Posted by kat on June 07, 2004 at 01:38:13:
In Reply to: ANALysis posted by PS on June 05, 2004 at 03:44:52:
: : In this weeks issue of TVGuide there was a list of the 25 top cult shows ever! Of course at the top was Star Trek (yea!) my personal fav. Other personal choices on the list; The X-Files, Buffy, The Twilight Zone, Pee Wee's Playhouse, Mystery Science Theatre 3000, Beauty and the Beast, Quantum Leap, Twin Peaks, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, H.R. Puffnstuff, and Forever Knight. Missing from this list is Red Dwarf. There are many shows I didn't mention either because I never watched them or I don't consider them a cult show. The one that jumped out at me was the Simpson's. This show (in my opinion) is way too popular to be a cult show, it's more of a phenomenon. They also had two shows listed as cults in waiting, one was Alias, the other (that's right) Stargate SG-1. So welcome to the cult Steve!
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: TV Guide's definition of cult is obviously not constrained by the degree of popularity, major network, or broadcast time, or they wouldn't have included Star Trek and X-Files, both hugely popular, both network prime-time, both lasting for many years. About Stargate... TV Guide itself listed Stargate as THE most popular Sci-Fi series to date in an issue a few months ago. Now if Stargate is "in waiting" after seven years, apparently the show needs to get MORE popular still or gain more longevity to be an official "cult". So it seems popularity certainly cannot be a restriction, rather, it must be a requirement. What is more confusing is how a recent favorite prime-time show like Alias can be "in waiting" to be a "cult" show. I don't get it. Did TV Guide explain their criteria for being a "top cult show"?
: Love,
: The ANALytical guy that has to figure out everything
I understand this list is arbitrary and subjective, so here's what TVGuide said exactly!
"Sure, everybody loves Raymond. But will they someday don flannel shirts and call themselves Raymies? See, some shows generate more than mere viewership, more than watercooler chat, more than big ratings. These are the types of shows that turn normal human beings into freaks who speak Romulan or hipsters who suddenly pepper every conversation with "Sweetie daaarling" or "The truth is out there."
We speak of cult shows, series so unusual they inspire what can only be called worship. The faithful collect everything from action figures to yellowing scripts. They attend conventions in fangs or blue skin.
After much debate (was Beverly Hills 90210 a cult hit or just popular?), TVGuide arrived at the 25 best shows ever. And sorry, 90210. Merely popular."
With that I will give you the list in it's entirety:
25: Freaks and Geeks(1999-2000) - Cult-ability: A DVD set contains commentary from obsessive fans, and a book of the shows scripts coming soon. (personal note: whatever)
24: Absolutely Fabulous(1994-present) - Cult-ability: Sweetie Daaarling, in the 90's, AbFab was to fashionistas and gay men what plaid shirts were to grunge bands. (personal note: most people haven't heard of it and look how long it's run, on PBS even.I'll give them this one)
23: Forever Knight(1992-1996) - Cult-ability: Sensitive nosferatu were nothing new but fans of Forever Knight were drawn to the show's dark edge. And the cult is growing; when Wyn Davies performed King Lear with Christopher Plummer in New York City recently, the audience was packed with Knighties. "The show is better-known now than when it was on the air."says the star.
22: H R Puffnstuff(1969-1971) - Cult-ability:Fans pay as much as $2,400 for an original lunch box. Co-creator Marty Krofft says a "big star" is interested in a movie version.
21: Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman(1975-1978) - Cult-ability:Costar Martin Mull says MH2(as fans called it) wasn't "tailored to one-size-fits-all. Certain people just don't get it. Too bad. Others still miss it. (personal note: you know what, that's not enough evidence for me)
20: Twin Peaks(1990-1991) - Cult-ability:Thirteen years after a nation learned who killed Laura Palmer, die-hard fans Peakers attend an annual Seattle-area festival, taking turns being wrapped in plastic. (personal note: how weird - definately cult behavior)
19: Dark Shadows(1966-1971) - cult-ability: Stephen King and Anne Rice are high profile fans, members of a Dark Shadows DVD club aim to collect all 1,225 episodes, annual conventions have been around since 1983, and now WB is planning a new primetime version.
18: Doctor Who(1963-present) - Cult-ablility: Younger stateside viewers might wonder, "Doctor Who cares?," but DrW's lasting power has to BBC gearing up a new round of episodes. (Who can argue with the Doctor?)
17: The Avengers(1966-1969) - Cult-ability:BBC America will air Rigg's final season this summer. Says Macnee:"It was the best of it's kind-ever."
16: My So-Called Life(1994-1995) - Cult-ability: The series was quickly grounded by ABC but resurfaced in reruns on MTV and now the Noggin channel. Even teens in Croatia are currently watching and feeling Angela's pain. (Is this how the US is helping the Croatian people? I feel THEIR pain. Sorry Bill, I know you like this one.)
15: Quantum Leap(1989-1993) - Cult-ability: Unwilling to let Leap go, die-hard fans still take to the Internet to post everything form poems and music-video tributes to virtual "new" episodes of the TV series. (Scott Bakula was a much better time-traveling, body borrowing, scientist than a enterprising captain any day of the week. Great show.)
14: Beauty and the Beast(1987-1990) - Cult-ability: Spiritually inclined fans, or "Beasties," hold an annual convention to raise money for charity, light candles and "remember and renew" (definately cultish - but for a good cause)
13: Babylon 5(1994-1998) - Cult-ability: A Babylon 5 feature film is reportedly under discussion, and the series star Bruce Boxleitner srill gets invited to conventions around the world. "I go and see dozens of people dressed like me" he says. And (unlike my sons) not too many boys have fathers with two different sets of action figures."
12: Family Guy(1999-2002) - Cult-ability: Family Guy was 2003's top-selling TV show on DVD. so now Cartoon Network has ordered new episodes of the old Fox show. ( it wouldn't be the first time fox dropped the ball on a perfectly good thing- but cult? I don't know about that)
11: Mystery Science Theatre 3000 - Cult-ability: Mike Nelson writer and star (replacing creator Joel Hodgson), recently addressed a college audience. " There was nobody over 25.I had to ask, 'Where are you seeing this show? I we must have some sort of timeless quality."
10: Pee-Wee's Playhouse(1986-1991) - Cult-ability: CBS Yanked the series after Ruebens' arrest at a Florida adult movie house in 1991. But ardent fans(some Ruebens says, bearing Pee-wee tattoos) swap collectibles and await the arrival of Playhouse on DVD. Friends keep Ruebens updated on the going price of Pee-weeana. " My friends are better than stock tickers"
9: Xena: Warrior Princess(1995-2001) - Cult-ability: Xena did for lesbians what AbFab did for gay men: prompted many a viewing night at the local watering hole. How devoted are the fans, lovingly nicknamed "nutballs" by Lawless? Next year's annual convention is nearly sold out. (It wouldn't be the first time a star made fun of their "nutball" fans. See: William Shatner's infamous SNL sketch with the statement, "Get a Life!" directed at Trekkies)
8: The Twilight Zone(1959-1964)- Cult-ability:Sci-fi Channel's annual Twilight Zone New Year's Day marathon averaged 800,000 viewers this year - not bad for a show that's been in constant reruns for four decades. for hardcore fans, a second annualconvention is set for Los Angeles this summer; while a Twilight Zone script signed by Serling was up for auction on eBay with a starting bid of $1,000....(There's more but why bother, this is a dead horse)
7: The Prisoner(1967-1968) - Cult-ability: Fans still puzzle over this weird enigmatic drama, a Kafkaesque allegory about the individuals struggle in the modern age. The series 17 episodes which return this summer on BBC America are the subject of at least a dozen books and a quarterly fan magazine. "Just as 1984 will continue to resonate, so will The Prisoner, " says BBC America executive David Bernath. It's 'compel-ivision'" How Orwellian.
6: The Simpsons(1989-present) - Cult-ability: "People see themselves in those characters, " says singer Tom Jones who lent his voice to an episode. Let us repeat: Tom Jones. If such casting is not cult worthy, what is? The comedy has sold more than five million DVD's inspired more than 5,000 products (including asthma inhalers and Chia Pets) and has made Bart's weekly chalkboard messages the most deciphered scribbling since the Rosetta stone. (Cowabunga dude!)
5: Monty Python's Flying Circus(1969-1974) - Cult-ability:We'll lay odds that to this day, every college dorm has on Pythonite who can recite the "Dead Parrot" routine verbatim. Such devotion has spawned an empire of books, records, movies and- get ready- a possible stage musical, "Spamalot" from trouper Eric Idle.
4: Farscape(1999-2003) - Cult-ability: The star-crossed romance between Crichton and alien hottie Aeryn Sun (Claudia Black) that anchored the wildly imaginative space opera proved that sex and science fiction were not mutually exclusive. Outraged when SciFi Channel canceled the series, hundreds of female 'Scapers' mailed in their bras to demonstrate support. (personal note: I'm sure no pun was intended here) Some of them even paid for a TV commercial. The fan campaign helped producers find the money to revive Farscape as a Sci Fi miniseries to air this year: Why the fanaticism? " Farscape is about people and relationships" Browder says, " All the weirdness is set dressing" (Is it just me or does this whole fan campaign thing sound implausible-even fishy?)
3: Buffy The Vampire Slayer(1997-2003) - Cult-ability Aside form the Web sites and conventions the show inspired college courses and professional essays. Our favorite "Buffy in the Buff: A Slayer's Solution to Aristotle's Love Paradox" (I Loved Buffy)
2: The X-Files(1993-2002)- Cult-ability: The series spawned a feature film(maybe more to come), a catch phrase("The truth is out there"), at least 40 official books, 80 comics, three video games and inumerable Web sites.
1: Star Trek(1966-1969) - Cult-ability: The series(and it's spin-offs)all but created fan obsession, conventions and an enduring link between science fiction and geekdom that has given countless outsiders the will to get out of bed every day for 38. (ouch!) George Takei, who played Sulu, says he could appear at a convention somewhere in the world every weekend. Even the U. S. government joined the cult, naming the first space shuttle the Enterprise after Trek's spacecraft. "[the cast] was invited to rollout," recalls Takei. "The Marine Band started playing the Star Trek theme. We had become part of the space program."
Well there you go, in my opinion, after very little analysis and based almost entirely on my intuition, I conclude that the first TV cult (Star Trek) was a unique phenomenon. Most TV cults since seem to have a science fiction or occult element to the shows which makes them appealing to the types of people who would become obsessed. I also believe that great percentage of these shows are of good quality, in writing and casting, etc. I think there is money to be made here and I don't think it's any accident that many of the shows that are listed are already on DVD or to be released soon. The producers stand to make much money from obsessed fans, I suppose.
What makes a cult show is still very subjective, but one thing is clear -I am one of those obsessed fans.
-kat