Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Thank you, Netflix!

If it wasn't for the wonders of the little red envelopes in my mailbox, I might not have become the big Supernatural fan that I am. I know -- horrors! You see, it was the summer of 2006, and I was depressed. I'd been writing with the aim of publishing my novels for 11 years, and still nada. I was at the point of giving up, so I largely took the summer off to do my best imitation of a slug on my couch.

Many of my fellow writers would often sing the praises of a show I had missed when it was on -- Buffy the Vampire Slayer (stick with me -- we'll get to Supernatural, I promise). So, I borrowed the first season from a friend, Jody Wallace, and thought, "Hey, I'll watch an episode a day."

Wrong. I blew through the entire first season in like 2-3 days and went back to Jody to borrow seasons 2 and 3. And when I got to a season she didn't have, I went out and bought it. Suffice it to say that very quickly watched all seven seasons of Buffy and all five seasons of the spinoff, Angel.

I still wasn't quite ready to start writing again, so I joined Netflix, went looking for other fun paranormal shows and (queue the Hallelujah Chorus), rented the first season of Supernatural. LOVED it!

Thus began my love affair with my now-favorite show. I finished watching that first season just in time to become a devoted weekly watcher as Season 2 debuted. My fan status grew to where I bought the first season for my very own (as I have with all seasons since), I started listening to a Supernatural podcast, cruised YouTube for fan vids, read blogs related to the show, bought Supernatural T-shirts and eventually came up with the idea for this group blog where some writer friends who I knew were also big fans of the show and I could wax poetic about all things Winchester. And to think it might not have happened without Netflix or my summer of despair. :)

As I finished watching that first season on DVD and launched into the second season live, a funny thing happened. My desire to write and my excitement about creating new stories came back. I wrote a paranormal young adult novel that went on to win the Golden Heart, the top award given to unpublished romance manuscripts by Romance Writers of America. I have high hopes of seeing that book sell and make it to bookstore shelves. It's currently with my editor, so fingers crossed! If I hadn't gotten that burst of inspiration, I might have finally thrown in the towel. I'm so thankful I didn't because one year later, I finally sold my first novel and have gone on to sell five more. So I guess you could say I owe my career to Joss Whedon, Eric Kripke and Netflix.

Now, questions for you:

1. How were you introduced to the show? Were you a devoted follower from the Pilot episode?
2. Have you ever gone back and found a show you loved but had missed through the wonders of Netflix, Blockbuster or other DVD option?

14 comments:

kaybee said...

1. I have been a fan of Supernatural since the pilot. I had watched it from week to week because I thought it was a fun show and yes, because Jared and Jensen weren't too bad to look at either. But the show didn't really hook me in until Devil's Trap. The ending was such a shocker and I was spoiler free back then so it was really unexpected. I got the Season 1 DVDs for Christmas that year and became a fanatic ever since.

2. Hm...well the one that really sticks out in my mind is Firefly. I had seen the movie without knowing it was based on the tv show and when I had heard that I immediately sought out the box set on ebay lol. Such a hidden gem! Nathan Fillion should totally guest star on Supernatural!
The other is American Dreams. I watched a few episodes of the last season but I got into it when it got cancelled. So far the first season has been the only one released on DVD and it deserves such better treatment.

Anonymous said...

I've watched Supernatural from episode one and grow more and more in love with it each season.

It took me twelve years to get published too!

phouse1964 said...

1. I had read about Supernatural on a couple of TV blogs and decided to catch a repoeat episode one summer between S2 and S3. It just happened to be Nightshifter. Then the next week was Heart. I went out that weekend and bought S1 on DVD. And proceeded to blow through the entire thing in less than a week. I bought S2 as soon as it came out and sent S1 to my BFF to get her hooked. I finished S2 the night before S3 aired.

2. I have always been a fan of TV on DVD. One of the first affordable shows that I got hooked on was 24. I missed it when it aired and ended up watching it over a summer. That was only the beginning. Veronica Mars, Weeds and the most fun ever? Gilmore Girls! Oh, and Battlestar Galactica! I got caught up on that just in time to watch the series finale when it aired.

As you can tell, I am a TV addict. I always have been. Blame Speed Racer back in 1969. It's his fault.

Trish Milburn said...

Kaybee, I LOVE Firefly. I still harbor anger over its cancellation. It was awesome. Have you seen Nathan in Castle? I'm really enjoying it. And he (and the other members of the cast) are as hilarious in person as they are in that show.

Trish Milburn said...

Terri, it was so worth the wait, wasn't it?

You know, I don't know why I didn't watch Supernatural from the beginning. I think I remember seeing the previews. Maybe it was on opposite something I already watched in those, my pre-TiVo days.

Trish Milburn said...

phouse, I still haven't watched 24. I'm so far behind now, but maybe when it's all over I'll start watching it on DVD. Others I have on my queue to watch are Freaks and Geeks, Gilmore Girls, and just started watching the first season of Burn Notice.

Loved BSG (watched from the beginning) and Veronica Mars (another show that I think got canceled too soon).

I love how TV on DVD has made it possible to bring people into the Supernatural fandom even if they didn't start watching when it first aired.

kaybee said...

Trish, I'm really enjoying Castle too. Nathan is just great whatever show he's on. I love Adam Baldwin on Chuck too. He's so good as the no-nonsense-ass-kicker lol.
Oh I don't doubt they're all fabulous in person. It's amazing they're all still doing Firefly/Serenity cons. I have to say that my love grew for the series when I watched the first episode and Mal shouted "Kaylee!" (my name but I spell it Kayleigh). Hehe!

Anonymous said...

Let's see, Trish, I got into Supernatural through....You! (And an endless plane delay, LOL.) I did try to watch the Supernatural pilot when it first aired, but I'd recently had a baby and the beginning freaked me out too much! But then on a day when my flight out of Nashville kept getting pushed back, Trish took me to her house, we fired up the DVD player and the rest is history :-)

I discovered Buffy and Veronica Mars while they were still on but went back to DVD for all the episodes I'd missed. And I watched every single Firefly episode that Fox aired but was grateful to see the others when I bought the DVD set!

Tanya

PS Congratulations, Trish, on hanging in there! It's fine to take a break but I'm so thrilled you went back to writing and SOLD not just to one publisher but two. You're a true inspiration!!!

Trish Milburn said...

Hee hee, I wondered if you were going to mention that, Tanya. :)

MJFredrick said...

I developed my crush on JDM at the end of Season 1, though I wasn't watching SPN at the time. I got the first disc from Blockbuster Online, and by the end of the pilot, I'd ordered the first season from Amazon.

Firefly I watched a couple of times on TV, but really loved it on DVD. Veronica Mars I bought on sale and went through that whole series in a week. Gilmore Girls was one I watched because Jared, and now I own most of the seasons. Now I'm watching Battlestar Galactica, which I watch peripherally the past couple of seasons.

I saw this link and thought it related to the topic: http://www.theonion.com/content/news/obama_depressed_distant_since

phouse1964 said...

Trish, 24 si good. Jsut skip S6 because it sucked. Be prepared though. It's another one of those watch a whole season in a day things. Maybe Netflix is the way to go so you actually get some sleep!

Loved Freaks and Geeks and Gilmore girls is so much fun to watch all in a row! But it's seven seasons for it took me a couple of months.

Firefly is in my queue. So after Saving grace there's that. Part of me thinks we are really lucky these days. There is always a new show to discover!

Unknown said...

1. I have been trying forever to come up with when I started watching Supernatural. I know it wasn't from the beginning because I remember sitting with my dad watching it and being so totally freaked out by the TITLE graphic in the beginning that I couldn't watch the episode. But I know it was sometime in S1 maybe?

2. I was totally obsessed with Smallville before I got into Supernatural. After SPN, everything just seemed not so good anymore. Although the new Knight Rider is another amazing show, even though it might be canceled. (crosses fingers)!

Natalie J. Damschroder said...

1. For season 1, my husband was interested but we didn't get The WB. Megan burned the pilot to DVD but because we didn't get the station and I didn't want to ask her to do that every week, we never watched it. I Netflixed it the summer after season 1 and had TiVo for season 2 (either it was The CW for season 2 and because we DID have a local UPN, we got it, or it was still WB but our DirecTV gave us a non-local local WB station). In the meantime, I found myself watching season 1 on YouTube and had to buy the DVDs.

2. I read this post earlier but didn't have time to read the comments or comment myself, and between then and now and reading the comments, I keep adding to my list of shows I saw only on DVD, or on DVD and then later seasons live:

Smallville
Gilmore Girls
Dark Angel
Alias
Buffy
Angel
Roswell
Bones
Miracles
Jericho
Entourage
Veronica Mars

I'm holding myself back from going to my Netflix account to see what else. LOL Many of them are because Mary liked them, and we have really similar taste.

Kayleigh, I agree, I'd love to have Nathan Fillion on Supernatural! And I watched Chuck only because of Adam Baldwin. :) What a way to get hooked on a show, to have your name bellowed by the hunky main character! LOL

Mary, that's a hilarious article!

MJFredrick said...

Buffy started when my son was little, and most of the TV time was watching Barney and the like. So I watched the first 5 or so seasons on DVD, in time to watch season 7 live.

Dark Angel was DVD only, Alias was DVD to season 3, then live. Now I have to catch up on the last few seasons of ER after watching the finale last night.