You're right, it won't be the same. My dad started watching Sherlock recently (he's already watched Scandal) and I'm sure he won't be enjoying The Empty Hearse as much as I did; he probably won't notice some subtexts or understand Sherlock's and Moriarty's kiss... Well, what can you do I'll tell him about fans' activity during hiatus (a part of it - I dont want him to think we're crazy) but he'll never feel like I feel when I watch this episode.

After the Great Game, he just played Scandal, watched the beginning and turned it off. I laugh because he can't do it with the second cliffhanger 

I've started to watch Sherlock in February this year and I agree that not waiting 2 years for another season maybe (for a little) lower the enjoyment of watching TEH because, well, when I ended watching The Reichenbach Fall I just immediately turned on the next episode. I also, when I finished all seasons, was a little bit confused and astonished when I found out this huge amount of discussions, theories about Sherlock's fall and other crazy things that fans were making. It took me some time to realise "Damn, why am I surprised, I have waited about 5 minutes before watching TEH, other people have waited 2 years! It was sooo long time to wait." That time I thought I was lucky that I didn't have to wait but when I think about it now, it occured to me that perhaps I am note quite full in my experience of watching Sherlock because I have missed all this... well I don't know how exactly should I call it... "union" with fandom. So, to some extent, I'm happy that this time I will wait next couple of years and will be inside this big, great Sherlock's family.

SusiGo wrote:

I see what you mean. The hiatus is somehow part of the attraction even if it is very hard to wait so long. But it is funny to see the silly and hilarious gifs and photoshops popping up on tumblr when people start getting really mad with waiting. So this time you will be part of it, for better or worse. 

Exactly! Waiting for any tiny clue about air date, compulsive reading of producer's twitter hoping that they will give us any information, watching (and making) all this funny photoshops, sharing joy and happines but also sadness and disappointment with other fans - I think that's somehow good compensation for our patience and waiting.
 

Last edited by MartaSt (May 30, 2014 4:02 pm)

There's nothing like the wait full of impatience, making up more and more crazy theories, confusion and excitement about all vague hints given away by the creators, countdown to the air date and at last rejoicing when the new episodes come out! :D

No, I don't think it's the same. I saw this happening with Harry Potter. The kids finished book one, and went to buy book two. And some even watched the films first, before reading the books! They have no idea how the waiting felt, the storming of bookshops, the casting process for the film, the first glimpse of scenes... I definitely know it's not the same, and I'm very sure with Sherlock it's the same. I didn't need to wait really long for series 2, and the end of Great Game will never capture me as much as that of Reichenbach Fall, because the wait will always echo somewhere when I see the last minutes of Reichenbach - even knowing the next episode is on my DVD next to me.
The experience carries the films, in a way. I think having to wait two years for a film changes the experience of finally watching it. The setting, the build-up, it all matters.

I do think you're right, Kittyhawk. But that's just how things are. And some TV series stay famous, some don't. Who knows, maybe Sherlock becomes a "classic" one day.

Are there actually other films that hint as much to the fanbase as TEH? Because fandoms become visible nowadays, I wonder if other film makers went the same direction, acknowledging their fandoms. Probably there is already a thread about that here?
 

Last edited by Whisky (April 21, 2015 12:39 pm)

Kittyhawk wrote:

No, the impact is not the same when you don't have to wait between seasons. I know - I watched all three seasons more or less continuously (TRF and TEH on the same evening).

But worse, I think that in a few years time, when the visuals are no longer as stunning, because the camera "tricks" have been re-used in other shows, people will wonder what all the fuss was about. All that will remain is some fabulous acting - and who watches the fabulous tv actors of the last decades?

The visuals mean nothing to me. For me, it's about the characters and the storylines, and those are what will stand the test of time. (Although not TEH which is terrible, IMO).
 

Whisky wrote:

Are there actually other films that hint as much to the fanbase as TEH? Because fandoms become visible nowadays, I wonder if other film makers went the same direction, acknowledging their fandoms. Probably there is already a thread about that here?
 

I’m a fan of both Scrubs and Cougar Town by Bill Lawrence. Both shows are quite meta and reference what went on in the fanbase at a given time a lot. It actually adds a whole other layer to the comedy.
 
For if the show depends on its visuals: I think in the beginning it did. I am personally not sure if I would have ever become as obsessed with the show if everything had been shot in the style of the pilot. But the aired episodes are something I just cannot take my eyes off from. I think by now the show is just a phenomenon in itself, like shows like Lost, Breaking Bad, GoT. Is there any other show that has so few episodes and has created so many stars? I think by now it’s the total package: see the break-through of still largely unknown talent, the fantastic visuals, the marvellous acting, the well-known-yet-surprising storylines, the unbelievable music and yes (bringing this back to topic) the frustratingly long hiatuses which push the fandom into creative overdrive. For new viewers the experience is different (I am one of them) you still see the visuals, the acting, the storylines and the music, but you also see the stars in their breakthrough roles and you get your answers when you ask the question, not two years later. So no, it’s not the same, but it’s still good. I am glad that I found the show and the fandom while the show is still being made, I love the probably eventually pointless discussions that get way too passionate, I love the elaborate theories, I love the fanfic and fanart, but I think the show will still be enjoyable after the final episode has aired. If it will become a classic? Who knows? It will have its place as one of the great British Sherlock Holmes interpretations, but for the rest only time will tell.
 

I second that. Very well said.

I watch it for the characters and the visuals (in that order). I'm on the forum for the fun of "error-hunting" which then leads to learning all sorts of things - from the legality of pocket knives to human anatomy.

(I am perfectly capable of watching absolute crap - like Moonlight - if I like the characters whereas I'll switch off recognized "works of art" - like Last Tango in Paris - if I don't like them.)

Back to visuals: Does anybody understand when I say that for me the pilot could just as well have been filmed in 4:3 aspect ratio (you remember, back in prehistory that was what tvs looked like...) whereas I'm really, really happy to have a nice big 16:9 screen for the series as it is now?

Last edited by Kittyhawk (April 23, 2015 1:38 pm)