Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, in her 1969 book On Death and Dying, introduced the concept of the Five Stages of Grief to help those dealing with personal tragedy get through it as easily as possible. We've discovered that those Five Stages are almost applicable to less serious emotional issues, such as the cancellation of a favorite television show. As The Aristocats' Thomas O'Malley once said, let me elucidate here:

1: Denial
How many times did fans deny Dollhouse's falling ratings, or tell themselves that miracles could happen despite a tiny audience and uneven quality - A self-delusion not helped by the series getting a second season in the first place, admittedly - and everything could turn out okay ("Look what happens when you add in the time-shifted audience!")? The writing may have been on the metaphorical cancellation wall for sometime, but that doesn't mean that plenty of people were pretending that they couldn't read when they saw it.

2: Anger
As those who've survived the loss of Firefly should remember, the cancellation of Dollhouse will have one clear effect on fans: Blaming Fox. Never mind that they gave the show two seasons with a promise to show the complete second season despite reruns of House getting more viewers and making them more money in the same timeslot, Fox will very clearly be the bad guy in the fan version of this story; as Preston Beckman, Fox's VP of strategic programming told Broadcast & Cable, "I'll still get hate mail and death threats." But why stop there? There's lots of mad to go around: Why not get mad at Joss for going back to Fox after the clusterfuck that was Firefly (By which I mean, the way Fox treated it, not the show itself. I'm not pissing off those River Tam fans)? Or at the rest of America who, quite clearly, didn't see the entertainment value in a morally-ambiguous show about brainwashed slaves even with the amount of gratuitous T'n'A thrown in? Or Smallville for somehow managing to build on its ratings on a Friday night even in its ninth season? Or Ghost Whisperer just for existing in the first place? There's a lot of mad in there. Just let it out. You'll fell better afterwards.

3: Bargaining
We'll throw this one over to Syfy's senior VP of digital Craig Engler's Twitter stream from Thursday November 12th to illustrate this point for us:

Whenever some other network cancels a sci-fi show, I've noticed a distinct trends in the type of tweets I receive about it: 80% Polite: Could you please pick up X show? I think it'd be a great fit with your network! 8% Analytic: X shows has more viewers than your show Y so why wouldn't you pick it up! 5% Bribe: I'll star watching/will watch more of your network if you pick up X show! 4% Less Polite: Why don't you pick up X show? It's better than any of the crap you air! 3% Blame: You suck for canceling X show and/or not picking it up from another network! (OFTEN SENT IN ALL CAPS!!!!!)

I think you get where we're coming from here.

(And in case you were wondering, Craig directly addressed Dollhouse later that day:

Leaving aside viewership, the biggest issues are, we simply can't afford network budgets and no one has even offered it to us AFAIK. Then you have to consider, it had much more exposure on Fox than it would ever get on Syfy, but the audience never quite materialized. We'd of course LOVE to do a project with Joss Whedon for Syfy that was affordable. Overall we're big fans of his work... If we could hold [the audience size from the Fox airings] (doubtful), it *could* be a good number if the budget were remotely in our ballpark.

So now you know.)

4: Depression
What's the point in watching any new shows? Won't they all run into network interference issues (V) or get canceled early (Eastwick, but, really, does anyone care that much about Eastwick?), like Dollhouse? Isn't Fringe also supposed to be having cancellation woes - and it's on Fox! If Joss Whedon can't make television work, what chance does anyone else have? We understand that it can be hard to believe in the healing power of television at a time like this, but think of it like this: Sometimes early cancellation can be a good thing. Imagine a world without Angel Starbuck or Deanna Troi being turned into a cake in Data's dream, and suddenly your silver lining has been found.

5: Acceptance
Yeah, okay, this is the one that - for some fans - may never happen. Fandom in all its forms knows how to hold grudges, and if Firefly has taught us anything, it's that fandom never forgets. Now that Fox has killed two Joss Whedon shows (and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, for that matter), there's going to be an element of fandom that will never be able to trust the network again, never believing that Fox had good reasons to keep us from the full run-up to "Epitaph One."

Of course, identifying all the stages doesn't mean that you should rush through them, especially when there are nine episodes still to air, and an ARG still to decipher. We're not saying that you should hold onto your sadness until mid-January, of course... but if you want to, we're going to be here for you no matter what. And possibly going through exactly the same thing.

Syndrome (The Incredibles)

You, sir, truly are Mr. Incredible! You know, I was right to idolize you. I always knew you were tough, but tricking the probe by hiding under the bones of another super?! Oh, man! I'm still geeking out about it!

Fannish Traits: Fashioning himself as Mr. Incredible's sidekick Incredi-Boy for one, but even the business of making the ultimate superhero-killing machine and luring Mr. Incredible to his island lair to fight it was fannish in its own warped way.
What Drove Him to Evil: A demoralizing rejection at the hands of Mr. Incredible left him with a inferiority complex and bitter grudge against the superpowered community.

Henchman #21 (The Venture Bros.)

Dude I can't believe we didn't get blown up. We're like those guys on TV who never get shot. Yeah we're like main characters.

Fannish Traits: He keeps a closet full of collectible weapons, has a side job with the Atomic Comic Collection Connection, and debates whether the Smurfs are mammals. Fortunately, #21 lives in a comic book world, and his genre savvy is one of the things that keeps him alive.
What Drove Him to Evil: #21 was actually kidnapped and pressed into the Monarch's service at age 15, but he keeps up his henching because he finds it kind of awesome.

The Trio (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Warren: What the hell is that?
Andrew: Death Star, dude! Wicked, huh?
Jonathan: Uh, thermal exhaust port's above the main port, numbnuts.
Andrew: For your information, I'm using the Empire's revised design from Return of the Jedi.
Jonathan: That's a flawed design!

Fannish Traits: In addition the van with the Death Star mural, dialogue amongst the Trio (Andrew and Jonathan in particular) is a constant stream of science fiction and comic book references (notably, Jonathan claims fluency in Klingon). And their attempts at bank robbery and Slayer killing are pretty much straight out of the supervillain handbook.
What Drove Them to Evil: Repeated social, scientific, and mystical missteps, which required the Scooby Gang's constant meddling. That, and they hoped it would get them girls.

Superboy-Prime (DC Comics)

On my Earth, I read all about you, Polar Boy. You were a substitute Legionnaire who was let into the clubhouse because people felt sorry for you. Y'know, I almost feel sorry for you. Almost.

Fannish Traits: Raised in our universe reading comic books (and named after Clark Kent), Superboy-Prime is so distraught with the current direction of the DC Universe, that he tries to retcon the universe so it resembles the DC comics of his childhood.
What Drove Him to Evil: Pretty much the entire DC writing staff.

Control Freak (Teen Titans)

All these would've worked on the real Titans. It's just, your powers are... stupid! I don't wanna fight you anymore.

Fannish Traits: It's no surprise that, with his obsession with science fiction and television, Control Freak becomes an accidental fan of the Titans themselves. He's genuinely miffed when he has to face off against the Titans East instead of the main Teen Titans, and he's pissed when he realizes he's not on the list of their most notorious villains — after all, he's a recurring character.
What Drives Him to Evil: Mostly, because villains look cool.

Joe Jackson Stevens (Powers)

Every time they report about her, they ruin her. Every time they say her name, they chip away at her soul. The Indians say that a photograph steals your soul. Imagine if they are right. The world has no rights to her soul. If only I could get her attention.

Fannish Traits: Despite an avowed hatred of capes, Stevens has a profound obsession with Retro Girl, as evidenced by his diary entries and some rather sticky photos found in his apartment.
What Drove Him to Evil: Stevens is just plain unbalanced. He goes Mark David Chapman on Retro Girl because he wants to preserve her unblemished memory for the masses.

Red Mist (Kick-Ass)

Seriously. This whole superhero thing's been bubbling away for years, but you were the first to get out there and have the balls to do it, man. I'm your biggest fan. This is like meeting Elvis or something.

Fannish Traits: Mist claims to be such a huge fan of Kick-Ass (and superhero comics), that he follows Kick-Ass's lead and dons a ridiculous red suit to fight crime.
What Drove Him to Evil: It's not clear that Red Mist was ever on Kick-Ass's side, but whatever the case, he was probably getting paid good money to turn on his fellow vigilante.

Tim the Fanboy (Fans!)

These guys are the president and vice-president of a very cool club! They've fought a vampire, a mind-control conspiracy, and an ancient god! Share in the coolness! Join now!

Fannish Traits: Whereas most members of Bilberg University's Science Fiction Club are fans of science fiction, Tim is a devotee of the Club itself, turning down a spot at Harvard so he could worship at their feet. That, and he dresses like Harry Potter.
What Drove Him to Evil: Tim tends to become utterly devoted to a cause, only to turn on it completely when it lets him down in the slightest. When the Science Fiction Club is overwhelmed by the time traveling warlord General Maximillianna, Tim decides that she must be the superior moral force, and quickly joins her forces.

Ray Thompson (Justice League "Legends")

"Holy hijacking, Catman!"

Fannish Traits: Ray is so nostalgic for the superheroes of his childhood, that after they perished in a nuclear holocaust, he psychically resurrects them so they can continue their adventures.
What Drove Him to Evil: The sole survivor of the nuclear holocaust, Ray just wants to recreate the world of his idealized childhood. But when his illusion is shattered, he goes on a rampage that threatens to destroy reality.

The Mad Hatter (Batman)

As the great Lewis Carroll said: "One, two, one, two, and through and through the vorpal blade went snicker-snack! He left it dead, and with its head, he went galumphing back!"

Fannish Traits: Jarvis Tetch is so obsessed with Lewis Carroll's Alice books that he dresses as the Mad Hatter, only eats hat-themed food, and constantly quotes Carroll.
What Drove Him to Evil: Psychosis. The Hatter has trouble distinguishing between Wonderland and reality, and has developed a frightening obsession with girls named Alice.

Mock Turtle (Astro City)

There was Narnia, with Caer Paravel. And Alice's Wonderland. And more. And children could find them, children like me. If I could find the right wardrobe, go through the right looking glass —

Fannish Traits: Like the Batman villain above, Martin Chefwick was obsessed with fantasy realms, including Wonderland, Narnia, and Oz. And, while he didn't mistake the real world for Wonderland, as a child he often went off in search of a gateway to a fantastical realm all his own.
What Drove Him to Evil: He wanted to impress a girl.

Stewie Griffin (Family Guy "Not All Dogs Go to Heaven")

No way, I'm getting Patrick Stewart to sign it. Picard has it all over Kirk. He's poised and measured and doesn't wear a cheap rug. Rather, he accepts even baldness with a quiet cool that says, "I am in command. You are safe with me. I will cradle you in my arms through any crisis in any galaxy."

Fannish Traits: From our list of convention disasters, Stewie built a working transporter for the sole purpose of kidnapping the entire cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
What Drove Him to Evil: Stewie has always been evil, but in this case, he was simply annoyed he didn't get to ask his question at the convention.

Melllvar (Futurama "Where No Fan Has Gone Before")

Fry: Melllvar's got a spaceship.
Melllvar: Yes, in mint condition... and you made me take it out of the package!

Fannish Traits: Another from our convention disasters list, Melllvar creates a paradise for the cast of the original Star Trek so he can hold his own private convention. Then he makes them battle the Planet Express crew to the death for his fanboy affection.
What Drove Him to Evil: Non-corporeal beings only seem evil until you learn that they're harmless 34 year-olds still living in their parents' basements.

Ben Meyers (Smallville "Action")

I'm sorry, Lana. But there's a hero living among us, and there's only one way he'll accept his calling. You need to die.

Fannish Traits: A fan of the Warrior Angel comic books, Meyers is upset when he learns that the hero's love interest won't die in the film adaptation like she does in the book. To maintain the purity of the movie, Meyers decides to simply kill off the actress playing the love interest himself. And, when he discovers Clark's unusual abilities, he believes Lana must endure the same fate.
What Drove Him to Evil: Hollywood's obsession with happy endings.

Mysterious Fan Boy (X-Statix)

If we're really being honest here, and I hope we are, I'd started to love the new X-Force, even though their high mortality rate did unsettle my bowels. And now they go and change the whole thing. If that was all they'd done I might be able to forgive them. But they have done the unforgivable. They've killed the best of them. I mean, how do those people expect us fans to react?

Fannish Traits: Arnie Lundberg wears his fandom proudly. He is such a huge fan of X-Force in general and U-Go Girl in particular that when his favorite team member gets killed off, he takes an entire town hostage, controlling and disfiguring its citizens, a la the Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life."
What Drove Him to Evil: A combination of childhood taunting, relative omnipotence, and U-Go Girl's death. But it all works out for him since he joins the newly renamed X-Statix team so they can keep an eye on him.

Comic Book Guy (The Simpsons)

Lucite...hardening. Must end life...in classic...Lorne Greene pose...from...Battlestar Galactica. Best...death...ever!

Fannish Traits: There's very little in the Comic Book Guy's life that doesn't center around fandom. And, in the Treehouse of Horror episode "Desperately Xeeking Xena," he becomes a villain known as "The Collector," who steals his favorite celebrities and places them in PET bags for safe keeping.
What Drove Him to Evil: The desire to preserve his favorite actors in mint condition.

The Catgirl Menace (Something Positive)

I'm tired of you comic creators thinking just because you make something you own it! You don't! It's ours the minute we read it! And the fans know better than you do what's right, otherwise we'd be making comics, not reading them!

Fannish Traits: Not precisely scifi, but too powerful to be ignored, the Catgirls walk around in adorable cat ears and will read anything with the word "Neko" in the title.
What Drove Them to Evil: Someone dissed their obsession du jour, Neko Neko Holy-Chan. Fortunately, they lost interest when they realized the comic creators were changing the comic in a way that disagreed with their fan fiction and shattered their little yaoi fantasies. Some creators just like their straw fans to smack you in the face.

Twilighters, Tim Burton fans, and people looking to get a glimpse of James Cameron's latest film crowded outside the San Diego Convention Center hoping to score one of the coveted seats in Hall H. Although you could still find a prime spot in line if you showed up first thing this morning, we talked to some movie buffs who take their line waiting very seriously.

Aura from San Diego, CA
In Line Since: Her family started waiting at 9:30 P.M. Tuesday, earning them the first spot in line.
Eager to See: New Moon, with Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland and Avatar as a bonus.
Secret to Being First in Line: Working in shifts. Aura's niece was the first to show, with other family members taking over early Wednesday morning.

Joey, Tiffany, and Nancy from Ohio and Georgia
In Line Since: 2 A.M. Wednesday, giving them the #2 spot.
Were They Shocked They Weren't the First Ones There? You bet, especially since last year, Tiffany held that distinction.
Waiting Builds Bonds: These three actually met at last year's Con while waiting in line for Twilight. They had so much fun, they decided to make it a tradition.
Eager to See: While last year was all about Twilight, they're actually more interested in Alice and Avatar than New Moon.
Secret to Waiting in Line: Making good friends, of course, but also coming prepared. Their list of waiting necessities includes deodorant, dry shampoo, and disposable toothbrushes. Oh, and watch out for the roaches that inhabit the planters outside the Convention Center.

Kristina and Niki from Daytona Beach
In Line Since: 2 A.M. Wednesday.
Eager to See: New Moon Says Niki: "I think that's what every female is here to see."
The Ethics of Line-Jumping: Unlike some of their fellow waiters, they don't believe in holding places for friends. They note a group ahead of them started with five people, but quickly swelled to 20 and kept growing, "Soon we had a whole Partridge Family." Aside from coffee runs and bathroom breaks, they did the full wait.
Secret to Waiting in Line: Coffee, mixed liberally with good company.

Chris and Gia of Twilight Fansite Twilighters.org
In Line Since: 2 A.M. Wednesday.
Eager to See: New Moon
Anything Besides New Moon? Um...No.
Secret to Waiting in Line: Taking shifts so you can leave and not go stir crazy.

Shawn and Leslie of Oceanside, CA
In Line Since: The wee hours of Wednesday morning.
Eager to See: New Moon. Apparently, Avatar fans don't camp.
Secret to Waiting in Line: Says Leslie, "You have to be really passionate about something to do this."

Thanks to Anthony Mount for additional images.

True fandom knows no bounds. The evolution of fan culture is not a trajectory that can be measured or predicted. When the first episodes of Star Trek appeared on television, no one would have foreseen that it would turned into an all-enveloping fan culture. Similarly, it is hard to imagine JK Rowling envisioning the effect her stories would have on the world, and the epic fandom that would emerge from it. Certainly she could not have expected Wizard Rock.

Brothers Joe and Paul DeGeorge formed Harry and Potters in 2002, playing in libraries and high school auditoriums. The teenagers were surprised to find the genre they invented in their rec room, "Wrock", becoming a true fan phenomenon. Teenage girls screamed for more. The brothers DeGeorge were soon playing at fan conventions and going on an a world tour.

Other bands emerged from the mists of the fanverse; punk-rock Slytherins Draco and the Malfoys, the very emo Whomping Willows, pop duo The Parselmouths, The Moaning Myrtles and many others. Wrock bands have compiled compilations, toured together, and even performed at Wrock festivals around the country such as Wrockstock.

The world of Wrock is not just geeky, but also strives to be socially conscious. Joe and Paul know that their elementary school fan base looks up to them as idols, and they try to promote literacy in the true spirit of Rowling's best-selling series. The Whomping Willows recently played a Marriage Equality benefit, promoting equality for gay wizards everywhere.

Wizard rock is perhaps the most incredible example of the evolution of Harry Potter fandom; the emergence of something entirely now, that while influenced by Rowling's works, has taken on a life of its own, and found its own fame and fandom.

A few weeks ago, the Los Angeles Times printed a terrifyingly awful article trying to get women to come to the traditionally male-centric Comic-Con by writing about what girls can do at the Con. Apparently they can drool over hot men, and that's pretty much it. Then, to add insult to injury, popular blog IGN.com held a contest whose prize was a trip to Comic-Con. The kicker? The contest was open only to men. (Later, the site apologized and created a separate contest for women.) So basically, the message has been that women don't go to Comic-Con. Unless somehow we can trick them into it by dangling hunky actors in front of them.

Because of course, women don't like movies. Or comics. Or TV. Or videogames. They just like cute boys.

Now, at least among Comic-Con attendees, that tune is changing. It seems now that the biggest threat to Comic-Con are all the women who will be coming.

The opening salvo in this latest round of complaints came from /Film's Peter Sciretta, who grumbled about how the Twilight panel will be right after the Avatar panel. Apparently all the excited female fans will push out the "normal people":

Anyone who attended last year's Comic-Con can attest to how much of a cluster-fuck was caused by Twilight's presentation in Hall H. Hundreds of tweens and Twilight Moms/Dads camped overnight to be the first ones into Hall H. By the time the "normal people" began to line up hours before doors were set to open, thousands of Twilighters were already in line.

As Movieline notes:

Sciretta then pretty much admits that actually the most anticipated film is the Twilight sequel New Moon, which doesn't count because girls.

Sciretta goes on to say:

By placing the Summit panel (AKA The Twilight Saga: New Moon panel) as the third panel of the day, they are forcing thousands of movie fanatics out of Hall H. Unless you're willing to brave the crowds and show up 4-5 hours before HALL-H opens, the seats will be taken by Twilight fans. Twilight fans who probably aren't interested in Avatar. Many of those people who want to see previews of A Christmas Carol, Alice In Wonderland, Tron 2 and Avatar will be left out.

He worries that these Twilight girls will take ALL THE SEATS that should be saved for "movie fanatics" - because, apparently, people who like the Twilight movie don't count as movie fans. Nobody who likes that silly vampire movie New Moon, full of sparkly otherworldly creatures, would ever be sophisticated enough to like the silly space movie Avatar, full of sparkly otherworldly creatures.

Imagine if this New Moon panel were replaced by a panel devoted to a new Star Wars movie. Would people be screaming about all those "fanatical" Star Wars fans who would undoubtedly line up all night long just to get a glimpse of George Lucas and pals? Would there be complaining that Star Wars fans were taking up space and driving out all the "normal people" who came to see Alice and A Christmas Carol? Would people be suggesting that the Star Wars panel should be moved to another place, or another day? No. Because Star Wars fans, even though they are more fanatical than Twilight fans, are mostly boys. And therefore they are tolerated as "normal people" at Comic-Con while hordes of girl fans are not.

Tellingly, Sciretta begins his post by saying:

Unlike others, I don't feel threatened by the [Twilight] books, films, or insane fandom. Why should I?

Obviously, however, he is threatened. Twilight fans are stealing movie fandom away from him. They're stealing his seat for Avatar. And they're willing to get up even earlier than he is to get into an event they're excited about. I dunno, but it sounds to me like he's threatened because women are better, stronger, more devoted movie fanatics than he is.

OK, boys, it's time to step up your game if you're going to conquer Comic-Con.

Their conclusions? Writes cultural anthropologist Michael Jindra in the journal Sociology of Religion:

When I undertook this research, my first intention was to focus on how ST [Star Trek] draws a picture of the future that is attractive to many Americans. But early on I realized I was dealing with something much bigger and more complex than I had anticipated...it had features that paralleled a religious-type movement: an origin myth, a set of beliefs, an organization, and some of the most active and creative members to be found anywhere…Religion often points us to another world; ST does the same.

Even Futurama floated the concept of a "Church of Trek" in the episode "Where No Fan Has Gone Before." (Trek Priest: "And Scotty beamed them to the Klingon ship where they would be no Tribble at all." Congregation: "All power to the engines.")

Still a nonbeliever? Let's consider this point-by-point:

(1) Does the religion have a founding prophet and an origin myth?

Gene Roddenberry acknowledged his role as semi-divine messenger in an interview he gave to The Humanist magazine shortly before he died. He revealed that he sought to imbue Star Trek with a very explicit humanist philosophy that human beings should take control of their own destiny. Roddenberry claimed he had to keep this intention "secret," lest the network pull the plug on him.

Appropriately, Roddenberry's version of Mount Sinai was a 1966 sci-fi convention where he screened an early preview of Star Trek. One fan who was there recalls the event as almost a conversion experience:

After the film was over we were unable to leave our seats. We just nodded at each other and smiled, and began to whisper. We came close to lifting the man [Roddenberry] upon our shoulders and carrying him out of the room. .... [He] smiled, and we returned the smile before we converged on him.

From then on, the fan says, the convention was divided into two factions, the "enlightened" (those who saw the preview) and the "unenlightened."

(2) Does the religion have scripture and an accepted canon?

"What the Bible does in 66 books, Star Trek does in 79 episodes," says Jeffrey Mills, who teaches college courses on the cultural relevance of Trek.

No doubt, theologians would take issue with a comparison between "The Trouble with Tribbles" and the Book of Exodus. But scholars such as Jindra see Trek episodes not as scripture per se, but as a collection of parables more akin to "folk religions":

Both Star Trek and mythological religions (such as those of the Amazonian peoples as described by anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss) rise out of the work of storytellers who weave together compelling narratives out of the characters, values, and context of the contemporary culture. Some of these stories eventually become established as myths that help form (and reflect) the basic cultural values of peoples….For some fans, Star Trek replaces older religions like Christianity, and for others it supplements them with new ways of expressing the same message.

Although Star Trek episodes (especially the original series) don't comprise literal "scripture," they are the basis for a rigorously enforced canon. Or, as one fan defined it:

"Canon" means that Gene Roddenberry (or his duly appointed representative) has declared something to be officially part of the "Star Trek" universe. This includes the TV episodes and the movies, primarily. "Non-canon" is everything else (the books, the animated series, comic books, the story you made up when you were playing "Star Trek" with your friends during recess back in Kindergarten, etc.).

Of course, that's just one view. Trek fans routinely engage in ecclesiastical debates over what constitutes "pure" Trek. (Over at the Memory Alpha Wiki, the authors argue that the Star Trek animated series can be considered "canon," since it was "created by the same people" who created the old series.)

Scholars of the Church of Trek see these arguments as more than nitpicks over revisionist storytelling (such as the Star Wars fans' battle cry that "Solo shot first"). Jindra, for instance, considers it to be a way of maintaining a level of authenticity that is crucial to the "suspension of disbelief":

The creation of new plots and stories and the ironing out of existing ones is essentially the mediating of contradictions in the story (universe). In this universe, the contradictions are an affront to the consistent universe that fans so desperately want to see created.

(3) Does the religion have a unifying belief system? Does it offer salvation?

Writing in the Journal of Consumer Research, Robert Kozinets—a professor of marketing who studies "consumption subcultures"—found that Star Trek fans often invoke the Vulcan philosophy of Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations (IDIC). As one British Trekkie told him:

[IDIC] contrasts so sharply with much of what we see today—politicians, religions or at least religious people, just small minded individuals in general pouring hate and scorn on, well, whichever scapegoat they want to pick on this week. The "I can't do anything but hate you because you vote Labour/you are gay/your skin is a different color to mine/ you don't believe in the same god as me" view that you see all around you. In Star Trek, and in Star Trek fandom, this isn't present.

Likewise, Roddenberry himself once commented:

When I go to conventions and I see people of all sizes and shapes and abilities, and when I see people with nerve disorders that can't really sit properly and so on, I still know what's in their minds. They are saying, "In a better world, I can do anything! I'll be there in a better world."

Star Trek fans tend to practice what they preach-they're not content to wait for Roddenberry's utopian vision of a better world, they're committed to doing their part to make it happen. Hence, the number of fan clubs that establish charities such as food banks and blood drives; or that lobby for more funding for space programs. In that sense, Jindra argues, Trek offers the promise of a communal afterlife:

The appeal of ST is not for a kind of personal salvation, but for the future of the ST collective …."I" will not live until the twenty-fourth century, but "we" certainly will, according to the ST future. It is hope for ourselves as a society, a myth about where we have come and where we are going. Fans want to be part of forming that destiny.

(4) Are adherents of the religion sometimes stigmatized by nonbelievers?

Although Star Trek fandom includes such noteworthies as Bob Dylan, Colin Powell, Stephen Hawking, and the Dalai Lama, the dominant view of the typical fan is still that of the pointy-eared, 35-year-old virgin living in his parents' basement. Even the release of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek film—which arguably endowed the franchise with an unprecedented veneer of mainstream coolness—provoked the ritual ridicule of Trekkies on SNL and the Onion News Network.

That fear of ridicule, the scholars say, is why Trekkies are not more open about their fandom-or, at least, why they feel compelled to explain that they're not "that type of fan." And, according to Jennifer Porter-a professor of religion and modern culture—the social stigma attached to Trek fandom partially explains the popularity of Star Trek conventions, which she describes as spiritual "pilgrimage" sites that embody "Freedom to express yourself fully, as an individual, instead of in conformity to institutional, social, or cultural norms."

Kozinets goes a step further and argues that the Star Trek collectibles on sale at conventions are pseudo-sacred objects. The fans who buy them are, in effect, making the decision to publicly profess their faith. In other words, wearing a Bajoran earring is like wearing a St. Christopher medal; proudly displaying a vintage 1978 Captain Kirk action figure in your home is the equivalent of putting a plastic Jesus on your dashboard.

But, just as many people are disgusted with the commercialism of Christmas, so too are many Star Trek fans upset at the rampant consumerism within their circle. Kozinets says that Trekkies speak of a mythic, "uncontaminated" time when Star Trek was more about message than merchandizing.

Ironically, however, the forefather of Trek merchandising was none other than Roddenberry himself. William Shatner recalls that Roddenberry started a mail-order business called Lincoln Enterprises, which sold collectibles to fans. Roddenberry imposed a script rewrite on the episode, "Is There No Truth in Beauty," so that Spock would be wearing an IDIC medallion that would be marketed by Roddenberry's company-thus proving that even a prophet can make a profit.

So, is Star Trek a religion? And, if it is, will the latest film's reinterpretation of canon provoke a violent schism among fundamentalist Trekkies? (Otherwise known as "Radical Trekists.") Can we expect to see the publishing industry capitalize on Trek religious-themed books, with titles such as Are You There Spock? It's Me, Margaret.

Speaking as a lifelong fan myself, I'm not quite ready to buy into the "Church of Trek" thesis. Or, more to the point, I'm not convinced that hardcore Trek fandom is all that different from the myriad other subcultures in our society-except, perhaps, more richly imagined than most. Ultimately, it comes down to labels. It doesn't matter much to me whether Trekkies are "fans" or meet the anthropological definition of "adherents." They're mostly people who happen to believe in tolerance and the importance of creating a better world for future generations. May they live long and prosper.

Mark Strauss is a senior editor at Smithsonian Magazine.

The request came when Dollverse reported that the series' "missing" episode, "Epitaph One," would probably air this summer after all, something that Fox have not commented on, and asked to be corrected. But the otherwise reasonable (if terse) email to the site, from Fox's publicity director Todd Adair, has a surprisingly harsh ending:

Clearing up your misperceptions of the show has become very time consuming and frankly takes away valuable time that could be spent actively marketing the series in the proper way.

To me, that seems like an overreaction; not to put down Dollverse, but surely fans can tell the difference between fansite-sourced rumors and official network-released news to a degree that it wouldn't take that much longer than, say, writing a press release to correct misinformation? Kevin from the site, of course, sees things in a much more confrontational fashion:

The email was CC'ed into other staff at FOX. I tried replying to everybody to clarify to the issue; however nobody at FOX chose to respond. As far as I am aware, this is the first time a US network has tried to exert specific editorial control over a fan site, and I think deserves a debate. As fans, do we want to hear news FOX wants us or approves us to report about a TV show we watch? ...[W]e'd never demand FOX do... things differently. Because we can't. Because we're viewers. FOX can not also demand we don't cover certain subjects on the site. We might only be fans, but we're also viewers, and that gives us the power to be a fandom.

No-one from Fox has (publicly, at least) responded to the site making the issue public, and officially, "Epitaph One" has not been announced as airing on Fox in the US.

"Epitaph None" - FOX and Dollverse [Dollverse]

Rarely do you hear people saying that The Simpsons changed their lives, even though it is a long-running franchise. And you don't see people getting teared up as they remember the first time they saw Terminator, even though that franchise hasn't quit since the early 1980s. Why does Star Trek stay with people as a source of personal inspiration?

I can't speak for everyone, but I will offer a personal confession. I grew up without a television set in my house, so I was never exposed to the original Star Trek series except through the movies. Which I saw, and liked, but they didn't deliver any soul-stirring moments of revelation. But then I started watching Star Trek: The Next Generation with a group of friends right after college. It was the third season, when things really got good on the show, and I was drawn in absolutely.

It was a tough time for me when I started following the adventures of Picard and crew. I had just begun a really difficult course of study in graduate school, and I wasn't sure if it was the right thing to be doing with my life. I'd always had a rocky relationship with my family, to put it mildly, and I'd finally had the nerve to kick them out of my life for good. So I was trying to deal with those giant questions in life, like "Who am I?" and "What is my quest?" Most especially, I was trying to find friends who would treat me better than my family had.

I guess I was looking for models of community, and that's why Star Trek: The Next Generation lodged itself so deeply in my heart. I wanted to believe in a world where people who weren't family cared for each other, the way the Enterprise crew did. I wanted to think that the future would bring me adventures that weren't always just about smashing things up, but sometimes dealt with rather bookish topics like ethics and geopolitics. I'm a little embarrassed to admit how closely I studied the behavior of the crew and tried to imitate them in my new life as a grownup. I loved how they were very professional and rational, despite their strong emotional ties. When they were upset, the answer was always "do the work" or "solve the problem," not "mope endlessly." I can't tell you how many times I've told myself "do the work" when all I wanted to do was cry. And it's always helped me get through tough things.

I did find a few friends through Star Trek. One of my best friends for many years was a major Trek fan whom I met the year I discovered TNG. But it wasn't like I found a fan community who became my new family. It was more that Star Trek helped me imagine how I wanted my friendships to be, and then I found those friends in the usual places: In school, at work, at my volunteer job, or randomly at a show.

Star Trek: TNG is the reason I bought my first television set. It's also the reason I keep doing difficult things, even when the odds seem stacked against me.

So yeah, I get it when people freak out over how Abrams changed Star Trek - he's messing with a story that helped them through difficulties, or just kept them from getting too bored.

At the same time, I think we all know that stories exist in a specific time and place. I'm not sure that Star Trek: TNG would capture my heart in the same way if I were to see it now for the first time. And even if Abrams were to mangle my TNG canon the way he did with the original series, I don't think it would be life-shattering. Why? Because there would always be the original TNG, the one I saw twenty years ago that changed my life. Even if Abrams or whomever decides that his Picard likes disco and Data should marry a gynoid.

The fact is, stories are meant to be retold. You may like them less in the retelling, or you may suddenly like them more (hence the phenomenon of rebooted Battlestar Galactica). But nobody can take away the stories that changed your life. Those are always going to be yours, untouched, until the space worms nibble your ganglia. They will keep inspiring you, and keep being meaningful. Hopefully, new stories will come along that mean something to you later in life, or that spur you to action in a way you never expected.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that there's a difference between personal stories and public stories. Star Trek is a public story that belongs to the world, for better or worse. (OK let's not get into a copyright discussion right now - you know what I mean.) You can't control what happens to a public story. You can't stop slash fiction pervs like me from writing dirty stories about Spock, and you can't stop nerds like JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci, and Alex Kurtzman from blowing up Vulcan.

But then there's your personal Star Trek, the story that matters to you. For me, Star Trek: TNG is always going to be a personal story about finding community and solving problems even when it hurts. This, I think, is what powers the fandom of Star Trek. It's a rich enough public story that it can spawn zillions of personal stories, all very real. Fandom is made in personal byways off the public tale, in the strange little alleys the story builds in its viewers' minds.

And ultimately that's why I have no fear that Star Trek will get retold, often badly. What matters most is the personal story, which lives safely in my brain, far beyond the reach of Abrams and his reboot crew.

It's difficult to separate an actor from her character, especially when the acting is of high caliber. Of course, actors deserve to have private lives just like all other creative professionals, and if some of them don't read the Lord of the Rings trilogy every year (like Dominic Monaghan), well, that's just who they are. But it's a special gift from actor to fandom when the people who play beloved heroes turn out to be more than a little like the heroes themselves. They might not fight caped evil in their daily lives, but these eight actors possess that crucial bit of understanding that keeps them from phoning in their roles — and convinces their admirers that they're worth every jaw-drop and swoon.

Kristen Bell
After three years as teenaged noir super-sleuth Veronica Mars, Kristen Bell had to move on to something different — and she chose Heroes. Having watched the show since day one, Bell told the minds behind the show that she was a huge fan; the rest, as you know, is history. She's living proof that part of being a great actress is having a deep personal investment in the story you're being paid to tell. Audiences appreciate the hell out of that. And in a fantastic interview with the A.V. Club, Bell further showed her respect for her fans:

The bottom line is, everyone's a loser in their own right. Here's why I like geek culture: People like what they like because they like it. They're not trying to fit into any mainstream likes or dislikes. You want to dress up like a Star Wars character and go to Comic-Con? Do it, if that's what makes you happy. People might look at you as super-weird, but if that's your obsession, go for it.

Damn straight, Kristen! And I expect to see you in our next cosplay round-up.

Wil Wheaton
The man you know as Wesley Crusher just might be the poster boy for actors-in-fandom. Whether or not you like his Star Trek character, you have to admit that his subsequent work as a blogger has made the lives of many geeks, nerds, and fans very happy. He's written extensively and thoughtfully on his experiences in the world of Star Trek and in real life, producing three books: Dancing Barefoot, Just a Geek, and The Happiest Days of Our Lives. He currently blogs at Wil Wheaton dot Net in Exile.

David Tennant
Nobody had to explain Gallifreyan customs to David Tennant when he took the role of the Tenth Doctor on BBC's Doctor Who. He'd already been watching the program for years. In fact, he is a self-described "Doctor Who junkie" and once cherished a Tom Baker action figure. Now an action figure himself, Tennant took us through the production history of the show in a memorable episode of Doctor Who Confidential entitled "Do You Remember the First Time?" — and by the way, it turns out that pretty much everyone on the team these days was a childhood fan.

Felicia Day
You may know her as Dr. Horrible's lost love Penny or a Potential Slayer from Sunnydale, but it turns out that Felicia Day's geekiest — and awesomest — work yet is the creation of the online web series The Guild. Her tribute to gamers is adorable, hilarious, and subtitled in Chinese, Japanese, Italian, French, and German. Yeah, she's one of us.

Nathan Fillion
One of the hallmarks of devoted sci-fi fandom is allowing a fantastic story to become your reality. So Nathan Fillion, who played Captain Malcolm Reynolds on Firefly, endeared himself to me forever when he started making posts to internet fan forums and signing them "The Cap'n." The Serenity star is my kind of man: He devoured comics as a child, holds frequent Halo tournaments as an adult, and has this to say about his experience as the leading man of a sci-fi western (from Firefly: The Official Companion):

I put on my costume in my trailer and took one last look in the mirror. They called me to the set and I remember coming right from my trailer to inside the door of the set. When you walked into the studio, the ship was just to your left with the big open cargo bay door looking at ya. I remember walking up the cargo bay door for the first time in costume. I believe it was David Boyd, our director of photography, who turned and saw me walking up and turned back around to the crew and said, "Captain on deck." Some people clapped and it was kind of neat. It was a reception I will remember always.

David Duchovny
Nothing says commitment like writing two episodes of the show you star in, directing three others, and contributing to the story of five more. He may have left The X-Files a bit too early for some of our tastes, but Duchovny and creator Chris Carter were very much in cahoots as far as this celebration of unexplained phenomena is concerned — and that demands some respect. As Duchovny told the Los Angeles Times, it's an honor to be part of sci-fi culture:

The X-Files was said to be the first Internet show. We had chat rooms and fan sites and all that. Look, I'm usually five or six years behind whatever is hip. So it was around 2000 that I started doing e-mail and finally started understanding what all that was about. ... My initial response — and I still hold this to be true — is that it takes the place of some of the functions of a church in a small town: A place where people come together, ostensibly to worship something. But really what's happening is you’re forming a community. It's less about what you're worshiping and more about, "We have these interests in common." Someone has a sick aunt and suddenly it's about that, raising money to help her or sharing resources to make her life easier. That's what it was about with The X-Files on the Internet.

Ben Browder
Ben Browder's starred in the much-loved Australian-American series Farscape and American-Canadian series Stargate SG-1. Other actors in his position might bitch about being pegged as a sci-fi actor, but not Browder; he was heavily invested in both series, and seemed to have as much fun making them as people did watching them. He snagged a story credit for SG-1 and wrote two episodes of Farscape. As you can tell from the panel recording below, Browder learned his stuff while doing it: he says, "when people tell you that some long arc show which is five years in making is planned in every detail from the beginning, they are full of it!"

Simon Pegg
Simon Pegg will be Scotty in the J.J. Abrams Star Trek film, and is one of the creators and stars of the tongue-in-cheek sitcom Spaced — he plays a sci-fi enthusiast and aspiring comic book writer. He certainly brings a lot of talent to both sides of the screen, and when he guest-starred in Doctor Who, Pegg told the BBC:

Doctor Who was a big part of my childhood ... I'd got into Doctor Who just before Jon Pertwee regenerated into Tom Baker, and as a kid I never remember the special effects being as primitive as they were. It scared the hell out of me but I loved it. I particularly recall monsters like the Sontarans, who had very strange heads; the giant insects in "The Ark in Space" and in one episode, Julian Glover tearing his face off to become this one-eyed creature.

He's speaking, of course, of alien menace Scaroth, who manipulated human history for his own ends in the serial "City of Death." If that brilliantly campy special effect impressed Pegg, he had to have been totally immersed in the story, and that is true sci-fi cred any day.

Salutes all around for these glorious nerdy thespians! Now — who'd I miss?

Thanks to tipsters Heather, Sarah, Ellen, and Lily!

Image from Adventures in Time and Space.

Essex police arrested a man on Thursday on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon after he had been spotted carrying a longbow, and a search of his apartment freaked officers out enough that they evacuated 100 nearby homes and called in bomb disposal experts to deal with what were classed as "unexplained items." Sadly, said items had a very simple explanation, as a police spokesman was later forced to admit:

Bomb disposal officers attended and carried out an assessment. No items of danger were found in the premises. Initial concerns were raised by the crude adaptions of many household items into science fiction style equipment.

I love the way that that statement is phrased; there's an implication that, if the adaptations of household items into "science fiction style equipment" hadn't been quite as crude, then everything would've been fine. Who knew that the Essex police were such mod connoisseurs?

(Meanwhile, British steampunk enthusiasts are now hiding their retro-styled reinventions of common househole items under their brass beds for fear of being visited by the long arm of the law themselves.)

Steampunk clock from Amahl_Shukup.

Bomb scare flat contained harmless 'science fiction-style' household items [Telegraph.co.uk]

Ideas and stories that used to get passed around in dank basements among dudes with thick glasses have become mainstream Hollywood movies. We list the seven signs that fandom is synonymous with glam, and try to discover if there are any shreds of authentic fannishness left in pop culture.

Kristin Bell
This blond bombshell was the star of geek sleuth show Veronica Mars, where her character made Star Wars references, hung out with hackers, and used the word "frak" a lot. Now she plays electricity-wielding Elle on fan glam show Heroes, and will appear in the forthcoming flick Fanboys (pictured above). She's said in interviews that she loves nerd culture and Star Trek. But she's also a cover girl for fashion magazines. The fan world has always had its pinups, but fashion mag cover girls? This is a sure sign of fan glam.

Any authentic geek pinups left? Veronica Belmont, host of many an online geek TV show (currently Tekzilla). She's cute but not glam, wears Star Trek uniforms for fun, and can talk for hours about the latest gadget specs.

J J Abrams
This dashingly dorkish director/producer has got the fan glam look with his nerd glasses and mop of uncombed curly hair. Plus, he's the auteur behind fannish-but-mainstream hit shows Alias and Lost. He reinvigorated the giant monster genre by producing Cloverfield, and now he's single-handedly attempting to reboot the most fannish franchise of all: Star Trek. Everything he's created repackages fantasies ripped from the dark heart of fandom for audiences who would never consider themselves scifi fans. In many ways, Abrams is a shaper of the whole fan glam craze.

Any authentic geek directors left? Joss Whedon, creator of cult hits Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly, has always been a little too fannish to be glam. Hired to write the new Wonder Woman script, he eventually left the project because what he wrote wasn't commercial enough. Now he's making another scifi TV show, Dollhouse, whose premise sounds brilliantly quirky but may again be too strange for audiences seeking glam rather than fandom.

Sweding - Movies about fans paying homage to their favorite stories are all the rage. Be Kind Rewind coined the word "sweding" to describe what happens when fans remake their favorite creations in a funny, low-budget way. Now everybody is sweding everything, but of course fandom has been doing this stuff for years in fanfic (fan-written fiction based on popular franchises) and fan films. A new movie, Son of Rambow, also celebrates fan reenactments and will be shown in sneak previews across the U.S. in the ultimate fan glam locations: Apple stores.

Any authentic fan fiction left? Harry Potter fanfic, stories written by fans about the characters in J.K. Rowling's popular series about pubescent magic users, is still going strong in the underground. Rowling has said that she will tolerate fan fiction about her books (though she claims not to read it), but none of these stories will ever be published by mainstream publishers or made into Hollywood movies. Many of these Harry Potter fanfic tales are as good as or even better than the originals, so at least the fans get something special that can't be commodified — yet.

Comic-Con explosion
Comic-Con, the annual comic book and science fiction fan convention in San Diego, used to be a quiet little nook full of dorks. Now it's grown to a 100,000-person event that takes over the whole city. It's become the hot place for giant media conglomerates to showcase their latest special effects blockbusters, and for Hollywood stars to put in an appearance (like Halle Berry, signing autographs at Comic-Con, below). It's basically a Sundance Film Festival — except it's full of fan glam instead of indie geek chic.

Any authentic international cons left? WorldCon, which focuses more on books and writers than it does on mainstream media, is still as authentic as it gets when it comes to large gatherings of scifi fans.

Threadless T-Shirts
It used to be that t-shirts with obscure slogans or rebus-like jokes on them marked their wearers as socially marginal and perhaps unhealthily obsessed with cultural arcana. Now internet company Threadless has turned such t-shirts into fan glam (see one of their glammy shirts below). Each shirt the company makes features a design submitted by a member of the site, which other members vote to have printed. Basically, it's Digg for t-shirts, which translates into mass-produced dorkery, with an emphasis on "mass" rather than "dork."

Any authentic nerdy t-shirts left? Any Dragon*Con shirt was and will always remain authentic.

Comic book film industry
Until recently, comic books were the purview of editors who lived in their mothers' basements. Sure there were TV shows and movies devoted to Batman and Superman, two of the industry's biggest franchises. But any comic book more obscure than Spider-Man could never hope to reach eyes that weren't already focused myopically on their local comic book store's new releases rack every Wednesday. These days, comic book writers get movie deals almost before their books hit the stands, and even irascible creators like Alan Moore are getting the splashy Hollywood treatment with From Hell, V for Vendetta and Watchmen. Smaller books like 30 Days of Night and Wanted (starring Angelina Jolie, looking glammy in previews for the film below) have gone celluloid too. Comic books are seriously glam.

Any authentic comic books left? No.

Action figure art
An action figure should be something like a Gray Hulk, lovingly painted and put on display behind a "do not touch" sign. Having a collection of them should be a badge of pure dorkdom, like the 40-year-old virgin in the movie of the same name. But these days, high-end boutiques like Kid Robot have turned the grubby action figure genre into high art with manga-influenced action figures more like sculpture than fannish fetish objects. Having a Frank Kozik bunny (left), or an Attaboy original, is seriously fan glam.

Any authentic action figures left? Limited edition obscure action figures for cancelled science fiction TV shows are still authentic.

Halle Berry photo by Tostie14. Nerd tee from Threadless.

• The first official (American, anyhow) "World Science Fiction Convention" (now known as Worldcon) was held in 1939, and followed by conventions in Chicago and Denver in the following years. check out the photo above of some fans posing at Coney Island during that first convention, on the top row on the far left is Ray Bradbury.
• The first British convention in 1937 attracted 20 fans, including Eric Frank Russell and Arthur C. Clarke.
• The WorldCon conventions were suspended after 1941 due to World War II, but resumed in 1946.
• WonderCon was started by John Barrett in the San Francisco Bay area in 1987, but has since been adopted and is now part of the Comic-Con International family of Cons. Sort of like the Shazam family.
• Comic-Con itself began in San Diego as the Golden State Comic Book Convention in 1970, and attracted around 500 fans. Last year the Con (now the San Diego Comic-Con or just Comic-Con) had over 125,000 visitors.
• There are now regional cons including everything from Eurocon to DeepSouthCon to Westercon.
• There are even specific cons that cover one range of subjects, like BotCon (Transformers), Costume-Con (costumes, duh), and FilkOntario (filk music, folks music with a scifi/fantasy twist).
• That's not even mentioning all of the cons for specific shows and movies that have sprung up, like Star Trek, Farscape, Star Wars, and plenty of others. In fact, the movie GalaxyQuest is completely con-centric.
• Our favorite title? The Wrath of Con in North Florida. Either that or the Comic Book Guy's Bi-Mon-Sci-Fi-Con. It's a toss up.

• The Starship Exeter: This Star Trek fan-made series comes from the heart of Austin, Texas, and looks like it was filmed alongside the original series. From the sets all the way down to the smallest props, its got the looks. The acting can be slightly hammy at times, but whoever said Shatner wasn't pure pork?
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• Time Distortion: If you can manage to build a replica of the TARDIS, then you've done 95% of the work required to make a Doctor Who fanfilm, mostly because the special effects budget for the BBC back in the day was probably about ten bucks. For the whole season. Kevin Hiley and buddy Jonathan Miles made an audio version of this story when they were both 13 years old, and 13 years later, they made a live-action version that captures the cheese, camp, and charm of the original Doctor Who.
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• Troops: 1977's Hardware Wars was the first-ever fan film that poked fun at the Star Wars universe but this one takes the cake as far as making something new out of something old. It's Cops with Stormtroopers, what more do you need to know? Oh, and it's hilarious. It helped spawn other Star Wars-themed comedy fanfilms like Trooper Clerks and Pink Five.
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• Batman: Dead End: While the Star Wars and Star Trek universes normally receive the most attention from aspiring fanfilmers, Batman has had some pretty decent entries as well. The best of the bunch is this 2003 short film that wowed director Kevin Smith and artist Alex Ross. It inspired other Batman fanfilms like Grayson, about an adult Robin trying to find out who killed Batman (excellent) and World's Finest, where Batman teams up with Superman.
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• Indiana Jones: The Adaptation: This is probably one of the most inspiring stories of labor, love, and fandom. Three twelve-year-old buddies saw Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981, and starting making a shot-for-shot remake with a camcorder. It took them seven years to finish it, and it premiered in Texas on the big screen in 2003. Producer Scott Rudin bought the rights to their story, and art house comic book favorite Dan Clowes is writing it.

Ackerman caught the scifi bug back in 1922 when he saw the film One Glorious Day, where a homeless spirit takes over the body of Professor Ezra Botts. A few years later he bought his first copy of Amazing Stories and his life was changed forever. He later formed "The Boys Scientifiction Club" in 1930, and began his lifelong pursuit of being science fiction's number one fan. Well, male fan anyhow. "Girl-fans were as rare as unicorn's horns in those days," he says.

However, that was only the beginning of his obsession. He also coined the phrase "sci-fi," wore one of the first ever fan costumes to a convention (he called it a futuristicostume), received a special Hugo award in 1953 for being the "#1 Fan Personality," and has amassed a collection of science fiction memorabilia that was so big, it has now become a part of the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame.

He also launched and edited the magazine Famous Monsters Of Filmland which inspired the likes of George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Billy Bob Thornton, Peter Jackson and Tim Burton. Today he resides in the "Acker mini-mansion" located in Hollywood where he holds court over a smaller collection of items, and gives weekly tours every Saturday. As far as fans go, he sets the benchmark for dedication and staying power.