While I've gone back and forth about prolif and antiprolif since the move to the Phoenix, I really am inclined to have some kind of sub-grouping for shows. I know we've moved back in the direction of Heroes yay or nay now, but I really appreciate the discussion that's been had about shows and how to best serve the community talking about them.
For me, I watch almost everything. The Stargates, Dresden, Torchwood, Dr Who, VMars, Heroes, SPN, BSG, The Office, Friday Night Lights, House, Grey's, probably some other stuff I'm forgetting. About the only think I don't watch is Eureka, and that was kind of an accident. Having some kind of generalised grouping, a la what Hec was doing about a hundred posts ago, makes the most sense for me because as it stands, I inevitably miss the discussion of one of these many shows due either to the time difference of being in the UK or my delay in aheming/watching the shows. By the time I get around to watching, say, BSG, discussion has already naturally moved on to whatever new show was on. I get that, and I certainly don't think my difficulties in participating in discussion should form the direction these threads go in. But the frustration is still there, because it feels like I never/rarely get to talk about the shows everyone else is talking about. I usually just get to read.
Similarly, the shows that get discussed in natter--Grey's, House, The Office, probably FNL though I am not certain--are things I never get to talk about here at the b.org, because of most of the same reasons as the above paragraph, only at warp speed. The time delay in aheming, watching, and then coming back to natter means that by the time I have watched any of these shows, we're already talking about whether plastic or steel rulers are better for measuring ferrets. Again, this isn't a bad thing--it obviously works for the people who are discussing it right now. But I think it's worth noting that for me, who's just as into American television as all of you, living in another country that is off-time with when you all watch these shows, it's impossible--or at least very difficult--for me to engage in discussion with you all about them. And I want to, because, well. Obvious reasons.
This is not me asking for a general tv thread. We've been down that road, there are compelling reasons not to do it, and I'm okay with that. But given the ideas of mediafannishness raised in this discussion so far, I do think it is worth noting that shows that do have that mediafannishness--House, FNL, The Office, Grey's--could potentially be discussed in a way that is accessible to people who either don't do Natter, or for situations not unlike mine can't participate in Natter discussion. I know there are problems with defining what "mediafannish" constitutes, and there is no currently good benchmark for linking the four shows I'm using as examples. But since this is a problem I personally have been having with television discussion here for, well, the entire time I was in college and now living abroad, I figured I might as well lay it out. I don't expect anything to come from this, as I'm in a unique situation. But, you know, ce la vie.