A Show Has to Have a WOW Moment to Interest me; Like Farscape or One Tree Hill

I watched the premiere of the Fox show “Dollhouse” this weekend thanks to my wonderful DVR. Joss Whedon never fails to have that WOW moment, and he delivered in Dollhouse. We were all wrapped up in the lead character, Echo’s plight, that the introduction of Dr. Saunders, played by the wonderful Amy Acker, slaps you in the face. As you see the compassion on her face that is covered with scars and I sat there and thought, now I HAVE to know what happened to her.

But maybe that is just me. If I really get into a show I have to have that WOW moment. It has only happened to me twice. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like Dollhouse but it is not something that I will rush home to watch. And though there was a small WOW moment it wasn’t one of those real WOW moments.

Like I said, that has only happened to me twice. The first time was a spring Friday evening on a rare occasion I was home. Working in college athletics you relish your weekends off, and you take that time to hang out with friends, and maybe go out and let off some steam at a local bar.

It just so happened I passed on that as we had been traveling for six straight weekends and I just want to chill at home. I happened upon the final 30 minutes of a show called Farscape – and to say my life was never the same was an understatement.

It piqued my interest and after watching the season finale the next week, I spent the next few weeks catching up on the show. And yes, it did have a wow moment.

The premise was that astronaut John Crichton was flung across the universe, thanks to a wormhole, into a world far different from his own. There were strange creatures and he found himself on a ship called Moya with escaping prisoners. They also picked up a soldier, a Peacekeeper as they were called, that had been chasing them and the ship got caught in the starburst streak as they were escaping.

John was placed in a cell with the Peacekeeper who was dressed all in black. When the soldier took off the helmet it revealed a beautiful raven-haired woman that appeared to be human. But she wasn’t. She was a soldier through and through, tough and hard-nosed and assured that John was a lesser species.

Her name was Aeryn Sun and from that day forward John Crichton’s life was never the same.

Farscape was gritty, full of complex storylines and a hero that didn’t always wear the white hat. John found romance with Aeryn Sun but it wasn’t easy, in fact it was almost impossible at times.

The fans were on the edge of their seats because no one could imagine where the writers were going next.

I got hooked. I joined a fandom and message board for the first time. I went to my first convention, called DragonCon in Atlanta, six years ago and it has now become an annual event.

I started my own website for a while and got bloggers from various aspects of the show to blog for me. That is how I met the late Peter Rasmussen who was the producer of the Australian film Stolen Life, in which Claudia Black (who played Aeryn Sun) was the star of the movie. Peter did a blog for me and then I found myself handling the US publication of the movie and even hosted movie premieres for the film in Atlanta, Ga. and Burbank, California.

With all good things, it must come to an end. Farscape was cancelled and though the fans got closure with a mini-series, my time was ending with Farscape. It will always be in my heart though, because it was a special time.

As I have stated before, last year I was looking for something to watch on basketball road trips and help with the writer’s strike. I found it in the season one DVDs of One Tree Hill moment. And that is when I found my second WOW moment.

What was my WOW moment there? There were actually three. When Peyton almost hit Lucas with her car, the scene between Lucas and Peyton on the river court after he beats Nathan and of course when he looks at her and tells Peyton “Your art matters, it’s what got me here.”

There was such a connection and longing between both of them. Both Lucas and Peyton fighting their own brand of loneliness and fighting the attraction to each other.

And my all-time fave scene is when Peyton is running the red lights as if the devil himself is chasing her. Cursing fate for sparing her each time she clears the light and the intersections and lamenting why fate didn’t afford that some luxury to her dead mother.

I stuck with One Tree Hil, but to be honest, I almost didn’t. The connection between Lucas and Peyton got muddied with triangles and fake conflicts. So, I spoiled myself and looked ahead to season four when the fated couple finally found themselves back to each other.

I wish they would have gone the route of John and Aeryn. For John and Aeryn it was always the internal road blocks that kept them apart. Not once did the show, Farscape, introduce a tired triangle to create tension. It was all between them. And I would have liked to see that with Lucas and Peyton.

Check out Farscape if your heart can take it, because it is a wild ride. Not to mention Ben Browder, who played John Crichton, is totally hot. A southern guy who was born in Tennessee and raised in North Carolina.

By the way, just noticed that the wonderful Kelly Tenney, from One Tree Hill and Southern Gothic Productions, is following this blog. Thanks Kelly.