Happy 10th Anniversary, Sentinel!
Mar. 20th, 2006 08:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
agt_spookyTen years ago today, The Sentinel first came on the air. Shortly thereafter, I found out what fandom really was. And I've never looked back. :-) These last ten years have been one amazing experience after another for me, all because of a TV show.
There's been a short questionnaire going around the TS lists, for us to share our memories on this anniversary day...
1. One episode memory - it could be the first episode you watched, or an
"ah-ha" episode, etc
I guess mine's more of a pre-episode memory. Before TS even came on the air, I was working for an advertising agency that did print, radio and TV ads. Our rep from UPN came in one afternoon to pitch us on this new mid-season replacement show, for us to buy airtime on. Yep, it was Sentinel. I took one look at the photo of Richard and Garett on the press sheets and I was like "Who ARE these guys??" LOL! Then I read the premise of the show and I would've watched anyway. :-) I still have those press release sheets, too.
2. One moment you experienced that you'll never forget because of being
in the Sentinel fandom
This fandom gave me the chance to empower myself - from traveling by myself for the first time to fly all the way to Vancouver, or meeting up with people I'd only ever met online, to speaking up and volunteering to do all those ads when TS faced cancellation. I'm a stronger, more confident person because of this fandom. :-)
3. If you've seen any of the guys, the one event/moment that you'll
never forget.
My first time in Vancouver, for SenCon '98, myself and my friend Cheryl literally stumbled upon the cast filming the end scenes of Night Shift. And we'd only been in town for like an hour! We couldn't believe it. We were the only fans around (we were totally stunned) and when we saw Garett we nearly fainted. LOL! A security guard thought we were just hysterical, practically hyperventilating there on the sidewalk. He came over to talk to us and asked if we wanted to meet Garett. We nearly died! Sure enough, he grabbed a PA and she said they were on break right then and sure, she'd take us over to Garett.
Thank *god* I had brought my camera with, thinking I was just going to be taking touristy shots in the city. BUT, we had nothing for Garett to autograph. The PA came to our rescue. She gave us a pen and her own copy of the call sheet for that afternoon. She gave it to Cheryl and said she'd get one for me, but after taking us over to Garett, she never came back.
Meeting Garett in person like that was just...amazing. I couldn't even believe someone I'd been watching on TV was standing right in front of me! He was such a sweetheart, talking with Cheryl and I for a good little while, and he grabbed one of the extras to take photos of the three of us. Then Cheryl asked for his autograph on the call sheet, which he graciously signed for her. He turned to me, and I said I didn't have anything, the PA never came back. So what did he do? He took his OWN call sheet out of his back pocket and signed it for me!! I was just stunned and Cheryl was jealous. :-) He had to get back to work then, and Cheryl and I stayed for hours afterwards, watching them film. We were on Cloud 9 for the rest of the weekend. It's something I'll never forget!
4. Anything else you want to share regarding the show, the fandom, the
fiction.
I have made the best of friends in this fandom over the last 10 years. It's amazing how "just a TV show" can bring people together from every walk of life, from every continent. I really do cherish this fandom and the amazing people that are in it. It's certainly enriched my life. :-)
And I want to thank all of the authors and artists - because of your creativity I haven't been bored for the last 10 years!
Happy Anniversary to all of us!
There's been a short questionnaire going around the TS lists, for us to share our memories on this anniversary day...
1. One episode memory - it could be the first episode you watched, or an
"ah-ha" episode, etc
I guess mine's more of a pre-episode memory. Before TS even came on the air, I was working for an advertising agency that did print, radio and TV ads. Our rep from UPN came in one afternoon to pitch us on this new mid-season replacement show, for us to buy airtime on. Yep, it was Sentinel. I took one look at the photo of Richard and Garett on the press sheets and I was like "Who ARE these guys??" LOL! Then I read the premise of the show and I would've watched anyway. :-) I still have those press release sheets, too.
2. One moment you experienced that you'll never forget because of being
in the Sentinel fandom
This fandom gave me the chance to empower myself - from traveling by myself for the first time to fly all the way to Vancouver, or meeting up with people I'd only ever met online, to speaking up and volunteering to do all those ads when TS faced cancellation. I'm a stronger, more confident person because of this fandom. :-)
3. If you've seen any of the guys, the one event/moment that you'll
never forget.
My first time in Vancouver, for SenCon '98, myself and my friend Cheryl literally stumbled upon the cast filming the end scenes of Night Shift. And we'd only been in town for like an hour! We couldn't believe it. We were the only fans around (we were totally stunned) and when we saw Garett we nearly fainted. LOL! A security guard thought we were just hysterical, practically hyperventilating there on the sidewalk. He came over to talk to us and asked if we wanted to meet Garett. We nearly died! Sure enough, he grabbed a PA and she said they were on break right then and sure, she'd take us over to Garett.
Thank *god* I had brought my camera with, thinking I was just going to be taking touristy shots in the city. BUT, we had nothing for Garett to autograph. The PA came to our rescue. She gave us a pen and her own copy of the call sheet for that afternoon. She gave it to Cheryl and said she'd get one for me, but after taking us over to Garett, she never came back.
Meeting Garett in person like that was just...amazing. I couldn't even believe someone I'd been watching on TV was standing right in front of me! He was such a sweetheart, talking with Cheryl and I for a good little while, and he grabbed one of the extras to take photos of the three of us. Then Cheryl asked for his autograph on the call sheet, which he graciously signed for her. He turned to me, and I said I didn't have anything, the PA never came back. So what did he do? He took his OWN call sheet out of his back pocket and signed it for me!! I was just stunned and Cheryl was jealous. :-) He had to get back to work then, and Cheryl and I stayed for hours afterwards, watching them film. We were on Cloud 9 for the rest of the weekend. It's something I'll never forget!
4. Anything else you want to share regarding the show, the fandom, the
fiction.
I have made the best of friends in this fandom over the last 10 years. It's amazing how "just a TV show" can bring people together from every walk of life, from every continent. I really do cherish this fandom and the amazing people that are in it. It's certainly enriched my life. :-)
And I want to thank all of the authors and artists - because of your creativity I haven't been bored for the last 10 years!
Happy Anniversary to all of us!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-21 04:07 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-21 11:35 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-21 05:04 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-21 11:37 am (UTC)Gotcha!
Date: 2006-03-21 05:16 am (UTC)Here's my answers:
1. One episode memory. Oh god. I think it will always be that fucking cliffhanger which aired the night before Media, and the next morning we got the USA Today with the word that the show had been axed...but the one thing I remember most is bawling my head off after seeing Jim's reaction to Blair being dead, because I knew exactly how he felt (I would've felt the same if it had been me and MY soulmate) and my heart broke for him. Very close second is the conclusion, when the wolf and panther leapt at each other and melded into a flash of light. Being in touch with my own spirit animal, that scene was a religious experience for me.
2. One moment I experienced because of Sentinel fandom that I'll never forget...would be the party we hosted that same Media, when everyone was feeling down over the cancellation, and how we all pulled together and launched the fight to save the show. We made history! :)
3. I've never had the good fortune to meet the guys, but I love hearing the stories from all my friends who have.
4. Anything else to share? Well, it was our overpowering love for TS that made us create SentiCon, and while it has evolved over the years to become a multi-fandom slash con, we will never forget that this phenomenal, mystical love story was the basis. SentiCon is different from other cons in that we think of it more as one great big slumber party with all our buddies. As Blair said, it's about friendship -- and I do believe that The Sentinel gave us some of the greatest, dearest friends we could ever hope to have.
Re: Gotcha!
Date: 2006-03-21 11:39 am (UTC)