We all know Hypable is “For Fans, By Fans,” and “fans” have existed since the dawn of human civilization.

“OMG, is that the guy who created fire? I’m totally making fire from now on!”

“Did you hear that lute player in the town square yesterday singing about the epic battle of Troy? I’m going back tomorrow because I NEED to know how it ends!!”

“So Shakespeare’s, like, amazing, amirite?”

In the interest of brevity I’m not going to include things like Fire, The Odyssey, the works of William Shakespeare. I’m thinking more like the 1980s, 90s, and early 00s. Assuming most of us Hypable users are between the ages of 10 and 40, I thought it would be interesting to speculate what fandoms Hypable might have covered before it (and the internet as the engine of fandom that it is today) existed.

As someone born in the late 80s, and a human being in general, I do not claim to have a comprehensive knowledge of pop culture ever since the day I was born, especially from before I was born. I know what I watched and listened to as a kid, but that doesn’t mean everyone did, too, or that I wasn’t missing out on something because of age or personal taste.

The following list contains movies, TV shows, and musicians from the 80s, 90s, and 00s. I decided to omit books and video games. Books simply because of the sheer number of them, and also because it’s hard to compare today’s resurgence of YA fiction as fandom to popular literature of past decades that tended to be geared toward adults. Video games because I never had video games growing up and can only speculate as to what was and is popular. That being said, feel free to include books and video games and any other genre of fandom in the comments.

Ultimately, the most fun part about imagining what fandoms Hypable would have covered before it existed is the fact that many fandoms, or genres of fandom, have their roots in the last 50 years of pop culture. We all know Hypable would cover an artist like Michael Jackson or a movie franchise like Star Wars, but one great facet of fandom is the thrill of experiencing it from its inception and throughout its rise to acclaim and subsequent legend.

So let’s go back in time and imagine how awesome life would be if we could experience these “old” fandoms in full swing, and how awesome life would be if Hypable had existed that much sooner. =)

TV Shows:

– Alias – My favorite TV show EVER. No female super-spy can compare to Sydney Bristow in my heart.
– Heroes
– Buffy the Vampire Slayer – I’ve never seen it, but my sister was obsessed, and Joss Whedon is a god.
– Prison Break – Ok, TRUTH BOMB, I just marathoned this series in a week, and I can’t imagine Hypable wouldn’t be attracted to the conspiracy, romance, and moral ambiguity of Michael Scofield & Co.
– Avatar: The Last Airbender, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
– Friends, Will & Grace, Cheers, Seinfeld, Three’s Company
– Married…With Children, Roseanne – Family sitcoms at their weirdest and finest.
– Family Ties, Growing Pains, Family Matters, Boy Meets World, Full House – I learned everything I needed to know about growing up from Michael J. Fox, Tracey Gold, Steve Urkel, and Michelle Tanner. Everything about love and high school I learned from Cory, Topanga, and Mr. Feeny.
– Saved by the Bell, Beverly Hills 90210 – Teen angst: can’t live with it, can’t live without it.
– Power Rangers – Don’t try and deny it, you STILL love Power Rangers.
– Dallas – one of the original primetime soap operas.
– Fantasy Island – In retrospect I feel like this was probably an inappropriate show for me to be watching as a child.
– The Love Boat – Grey’s Anatomy on a boat.
– The A-Team, Dukes of Hazzard, Hawaii Five-0, Knight Rider, Magnum P.I., Miami Vice
– Star Trek – All series.

Movies:

– The Matrix
– Lord of the Rings
– The Fifth Element
– Clueless
– Star Wars – Might as well be a current fandom
– Ghostbusters
– Police Academy
– Back to the Future
– Die Hard
– Alien
– The Goonies – Sean Astin! Martha Plimpton! Joe Pantoliano! Josh Freakin’ Brolin!
– Scream
– Titanic? – I suspect the angst would be too hard to resist.
– Superman – All movies.
– Star Trek – All movies, even if they were terrible.
– Indiana Jones

Musicians:

– ‘N Sync, Backstreet Boys, New Kids on the Block, 98 Degrees, Hanson, Spice Girls
– Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey
– Michael Jackson
– Elton John
– Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson
– Madonna
– Jay-Z, Puff Daddy, Tupac Shakur
– Bruce Springsteen
– THE BEATLES – DUH.

What would YOU like to see on Hypable… in the past?