Am I completely alone in thinking that the
"stuff" produced by individuals and small
informal groups, for the amusement of
themselves and others, is generally more
interesting than the "stuff" that actually
shows up on television and in movie theaters?
As far as I'm concerned, "the franchise" (as
a professionally-produced thing) could die
tomorrow and never rise again, and I don't
think I would be very upset. There's already
enough "out there" to speculate about and
build upon, more or less forever...
No, you're not alone in that thinking. At the risk of sounding ungrateful, I even think it applies to fan projects versus "professional projects", regarless of who the "fan base" or the "professionals" are.
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Impossibilities are merely things which we have not yet learned. — Charles W. Chesnutt
Fan projects are more interesting usually because a) there are dedicated fans behind them who have a real interest in the project. b) monetary concerns are not an issue so you can spend time on mating habits of Bajorans without worry it it will sell, c) they often have to be thorough and canon because we fans are pretty anal about canon and most importantly, c) Paramount has nothing to do it.
Absolutely not alone. We don't have large company marketing forces watching over us, so we have more freedom of creativity and time.
That said, let's keep the franchise around, just to give us some more hooks. For all the good fan material, which is sometimes better than the on-screen canon, there is an even greater amount of drivel.
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-- "Since the whiskey belongs to me, and it's on me, lets drink to me!"
[This message has been edited by Sho-sa Kurita (edited 07-14-2001).]