working on my fangirl street cred

[sholio]

So, I've never seen Highlander. The movies, yes. The TV show, no. However, Netflix has it streaming, so I've decided to remedy this gap in my fannish education. I'm up to the middle of the first season now, and having fun. :D Not much to say -- the cheese factor is THROUGH THE ROOF, but I was sort of expecting that. (Their rock'n'roll, "we are so hip in a very '80s kind of way" soundtrack slays me, though. And the theme song. OMG.) Really, it's SO dated, and yet ... so addictive. I like Tessa a lot, although I have a bad feeling about her continued survival, since I've seen Highlander clips in a lot of multifandom vids over the years and I don't think I've ever seen any clips of her. Unless it's just fandom being typical fandom about her. Anyway, I like her. And once I got past the urge to laugh at Duncan's soulfully smoldering Fabio good looks, I really kind of adore him; I don't think I was expecting him to be so sweet. I've picked up various bits and pieces of show lore via fannish osmosis, which means that I keep wondering when Methos is going to show up - not yet, apparently.

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Comments

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

~HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERE WE ARE!!~

Aww, Highlander. Oh, the first season especially is sooooo corny! ...Well, okay, the whole show is that. Though on occasion awesome. I admit to loving the comedy eps best (HL is one of those almost-a-fandom-but-never-quite shows, for me...)

...Hmm, is Joe in s1? I can't recall. I suspect you'll like Joe, especially since you like Jim Byrnes already, I believe...

And Methos - yeah, he doesn't turn up for a few seasons, and he's never a major char, only a recurring (maybe 20 eps total?) (This doesn't stop him from being one of my first major TV crushes and a fave forever, but...!)

[sholio]

Heh, given how prominently Methos is featured in pretty much every Highlander vid and fanfic and whatnot that I've ever seen (I mean, to the point where *I* noticed it, without even having seen the show), I think it's hilarious that he's not even a main character. He's definitely got that fangirl-bait sort of thing going, though. (I have to wait until season 3? Awww! *pouts and kicks floor*)

Yeah, I'm looking forward to Joe showing up; he hasn't yet. I do adore Jim Byrnes and knowing that he was in this show was part of the appeal. :D Of course, right now Adrian Paul is MOST of the appeal. Hee. Thus far, the show has attracted me in a very shallow sort of way. But I am not above being shallow. :D Luckily I was EXPECTING sky-high levels of corniness, so it hasn't disappointed. Actually, I'm kind of surprised that it's not even less serious than it is. (The flashbacks, though ... oh Duncan, I'm sorry, I'm laughing at your pain and I can't help myself. XD)

[ga-unicorn.livejournal.com]

The first season was definitely cheese-filled goodness. The second season is definitely an improvement, but you'll have to get to season 3 to meet Methos. Highlander started the same year as X-Files, and one the same day/time on my local channels. I never really got into X-Files because of it, but then David Duchovny was never the eye-candy that Adrian Paul is.

[sholio]

Adrian Paul is awfully fun to look at, I must admit. :D (Whatever happened to long hair on guys, anyway? I can't help myself - I grew up in the 80s and I'm hugely fond of it!) And, awww, no Methos until season 3, BUMMER. Oh well. I'm glad to hear that the cheesiness improves a wee bit, because, as much fun as I'm having with this, a bit more seriousness would not go amiss, either. :D

[greyias.livejournal.com]

Eeee! Highlander! One of my early fannish loves, one that I actually shared with my mother. Being a teenager, I was naturally in love with Richie, but I always had a soft spot for Tessa. The cheese factor does... get slightly better after the first season (at least the fashion hurts far, far less), but the sort of "Die Hard" OTT type of violence/conflict does linger for a bit after that.

And in the interest of not spoiling you, I'll hold the rest of my explosive show squee in check. Although I might have to queue it up on Netflix myself. Even if I basically have the pilot memorized. Ahhh, young fannish love.

[sholio]

I'm pretty sure that I just missed out on Highlander the first time around; it came on at a time in my life when I really wasn't watching much TV at all -- I watched SO MUCH TV IN THE 80S, OH MY GOD and then I got busy with my senior year of high school, and college, and there's this big gap in the mid-90s when all these seminal fannish shows were airing (Highlander, X-Files, Babylon 5, etc) and I totally missed out. POOR ME. But that's what Netflix is for.

Luckily I was EXPECTING apocalyptic levels of cheese, so I haven't been disappointed or anything. :D I'm kinda head over heels for Duncan right now, because he's just so sweet in his moody 400-year-old sort of way, although every time he introduces himself ("I am Duncan McLeod, of Clan McLeod"!) ... I laugh and laugh. SO FUN! I'm looking forward to being able to share more of your later-season squee. :D

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

Oh man, Highlander!!

I used to love that show and it was on like forever! I swear AP really was immortal, he never seemed to age! What a fun show to discover and they did manage to keep things interest during the seasons, but for the life of me, I don't think I ever watched the final season..lol

[sholio]

It's a lot of fun! I kinda wondered how in the world they were going to get a series out of this, and, well, I'm still wondering that, but it's awfully fun so far. :D Everyone else got there before I did, but hey - that just means I'll have lots of people to talk to about it, and to rec me fannish things when I get far enough along to want them.

[writerjc.livejournal.com]

I discovered Highlander way back because my mother in law was always watching. So one day I asked what it was about, and her response: "I don't know. I just like to watch him (Adrian Paul) run around in that long coat." LOL! How could I not get hooked after that?!

[sholio]

LOL, I think your mother-in-law pretty much nailed the appeal of the show. :D (Shallow? Me? Never! *g*)

[tringasolitaria.livejournal.com]

Highlander! :D Awesome! Can't wait to read your reactions. :) If I wasn't so swamped with other TV right now, I'd run over to Hulu and start rewatching the series too - it's pretty tempting. :)

I really liked the first season too. Yeah, cheesy, but lots of fun. :)

[sholio]

I shall continue to post as I watch. :D Well, I'm going out of town this weekend and I won't have (much) Internet, so I guess I will post when I'm able to watch it again. I'm having a blast so far.

[snarkydame.livejournal.com]

Oh god, that show. :D I rewatched some of it recently myself, and while the fashion definitely hasn't aged well, I still love the broody ridiculousness. (and Methos. I LOVE Methos, just you wait.) And a lot of the guest stars are fabulous!

[sholio]

Hee! It's SO broody and full of ~EPIC MANPAIN~; how they can all be so SERIOUS about being in a show that's about immortal Scotsmen running about cutting off each others' heads, I have no idea, but that's definitely half the fun. :D And I am getting the impression from other people's comments that it just gets MORE broody and angsty and full of GLOOMY FLASHBACKS; I'm so looking forward to it! :D

[jimandblair.livejournal.com]

This is a sandbox meeting! There we are playing in the corners and then I look up from where I'm watching series one of Highlander and there you are watching season one.

A delightfully naff channel over here (Horror) has started showing Highlander from season 1 and I am eating it up. I've been waiting for years to see seasons 1 and 2 and meet Darius. I'm surprised at how much I like Tessa. Duncan and Tessa have such mature, rich relationship. They are partners and adults and the show treats them as partners instead of showing us the formulaic UST. It's quite refreshing.

But, I have however watched my box sets of seasons three and four and five a lot Fannish osmosis is a good description. I strove to find out about this Methos character. I adore Methos. Presumably there were Duncan/Richie fans and then suddenly Duncan/Methos fans appeared -- I can imagine the fall out (and I'm sure someone reading here will elucidate *g*). I kind of imagine his impact being similar to Castiel appearing in season 4 of Supernatural. I love/d Methos so much I wrote fic. Tell me when you reach Methos and want fanfic recs -- I can help. Oooooh, you can read and enjoy Sylvia Volk...

[sholio]

Heeee! Hi! *waves to you from other corner of sandbox* Yes, I'll definitely let you know (well, let my flist in general know) when/if I want fanfic recs. So far, I have trouble telling if this is a show I'm going to want fanfic for, but it's awfully nifty to discover so much of my flist was or still is into it! And I'm looking forward to being able to talk about it when I've seen more of it. :)

[flingslass.livejournal.com]

You're kidding me. Even I'VE seen Highlander! Fitz is my favourite. Tell me when you get to his episodes and we can laugh ourselves silly! :D

[sholio]

I'll let you know! :) Yeah, there's a big chunk of the mid-90s when I didn't watch TV at all, so a big batch of fannish shows (X-Files, Hercules, Highlander) that I missed out on.

[naye]

Oh, the memories!

That show totally owned my 16-year-old fangirl heart and soul. Which is ironic, since it didn't actually air in Sweden, and I got hooked on it through fic. And then I made my first internet friend, and she sent me video cassettes taped of Belgian TV (!), so I learned useful phrases in Dutch like ik ben onsterfeljik (or however you spell it - it's been a while), and squeed a lot and read fic that was probably horrible, but that made me go warm and fuzzy (or achy and tender) in all the right ways.

HEE. I may, in fact, be the only person ever to have had more of a crush on Richie than on Mac? (And then Methos showed up. Mmmmmm, Methos. Methos, Methos, Methos. Where would I be without you? I honestly don't know. A mutual appreciation for Methos was one of the things that brought me and xparrot together, way way back when!)

[sholio]

Hee! :D Richie isn't really where it's at for me, but I suspect most of that is because he's half my age; Duncan is more, um, available (well, except for totally NOT being available, but you know what I mean *g*). There was someone above in the comments, too, who said that Richie was her favorite, so it's not just you! :D

It's so much fun to look back at old fannish loves, isn't it? The Internet has definitely made obsolete those old ways of obtaining much-loved shows, and while I wouldn't really want to go back, I do have awfully fond memories of swapping anime tapes with my college buddies, or trying to find websites so that I could find people who were willing to send me VHS tapes of older shows, and even *gasp* ordering away to catalogs for scripts when I was a fannishly obsessed teenager because it was the only way I thought I'd ever "see" some of those episodes. Now everything is on DVD and download/streaming sites, and it's so wonderfully easy to find things, but it's fun to look back on the WALKING UPHILL BOTH WAYS! IN THE SNOW! days. :D

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

~because the alternative is unthinkable~! <333

[greyias.livejournal.com]

Richie lovers unite! <3

[trobadora]

Highlander! It's great fun in a cheesy kind of way, most of the time - and then Methos came around, and then That Two-Parter (you'll know which one when you hit it), and OMG. *loves*

[sholio]

Hee! I can see I have lots of awesome to look forward to. :D

[saphirablue]

Oh, Highlander! ♥ One of my first fannish loves!

I love Duncan and Methos (OMG, Methos! That man is just awesmoe) and Joe. It's been such an awesome show back then.

I only remember little of the episodes, most of the characters and my huge *squee* about the show (and Duncan and Methos).

Have fun watching it! :)

[sholio]

It's really fascinating getting into a show so long after the whole rest of the world has seen it; this must be how xparrot felt when she watched Buffy last year. *g*

I'm delighted at how much of my flist has seen it and can squee with me, though! I'm looking forward to getting farther along so that I can talk about it more! And I can't wait to see Joe; I really adore Jim Byrnes from Wiseguy, so knowing that he was in this show was one of the big appeals for me. :D