kleinefee92 was asking me how I got into Merlin and I realize that at least one other person has asked me and since I like to talk about myself, I thought I'd tell the story.
Last December, I was browsing around on Hulu, looking for something new to watch when I found Merlin. I thought it has a good premise. I've always liked scifi/fantasy stuff, so I thought I'd give it a try. I found myself watching an ep a day. Previous to this, I was watching tv shows probably more like 3 times a week. I don't have a tv, so everything I watch is on the computer.
S2 had those great behind the scenes eps and I would watch an ep and then watch the commentary/behind the scenes stuff and that's when I realized there was all this subtle humor in the show (because the Brits don't have to hit you over the head with the humor), so I started enjoying it even more. Somewhere very early I fell in love with Colin Morgan because I realized that he was actually acting. His facial expressions are amazing. I love how much he conveys with his face and he's ruined most other actors for me because of it.
After watching the first two seasons, I held out for some pitiable amount of time before watching S3. I'm still waiting for the dvds to come out so I can own them. After watching all three seasons, I discovered that there was a Merlin fandom alive and well on LJ and I timidly dipped my toes in, just sort of watching from the sidelines until one day, I found myself writing fanfic. I'm pretty sure I'd posted some commentary on a few of the eps before I started writing fanfic, but I'll say that was defining moment for me. I had lurked in fandoms before, but never participated. I had never rewatched eps, or done analysis on the source material or written fic. I'm embarrassed to admit how many hours I've spent watching this show and thinking about it, but it makes me happy and it's soooo much fun!
So, that's how it happened for me. I've not been able to convince any of my RL friends to follow me into the same level of obsession with the show, but I have found someone else to watch with who is a lot of fun, so that is awesome. And I'm so pleased to have found Merlin while fandom is still active. I might have fallen into Firefly, but by the time I found it a couple years ago, there wasn't *that* much going on. I'll be curious to see what happens with Merlin. Seems like HP is still going strong. Maybe I'll find another fandom down the line, but for now, I'm a one show gal and Merlin is it for me (although if Colin goes to another show, I'm sure I'll watch it, just like I watch everything Nathan Fillion does too:)).
I think that should answer most of the questions about how it happened for me. If not, ask away!