Wax the barracuda
Oct. 6th, 2004 09:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rabid1stOkay...we all know what a "jump the shark" moment is, right? That very special episode that causes you to wake up and realize your favorite show has passed over its creative peak and it's all valley from here on out?
Over and over it happens...and the loyal viewer is left with nothing more than an empty feeling in the pit of his or her stomach and an urge to throttle the PTB.
But what about the other end of the continuum? What about that special moment when you suddenly find yourself swept up in a show and realize it could be good? No more than good...YES...EVEN GREAT! You can feel the leaves unfurling on your fiddle fern of fandom. What about that special moment in any series when you are giddy about your tivo or vcr because now you can rewatch the 'best part' 100 times, memorizing every nuance of the crucial scenes?
I say we need another category my friends...
A HOOK THE SHARK MOMENT
A MOUNT THE SHARK MOMENT (Like stuffed and on the wall, perverts)
A FREE THE DOLPHIN FROM THE TUNA NETS MOMENT...
Or maybe we should do something that doesn't involve fish.
Basing it on Happy Days would be consistent...it could be a Fonzie Likes Richie moment...but who the hell remembers Happy Days these days...even the Jump the Shark book has to explain why they called it that...so let's base our moment on Buffy (because we can) and call it...uhm...
The Zeppo Moment...(NAH!)
The Look Who's Evil Now moment (too Whedonesque)
The HERE'S YOUR SOUL moment...(too controversial)
Oh...I know...let's call it...
The One Show In all the World Moment!
That's it! Because in that moment there is hope...for a shining moment one show is the chosen one! And you can dare to hope it will always be safe to go back in the water. The orgasmic rush of the OSIATW moment is so intense that you can't foresee a time when the creative spark will stall...leaving you nothing to sustain you in the final days but...FAITH.
So...now that we have defined our terms...let me tell you my story about Lost. See, I watched the first eppy and was so unimpressed I would never have returned...except...there was nothing else on last Saturday. And so I watched the second episode (actually the second half of the two hour pilot). Still, I was less than thrilled. And then...I watched tonight's episode...and suddenly...there was that ONE SHOW IN ALL THE WORLD moment...
When the guy is dying and the moral dilemmas keep mounting: Should the drug addict give up his smack and go into his inevitable withdrawal early...should the criminal kill him and spare everyone else the karma...is the criminal a killer or just dangerous...what about Mr. Big Talk...is he just talk? The final resolution was perfect and poignant and I thought...WHOA! This really is a good show!
That said...my favorite show for the new season is still Desperate Housewives and my current OSIATW show...is still C.S.I....the One Show in All the World moment for me for C.S.I. was when Grissom pinned Sara to that bloody sheet in "Invisible Evidence"...though had I been watching earlier it would have been when they share that smile in "Gentle, Gentle" after she cracks the case for him...that was a beautiful moment, man...BEAUTIFUL!
So...tell me a little about your own ONE SHOW IN ALL THE WORLD moment...any show...any moment...
What made you a fan?
Over and over it happens...and the loyal viewer is left with nothing more than an empty feeling in the pit of his or her stomach and an urge to throttle the PTB.
But what about the other end of the continuum? What about that special moment when you suddenly find yourself swept up in a show and realize it could be good? No more than good...YES...EVEN GREAT! You can feel the leaves unfurling on your fiddle fern of fandom. What about that special moment in any series when you are giddy about your tivo or vcr because now you can rewatch the 'best part' 100 times, memorizing every nuance of the crucial scenes?
I say we need another category my friends...
A HOOK THE SHARK MOMENT
A MOUNT THE SHARK MOMENT (Like stuffed and on the wall, perverts)
A FREE THE DOLPHIN FROM THE TUNA NETS MOMENT...
Or maybe we should do something that doesn't involve fish.
Basing it on Happy Days would be consistent...it could be a Fonzie Likes Richie moment...but who the hell remembers Happy Days these days...even the Jump the Shark book has to explain why they called it that...so let's base our moment on Buffy (because we can) and call it...uhm...
The Zeppo Moment...(NAH!)
The Look Who's Evil Now moment (too Whedonesque)
The HERE'S YOUR SOUL moment...(too controversial)
Oh...I know...let's call it...
The One Show In all the World Moment!
That's it! Because in that moment there is hope...for a shining moment one show is the chosen one! And you can dare to hope it will always be safe to go back in the water. The orgasmic rush of the OSIATW moment is so intense that you can't foresee a time when the creative spark will stall...leaving you nothing to sustain you in the final days but...FAITH.
So...now that we have defined our terms...let me tell you my story about Lost. See, I watched the first eppy and was so unimpressed I would never have returned...except...there was nothing else on last Saturday. And so I watched the second episode (actually the second half of the two hour pilot). Still, I was less than thrilled. And then...I watched tonight's episode...and suddenly...there was that ONE SHOW IN ALL THE WORLD moment...
When the guy is dying and the moral dilemmas keep mounting: Should the drug addict give up his smack and go into his inevitable withdrawal early...should the criminal kill him and spare everyone else the karma...is the criminal a killer or just dangerous...what about Mr. Big Talk...is he just talk? The final resolution was perfect and poignant and I thought...WHOA! This really is a good show!
That said...my favorite show for the new season is still Desperate Housewives and my current OSIATW show...is still C.S.I....the One Show in All the World moment for me for C.S.I. was when Grissom pinned Sara to that bloody sheet in "Invisible Evidence"...though had I been watching earlier it would have been when they share that smile in "Gentle, Gentle" after she cracks the case for him...that was a beautiful moment, man...BEAUTIFUL!
So...tell me a little about your own ONE SHOW IN ALL THE WORLD moment...any show...any moment...
What made you a fan?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-06 07:12 pm (UTC)I ALMOST had the same moment...
Date: 2004-10-06 07:23 pm (UTC)However, this week was full of twists and turns...from the Iraqi guy taking command to the menacing old dude waffling between child molestor and helpful neighbor. As to Kate's guilt...I think it is at this point still ambiguous and therefore interesting. She looks like an innocent lamb...but you can't put too much stock in her saving the old dude...because she also jeopardized his life. They had a good relationship until he betrayed her...maybe she's a calculated killer rather than a raving maniac. Maybe it was a forgivable crime...like she murdered an abusive ex-husband or something.
Rae
(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-07 06:55 am (UTC)For Six Feet Under, it was "The Foot," when Dave and Keith are lying on the bed staring at the new ceiling fan, and Keith is pretending he's Ava Gardner, and Dave, of course, is thinking how the fan could fall and kill them. Then the phone rings and Dave finds out what his sister is up to and Keith offers to help. "I do stuff like this."
"You find feet?" Dave responds incredulously.