Home Featured TV Shows All TV Shows Movie Reviews Book Reviews Articles Frequently Asked Questions About Us

This Week: Our Own 10K

The odometer is about to turn over here at Doux Reviews. Ten thousand posts. That's a one with four zeroes! And it all started with post-grad me obsessively writing about Buffy the Vampire Slayer to my sci-fi feminist discussion group STWTTF back in the late nineties. It just goes to show that you never know where life may lead you.

So this week, in observation of our own 10K, let me ask the writers: What brought you to Doux and when? What are your favorite memories? Favorite posts? (And readers, we'd love to hear from you, too.)

ChrisB: I discovered Doux in 2012. Oh dear me, as I type that I realize it was ten years ago. Amazing.

I started as a lurker. I would read reviews and the fun posts, but never commented or interacted. I was around a lot, but silent. Then, one day I felt the overwhelming need to comment and the dam broke. For a long time, I commented on just about everything I read. Which, by the way, was a lot. I even won the first Reader of the Week award, one of my favorite things I have ever won.

Finally, I decided I had to be part of this group and part of the writing staff. I started with Castle and it went from there. I wrote lots and lots of reviews, lots and lots of articles, and lots and lots of comments for about four years. Unfortunately, my life got very complicated very quickly and writing for fun had to take a back seat to everything else that was happening. I still come to the site nearly every day to see what is happening, but I just don’t have the time to watch, read, and write like I used to.

Favorite memories? I have so many that make me smile. Among them are the great comment discussions on pieces I have written or when someone writes to tell me how much something I posted meant to them. Looking back, I used to love to do the award shows with sunbunny. She singlehandedly taught me more about fashion than I ever knew. To this day, I think of her when I watch the red carpets and smile at the outfits I know she will hate. In addition to sunbunny, I have made so many friends through this site. I have never met any of them, but I feel as though we have known each other forever.

Favorite posts? Again, hard to pin down. Certainly all of The X-Files posts which I loved being part of. And, Castle because that’s where it all started.


Shari: I've got you beat, ChrisB. I started lurking in the '90s. Billie was reviewing all my favorite shows like Buffy and Nikita and later she added Supernatural. If I fell in love with a show chances were she would be reviewing it. At one point I tried to start my own site which was just a knockoff of Doux Reviews but job changes and moves made it difficult to keep up with shows and I let it go.

One day while I was lurking, a commenter asked why no one was reviewing a particular show. Billie said she didn't currently have a writer for it and posted a link for anyone interested. I dusted off a couple of old reviews I'd done, sent them on their merry way, and the rest is Doux history!

My favorite memories are all around group projects. Our round robins, the DC Crossovers, and "This Weeks" spring to mind. As for my favorite posts, there were a few from Jessica Jones and The Punisher that I'm fond of. Oh, and the series finale of Arrow. That one still gets to me.


Victoria Grossack: I had been reading Doux Reviews for years, but then asked if I could contribute, for very selfish reasons.

First, after the election in 2016 (I thought it could mean the end of democracy in the United States, but this bit is not meant to be political; let me just state that I was depressed afterwards), I emotionally needed to avoid the news at the time. I can only not think about something if I’m thinking about something else. Watching shows and reviewing them was welcome escapism.

Second, I write fiction myself, and so I often asked for shows where there’s some overlap between the TV series and my own novels. For example, I have written novels based on Greek mythology, so I reviewed HBO’s Rome. That way I get to use some of my research, and who knows – maybe a reader or two has picked up one of my novels because they liked my reviews.

Third, I always enjoyed doing book reports back in school, and it’s fun to have an outlet to do the same so very many years later. I love figuring out why a story moves me, why a story works (or not), and what it is the story is trying to do. I tend to rate high, but it’s because I usually review shows I like anyway.

Finally, I’ve very much appreciated how Billie has let me review such a wide variety of shows. My favorite show of all time is Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and I’ve been able to review a few cherished episodes. Along with the regular fare, she’s also let me do some foreign shows and some documentaries. I really enjoyed the story of some penguins in South Africa (Penguin Town), the movie Don’t Look Up, and, most recently, Servant of the People.


Sunbunny: Randomly enough it was Dollhouse that brought me to the site in 2009. I don't remember exactly how, but I remember Dollhouse reviews being the first I found and then discovering so many of my other favorite shows were covered. I lurked for a long time, finally commenting on a review of Once Upon A Time. I remember being so scared, but Josie (I'm pretty sure it was Josie) responded with something funny. I started writing for the site with Person of Interest in 2012. I've made some amazing friends through writing here and co-running the site's Twitter and I'm so happy that love of geeky stuff brought so many wonderful people into my life.


Josie Kafka: I discovered Doux back when it was, I think, "From the Desk of Billie Doux." Around late 2003 or early 2004, which was also when I discovered Buffy after five years of not watching any TV at all. Oh, how things changed!

I started writing for the site in late 2008, with Chuck. Writing Chuck reviews was also the first of my many failures for the site, since I never went back to review the first season, and I couldn't manage to finish the show. Life lesson: not all amusing shows are worth a complete commitment!

My absolute favorite post on the site is "Our (Non)Coverage of the Emmy Awards" of 2012. I will let its majesty speak for itself: https://www.douxreviews.com/2012/09/our-noncoverage-of-emmy-awards.html

I loved Sunbunny's Person of Interest reviews, especially this one featuring gifs from The Lion King.

My favorite post that I've written is my review of Taboo, a Tom Hardy show.

I'm also always excited to catch up on so many shows we've covered that I haven't gotten around to watching yet: Normal People, the last season of PoI, the past few seasons of Doctor Who, American Gods... this list could go on. My favorite experience was the craziness that was Lostmania. I got so caught up in it – we all did! – and it was my first time getting really into a fandom as part of a community. I don't really do that sort of community-based fandom stuff anymore, in part because of the lessons I learned from our mass hysteria about Lost, but I feel like, in retrospect, going through that whole experience taught me a lot about how people and communities interpret and experience a variety of texts.

(I feel like it's in keeping with my writing persona to include something vaguely pretentious and slightly political here, so please imagine a section that links Lostmania to Brian Stock's book The Implications of Literacy and the modern QAnon phenomenon.)

I'm also so, so grateful for the friendships I've made along the way, with a particular shout-out to Sunbunny (we will see a movie as soon as it's safe!) and Billie, who has been there for me during some very tough times.


Juliette: I am so tired and confused these days that I literally can't remember when or how I first discovered Doux Reviews!

I feel like it was probably around when I started my Pop Classics blog back in 2009 (rarely updated these days and in dire need of some love from me). I might have been looking for images to use on my own posts and found a review. Or I might have been looking for reviews of older episodes of Buffy. I'm genuinely not sure. All I know is, I loved it, I started reading and commenting, and eventually signed up to be a writer!

I've loved being part of the site for the last decade or so (I did a review in 2012 but not 2011, so ten years it is!). My end of year reviews are actually some of my favourite posts to write, I love getting a chance to do an annual reflection on the pop culture I've loved that year. Remembering favourite films and TV shows also means remembering where you watched them, and who you watched them with, and who you talked about them with - it brings back all sorts of memories from that snapshot of a moment in your life. So I love this little record I have of that last ten years, all thanks to Doux Reviews!

Life has intervened over the past few years and I haven't been able to keep up with much writing, but I'm hanging on in there. And of course, I have Billie to thank for the Lost Summer of 2014, when I watched nine seasons of Supernatural in two months and loved every minute of it! Always check out any show Billie recommends. She has excellent taste. 🙂 And I have got so much out of my Supernatural fandom since then, including numerous online articles and an academic article, not to mention enjoying guests at conventions, buying a random coaster with a picture of Sam and Dean burying a body, using the show as inspiration for motels to stay at on a US road trip, and so much more! So thank you Billie, from the bottom of my heart. 🙂


Mikey Heinrich: I first started reading Billie's reviews of Buffy through TVTome back in the very early 2000s. And man, I haven't thought about that site in years. I just lurked at the time. Then, when Angel ended and Bones began, I sent Billie what was basically a fanletter asking if she was going to be reviewing Bones. Her exact response was 'No, I really only like David Boreanez when he's biting people,' which is just an epic response and I cherish it to this day.

Then, a couple years later I sent her an email about Lost in which I put forth a few theories that ultimately proved to be completely incorrect. Now, keep in mind that through this time I suspect Billie knew me entirely as 'that gay firefighter from Minnesota,' because I opened every communication with 'I don't know if you remember me, I'm that gay firefighter in Minnesota.' I still stand by this as a vehicle to remind people who I am if we haven't talked very often on the principle that it's statistically unlikely that they've met more than one of those. I may be wrong on that assumption.

Anyway, she sent me a very nice email back about my Lost theories, and then I resumed lurking on the review site for the next several years, occasionally commenting on Lost or Supernatural. Later on I became a big fan of Arrow, and a bigger fan of Flash, so I was super excited for Legends of Tomorrow to begin. I mostly enjoyed the first season, was enjoying the second season even more, and then saw a note at the end of a Legends of Tomorrow review that the site was looking for someone to take over reviewing the show. I thought about it for a couple of days (I had four jobs at the time, and wasn't sure if I had time to do anything else) and finally reached out to apply for the post. And the rest is history. Sometimes the future, but mostly history.

The thing that makes me happiest that we've ever done is that time we all shared pictures of our pets and began a low key 'cat people v. dog people' rumble.

Still team Dog People, for anyone interested. :)


An Honest Fangirl: I found the site sometime in mid 2010, which I remember solely because I was reading the Doctor Who reviews for Matt Smith’s first season, and “Vampires in Venice” was posted a few days before the episode aired on BBC America and I read it anyways. That was not how I found the site though. I found it because of Supernatural, specifically the episode “Monster at the End of this Book.”

I was home sick from school (if my math is right, it must have been the end of 8th grade) and I was channel surfing, bored out of my mind with daytime TV, only to suddenly see a guy stick his head in the microwave and fry it. Needless to say, that got my attention, even though I was very confused about the overall story. The next episode played, which kind of helped the whole confusion thing but not really. But the two lead characters were played by very pretty people and I saw that the first episode would air the next day, so I decided to hit record and watch it tomorrow. And I did, and I became obsessed because it’s Supernatural, and in 2010 it was far less daunting to binge.

Anyways, “Monster at the End of this Book” was really my introduction to modern, online fandom. I had known that fandom was a thing, but I had thought that it was just something that you shared with people that you already knew in person. I had no idea that there were online communities for it. Or that apparently I had been writing fanfic in my head for my entire life, so I can also attribute/blame my current career in writing and video game development to being home sick and seeing a shocking scene of violence on TV when I was probably a bit too young. (Which really just explains so much about me as a person.)

Long story short (too late), that introduction to the idea of internet fandom made me look up Supernatural reviews, which led me to the site. And then when I got really into Doctor Who when Matt Smith came along, I looked up Doctor Who reviews and found the site again. And from there, I basically just never stopped visiting the site. Only ever lurked. Never commented. Fast forward seven years, and I had also started what was essentially a Doux Reviews knock off blog that admittedly did focus a lot more on horror movies and video games, although I did review some shows.

One of those shows was the absolute insane experience that was Legion, which Josie also covered here for the first season. I loved writing my review and then reading hers and seeing the differences and similarities. And I made like a two sentence comment on one of the later episodes because I had had a different interpretation of what was happening. I was right and Josie had mentioned that in the review for the next episode, and that kind of opened the flood gates and I continued to comment. And at the end of the season, Billie also left a very nice comment and linked back to one of my own reviews and that genuinely made my week.

A few weeks after that, I noticed that they were looking for reviewers for Lucifer, which was another show that I was covering, so I sent an email, and the rest is history.

Favorite reviews would have to be:

Josie’s Legion reviews, if only because of what they led to. (And also they’re excellent reviews in their own right.)

My reviews when I got annoyed at the whole Pierce thing during Lucifer’s third season. Okay, Lucifer’s season three in general just because the comments were great, but specifically the episodes where I got annoyed because they were very cathartic to write.

The Star Trek Animated Series episode where we did the Q&A bit, because that is the funniest I have ever been and will ever be again.


Fangirl: ...I did not mean for that to get that long. Whoops.

Billie: Fangirl, I think of what we do as strictly for us. It's not too long.

I have been loving this thread more than I can say. I didn't know a lot of this stuff.

Sunbunny: I didn’t realize so many of us have been here so long as readers if not writers. What a great community we have.

Mikey: I, too, retain a great fondness for the Q&A bit in the Star Trek: The Animated Series. You were very, very funny. I also regularly laugh at Joseph chiming in to note that The Devil's Abs would be a great name for a gay bar, and that that would be his only contribution to the discussion. :)

Lamounier: I was looking for Alias reviews back in 2005 and stumbled on an Alias fansite that had all of Billie's reviews. I think there was a link to billiedoux.com at the bottom of the review of the fourth season's final episode, "Before the Blood," and I absolutely loved the site. It had reviews for TV shows that I either loved or enjoyed watching when I was younger, such as Buffy, Angel and La Femme Nikita. In fact, I'd say Doux Reviews is directly responsible for reigniting my obsession with Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

I became a faithful reader and eventually posted comments anonymously until one day I decided to post using my google account. Like sunbunny, I was a bit scared, but all went well. After a while, I noticed that only mean comments were fed to the cats, which is one of the reasons I love this blog. Not only is it a place where we write and discuss as fans, but we do it politely and respecting each other's points of views. Considering the amount of hate there is on the internet, that's a pretty awesome feat.

My memory is terrible, so I don't know which post is my favorite in general. I love collaborations, so I'm loving these weekly posts. And I really like the piece I wrote with Victoria about binge watching. Big congrats to Billie for giving life to such a great community, and to everyone for reaching such an impressive milestone.


Joseph Santini: I joined in 2014 I think after reaching out to Billie. I’d been reading for a while too. So many posts here had been good for me to read and helped me cope through a lot of difficult times that I wanted to do some writing and see if I could do the same for someone else. Like many here Buffy reviews got me going – but my work on The Flash, Deep Space Nine and so many other shows kept me going, and I learned an incredible amount about writing from the other folks on the site.

I’ve also appreciated the opportunities that have come up to talk about media, captioning, accessibility, and honest, contextualized portrayals of Deaf people and Deaf communities, like I did in my review of The Eternals and This Close and more. Not to mention classic portrayals like Howie Seago in The Next Generation – I had so much fun making gifs for that to give a sense of the artistry in his American Sign Language.

I love the sense of humor and the diversity and inclusion in this group too. As a queer writer it means a lot to me to be able to comment about the Devil’s Abs and know I’m going to get giggles.

My favorite piece on the site is likely Billie’s Rules, which arguably determine most of the things we experience and should be deified somehow. Thanks Billie for herding us together and keeping the circus funny and animal-friendly!


Samantha Quinn: So here is my take.

A long time ago, my mother started to obsessively write reviews of a show you might know called Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I thought she was great, and I always wanted to write too but I had my own journey to get to that point. She went on to found the website Billiedoux.com, and eventually I started to write there under the pseudonym Daniel Halloran. Yes, I'm that Dan. When we changed over to Doux Reviews, I changed my pen name to J.D. Balthazar, sticking primarily to movie reviews. Eventually I took on Arrow, and kept with it for five years.

Five years ago, I realized something major about myself. I'm Trans. So, I began to transition, and have since come out as Samantha, ending my review of the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Outcast" with my official coming out message in a comment. It has been an honor to work with my mother and all of our talented writers over the years. So yes, I didn't come to this site as a fan, but that doesn't mean I'm not a fan of the site.

Addendum. My favorite personal post was my review of the Farscape episode "Beware of Dog," which was inspired by a behind-the-scenes interview with Ben Browder who referred to the creature in the episode as the Tandoori Chicken.

However, my favorite is Josie's review of the Fringe episode "Brown Betty," which made me realize format and creativity were not mutually exclusive in a review.


Billie: And wow.

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this has turned into one of my favorite posts, an unexpectedly emotional stroll down memory lane. I didn't know a lot of this stuff. I'm so fortunate to know every one of you, as well as all of the writers who have left us.

This site is a big part of my life, my main hobby as well as my legacy. I've written thousands of reviews. I read every single review that goes up, often more than once, even for shows I'm not watching. And I read (and sometimes have to moderate) every comment. I have too many favorite posts to list. And as has already been mentioned, I enjoy our discussion posts most of all. Okay, I do have something of a favorite post. It's Josie's review, as Sam T. Cat, of an Under the Dome episode called "Manhunt." It makes me laugh every time I read it.

Thank you, STWTTF, for being my first audience. Thank you, Samantha, for your support of my writing from the very start. And thank you to every single reader who has ever stopped by. I hope some of you will post a comment about how you found us and how long you've hung out here.

17 comments:

  1. Missed the cutoff for the post, but I discovered Douxreviews from my Dad, who's a regular reader for reviews of shows he likes. I think I might've started reading along when we were watching through Lost as a family. I know there was a period of time where we went through Lost and Alias and Person of Interest all in a row, and I can't remember which one was first and which one I started reading during. It was Star Trek that initially drew me to writing for the site, as Star Trek often tends to draw me to things. I believe it was Enterprise that I initially agreed to write about, and I know my 'audition' review was for a TNG episode called 'Suspicions', but the first one that went up on the site was the premiere of Enterprise. I think my favorite post I've written is probably my eulogy for Stan Lee when he passed a while back, but the most fun I've ever had writing for the site was the Exquisite Corpse Hamilton review Mikey coordinated. The frequency of my participation has waxed and waned over the years as I've been more or less busy, but this site and the people here will always have a special place in my heart.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lamounier, thanks for reminding me of our joint piece on to binge or not to binge! That was fun, and I still have the same habits as before. For example, the Strange New Worlds Star Trek sounds great, but I want to wait until I can watch a whole bunch at once. I guess we are who we are.

    ReplyDelete
  3. That bit about Chuck is pretty damning, lol >_> I started and enjoyed the first season of the show and while I noticed it didn't have any reviews here until mid season 2, I didn't notice until Josie said she dropped it except for the series finale that there's more ahead missing too. But I'll see if that puts me off continuing the show. I'm sure I'll return for at least another season or 2, for Baldwin and Strahovski at least.

    As for the post topic, I can't remember sadly. Damn I really wish I knew what that special first show and its reviews were that put this site on the map, and not just coincidences when I blindly search for specific show reviews that my dedicated critics haven't written on and this page comes up in Google. Can't even say for how long I've known this place for. But it's been very, very long I'm sure if you count the breaks I took from just not remembering this place. Oh well.

    I love that people have their own favourite reviews

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love this post!! I found you so many years ago through Buffy, which has remained my first love. Every time I rewatch it, I reread the reviews and all the comments for each episode. I actually use this site to decide on my viewing schedule these days - if I'm looking for a new show to binge watch I look to see what's been reviewed on here. Reading a Doux Review after each episode massively enhances my enjoyment of a show.

    It's kind of spooky that I read this post today, because I've been toying with trying to write my own review to send to you guys for a while. I'd love to finish covering The Expanse and also do episode reviews of The Boys. Tonight I finally seized the moment, rewatched season 3 episode 1 of The Boys (which is diabolically awesome, by the way) and wrote 6 pages of notes, which I will attempt to type up and send to you sometime in the next week or so. It might be utter drivel but I thought I'd give it a go and see what I can come up with! And now I've read this, I see that a lot of you started writing here the same way. Cool!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love this post and this site so much!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Beth, I'm looking forward to reading it.

    I must confess that I sometimes read comments and think, I wish they'd apply and write for the site. But I don't say so because I don't want to pressure anyone.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Reading these stories has been so heartwarming.

    CormanDeo, I can't believe it! You're second-generation Doux. :-)

    Samantha, you're second-generation Doux in a different way, since you were in on the ground floor. Saving people, reviewing things. It's the family business.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love this so much! New favorite comment... ever!

      Delete
    2. That riff on the SPN quote may not be original to me. Either Billie or I have definitely made that joke before in one of our ongoing email threads.

      But I actually can't remember if it was me or not.

      Delete
  8. I've been reading reviews from this site since at least the mid 2000's. Kind of crazy to think about. Buffy was the first show I really fell in love with, and then I became a giant Lost fan during its first season. I looked for reviews online, found this site and discovered that there were reviews for both Buffy and Lost (and Angel, too). And I loved them.

    So I just never left, especially because this site covers so many of the other shows I watched and loved since, from Six Feet Under to Veronica Mars to Battlestar Galactica. When I watch a new show, I always check if you guys are reviewing it first. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Been mostly lurking, occasionally commenting since 2009 when Josie Kafka's Fringe reviews posted on another site called Fringe Television led me here. Never left. Best bookmark I ever made. So thanks, JK!

    I've had show obsessions before (Star Trek, Twin Peaks, X-Files, Firefly, the Lost rabbit hole) but Fringe was my first internet enabled obsession. Many more followed. So thanks site!

    I remember ChrisB's great early Outlander reviews, and now we have our very own Encyclopedia Outlander, BD, to enjoy. So thank you both!

    sunbunny's Orphan Black Season One reviews where she tried to get everybody to watch. It worked. So thanks sunbunny!

    Mark Greig's awesome and way too intermittant "5 Things" articles. Thanks Mark!

    The Person Of Interest reviews. Thanks 2 sunbunny!
    Mikey's American Gods Reviews. Thanks MH!
    Westworld. Thanks Josie and Logan Cox!
    Mr. Robot. Thanks 2 Logan!
    All of the Trek reviewers. Thanks!

    Echoing Joseph Santini's praise of "Billie's 10 Rules". Required reading folks. I especially love all the Rule 11's posted in what must be the longest comment thread on this site. So thanks all you commenters!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I found Billie in the eartly 2000's. It was Buffy that brought me in. I still come back and read old Buffy reviews when I re-watch the show now and then.
    There has been many TV shows that I have followed through this site over the years. There is one that I think about a lot and I think I need a re-watch - Travelers.

    Thank you Billie and crew for all the wonderful reviews over the years. I can't believe it has been around 20 years!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Congratulations, Billie! -And all the writers who have contributed over the years! I love coming here to read a review after watching a show, as I just did for ST:SNW. It definitely enhances the experience. I guess you could say I've been reading reviews from the beginning. Fortunately, a friend of mine sent me recorded episodes of Buffy on VHS tapes after my cable company dropped the channel airing them towards the end of its run, so I was able to keep up with the reviews, which I looked forward to after my mini-binges. Who knew streaming would be a thing? :) I'm definitely not surprised at the growth of the site or the continuing quality of reviews and friendly and welcoming space for readers. That is most definitely a reflection of its founder!

    ReplyDelete
  12. (Long time (2014) regular reader, potentially first time commenter). Oh goodness, well, I found Doux sometime early in season 2 of Sleepy Hollow, which nobody I knew was watching or had any interest in. While combing through the site, I found ongoing reviews for Hannibal and Orphan Black, both new shows I had been following since premiere night, also with nobody I could discuss them with (and easily the shows I've put the most effort into bringing in new converts for). I fell very quickly in love with the thoughtfulness of the writers, the easily navigable and visually pleasing site, and the fact that most of my favorite shows were being reviewed! (And to this day, Doux Reviews is the first place I go when I start a new series, just in case). A comfy little corner of the internet occupied by like-minded spirits, watching and analyzing and discussing quality entertainment: why go elsewhere? There isn't another quite like it, and each of you has become something of a friend and something of a celebrity rolled into one (not to mention sources of impeccable TV recommendations) without having ever said a word to me. I thank you all for all you do, and congrats on the fantastic milestone!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Is there a general posting/discussion space on the site? It's become a kind of an online home for me after Enjin went poof. We used to use Enjin mostly for MMOs and RP outside of MMOs, but everyone is using Discord for stuff like that now, and I miss some of those discussions!

    Also, is there a spot to discuss classic movies, especially classic horror? I just watched House of Usher (1960), House of the Long Shadows, and Frankenstein meets the Wolfman among others, and it would be fun to discuss them!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Morella, probably the best place to talk about what you're watching is the latest "This Week." I always post the link under Articles and Features, in the right hand panel.

      Delete

We love comments! We moderate because of spam and trolls, but don't let that stop you! It’s never too late to comment on an old show, but please don’t spoil future episodes for newbies.