The Generation thing!

[Taeylor Collins]

I am not telling tales out of school.  Cassandra Blair just said she was a second gen fan and she is 45.  I thought I was second gen and I am only 30.  I am confused.  This generation stuff is confusing. LOL

From Wikipedia: says a geneartion is around 30 years.  So I guess I am a second gen fan since the show was celebrating it's 25 anniversary when I came on board.   

Am I way off here.  Yall have way more insight than me!!

[GooberCollins]

I believe that first-generation is used to refer to those who started with the original's first broadcast and second-generation fans are those who started with the revival's first airing. Having started with the DVDs of the original in 2007, I have no idea where I am.

[ProfStokes]

And what about the children of the original fans who never saw the revival and learned of DS from the Sci-Fi Channel reruns?  Are we Generation 1.5?

Personally, when I hear the phrases "second generation" or "third generation" fan, I've never thought in terms of the different versions of the show but rather in reference to the original fans and their offspring (e.g. second generation = fans' children, third generation = fans' grandchildren).

ProfStokes

[Josette]

And what about the children of the original fans who never saw the revival and learned of DS from the Sci-Fi Channel reruns?  Are we Generation 1.5?

Personally, when I hear the phrases "second generation" or "third generation" fan, I've never thought in terms of the different versions of the show but rather in reference to the original fans and their offspring (e.g. second generation = fans' children, third generation = fans' grandchildren).

I'd agree with that, except I would also include those who aren't offspring of fans, but who found the show on their own through the tapes or SciFi, etc.

[GooberCollins]

This whole generation thing is just confusing. There are too many variables to take into account. 

[PennyDreadful]

  I got into DS through grainy VHS broadcast recordings my uncle had, and through syndicated reruns on a small independent Martha's Vinyard channel in the early-late 80s (they played shows all the way into PT1970).

  I always thought first generation fans meant those who got into the show during it's original airing?  I've no idea.  I do recall being the only one in school during the 80s who knew who Barnabas Collins was at the time, which annoyed me a bit.  When sci-fi started airing shows I noticed that a lot more people knew about the classic DS and recognized the name Barnabas from the show. 

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I've always thought the same thing, PD - first generation fans are those who watched the show during its original ABC run, and second generation fans are those who were somehow exposed to DS afterward, whether it was through syndication, the '91 series, Sci-Fi, VHS or DVD. I've never really broken it down into third, fourth or beyond based on the various syndication runs and video releases, the revival series, or a fan's actual generational relationship to the original generation that watched. But I it can certainly be broken down in any number of ways that anyone might want to do it.

[GooberCollins]

I attempted to create an algebraic formula that could tell your generation through which show you watched first, when you watched it, and who else in your family watched it, but I ended up in a situation where the generation numbers started repeating too much.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Goober - you tried to create a mathematical formula to explain the whole generational question? As someone who holds a Math degree and who has worked in the field in some capacity for 30 years, that just might make you my favorite member of the forum! 

[GooberCollins]

Believe me, the thing was faulty  as can be. For one, there was almost no way to get an uneven number!

I say we use Gen-1 to describe people who watched the original first and Gen-2 to describe the people who saw the revival first. We can use decimals to differentiate. Someone who watched the original at its first airing would be Generation 1.0, whereas someone who got in on the original via the reruns would be Generation 1.3. Since I got in on the show thanks to DVD, I think that'd put me at Generation 1.7. Of course, this could get confusing fast. Someone like Taeylor who watched the revival at its original airing would be a 2.0, but could be older than a 1.7 like me, or possibly even a 1.3.

Or we can just refuse to conform to a uniform generation scheme and do it however we like, and confuse everyone else. Tuhmaytoe, tahmahtoe, puhtaytoe, pahtahtoe, let's call the danged thing off.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Believe me, the thing was faulty  as can be. For one, there was almost no way to get an uneven number!

Well, some people have worked for decades to prefect a formula. There's no disgrace if the first attempt doesn't quite work out the way you'd hoped. 

[GooberCollins]

We're talking generations of fans of DS. If I were going to spend such a significant amount of time working on something DS-related, I'd get my act together and start that Dark Shadows module for Neverwinter Nights that I've been thinking about for the past week.

[Miss_Winthrop]

Here's my take.  My generation is first generation...we were in our teens when we first saw it..our children who are now in their 30's and perhaps even younger and who picked up the habit of watching it from us, are the 2nd generation and the even younger fans who just caught on to it lately are 3rd Generation Non-relational.  See, it can be real simple 

[Midnite]

I always thought of my mother as a second generation fan despite her being older than, well, almost all of us here (you know who you are!  ).  On occasion, she wasn't at work while my best friend and I saw the show in the 60s, and I think I even went so far as to beg her to watch with us, but at most she only glanced at the screen (that's how we first learned that Joan Bennett was a *movie star*) before disappearing to do housework or whatever.  She remembers our telling her that the show had vampires and witches and werewolves-- my love of horror movies comes in part from her-- but nothing worked.  Then years later she caught an ep one evening on PBS and was immediately hooked.  (But I'm not bitter, heh.)  She even posted for a while on the SciFi boards when it was airing there.  Why the delayed reaction, I don't know, but she asked me just the other day when it's going to be on TV again (sigh) because she missed seeing it.  So anyway, we're talking 2nd incarnation watcher, one generation apart from an original viewer, but in reverse (?).

[MagnusTrask]

...at most she only glanced at the screen (that's how we first learned that Joan Bennett was a *movie star*) before disappearing to do housework or whatever.

Same with my mother!