On Wed, 16 Nov 2005,
[hidden email] posted:
> ...we pretty much agree the discussion began to
> change after the DVD sets became available...
I agree with your observations that the nature of list-based
discussions have changed somewhat through the years. But
in my case, I never strongly associated it with the release of the
DVDs, which in retrospect does seem to have brought about a
change in the nature of the SHADO list.
Rather, I noticed an earlier change in the content and quality
of the messages on FAB-UFO back in the late 90s, when a
number of new members began to role-play themselves into
the series; this was actually in-between the SciFi airings and
the first DVD release.
And while I am not trying to pass judgement on how others
approach UFO (there is plenty of room for everybody to enjoy
the series as they prefer), personally I miss the quality of the
discussions that were taking place back when UFO was airing
on the SciFi Channel in the mid-1990s.
Some of those posters were individuals from the aerospace,
military, and legal professions, and as such they wrote some
rather detailed and thought-provoking observations about the
episodes and concepts behind UFO. Sometimes I almost
felt as if I was reading the transcript of a graduate school discussion.
It seems like there are far fewer *active* posters of that nature on the
current SHADO list.
> And maybe the discussion is less interesting without the
> common thread of looking for those episode?!
Remember that Marc still periodically runs sequential episode-based
discussion topics every so often. But after participating for many years
on this list (ten in my case), I really wonder just how much truely new is
there that one can actually write (let alone *read*) about a given episode?
The resulting repetition makes it inevitable that most of the active
posters
are people who are newer to the list (and often to the series itself.)
On the other hand, recognize that there is a major benefit resulting from
the DVD-augumented fan base - more UFO-based products hitting the market.
We now have music CDs, several books, and even an article of clothing to
chose
from. None of this was available ten years ago.
And for all the griping posted about the FAB-Gear SHADO Mobiles, I doubt
anybody is nostalgic for the days of dealing with that mail-order firm down
in
the SouthEast USA (Star Tech? Star Trader?) with the wretched customer
service. (Having been cheated out of a back-ordered $100 SkyDiver model, I
will stand firmly behind this opinionated statement.)
Finally, it really is truly wonderful to see that this 30-year-old series
still
has sufficient vitality in an age of multi-million dollar CGI films to gain
a whole
new legion fans. Otherwise interest in UFO would eventually fade away if
it
was limited only to those of us who first watched back in the early 1970s.
Jeff Kuzma
Locked
