I am rapidly falling under the impression that you have written everything. You could say 'would you believe that I've written a meta fic that uses the migratory patterns of hippos to examine themes of good and evil in season 3 of Angel?' and I would think 'of course you have.' LOL! And I must point out that I've not written *everything* - but I probably know someone who has. ;)
No coincidentally, I once compiled a list of 50(plus) reasons to write fic (inspired by a HIMYM episode in which the characters write a list of 50 reasons to have sex), which still amuses me. I... might have read that once, I think, when I was being nosy and was looking through your LJ. I love stuff like that.
It is very strange to think of RTD as story-driven (!) given the way he's generally talked up as a character writer, although I wonder if, weirdly, if you are very invested in exploring a particular character or set of characters, you end up needing to be story-driven? Hmmm. Dunno. I know that in the Buffy fandom a lot pf people disapproved of the way the show went, so there's a TON of fic that branch off from canon at any point. Literally whole 'verses, as rich and complex as the show itself. (Which is pretty much what I'm doing myself with my Alex verse, which started out because of a single idea and then just refused to stop growing. And I do find it v. interesting to take the characters down very different paths to the show.) Re. RTD in particular, then I think he tends to examine the same kind of issues in all his writing, and so it was maybe inevitable that the Doctor would go in that direction also...
The issue I came up against when watching House was the question of why the writers were choosing to introduce us to this particular character at this particular point in his life--there must be something that happens to him in this stretch of time that makes it somehow noteworthy and worth exploring more than some other stretch--and I think ultimately either the writers didn't know what that reason was, or were forced by network pressures to delay dealing with it in order to keep writing this hit show (US network TV conventions can be murder to a good show idea). Oh I can see your problems, yes. And I think it's a problem with 'case-of-the-week' shows, generally. On Buffy the Monster of the Week was always tied to the characters' stories (oh the metaphors!) - much like DW - but other shows (medical & detective) tend to focus more on the mystery at the expense of the characters.
Conversely, I think, as you hit upon, if the writers are more interested in world building or just in establishing a sandbox in which to play around and tell some good stories, I think it really frees everyone up on a character exploration front. Just look at Harry Potter...
this is just a device for setting up this little world of these five friends so that the writers could tell little stories about them and explore their lives. Result? Fantastic, character-driven comedy. And a very good set-up it is!
This does leave me with the question of whether I could write fic for RTDs Who. I think I probably could but only because this little subsection of tragic, character centered, story-driven show is inherently a part of a larger, comedic, open-ended sandbox, and I would be free to bring in elements of the sandbox in order to write it. The broader perspective is *there*, it's just very much pushed aside in the show proper. Or do like me and make your own AU sandbox... Or, there's TenToo, which has a lot of possibilities!
that while you can enjoy an episode of HIMYM on a stand-alone basis in the manner of a stereotypical American sitcom, you will be missing half of what's going on. It's very much about character development and a slavish devotion to continuity as much as it is about clever jokes and structuring. Oh I'm SURE - continuity tends to be half the fun. :)
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LOL! And I must point out that I've not written *everything* - but I probably know someone who has. ;)
No coincidentally, I once compiled a list of 50(plus) reasons to write fic (inspired by a HIMYM episode in which the characters write a list of 50 reasons to have sex), which still amuses me.
I... might have read that once, I think, when I was being nosy and was looking through your LJ. I love stuff like that.
It is very strange to think of RTD as story-driven (!) given the way he's generally talked up as a character writer, although I wonder if, weirdly, if you are very invested in exploring a particular character or set of characters, you end up needing to be story-driven?
Hmmm. Dunno. I know that in the Buffy fandom a lot pf people disapproved of the way the show went, so there's a TON of fic that branch off from canon at any point. Literally whole 'verses, as rich and complex as the show itself. (Which is pretty much what I'm doing myself with my Alex verse, which started out because of a single idea and then just refused to stop growing. And I do find it v. interesting to take the characters down very different paths to the show.) Re. RTD in particular, then I think he tends to examine the same kind of issues in all his writing, and so it was maybe inevitable that the Doctor would go in that direction also...
The issue I came up against when watching House was the question of why the writers were choosing to introduce us to this particular character at this particular point in his life--there must be something that happens to him in this stretch of time that makes it somehow noteworthy and worth exploring more than some other stretch--and I think ultimately either the writers didn't know what that reason was, or were forced by network pressures to delay dealing with it in order to keep writing this hit show (US network TV conventions can be murder to a good show idea).
Oh I can see your problems, yes. And I think it's a problem with 'case-of-the-week' shows, generally. On Buffy the Monster of the Week was always tied to the characters' stories (oh the metaphors!) - much like DW - but other shows (medical & detective) tend to focus more on the mystery at the expense of the characters.
Conversely, I think, as you hit upon, if the writers are more interested in world building or just in establishing a sandbox in which to play around and tell some good stories, I think it really frees everyone up on a character exploration front.
Just look at Harry Potter...
this is just a device for setting up this little world of these five friends so that the writers could tell little stories about them and explore their lives. Result? Fantastic, character-driven comedy.
And a very good set-up it is!
This does leave me with the question of whether I could write fic for RTDs Who. I think I probably could but only because this little subsection of tragic, character centered, story-driven show is inherently a part of a larger, comedic, open-ended sandbox, and I would be free to bring in elements of the sandbox in order to write it. The broader perspective is *there*, it's just very much pushed aside in the show proper.
Or do like me and make your own AU sandbox... Or, there's TenToo, which has a lot of possibilities!
that while you can enjoy an episode of HIMYM on a stand-alone basis in the manner of a stereotypical American sitcom, you will be missing half of what's going on. It's very much about character development and a slavish devotion to continuity as much as it is about clever jokes and structuring.
Oh I'm SURE - continuity tends to be half the fun. :)