I am curious to see what people say ... for me, it has impacted my professional life in a big way. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a teacher, soap-opera star and accountant (ages 6-9, 10 and 11, respectively, and never mind that I can't do math about the last one on that list) ... and then I started watching L&C at the end of the first season. Never before had I been so enchanted with a TV show, and to this day, there hasn't been a show that has had a greater impact on me. And after about three episodes, I had decided I wanted to be a journalist at the ripe old age of 12.

And lo and behold, all these days later, I actually am. However, while I initally wanted to be the next Lois Lane, I have found myself on more of a Perry-oriented path.

But I look back sometimes and think, wow, I don't know a lot of people who said they were going to grow up to do something -- at age 12, no less -- and actually followed through. Last week, I ran into someone who was in my high-school journalism class when I was 14 and she was shocked -- and impressed -- that I actually became a journalist.

But like Lois, I did bag myself a hot reporter.

I am curious to see how the show has impacted others.

I watched the show from the very first episode until the drecky parts of the third season. By the fourth season I was so unhappy with the direction the show had taken that I sort of wandered away. It wasn't until I saw the first two seasons for sale on DVD that I remembered just how much I had adored the show.

Even so, TNAOS didn't have any influence on my life until I found the boards and worked up the nerve to post a story. Since then, I must confess that it has started to consume every spare minute I can find. I've met so many awesome and talented people here that it's been a very fair trade.

I think it's accurate to say that, while I still love the show, it's FoLCs who have had such an impact on my life for the past year and half.

L&C hasn't exactly changed my life.

The show definitely didn't when it was on the air, back in the '90s. Unless you count the fact that I bought my first VCR back then, solely for the purpose of recording the eps since I couldn't always be home when it aired. (hey, there was no way I was going to miss shirtless Clark!)

I was in my 20s then - so, too old for it to influence my choice of careers or anything. Although, I could say that seeing Superman II (I was 11 or 12) at the movies made me want to be "just like Lois Lane" - and for a while I was. I studied journalism in school and for a short while I even worked as a reporter. But that's movie-Lois and movie-Superman (there's no such thing as movie-Clark, if you ask me) -- their TV counterparts just provided some entertainment for a bit.

However... discovering the fanfic archive and these boards last year has had a *major* impact on my life. I know I've said this someplace before (but don't ask me where I wrote it, 'cause my memory is really bad) but I'll repeat anyway. I was in a very bad place back then and the discovery of these websites, the stories they house and the people that hang around here, has literally saved my life. (yes, it was that bad)

It's brought back the desire to write, for one thing - which is one creative field where I don't completely suck - and just reading the stories here keeps bringing back this sort of happy hope that the world can be a wonderful, amazing place. I'd completely lost that back then.

I've also met some really special people here that I consider myself blessed to be able to call friends. In fact, my closest friends are people I've met through here -- I've flown out to meet a few of them, in fact which has made for some of the most awesome trips I've ever been on (I'm still on one of those, as I'm typing this, actually!)

And I've not even begun to explain the impact that a certain group of girls from here has had -- with their help and support, I'm now well on my way to a better, healthier life. Had it not been for them, I would not be standing here, nearly 40 pounds lighter than I was on New Year's.

No... L&C hasn't really changed my life. FoLCs have.

Lara said it perfectly.

I don't think I saw the show when it first aired, but I remember enjoying it in reruns. I didn't go back to the show until I found these boards after Superman Returns (I was desperately searching for a better resolution Lois and Clark's story) and wanted to know what the heck TOGOM and other very strange terms meant! There are several episodes and hundreds of moments in the show that I enjoy, but it's the fic and the people in this community that have changed me. The year I was 27 will forever be marked in my history as the year I became a FoLC and got my act together.

Lisa (who wishes there were more FoLCs at LiveJournal so she could get to know more of you better)

You mean we're supposed to have lives? Crap.

Tank (who never knew that having a life was a prerequisite to belonging to this fandom)

It's totally the folcs that have changed my life. I really don't get to have much of a life until I move again in June, and you guys really don't know how high you keep my spirits when the alternative sometimes is to throw my printer out the window and squirt paint all over it. (But I bet I'd lose my security deposit. <g>)

As far as the show goes, I will say it got me writing. Not so much these days, but I just filled up notebooks full of stories when the show was on the air, and it's a nice creative outlet for both writing and reading when that printer full of paint wants to strike.

And the newspaper business isn't forever out of the question, hehe. I turned down a graphics editor position to get my master's in May (god I'm so ready to graduate, *twitch*), so it still might be cool to put together the front page one day LOL.

JD

I was 8 years old when the series began, and Dean Cain was my first crush. L&C got me psyched about all things Superman and in high school, when I discovered FoLCdom and started spying on you all, my interest was re-kindled by your amazing stories.

As far as the broader impact on my life, I guess the idea of Superman--and Lois Lane!--encourages me to be a better person, reminds me that there are others envisioning a better world and selfless people within it that are willing to fight for that vision. (But then, I guess as much could be said for all hero stories, real and imagined.)

More directly, L&C encouraged me to believe that there actually are gorgeous *and* sweet *and* sensitive guys out there. It only took me 12 more years to catch one.

I kind of only discovered the series a year and a half ago. So I had already made the *important decisions* as to what I wanted to be in professional life etc. The only thing it may have really affected is my eyes. I spend waaaay more time watching tv than I used to now that I have all the eps on dvd ^_^

ROFL Tank!!

I guesse I feel like the rest, I love the show (it didn't or doesn't impact my life that much, maybe just the life of my best friend who has to hear me talk about it almost all the time She's the only one who knows it's our little secret ) but I think that the reason I love the show even more is because of all the fans who keep the show alive!!

So I guesse I can say that the fans have changed my life, they're the reasons I come to the boards!!
I have to agree with you on that one. And I olso don't think the computer has been used that often before !

Hey everyone....

I was about 6 years old when Lois and Clark first aired in Australia. I absolutely loved it from the first episode. I remember that when Mum and Dad wouldn't let me watch some of the "scarier" ones (i was five after all), i'd chuck a massive tantrum!! When the show finished four years later, I cried myself to sleep after the last episode. Needless to say, I was emotionally invested in this wonderful show and still am!!

Beffy06

The biggest impact Lois & Clark has had on me is that it's increased the number of old no-longer-actually-being-made TV shows I'm still obsessed with to the grand total of... 4, possibly 5. Although, again it's more the boards than the show I'm interested in now.

It has also varied what I write. I hadn't really written fanfic before I came across these boards, although I still have trouble finishing what I start, hence why I've yet to post a story here!! It's also depleted my bank account through the purchase of the DVDs and increased my DVD collection the same way.

This happened to me. I am 16 now and when i watch L&C i want to be a reporter , when i watch ER i want to be a surgeon or doctor, when i watch Without a Trace i want to be FBI and when i watch an english programme called Spooks i want to be MI5. Lol

It doesn't last long though

I hear ya. I was 12 when L&C started airing and I also was a big ER fan at the same time. I had a brief affair with the idea of becoming a cardiovascular surgeon and then I remembered that I don't like blood.

When I see the reruns, I just want to be Tom's girlfriend.