By means of a qualitative analysis of Superfans, a five-part reality television series in which fans are followed in their daily activities, ranging from singing along at concerts to intimate camera confessions in a room dedicated to their idol, this article studies the representation of fandom in mainstream television and participants’ and TV-producers’ reflections upon it. Empirical content analysis and interviews reveal different aspects of fandom, as identified by Abercrombie and Longhurst, to dominate the representation: intense media use and fan productivity, strong hierarchical communities and a lack of critical interpretative skills. Fan–idol relationships are shown to be based on emotions and to go beyond mere identification to include parasocial relationships and neo-religiosity. Results thus confirm the theoretical paradox between the television industry’s promotion of celebrity to attract loyal audiences and the rejection of fandom through a carefully constructed representation hereof as ‘freaky business’.

Despite its seemingly ubiquitous nature today, the concept of fandom still eludes a singular unified definition, partly because how fandom is studied and who studies it vary almost as much as its manifestations. Most scholars agree that fandom is an emotional attachment to a person, activity, or media object that tends to inspire creative production and participation in communities of like‐minded fans. Popular and scholarly attention to fandom have evolved over time, with a focus ranging from pathological behavior to a modern form of hyper‐consumption. From a media psychology perspective, research has examined the positive and negative effects on knowledge, ideas, beliefs, and behaviors at both the individual and group level. Such research suggests fandom's positive impact on information seeking and decision making for health, purchasing, voting, tourism, support for a variety of social causes, and the effects of basking in reflected glory. Negative effects include abnormal behavior and pathology, such as negative body image, copycat behavior, stalking, and crowd hysterics. From a critical‐interpretative perspective, fandom is studied as a product and process of modern participatory culture, where fans produce and consume meanings, mediated communication, and texts about the objects of their fandom. Fandom implies an attempt by individuals to actively—at times subversively—create meaning in an increasingly mediated world where traditional resources for identity construction have diminished.