Thesis advisor: Juliet Schor / As cult, quality, and mainstream television have merged, a new breed of show has evolved; such shows raise complicated themes and incorporate deep meanings. Drawing from Abercrombie and Longhurst’s (1998) audience continuum, this study focuses on the more casual portion of fandom previously overlooked in fan studies. These “everyday fans” differ from their cultist and enthusiast counterparts by limiting television to a hobby, not engaging in creative production, and not seeking out fan networks. The interviews with sixteen everyday fans as well as four cultists/enthusiasts ground Lost fandom in previous fan traditions and also explore the experience of a previously overlooked segment of the audience. Using ABC's LOST, this study shows how mainstream, everyday fans often unconsciously think about practical and profound issues of everyday philosophy simply by following characters and storylines. In effect, viewers of the show become "accidental intellectuals." LOST raises issues of love, redemption, science versus faith and good versus evil. The interviews with everyday fans reflect that viewers were not only using critical thinking in puzzling out the show’s mysteries but also engaging in deep analysis, personal identification, and the pondering of profound moral dilemmas through the medium of the characters, often without realizing it. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2012. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology Honors Program. / Discipline: College Honors Program. / Discipline: Sociology.

With the 2012 releases of The Cabin in the Woods and The Avengers, writer/director Joss Whedon moved beyond his cult status and into the mainstream. His cult television work, however, remains admired in both the popular imagination and in the academic world of popular culture studies. This year’s CSCA13 corresponds with the ten-year anniversary of the cancellation of Whedon’s first successful cult television show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Whedon’s other work, including Firefly, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog, Dollhouse, Angel, etc., are not only cult fan favorites, but favorites in popular culture academia. The participants on this panel will explore various aspects of Whedon and the Whedonverse, including: Whedon’s rhetorical framing regarding his transformation from cult director to mainstream phenom; his genre-bending frameworks across his various projects; his examination of gender roles; exploring and exploding Whedon’s use of mythology; and how Whedon’s characters manage to out-organize formal organizations.