But see, that’s what I like: that our fanbase is such a diverse and varied collective that we don’t have a hivemind about certain episodes, jokes, and characters.
It would be much, much more boring if we all had the same opinion of Manos: The Hands of Fate, for instance. Some folks hold it up as the series’s greatest hour; others can’t stand it, and still others are sprinkled all over in all points in between (personally, I enjoy it, but wouldn’t call it the show’s best offering).
Or to take this in another direction: there’s The Castle of Fu Manchu. It’s the only episode I can’t stand, but there are others in the fanbase who hold it up and consider it to be brilliant. And you know what? I love that.
Differences of opinion like that add something really fun to a fanbase and the discussions that such a fanbase would give rise to.
If someone doesn’t like I Accuse My Parents, I may not necessarily agree with their view of that episode, but their opinion is very much valid and I wouldn’t think it to be a disqualifying argument against a MSTie being a fan of the show. I don’t really believe that there is a disqualifying argument like that. Some people don’t like Space Mutiny, The Final Sacrifice, Cry Wilderness, or Eegah, but I wouldn’t think any of that to be something that takes away from a person’s legitimacy or cred as a fan.
To go bottom line here, I think that if a person enjoys something that the series puts out there, then they’re a fan, plain and simple.
The way I see it, it takes diff’rent strokes to move the world, or in this case, a fanbase. And I think that’s fantastic. That’s what keeps all these discussions so involving and interesting!
