There’s light at the end of the tunnel. Scrubs came back last week, as did The Office, plus several other unwatchable shows (CSI:NY anyone?), yet somehow American Idol is still dominating my household. Now that Michael Johns is gone, I’m done, because there’s nothing beautiful to look at anymore.
At least we were able to ditch Dancing With The Stars, which has moved to unwatchable territory itself (okay, it never left). The rest of my shows are still absent though, and new episodes from my favorite is still more than a week away. Three of my favorites won’t be back until next season, so I’m finding only minimal comfort from the rest of this season.
Oh, but Supernatural fans, thanks to you, my online adventures continue. After my last article about this vast online fandom, in which I professed that I was only scratching the surface, I got dozens of wonderful messages providing me links to another spectrum of sites, all in hopes that I would find out what I was missing. It’s been another few weeks of wild exploration, and yes, I’ve been missing out on a lot. I offer now round two of Supernatural Online: The Great Hiatus Time Killer.
I should mention before getting started that the number of fantastic places to check out fanfiction and fanart is so large, and the creativity is so explosive, that these parts of the fandom alone deserve their own article. That will happen, probably later next month after the season has wrapped up. Once new episodes start airing next week (can you believe April 24 is getting that close?), I’m going to focus on those instead since the fandom won’t be able to concentrate on much else.
How Did I Miss These Before?
One site in my last report I absentmindedly ignored, and I beg for forgiveness. Every TV network offers forums on their own site, and CWTV is no exception. The Supernatural boards in the CW lounge are very active, and better than most network boards I’ve seen. While some threads definitely skew toward the “I’m not going there” territory, there is some decent discussion there as well.
Also, the CW’s site in general is one of the better network websites (which makes me wonder why the network is so bad). The use of bright green and some weird shade of gold stands out, making the site seem lively and fun (as opposed to the black and grey on ABC), and many of the options on the site encourage online interaction, which is something the bigger networks probably ignore because they aren’t targeting the younger audience. The idea of the music section is great, showcasing songs connected to each one of their shows and giving the option to buy in one click of a button. For Supernatural though, the list is not vast at all, only covering three episodes from season three. There’s another great idea not executed properly. The video player is decent, but there’s still no reason why all episodes from the season for each show shouldn’t be offered, especially with heavy mytharc shows like Supernatural and Smallville. Of course, these episodes can only be viewed by those living in the US anyway.
Article comments
1 - Andi
I enjoyed your article very much, especially since you put the spotlight on a couple of my favorites: Plastic!Winchester Theatre and Bardicvoice's deeply thoughtful meta. For another approach to episode reviews, you might want to check out kroki_refur's Reviews of Doom and picspam on her livejournal. They are wonderfully entertaining.
You are doing a fabulous job capturing the flavor of this amazing fandom. I look forward to your next article!
2 - LindsayW
Be sure to also check out www.SupportSupernatural.com. :)
3 - MCM
I've been so busy avoiding spoilers that somehow I managed to miss this post. Well done, thank you!
4 - Mary (Bardicvoice)
Oh, my - thank you, Alice! I'm delighted and humbled that you not only enjoyed my work, but recommended it to others. I bow to you!
I've been enjoying your clear-eyed column for a while (even though I clearly miss it sometimes, as I somehow did this one!), ever since it started popping up on my regular Google alert. Thank you for helping to spread the "Supernatural" word across the Internet!
And thank you for making me blush ...