A Meta on Stargate Atlantis and its fandom

A friend of mine recently posted this in her journal, and I'll quote it here:

Have we gotten to the point in the SGA fandom, where we are so bitter/mad/disappointed in TPTB, that whenever we talk about the show, we feel the need to draw a big fat line between The Show and The Fandom? Have we gotten to the point where we can no longer say OMG I LOVE THIS SHOW SO FRACKING MUCH but instead feel compelled to say, OMG I KNOW IT'S A TOTALLY STUPID SHOW BUT THE FANDOM IS AWESOME?

Don't get me wrong. The fandom is awesome, but so is the show. I know it's far from perfect but why do I get the feeling that people keep needing to justify their love for it or try to trivialize the show's impact on their fandom lives?

I know everyone is feeling a bit battered and bruised after season 5* but it shouldn't make us forget the first 4 seasons and why we started all this in the first place.

My thoughts after the jump.

You know, I still follow Joe Mallozzi on his blog. I don't always read it (mostly because it's stuff about sci-fi books, and food), but I find he's a pretty awesome person, and, IMHO, a great PTB. I also love Martin Gero (hilarity will always stick with me) so I find it so sad that when the fandom brings up "Stargate: Atlantis," they tend to put the hate on the show, and the writers, and the PTB, and instead focus only on the fandom.

I think Atlantis is an amazing show, and it still stands as one of my favourite aspects of the fandom. I knew of the fandom before I got into it, but I didn't think it was SO HUGE (it's kind of intimidating now that I lurk in it, actually). I only really ventured in because I wanted fic, but now I feel like people who are fans of the show (and the fandom) and people who are only fans of the fandom are two separate entities, and that makes me so sad.

I was so proud of having such an awesome fandom, and now this happens. :/

Anyway, my reasons for watching Atlantis are:
1. The snark, specifically Sheppard and McKay's amusing banter
2. The amazing kickass-ery. (especially from Teyla and Ronon!)
3. The sci-f! I ♥ everything. The spaceships, the alien worlds, the Stargate, the problems, the solutions. Everything.
4. The jokes! Oh my God, the jokes.
5. The humanity and morality, especially in Season 5. (So sue me!)

These are also the reasons I loved SG-1, and also the reason I will probably tune in to watch SGU. I resent Brad Wright for being an asshat and basically saying that "the fans will like anything we make," but he's right, at least for me. If it follows a certain formula (and yes, that formula's in my head), I will probably like it. And I'm not afraid to admit that. Yes, I'm still bitter over the cancellation of my favourite shows (remember, Pushing Daisies was cancelled too), but that doesn't mean I'm not going to give SGU a chance.