In the 1970's and 80's, though the will was there in fandom, they'd yet to find again the way, so shows from Battlestar Galactica to Quantum Leap and Beauty and the Beast lost the battle with the networks and fans saw their beloved characters disappear into memory.

Fast forward to the 1990's where the introduction of the internet became a TV show fan's best resource. Information, rumor and gossip at your fingertips, spoilers galore. But most importantly, a tangible connection between fans. Suddenly you weren't alone with that show you loved but none of your friends watched. There was a whole community out there, not just in your town or state, but across the country and even around the world! Fan sites, message boards, and chat rooms provide instant and constant methods of sharing excitement, enthusiasm and discussion of the slightest minutiae. But most importantly they provided a single accessible rallying point for fans determined to see their favorite show on the air as long as possible. If you suspected your show was in danger of cancellation, you didn't have to go out and convince twenty people to write letters and go mail them to the network, and then ask them to each find twenty more people to write letters, too. Suddenly, 'saving your show' was as easy as clicking on your mouse and e-mailing the network. Or was it?

As soon as internet fan campaigns were made so easy, the networks started to discount them. They knew that true interest in a show required more than a quickly zipped off e-mail. So they still paid more attention to snail-mail letters than to the one fan using twenty different e-mail addresses to write from or twenty fans using the same form e-mail letter they got online.

So fans had to get more creative. They organized mailing campaigns using the internet to get out the word and started to send networks and their executives packages of items related to the show or its characters, such as the Roswell fans sending small individual bottles and packets of tobasco sauce (given the lead characters' affinity for the stuff) or the more recent attempts by Enterprise fans to send small toy insects to 'bug' the network.

Such fan efforts continued to expand, but they continued to use the internet as the meeting place to disseminate information. Seeking bigger and better ways to catch the networks' attention as more and more fan-favorite shows fell under the cancellation axe, fans raised money to take out ads in the entertainment industry trade papers "Variety" and "The Hollywood Reporter", they contacted sympathetic journalists and TV critics such as Matt Roush of "TV Guide" and Marc Berman of "MediaWeek" to express their passionate support for cancelled or about to be cancelled shows.

But perhaps the most extreme, well-coordinated, well-publicized and successful fan campaign in recent years was that for beloved cult Sci-Fi Channel series Farscape. When the Sci-Fi Channel unexpectedly cancelled Farscape on the last day of production of the fourth season after having promised the show a fifth season, fans were outraged and even the critics were surprised. Farscape was the cachet show of the Sci-Fi Channel, a sparkling gem amidst the 1980's reruns and cheapo B-movies that were the network's regular fare. And like many science fiction fans before them, Farscape fans were not going to take the news lying down. They organized rallies, sent out press releases, funded ad campaigns and generally kept Farscape's memory alive and kept people aware of it. They did such an extraordinary job in fact, that their efforts caught the attention of CNN Headline News which took a segment to interview Farscape star Ben Browder on this fan phenomenon. And amazingly, due to a combination of the passion of the fans and the passion of the show's creators and stars, a mini-series was produced to provide a loving wrap-up to the show's cliffhanging season four ending. And oddly enough, despite the fans' acrimony and frustration with the network, it is indeed the Sci-Fi Channel that will air the mini-series later this year.

Another recent fan success story was in the studios' discovery of the ancillary TV DVD market. Fans who lost their favorite show or perhaps missed a cult fave's airing the first time around were snapping up season sets of DVDs like they were potato chips - they couldn't buy just one. And if there's one thing a studio or network will pay absolute attention to, it's profit. Shows that might not have had the ratings to survive were being purchased in season sets by fans in absolutely unpredicted numbers to the point where the networks were having to take a second look at projects previously considered failures. Two projects that particularly benefited from this second look were quirky animated series The Family Guy - now scheduled for new episodes due to the sales, and short-lived fan favorite Firefly, an ambitious science fiction/western hybrid from Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon that never found its legs while on the FOX network, but through amazing (internet-driven) word-of-mouth developed a devoted following that made the DVD season set a must have in every SF fan's collection. This passionate (financial) support, again in tandem with a determined show creator and cast, has resurrected Firefly with a forthcoming Joss Whedon-penned theatrical release that fans will no doubt do their best to make sure is an 'event' pic. They are hoping, not unreasonably, that if the film does well, it will act as a stepping stone to return the series to broadcast television in all new adventures.

But such accomplishments are still few and far between and as more and more fan fave shows continue to fall by the wayside, fans are getting more and more gunshy. Cynical and savvy fans are getting more pessimistic with each cancelled show and the formerly enthusiastic, united support of genre shows is cracking with fans falling into factions and making deals ("I'll write an e-mail to support your show if you write one for mine."). They're becoming more and more hesitant to invest in a new show or even sample it, even (or especially) if they think they'd like it. Ironically, by not tuning into a show they'd like for fear of losing it by cancellation, they may inadvertently be part of the process that CAUSES that very cancellation when the numbers show people aren't watching.

Conversely, other fans have become so paranoid (yet well-informed) that they desperately track the ratings and demographics of a show from its first episode onward and at the first sign of weakness, they purchase the domain and create the website 'www.save________.com'

Equally informed showrunners are learning to use this awareness and writing campaign fodder to also try to invigorate or save their shows. More and more actors and writer/producers are using the internet to contact the fans and involve them firsthand in the show's life expectancy. Fans who feel they 'know' the cast and crew of a show through 'Net interactions are more likely to feel a proprietary interest in the show's welfare and future.

But the networks are not unaware of these tactics and again only give them a certain amount of weight and credence. Soon the fans will have to try other tactics. When they've run out of flower baskets and singing telegrams and blood drives, they'll no doubt continue to come up with new and creative ways to try to save the shows they love.