Hello everyone! I’m Mike from Mental Floss on YouTube. Did you know that in 1969, 15 Star Trek fans were so upset about their favorite show being interrupted by the Apollo 11 moon landing broadcast that they called a Canadian TV station to complain? They preferred their sci-fi over the real-life moon landing!
Today, I’m sharing some amazing facts about fandoms. If I miss your favorite, let me know in the comments, and I’ll include it next time!
Fandoms might seem new, but they’ve been around for a long time. In 1813, Jane Austen’s niece, Fanny Knight, wrote to her using a character’s name from Austen’s books. Jane playfully replied that she couldn’t answer as the character. Austen fans are still active today; in 2014, 550 fans set a world record by dressing in Regency costumes.
Sherlock Holmes fans have been around since the 1800s. In 1891, Arthur Conan Doyle, the author, thought about ending Sherlock’s story. His mother insisted he shouldn’t, and thankfully, he listened!
Today, fans use social media to connect. The show “Covert Affairs” included fan suggestions in its storyline. “Teen Wolf” used fan-made music and art in their promotions. “Pretty Little Liars” holds the record for the most-tweeted show, with fans influencing storylines.
In the ’90s, “Xena” fans discussed potential romances on message boards, and producers listened, adding more hints in the show. “Lord of the Rings” fans even petitioned for changes in “The Hobbit” movies!
Fans have saved shows from cancellation. “Chuck” fans bought tons of Subway sandwiches, a show sponsor, to keep it on air. “Jericho” fans sent 40,000 pounds of nuts to CBS, and “Roswell” fans sent 6,000 bottles of Tabasco sauce to show their support.
Shows like “Family Guy,” “Arrested Development,” “Firefly,” and “Futurama” have returned thanks to dedicated fans and strong DVD sales.
When a “Veronica Mars” movie was proposed on Kickstarter, fans raised $5.7 million, making it one of the highest-grossing projects on the platform.
“Doctor Who” fans kept the show alive between 1989 and 2005 by creating novels and audio stories. In 2014, a fan found lost tapes of early episodes in Nigeria!
“Supernatural” has a huge fan base, keeping it on air despite modest viewership. It’s the second most popular show on fanfiction.net, with famous authors like S.E. Hinton writing fanfiction for it.
“Fifty Shades of Grey” started as a “Twilight” fanfiction. Harry Potter fans turned Quidditch into a real sport played on over 1,000 college campuses worldwide.
The 501st Legion, a Star Wars fan group, uses character likenesses for charity events. They’ve become so popular that their name appears in Star Wars books and games.
Fans of George R.R. Martin’s books are meticulous, catching even small mistakes. Some fans, frustrated by the wait between books, call themselves “grumblers.”
In 2009, NASA let people vote on a name for a space station module. Comedian Stephen Colbert’s fans voted for “Colbert,” but NASA named it “Tranquility” and named a treadmill after him instead.
Thanks for watching Mental Floss on YouTube. I’m Mike, and you can find more of me on PBS Idea Channel and my podcast, Reasonably Sound. Don’t forget to be awesome!
Research the history of a fandom that interests you. Create a timeline that highlights key events, such as the creation of the original work, major fan activities, and any significant influence fans have had on the work. Present your timeline to the class and explain why these events are important to the fandom.
Choose a show or book series that has been influenced by its fandom. Prepare arguments for a debate on whether fan influence is beneficial or detrimental to the creative process. Work in teams to present your case, and be ready to counter the opposing team’s arguments.
Imagine a show you love is at risk of cancellation. Design a creative campaign to save it, inspired by real-life examples like “Chuck” or “Jericho.” Consider using social media, fan art, or themed events. Share your campaign ideas with the class and discuss their potential effectiveness.
Write an essay about how a specific fandom has made a difference in the real world. Use examples from the article, such as charity work by the 501st Legion or the “Veronica Mars” Kickstarter campaign. Reflect on how fans can positively impact society beyond their love for a show or book.
Create a piece of art, music, or writing inspired by your favorite fandom. Share your creation with the class in a showcase event. Explain how your work connects to the fandom and what it means to you personally. Celebrate the creativity and passion that fandoms inspire.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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Ladies and gentlemen, hello! I’m Mike, and this is Mental Floss on YouTube. Did you know that in 1969, 15 Star Trek fans called into a local Canadian television station to complain that their favorite show was being interrupted by another program? The broadcast they were upset about was Apollo 11. They didn’t want their sci-fi show interrupted by the real first people landing on the moon!
That’s just the first of many facts about fandoms that I’m going to share with you today. If we don’t get to your fandom, don’t worry—just leave it in the comments, and we’ll include it next time.
Fandoms may seem like a new phenomenon, but they’re older than you might think. For example, in 1813, Jane Austen’s niece, Fanny Knight, wrote her a letter but addressed it to Georgina Darcy. Austen responded, “I cannot pretend to answer it. Even had I more time, I should not feel at all sure of the sort of letter that Miss D would write.” Clearly, she wouldn’t have made it in the fanfiction world! Austen fans are still going strong; in 2014, 550 of them set the Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people dressed in Regency costume.
Another very old fandom is Sherlock. Nowadays, Sherlockians can be found all over the internet, but they weren’t the first fans of the detective. In fact, in 1891, Sherlock Holmes author Arthur Conan Doyle wrote to his mother that he was considering killing off the character. She responded, “You won’t, you can’t, you mustn’t.” Thanks, Mrs. Doyle!
We don’t need letter-writing campaigns anymore, though; we have Twitter. The writers of Covert Affairs on USA admitted to writing scenes in the second season finale based on the many questions they received about whether a blind character could get surgery to regain his eyesight. Teen Wolf has also embraced its online fans, using music created by viewers in promos for the show and displaying fan art during commercial breaks.
Pretty Little Liars holds the record for the most tweeted show ever. Fans even influenced the relationship between Arya and her teacher, pressuring showrunners via Twitter to keep that plot line, which was established in the books.
In the ’90s, Xena fans took to message boards to discuss whether Xena and her friend Gabrielle might have a developing romance. The producers listened to the feedback and started incorporating more sexual innuendos into the show.
In 2014, Lord of the Rings fans wrote a petition to Peter Jackson asking him to change the plot of The Hobbit for the movie adaptation, specifically wanting the character Thorin to have more time to shine than he did in the book.
According to Josh Schwartz, who created Chuck, the show was on the brink of cancellation, but fans saved it by buying Subway sandwiches, which was a major sponsor of the show. Fans bought tens of thousands of footlongs, catching NBC’s attention. The show star, Zachary Levi, even joined a group of fans at a store.
Chuck isn’t the only fandom that can brag about saving their show. In 2007, Jericho fans sent 40,000 pounds of nuts to CBS to encourage them to keep the show on air. The main character responded with “Nuts!” when asked to surrender, so the fans mailed them in until CBS renewed the show.
In 2001, Roswell fans did something similar with their favorite character’s food of choice—Tabasco sauce—sending around 6,000 bottles to the WB. Good DVD sales paired with cult followings have also brought back shows like Family Guy, Arrested Development, Firefly, and Futurama.
Speaking of revived TV shows, when a Veronica Mars movie appeared on Kickstarter in 2013, fans quickly started raising money. The project became one of the highest-grossing Kickstarters ever, with $5.7 million.
Doctor Who fans managed to keep the show alive between 1989, when it was canceled, and 2005, when it was rebooted. The BBC gave the fandom a lot of control, even allowing them to publish novels about the series and create CDs featuring voiceover work by the original cast. In early 2014, a fan even found some lost tapes of early episodes of Doctor Who in Nigeria.
Despite only around 3 million viewers per episode, Supernatural managed to stay on the air thanks to its active fandom. It’s the second most written-about TV show on fanfiction.net. One avid Supernatural fanfiction writer is none other than novelist S.E. Hinton, who wrote The Outsiders.
And speaking of fanfiction, I want to remind you that Fifty Shades of Grey started as a Twilight fanfiction called Masters of the Universe. It has since sold over 100 million copies. The author’s publisher has claimed that the fanfiction and subsequent novel are two distinctly separate pieces of work, but an online plagiarism checker found an 89% similarity between the two.
Harry Potter fans have turned Quidditch into a real sport, currently played on over 1,000 college campuses across three continents. One of the biggest groups of Star Wars fans is a nonprofit organization known as the 501st Legion. They have a deal with George Lucas to use his characters’ likenesses as long as they don’t make money from it, so they do a lot of fundraising and dress up in costume for charity events.
The group became so popular that their name has been included in actual Star Wars books, toys, and video games. Readers of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire pay very close attention to the expansive fantasy world he creates. He once said, “People are analyzing every line in these books, and if I make a mistake, they are going to nail me on it.” Fans have called him out on changing the sex of a horse between books and for accidentally changing the eye color of a minor character.
As a fun fact, fans fed up with George R.R. Martin taking so long between books have dubbed themselves “grumblers.”
Finally, in 2009, NASA let people vote on a name for an International Space Station module via an online poll. Steven Colbert asked his fans to vote for the name “Colbert,” which they did, and it won by over 40,000 votes. NASA ended up naming the module “Tranquility,” but they did name the station treadmill after Colbert.
Thank you so much for watching Mental Floss on YouTube, made with the help of all these wonderful people. My name is Mike. If you like my face, you can find more of it on YouTube at PBS Idea Channel, and if you like my voice, you can find it on my podcast, Reasonably Sound. Links to both are in the description. And hey, don’t forget to be awesome!
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Fandoms – Groups of fans who are enthusiastic about a particular book, movie, or series – The Harry Potter fandom is known for its creative fan fiction and elaborate cosplay events.
Literature – Written works, especially those considered of superior or lasting artistic merit – In English class, we studied classic literature like “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “The Great Gatsby.”
Fans – People who have a strong interest in or admiration for a particular art form, artist, or series – The fans waited eagerly outside the theater to catch a glimpse of their favorite actor.
Stories – Narratives created to entertain, inform, or inspire readers or listeners – The teacher encouraged us to write our own stories based on the themes of friendship and adventure.
Characters – Individuals in a story, play, or movie who take part in the action – The characters in “The Chronicles of Narnia” face many challenges as they journey through the magical land.
Social – Relating to activities in which people spend time talking to each other or doing enjoyable things together – The drama club organized a social event where members could discuss their favorite plays and performances.
Media – Various means of communication, such as books, television, and the internet, that reach or influence people widely – Social media has become a popular platform for authors to connect with their readers.
Art – The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form – The art of storytelling is a crucial skill for any aspiring writer or playwright.
History – The study of past events, particularly in human affairs – Understanding the history of theater helps us appreciate how performances have evolved over time.
Books – Written or printed works consisting of pages glued or sewn together along one side and bound in covers – The library has a vast collection of books, ranging from classic novels to modern bestsellers.
