I
was eleven at the time, and it was right about when I was really
getting the whole concept of television shows being aired weekly, and
something that you followed and could be a fan of. I got very attached
to certain shows, and I remember insisting on watching every new episode
of "Capitol Critters" and "Covington Cross," which were both cancelled
after only half their episodes had aired in 1992. In an effort to find
more information to help keep track of them, I started scouring the
Entertainment section of the Los Angeles Times. And that's how I
started following the development of "seaQuest," which didn't make it to
air on NBC until the fall of 1993, Sundays at 8PM. I was hooked
immediately after over a year of letting myself get hyped up. I wasn't
alone, as the premiere enjoyed massive ratings.
In
retrospect, "seaQuest" was not a very good piece of science fiction or
very good television. Didn't hold a candle to "Star Trek: The Next
Generation," which I would start watching the reruns of a few years
later. However, I was twelve and madly in love with teen idol Jonathan
Brandis, so "seaQuest" became my favorite show. I wrote my own episode
guides. I bought two of the spinoff novels. I saved newspaper
clippings that mentioned it - I still remember one pre-premiere story
that speculated how "seaQuest" was going to fare against "Murder, She
Wrote" on CBS and "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" on
ABC in the same time slot. My best friend was a "Lois & Clark" fan,
by the way, having fallen madly in love with Dean Cain, something that
bitterly divided us through sixth grade.
And
following "seaQuest" was how I learned about ratings and renewals and
how television worked. And as the show floundered through its second
and third seasons, I learned about retooling and rebranding and format
changes. "seaQuest" is notorious for its rocky production history. It
was nearly cancelled multiple times before being abruptly pulled midway
through the third season. Episodes were aired out of order and
constantly pre-empted, creating lots of continuity errors. The show
went from being billed as hard science based with a focus on existing
technology and educational aspirations, to much sillier stuff featuring
aliens and ghosts and even time travel. Every year it came back with a
different premise and a drasticaly changed cast list as actors bailed
left and right.
"seaQuest" also had a
boisterous online fandom that clashed with some of the creators of the
show, back in the early days of Usenet. Alas, I wasn't on the Internet
until after the series had ended, but stories about some of the fandom's
antics circulated for years. They were the best source of gossip about
what had gone on behind the scenes and collected all the news stories
and interviews I didn't have ready access to. It was through the fandom
that I learned about the unproduced episodes of "seaQuest" that would
have gone to air if the third season had continued. And it was through
fandom that I realized that there were other frustrated fans of a
once-promising science-fiction show that couldn't quite figure out how
to let go.
Surely I would have become a media fan
one way or another. There was another genre show that premiered the
same year as "seaQuest," with much less fanfare, that quietly took its
place as my favorite television show by the middle of its second season:
"The X-files." But "X-files" never had me scouring the TV listings,
trying to figure out what happened to pre-empted episodes, or holding my
breath waiting for renewal announcements, or poking around online for
explanations as to why the whole series had suddenly time-jumped a
decade into the future.
"seaQuest" wasn't a very
good show, but it sure was fun being one of its fans. And I suspect
that I'm the media junkie I am today because of it.
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