I have a couple questions I wanted to throw out there, even though I am about to run off to work and may not be able to respond to answers for a while.

First, is there anything else (outside of SPN) currently being discussed in Boxed Set that fits the original feel of Boxed Set, which seemed to me to be just as much about the fandomishness as it was about the scifi/fantasy aspects?

Second, am I the only one who thinks that if a SPN thread is created, it would probably morph into a slightly revised version of Boxed Set, where X-files, Dark Angel, Smallville, and even Buffy and Angel are likely to be discussed as well?

I'm not trying to make any kind of point here. I'm just trying to get a feel for how other people view Boxed Set, and what they would like it be.

Well, do you want a separate SF-F thread? Possibly SF-F + H.

Second, am I the only one who thinks that if a SPN thread is created, it would probably morph into a slightly revised version of Boxed Set, where X-files, Dark Angel, Smallville, and even Buffy and Angel are likely to be discussed as well?

I don't understand this. The 50% of posts in Boxed Set regarding SPN have been about SPN. I rarely see SPN discussion digress into a discussion about another show. And if it occasionally does do that, so what? The same thing has occasionally happened within all of our dedicated show threads.

No, Lee, you're not the only one. I think that sort of talk will follow the numbers, and happen wherever the posters are. Which is why, combined with

Would it be more reasonable for the non-SHMPNers to propose a new thread for all genre shows except for SHMPN? Then the SHMPNers could stay where they are and not feel like they've been kicked out of anywhere!

that I'm about ready to concede to the idea of a SPN thread as a seekrit media-fannish klubhouz, and cede BS to the ahem-ers. I mean, if the original concept of the thread has fallen so far off the board consciousness, then it makes more sense for those who practice and enjoy media fandom to have somewhere to do so, and not bother the majority of posters who don't. I think. Or something.

Obviously I wasn't cut out to be either a soldier or a hero, because my principles and ideals seem less important to me than the simple fact that I'm tired of arguing. So you know, go you guys, I guess.

Wait. So, as a non-ahemer who watches many of the shows discussed in BS, where would I go?

Everyone in BS would be ahead of me and it would be like Dr. Who and Torchwood all over the place.

I'm sorry, sumi. I was being overly dramatic, a failing of mine. Of course all the shows being discussed in Boxed Set would still be discussed there, as far as I know.

Random thought:

One would assume that there will be new genre TV in the fall, that may also go in BS? Is there anything coming that people are super-excited about that would fall into that thread?

(Not sure that it's important, other than it has to do with what's going on in Boxed Set and what will be left if we take out SPN.)

I mean, if the original concept of the thread has fallen so far off the board consciousness

This is the part I'm not getting. Boxed Set's original concept was what was specified in the vote that created it:

We should consolidate Due South, Smallville and Farscape into a single thread, called something like Due South/Smallville/Farscape (exact thread name will be determined in the Bureaucracy thread).

Due South and Smallville may have been media-fannish threads, but Farscape wasn't particularly one. Boxed Set has never been solely a media-fannish thread.

In a sense, what we're talking about here is the recreation of the Smallville thread as a separate thread called SPN. And given that it seems like the assumptions about board performance that prompted us to combine the threads in the first place were likely incorrect (i.e., it wasn't the number of threads that was the problem), why not?

I'm not in the least worried about Boxed Set losing, well, anything besides SPN if SPN goes. (I thought I had a grip on what media fannishness meant to people, but now I'm not so sure, so I'm leaving that aspect out if for now).

Off the top of my brain, here are the non-white-font shows we'd still be discussing (at the very least): SGA, SG-1 TV movies, BSG, Eureka, Dresden Files (what??? I can live in hope), U.S.-aired Dr. Who, Wacky Sc-fi Movies of the Week.

Here are the shows we might be discussing there, if they take off, or catch our fancy: Sarah Connor Chronicles, Vampire/Detective show I can't remember the name of, Bionic Woman, hell, I think there's even some new B5 thing coming out, right?

And, of course, the white-fonted shows: UK-aired Dr. Who, Torchwood, Canada-aired SGA early, or the next LoM-type show (perhaps even the spinoff from that very show).

And then there are the fabulous Links by Sumi (an other people, of course) about this or that random fannish topic, show, actor, etc. and the discussion those inspire. Not to mention, the random discussion of how awesome DS9 was, or how DJC and Andi are re-watching Due South (or how I finally will some day), or how willing people were to discuss Farscape with me when I was catching up via DVD.

I am not worried in the slightest about the fate of Boxed Set should SPN depart. (I may, in fact, be feeling slightly defensive of Boxed Set, because I love it to bits. Yeah, there's probably no "may" about it. I'm sorry that it doesn't work for everyone, but, selfishly speaking, it's my Preciousss, and I loves it.)

Are there any shows in BS other than SPN that get currently get regular discussion in the thread that aren't, well, cable or ahemmed shows right now?

Is it possible that the slightly broader audience afforded by the fact that it's broadcast TV has something to do with the amount of chatter about it? (And perhaps even Heroes before it.)

I haven't had cable for three years. I'm not in a position to ahem everything, and catching up on DVD is hit or miss for me in terms of discussion, mostly miss. I, personally, am more likely to talk about something I can pull in from the air, but I don't know if that's just me.