heartbreaking.
So, I vote for patience and to keep having faith in PetFly. When you look back at episodes like *Warriors*, *Cypher*, *Blind Man's Bluff*, and of course even *Sentinel,Too pt 1* (which we all have to admit is full of angst and tension and all that stuff that makes stories great!) I have to believe that TPTB at PetFly know how to write. Let's just give them a chance.
[Just Jen]:
Many of us say how much we adore the fanfic, like the fanfic "more" than the show, and generally bemoan the fact that TS doesn't "live up to the fanfic." To that, I have to say: Where d'you think the fanfic came from? Fanfic writers did not just pick a random bad show and create some fantasy land of fanfic heaven out of thin air. Fanfic writers did *not* create the complex tangle of strength and vulnerability that is Jim Ellison. Fanfic writers did *not* create his so-much-more-than-a-sidekick partner. Fanfic writers did not create Lash or Brackett or Golden. Fanfic did not create Simon Banks or Naomi Sandburg or Rainier University or the city of Cascade, or Rafe or Brown or Joel or Darryl or the Jags or the Loft or Jim's Ford or Blair's Volvo or ... (You get my point.) ALL of these we have thanks to "Danny Bilson and his demographically-conscious writers".
Yes, fanfic has given us a number of truly excellent works of fiction set in the universe CREATED by Pet Fly. But, fanfic has also given us a vast number of lame, tired stories that make Mercy Point look like ER. So, unless we propose telling the fanfic writers who suck that they're contributions aren't welcome in the hypothetical weekly "could-be-an-episode" posting, I don't see how we'd be any better off.
Yes, I am someone who "found" TS through fanfic. I was thrilled and amazed that I'd finally found a group of people who enjoyed publicly a little hobby that I'd pursued on my own for, like, twenty years - filling in the blanks in episodes or writing new episodes in my head for my favorite TV shows or books. It'd been my hobby for TWENTY YEARS. What does that say? That says to me that TV, by its nature, *has missing scenes.* You ask people to cite an episode that didn't have any "missing" scenes. I ask you to apply that question to any TV show that's aired in the last ten years. I can't think of any that pass the muster, if that's our measuring stick.
I think it is *vastly* unfair to judge the TV show by fanfic standards - especially when the TV show gives so much more than any show I've ever seen. For every missing scene in the archive, I'll wager I could cite you one moment - one perfectly acted, perfectly created moment in the show that says the *exact* same thing as a ten page missing scene, without all the pages of pointless kvetching. Jim recoiling when the bomb goes off in "Dead Drop". Jim's smile when he finds out Blair's not going to Borneo. Blair's expression when he talks to Gabe about miracles in "Night Shift", the look on Jim's face in the very first episode when he admits to Simon that he's scared. The infamous waiting-up-on-the-couch scene. The even more infamous Blind Man's Bluff garage scene *THOSE* are the moments that all of our fanfiction stems from, that show us the depth of feeling between the two of them...the depth to which their lives are wrapped up in each other. Those are the foundations on which the whole Jim/Blair dynamic is built. Without those sort of moments, TS Fanfic would not *exist*, and I strongly question how long TS Fanfic can stay fresh and interesting without fresh common ground of the TV Show to work from. And each of those moments were created by the men and women at Pet Fly who supposedly don't have a clue about what "we fans" want.
So, do I expect S2 Part 2 to be a carbon copy of my favorite fanfic epilog? No. Do I expect Pet Fly to go in the exact direction that I envision for the guys? No. Will I be disappointed if Jim and Alex settle down and start having little Sentinel-ettes instead of bashing each other's brains in? Well...a little. <g> But I just can't find it in myself to categorically decide that *my* vision of the show is somehow inherently *better* than what Pet Fly comes up with. THEY created The Sentinel. THEY cast Richard Burgi and Garett Maggart as the ideal Jim and Blair. THEY created the situations, the characters, the *emotions*. How can I sit here and say they're not using them "right", when they've used them better than almost any other TV show in the "buddy" genre, *ever*? Personally, I can't. I love the TV show. I miss it. I want it back. No if's, and's, or but's. (Well... actually, since 7 Day's did it, I'd take a few but's <wink>)
[Shelley Knepley]:
I found TS during the second season, and fanfic after S2. I had no idea there was such a thing. I think the main reason all the stuff we want to see in eppys is NOT included, goes back, in part to the target audience. (which according to upn, us gals ain't it)
To grossly generalize things, women like angst and smarm, guys, supposedly do not. Guys like explosions and car chases while women supposedly do not. I don't know of a single male fanfic writer for TS out there. Not that he's not lurking somewhere, I just don't know him. As a result, most fanfic contains those morsels of smarm and angst we women want more of, but the writers for the show either don't have the time (episodes these days are 42 minutes), or the network is afraid of the message it would send. (the old and, I think, outdated notion that real men show little or no "soft" emotions)
I like TS. I want to see how the cliffhanger is resolved in canon. This doesn't mean some of the S2 fixes out there are not just as good, just a different take on the plot line. I think PetFly is aware of how we, the fans, feel about the show and the direction we want it to take, and I trust hem to make S2 part 2 worthy of the cliffhanger it resolves.
[Dawn C.]:
Yes, there are some good moments in The Sentinel, but I think part of the point that was being made is that the little smiles here and there and the "Jim recoiling" in Dead Drop are things that are not going to pull in the casual viewer... which is how to get ratings. When I would catch an episode of the show, I just wasn't "grabbed". Blind Man's Bluff almost grabbed me (it was one of the few episode I caught). I remember seeing Blair on the roof of the car with the gun.. .but didn't know who the heck he was or why he was shooting up a garage. I did gather that he was high on something. So, my little finger stopped on the remote and I thought "Oooh. What's this?" So I watched it... and was royally ticked off when they cut from the hospital scene. There I was wanting to know what happened to the endearing long-haired guy and they just blew it off! Uggh!
Then, I remember flicking through the channels and stopping at the Love Kills scene one day - the end scene when Blair is near tears and Jim steps in and asks if he wants some noodles and I thought "Awww.... how sweet...Who the hell are these guys anyway? *grin*
But the "Jim recoiling" in dead drop... it was just way too LITTLE. Too brief. If you blinked you missed it. :-) They really do need to give us a bit more.
[Venkie]:
I got into The Sentinel because I'm a major buddy show junkie and there simply AREN'T any others on now. I admit I miss the wonderful relationship stuff that came so easily in shows from the 80s, when I was first really hooked on fandom and fanfic. But the fanfic on line pulled me in because it was the kind of stories I like to read. When i found the show, I kept having to look for those missing scenes at Guide Posts to keep from letting my frustration overwhelm me. The POTENTIAL is there, as someone said earlier in this thread, but alas, they don't live up to it enough. I find when i'm writing TS stories, I have to put in a little bit more of the relationship than I see on the screen--I need to extrapolate it from those all-too-brief glimpses. But the redeeming factor of the show is that at least we get those glimpses.
[XmagicalX]:
A fanfic season, that's a fun thought. Lots of cancelled shows have 'em, or shows that go in the wrong directions -- Forever Knight and Highlander (which began after Richie died, from some folks in mega-denial ;) are just two that I know off-hand. Who wants to start? (and yes, they can be judged/rated/etc...the FK and HL fic seasons both have a team of beta-s that do reject what they feel doesn't fit--I should know, they turned down my HL idea! :P but there can be quality control...)
I will admit it, I got into this show from the fic (BIG surprise) and I watch it from the fic angle, and the main reason I want it back is so I have canon proof to have the guppy alive and kicking. I do not think it is the best thing on TV (far from the worse, of course, but still...). I'll also admit that the vast majority of fic is pretty junky too--the difference is, it's more my sort of junk.
I'm not used to watching cop shows. That I think is the major "problem", the reason why so many of us got into this via fic. TS is *not* character oriented. It's an action show; the money goes to the explosions, not the script-writers. Supposedly we who watch it for the chars are the smaller end of the demographic pool (I'm not sure I believe this, but that's just it...I really am not sure. there might be lots of beer-swilling guys who like to watch hot chicks and things going boom who are depressed it's no longer on Wednesday nights...I just have never encountered any).
If you're watching for the partnership angle, then to get any satisfaction you must read between the tv screen lines. There are sweet little interactions, touches of angst and smarm, but they're not handed to you outright, you must seek them out. Fic shows you where others have found 'em, gives you guidelines to find your own. You have to wonder sometimes how much you really are reading in; what are you seeing that may or may not be there? I remember the first time I saw Cypher, verra depressed, great situation but no partnership stuff! then after I started reading the fic...there are little bits, the end of course, but then there's the way Jim's pacing, or the violence he rips the little radio from his ear 'cuz it's interfering w/ his listening for Blair...
But then...is that the most wonderful partnership we know and love? Or is Jim Ellison *really* more worried about losing a civilian partner? Or was Richard Burgi just told to act mad 'cuz someone had the audacity to kidnap his char's partner?
Fic adds a subtext to the show, one that is there...sometime, but far from always... They've never called Blair a Guide on the show, Jim's never listened for his heartbeat, they've never hugged, whenever they discuss their friendship it's either teasing or couched in terms of the diss, the job, the partnership. There are a couple of times this is broken through, "It's about friendship", "I forgot about my friend" (er, think that's the line, last conversation 'tween the boys in S2) But the truth is, to the writers of the show, it really does seem secondary, that partnership that we hold high above all else. Gotta fill the time between explosions somehow...
Most of my other shows are char-oriented; lots of sci-fi TV is. Star Trek, that's a big one, lots of chars and interactions. X-files is interesting because it balances cases/plots/spookiness with developing the strange folk investigating them. Babylon 5...whew, take the chars out of that and you're left with nothing! I'm not used to my chars being put on the back-burner. I have this tendency to rate tv by how much I fastforward thru eps...I don't know of a single TS ep that I don't ff through at least part of, usually half at least. Scanning for those tidbits...
I don't blame TS. The writers and all were out to make a cop-action show; as far as that goes they made a darn good one. Interesting too that the main reason it is so good is because of those chars, that filler being what it is... But if it doesn't come back--I want to see Sen2-2, definitely. And some of the other eps sound like they have potential to be fun at least. And if the show dies than so does the fandom, inevitably, something I really don't want to happen; I *like* this fandom. But...
"One Breath" in TXF; there were scenes written as romance wish-fulfillment, but there isn't anything really more to show--he sits by her bedside and talks! not to mention breaks down in tears...what more does one wish to see? And most of Babylon 5 (sorry, new fandom, gotta promote ;) sooner or later, everything you want comes to pass...and then everything you desperately *didn't* want occurs...and then the things that you never once thought of happen...and I haven't been able to come up with anything to write a fic about, missing scene or otherwise, because it's already been shown (except maybe the big party in the Afterlife at the end of it all--there better be one, 'cuz no one on that show's gonna find true happiness in this life!) (I, on the other hand, am very content...I've got my kiss! I've got my hug! I've got my final redemption, and my just desserts...stuck out on a pike, though, ewwwwww ;)
[Hephaistos]:
Personally, (just my opinion) I don't think it's the best buddy show ever, not going by the show itself. There are SO many fans out there that I've been in contact with (and myself included) who watched the show on and off (mostly off) for 2 years and just plain didn't like it or felt nothing for it. As I said, I was indifferent. While Danny Bilson and crew created the guys, and cast the actors, and developed great villains and ideas (I give them credit for all that), they must have been lacking something if it took fan fiction writers to flesh out these characters and story ideas for so many of us to finally 'get' it. The show didn't do it by itself. I was a huge fan of many buddy shows, Simon & Simon being among my favorites, and I didn't need fan fiction to learn to like any of them.
WITH fan fiction to enhance the show, I DO think Jim and Blair are the best BUDDIES ever; I love them.
And while Simon & Simon and Starsky & Hutch, and other buddy shows I liked had their share of bad episodes and missing scenes, they rarely had scenes or moments that were totally 'wrong' which I think the Sentinel program is guilty of rather often (my opinion, again). Sweet Science was an episode I really liked, and Blair's scene with Simon was wonderful, but the episode dragged me down when Jim said, rather off-handedly to Blair, "Sorry Chief," and walked away up the hill leaving Blair alone to discover the body of his friend. I wasn't looking for smarm or anything special here, just some realism. Jim didn't even have to touch him, if he'd just BEEN there with him. And I'm not Jim-Bashing here, I'm writer/director-bashing. Another show that had both wonderful and 'wrong' scenes was Iceman. The look of relief on Jim's face when Blair started to come to was a beautiful moment, and extremely well done. But again the show lessened itself when Jim, on 2 different occasions, spoke sternly to Blair about "keeping it professional." In both instances Blair had done absolutely nothing to earn the stern lecture. Not even a raised eyebrow in the young woman's direction.
[Just Jen]:
Y'know, I think one of the things that got me so hot under the collar about the "Why do we want it back?" - ishness of the thread is that the last half of third season seemed to me to be a step in the right direction for the show.
Whether any one person loved or hated the "Angst Arc", there was a heavy trend toward character-oriented drama, with the cop stuff taking a back seat. I always use the comparison of "His Brother's Keeper" vs. "Remembrance". Both angsty reunions with estranged family members for Jimbo, but in HBK, the story is *about* the race track murders, with a side benefit that once his brother's cleared, Jim and Stephen live happily ever after. In Remembrace, the story is *about* Jim's relationship with his father and his reactions to memories that in part made him who he is today. The crime is just a means to exploring that part of Jim's past.
And most of the Angst Arc eps are like that... maybe the character stuff isn't in the forefront in every ep, but it became much more character driven in every ep. from Prisoner X through the end of the season. (With a side-trip at Crossroads, which I rather loathe, I'm afraid.)
So, my point in all that, is that I think Pet Fly was headed in the right direction to *make* the show more character oriented, and I look forward to seeing what they would come up with if they were really given a chance to hit their stride with this new course. =)
[Blair Kennedy]:
I want TS back, too. I loved that show from the beginning. I only found the fanfic back in March of this year. Now, while I love the fanfic, all of it, gen and slash, I don't want to see TS put into the hands of fanwriters. Nothing ruins a series faster than a fan who thinks she knows more about the characters than the people who created those characters.
I understand a lot of people found TS through the fanfic and that can colour how you see the show. I, however, found TS through TS. I fell in love with the universe and characters created by B&D.
But! I love all the fanfic out there. I love seeing everyone's spin on the characters. I don't want either to end. I mean that, too. I love all the TS fanfic. Well, there are two stories I didn't love, but well, we don't need to talk about that now.
I guess I just want to have my cake and eat it, too. I want TS: the TV show and TS: the fanfic.
--Blair, Let Them Eat Cake!, Kennedy
[Star]:
You're just like me Susanne, I at first, wasn't drawn into TS fandom by reading the fanfic first, that came, I think, in the middle of the second season, when I *really* became hooked on the show. I had to watch the show first to really appreciate the characters, and get a feel of what the scenery looked like, and when I started reading the fanfic, it wasn't that hard to *see* where the action was taking place.
By then, I already had my bearings.
[Optical Obsession]:
I've been trying to maintain a positive outlook during this whole endeavor (and that's an achievement for me, since I'm one of the most negative people I know), so when I read postings such as yours, it bums me out. I refuse to even acknowledge the possibility that this will be TS's last season. Also, the idea of Dean Valentine sitting out in California laughing his arse off, thinking he has the upper hand, infuriates me to no end. Another reason why I think its worth the aggravation: I don't think its right for the cast and crew of TS to lose their jobs merely because UPN/CC doesn't like TS's parents (Paramount/Pet Fly). The cast and crew of TS have done an admirable job in putting together a very entertaining television show. They don't deserve to have all their hard work tossed aside like yesterday's newspaper. We can win this, it just might take a little time, and a lot of effort. As Margaret Mead once said: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
Another quote, I'd like to address to all the nay sayers out there: "Never deprive someone of hope, it might be all they have". So once again Venkie, if I've got you pegged wrong let me know, and I'll try to make amends. This is not meant to be a personal attack, so please don't take it that way. It's just that this fight for TS may mean a great deal more to some of us than others, and sometimes words can be misconstrued (which so often is the case, when I'm involved <g>). Thanks.
[Venkie]:
Probably be cause I won't be able to get the episodes when it comes back. Our local station dropped all the UPN shows. It's hard to get excited when everybody else will see something and talk about it on the newsgroups and it will go right over my head. Sorry about the negative vibes but I'm out here alone in Sentinel-less Land without a prayer.
[Star]:
UPN really wants to jerk us around, and I for one, don't like it all that much. So, yeah, I agree with PetFly, keep the ending open-ended, but don't expect much from Deano, Tom, or CC, because, I don't think they're going to give us much.
Sorry for sounding so negative, but that's just the way I feel because not only did UPN pull TS, but it also pulled Mercy Point, which was another show of their's that I was just starting to like....
I agree, we should send UPN a *loud* message that we are behind this show, and I've written at least two letters so far.
Well, ok it wasn't *really* two letters, but I cc'd a copy over to the other UPN mailbox, so I know it got there.
And I think I will be sending it out again. I'm just not sure when it will be a good time without them thinking I'm 'mail bombing' them.
[Ursula]:
I spoke with Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo, The Sentinel's creators and executive producers, a couple of weeks ago, and both they and Paramount are "very enthusiastic" about the possibilities of The Sentinel's return for a 5th season. What else are UPN going to renew? The Sentinel outrated even their much-hyped "Seven Days".
The end of the 8th episode is going to be both a "conclusion" and a "beginning" allowing the series (or even fanfic) to take off in a whole new direction. It doesn't matter whether the show is renewed or not. The story of Jim Ellison and Blair Sandburg will enter a whole new chapter.