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...!)

[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]

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)

[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]

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

[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

[ga-unicorn.livejournal.com]

Ahhhh, there will be angst galore in the coming seasons! Nothing like broody eye-candy. Unfortunately, Duncan does eventually cut his hair. Much pouting in fangirl land when that happened. Also, there are large doses of Amanda to contend with - I always wanted to pinch her smirky little head off.

[gnine.livejournal.com]

Oh hon, Highlander is the EPITOME of being shallow! ^_- Mmm, Adrian Paul is very pretty, and then Peter Wingfield (Methos) *drools* Yeah, he is the ultimate fangirl bait...but...but I mean, snarky 5,000 hot, snarky, badass, at times angsty immortal, how are we supposed to resist? ^_-

[sholio]

NOOOOO, NOT THE HAIR. Foo. But, mmm, broody eye candy. I am all over that. :D

[sholio]

Well, I'll just be wallowing happily in the shallow end of the pool, then. :D I am told in the comments below that I have lots of hot broody angst to look forward to. Clearly I have been missing this show in my life and didn't even know it. :D

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Laughing at Mac's pain is about 50% of the fun of HL! (I kind of love Duncan, but he's such a doofus.)

Well, Methos is a major char in the eps he's in? ...or some of them...okay, yeah, he's just the incarnation of fangirl bait. ^^

Like everything else, really - HL is all about the shallow. I remember in college I was talking TV with some guys, and one of them was like, HL, you watch that? But why? And I said, "Hot guys, swordfighting," and he went OH, okay, that makes sense. And yeah, Adrian Paul is very much with the pretty. (You gotta see him in the bloopers, when he's constantly dancing off-screen and swearing in Italian when he gets lines wrong XD)

[sholio]

I kind of love Duncan, but he's such a doofus.

HAHAHAHA, best description of Duncan EVAR. :D I am also quite amused by his accent. I can't even tell what it's supposed to be. I think they must have just told Adrian Paul "Do an accent" and he's all "What kind?" and they're like, "Oh, it doesn't matter, just an accent." On the other hand, it goes right along with Connor's accent from the movies, which wasn't particularly Scottish-sounding, either. (It was thoroughly hilarious listening to them talk in the first episode, because they sound COMPLETELY different and neither of them sounds Scottish AT ALL. Though perhaps a 16th-century Scottish accent would sound quite different. Yes. That's it.)

Hot guys. Swordfighting. Yup. :D

[greyias.livejournal.com]

High school and college can definitely take a toll on fanning -- I still remember for disappearing for months at a time from even SGA fandom early on because of school. I was still pretty young in the early nineties (definitely when HL was just starting), so I missed out on a lot of the big ones (my best friend was in love with X-Files, so we took turn making each other watch taped reruns).

Funnily enough, this is one of the few shows where I have a lot of squee for just about every season that it's hard to pick a favorite (although I do definitely have a least favorite), but season one and two are definitely higher on the list. Duncan really is a sweetheart, and kind of battles Methos for the spot of second favorite. But even when I was fourteen, I had a hard time not laughing/poking fun at his angsty man-pain filled flashbacks (ESPECIALLY the first season ones XD).

P.S. - I am now rocking out to Queen. I blame you.

[sholio]

I am now rocking out to Queen. I blame you.

Oops. XD

I was of an age to be super-fannish about most of the late '80s crop of shows (MacGyver - speaking of embarrassing teen crushes; Quantum Leap; Magnum P.I.; Knight Rider), but the mid-90s fandom shows happened during that brief window in my life when I was actually, shockingly too busy for TV. *g*

Duncan's angsty flashbacks are MADE to be laughed at. Poor Duncan. :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

[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?!

[scrollgirl.livejournal.com]

It's Adrian Paul's real accent, I think. He's a Brit, with an Italian mother, and so he's kind of got a mish-mash of accents? (He's fluent in French and Italian.)

And Christopher Lambert (Connor) is French! So yeah, not so much with the Scottish accent. (And of course Sean Connery doesn't even bother to try. An actual Scot pretending to be Egyptian passing as Spanish, wtf.)

[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.

[ticiathethief.livejournal.com]

Oh, come on. Don't hate on "I'm not French!" Amanda! Bwa ha ha. :)

[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]

Ahh, that makes sense! Heh, I remember wondering about Christopher Lambert's accent even back when I watched the movies as a teenager. :D (Though I had forgotten that Connery wasn't supposed to be Scottish! HAHAHAHA oh Hollywood.)

[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.

[tringasolitaria.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you're enjoying it. :) I have no willpower and so I did just end up watching the first episode - ha! There's a lot I'd forgotten - mainly....wow....how good looking Adrian Paul is. :D

[tringasolitaria.livejournal.com]

And I said, "Hot guys, swordfighting,"

Haha, yes, that's pretty much it. :)