It's never too late to jump on the fanwagon

I've just started watching BBC3's Being Human, and I'm two series late (trust me, I'm ashamed of myself). It got me thinking about the pros and cons of getting on the fanwagon a bit late and whether the goodness outweighs the baggage of so many potential spoilers.

Joining the fan party late is good because...

...you already know if it's worth your while. If no one has said nice things about a series, you probably shouldn't bother with it. Or maybe leave it until you've got some time to kill and a bottle of wine to share with some fangirl buddies.

...you can watch at your own pace. Cliffhangers don't mean diddly when you have a boxset to get through, and the tension of what's going to happen next only lasts as long as it takes you to put another DVD into your player. This is a recipe for self-indulgent back to back episode heaven.

... you may already know if there's more to come. One of the big tension points with any series is whether it gets picked up beyond a first season. If you find it late, it may already be cancelled and you can avoid the angst and watch the whole thing as one wonderful box of delights. Or if you find it part way through, you can jump in with the rest of the fans campaigning for another season.

Joining the fan party late is bad because...

...you're already pretty spoiled before you've watched ep 1. If you've read enough to get you interested in a show, chances are you already know the major twists and turns coming your way. Which kind of robs you of the pleasure of finding out with everyone else.

...you've missed lots of opportunities to get your geek on with the other fans. The casts of really good shows rarely have time to go to all the fan conventions, so if you're found the fandom late you've probably missed out on meeting and greeting the actors. Which sucks big time.

...you're expectations are raised pretty high. If everyone says something is brilliant, what are the chances you'll agree? Raised expectations can lead to big disappointment.

But to be honest, whenever you jump on the fanwagon you'll find an experience to make it worthwhile.

Firefly was on DVD by the time I got around to watching it, which meant I'd missed all the conventions and spending quality time with Nathan Fillion. But that just made meeting him at a Collectormania con in 2009 all the more enjoyable. And we could talk to him about Dr Horrible and Castle in any awkward swooning-silent moments.

I was quick off the mark with Chuck and snapped up tickets to meet him at the Starfury T1 convention in 2009. Everything about that convention was awesome - and I had my first flashmob type experience when we walked over to the Subway at the NEC and the lovely Mr Levi made a few hundred sandwiches for us to help promote the save Chuck campaign.

And it went a little something like this:




Now go find something to get your inner geek excited about!