Sometimes, I think fandom feeds on its own negativity and squelches joy from things.

I was genuinely startled, upon rewatching Smallville, by how very much I didn't hate Kristin Kreuk. I mean, I hadn't particularly hated her in the first place, but I guess I'd accepted the 'and she can't act for toffee' thing, because - hey, Smallville. But actually, she's really not bad at all, imho. Certainly no worse than Tom Welling, or indeed Allison Mack. Which made me very uncomfortable with fandom.

I don't recall hating the character so much as I hated his storyline. "Smug teenage asshole engages in creepy pushy stalkerlike behavior and then gets the girl by revealing that he's only an asshole because of his Secret Deep Pain Which They Can Bond Over" is right up there on my list of Least Favorite TV Tropes EVAR.

(Oh hi, Jess from Gilmore Girls! I hate you so much!)

"Smug teenage asshole engages in creepy pushy stalkerlike behavior and then gets the girl by revealing that he's only an asshole because of his Secret Deep Pain Which They Can Bond Over"

This. So much. It really chapped my hide that they portrayed his pushy stalker acts as romantic. (I pretty much wanted to throttle him when he snidely kept referring to Claire's secret IN THE CLASS; what a jackhole.) I kept waiting for him to be revealed as Up To No Good, then was very annoyed when he wasn't. Also, the association with him robbed Claire most of her Awesome Points, and since she was my favourite character on the show before this, I found him doubly irritating.

Not that he was the only problem with the S2 by any means, but he was a big one.

I was genuinely startled, upon rewatching Smallville, by how very much I didn't hate Kristin Kreuk. I mean, I hadn't particularly hated her in the first place, but I guess I'd accepted the 'and she can't act for toffee' thing, because - hey, Smallville. But actually, she's really not bad at all, imho. Certainly no worse than Tom Welling, or indeed Allison Mack. Which made me very uncomfortable with fandom.

KK's actually gotten better, especially now that Lana has both dead parents and a spine. (And actually, they haven't mentioned the dead parents in a while now...)

I don't mean to harp on fandom, because by and large I find it a positive thing, but sometimes the tendency to pick apart what are generally minor quibbles in a light amusement can be ... tedious. Smallville is terrible, really, but can be addictive popcorn. Season Two of Heroes had deep flaws, but it certainly wasn't as bad as all that, and still a damn sight better than most of what's on TV.

Sometimes, I think people go looking for reasons to hate things, rather than looking for reasons to enjoy them.

and still a damn sight better than most of what's on TV

Not to pick on you (or Heroes), but I hear this all the time and my reaction is always, so what? I'm not watching most of what's on TV - what does it matter that Heroes S2 (or BtVS S7, or whatever) at its worst is better than Who Wants To Get Paid To Eat Bugs On TV? at its best?

It's like saying "Oh, your steak is overcooked and underseasoned? Well at least you're not eating a microwaved burrito!" The fact that I didn't go to the vending machine at the gas station for dinner doesn't mean I shouldn't expect a properly cooked steak from the restaurant I chose.

Who Wants To Get Paid To Eat Bugs On TV?

You better hope there aren't any TV producers reading this board.

I think that I stand a much better chance of learning Japanese, what with it not being a tonal language.

I loved learning Japanese (found it as easy as Spanish--similar vowel sounds) and the sound of it is much more appealing to me than maybe any other Asian language. Given your inherent cleverness, I'm guessing it will be a snap.

I'm with you, Jessica. Just because it isn't worse than something else, does not make a show watchable. That's why I love watching things on DVD. I can make the choice to leave something behind so much more quickly. (I'm looking at you The Tudors.)

get around to watching Season 3 of VM, even if it is crap.

It's not crap.

Fuckin' Yankton!

Hey, I get that! Even though I still don't know what "Yankton" is, exactly.

Certainly no worse than Tom Welling, or indeed Allison Mack.

Hey! Allison Mack is awesome!

The fact that I didn't go to the vending machine at the gas station for dinner doesn't mean I shouldn't expect a properly cooked steak from the restaurant I chose.

Well, to be fair, you're watching NBC, so it pretty much is a gas station dinner, or at best Applebee's, but I take your point, and you're not wrong. But I'm just saying I've seen the pattern of self-feeding negativity repeatedly.

But I'm just saying I've seen the pattern of self-feeding negativity repeatedly.

I'd say the fandom swings both ways. I've seen plenty of piling-on that was positive as well as negative. The squee can be as infectious as the snark. I just think Heroes was particularly vulnerable because the first season was such a pleasant suprise ("Hey - we've got a serious genre show that's not only pretty good, but it's POPULAR too! Maybe this one won't be cancelled.") and the drop-off for season two felt almost immediate.

I will say that while flyboy was annoying, and did some damage to Claire's character, he was nowhere near as bad as the guy they introduced on Eureka who's totally screwed up Jo's character (totally memfaulting on their names, so why don't I just call them both Poochie).