This makes me wonder, have there been any actors/actresses who are not known to be the brightest bulbs on the shelf yet can consistently do "intelligent" convincingly on screen?

Alex Kingston.

Wow. Alex Kingston? Her characters have always come across as fiercely intelligent to me, the kind of quality I associate with actresses like Judy Davis and Catherine Keener. That's a bit of a shock.

Actually, ita, I've seen some interviews with Welling lately that have made me rethink him. When he's at ease, he's a pretty charming guy. I had no idea.

Mind you, I don't have the raging love-on for him like I do Rosenbaum the sexy cocksickle, but I would like to hug him and pet him and call him Tommy.

The couple TW interviews I've seen made me think "Huh. Pretty." Maybe it's the really lousy acting that's blocking me.

Evidently a lot of her prior roles have just been a result of past boyfriends and friends suggesting them - she's said that she's happier doing something like ER where she doesn't have to do so much background work.

Maybe it's the really lousy acting that's blocking me.

Well, I have the advantage of not being able to watch Smallville in real-time, since I don't get the WB. It's easier to forgive the lousy acting.

Plus, I have season 1 Smallville DVDs, and am drowning in the HoYay. So. Very. Gay.

How is it that in the UK the Spooks/MI-5 folks got away without having any credits at all?

I mean -- don't the British versions of SAG, DGA, etc frown upon that?

Sorry to break in. X-Post from Firefly and The Great Write Way...

The editor of the local paper tracked me down via local academia*. She wants an article on the fan effect on TV-On-DVD, and the effect this revenue stream might have on the creative effort. I've read the Cassutt piece. I'm not sure how a background in chemical engineering helps me, here, but I'm thinking of assailing the piece.

In pursuit of this, I'm soliciting the best numbers available for budgets of shows (google helps not). Also, any anecdote of how fans have influenced the production of series DVDs, and how series DVDs might have influenced the production of … anything, in any medium, would be handy. (Profile addy good.)

* She was looking for an "adult fan" of a TV show. My name came up, pretty quickly.

Thanks (Again, for the interuption, sorry.)

Gus, can you be more specific about what you need? I expect the SFS crowd could provide some answers, but I think more detail would be good or we'll just overwhelm you with data.

'Suela: My present thesis is that fans have voted with their dollars via DVD purchases, sending a message of mandate to the creative community. I conjecture that the mandate is being heard.

I want to contrast sales figures of DVDs against by-season production budgets. My assertion is that DVD sales are directly reflective of fan interest (being most valuable in their re-view utility). This is in an effort to assign a numeric value to fan-perceived quality.

The "assignment" to the article is only a few hours old, so I am still floundering around. That's the core, though.