like cults, in a way

[hth]

TV Guide just revamped their list of top cult hits, which should be of interest to fandom, I think, since "cult hit" makes a giant overlapping Venn diagram with "fandom favorites."

I am sanguine about most of the list, except -- okay, come on. Obviously Jericho is riding high right now on its uncancellation, but -- ELEVENTH PLACE? More cult cred than MST3K, than Battlestar Galactica, than BABYLON 5 and DOCTOR WHO? Really, TV Guide? Really?? I find that...inexplicable.

Comments

[apetslife.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the link!

I have trouble believing that "The Simpsons" and "Lost" quite qualify as "cult," though...and that SGA, Roswell, and a couple of others were left off. *grin* And Jericho, seriously, I agree with you 100%.

[hth-the-first.livejournal.com]

I could see the rationale for including Simpsons and Lost -- they're probably, in a technical sense, too "big" to be "cult," but they draw to themselves that wonky cult-hit behavior, in-jokes and call-backs and rewarding obsessive stocking away of minute details. They're kind of like cult hits writ large.

SGA is, I think, more of a tiny blip on the cultural landscape than we like to think it is; I probably wouldn't have listed it, either. Roswell is probably worth considering. I think part of the mark of a cult hit is that even people who don't watch it go, "Oh, yeah, that show" when it's mentioned -- If I say Twin Peaks or Xena: Warrior Princess or The Avengers, it doesn't matter if you've never seen an episode, you probably have a certain image or impression of what it was, the premise and the style of it. I'm not sure Roswell means anything to a lot of people, much like Sentinel and Due South mean nothing to most people, much to my disappointment.

No Highlander, though? That I don't get.

[apetslife.livejournal.com]

Yeah, definitely, Highlander! I hear you on the Simpsons, too, I guess I hadn't really considered the injokiness, etc.

Roswell, though, if they're going to include Jericho for their write-in campaign, Roswell's kind of the one that started it all (with the sending of a jillion bottles of Tabasco sauce to the network and all), so that's why I threw that name out there...

Sigh. Due South. I wish it was on the list! It's my FAVORITE! *grin*

Agree

[lynnzo.livejournal.com]

I was equally surprised not to see Highlander on the list. And some of their listings, such as "Lost" may be currently culturally relevant, but will they be remembered 10 years from now? I think not.

[pocketmouse]

I love how they only list Original Trek.

And yeah, Simpsons? Maybe it used to be cultish. Not so lately.

[hth-the-first.livejournal.com]

They don't really specify, do they? I think it just says "Star Trek," which to me bundles all the Treks together as if it were one giant meta-show/cultural phenomenon. Which is sort of cheating...and also sort of entirely correct. The cheat I find slightly more troubling is packing the old and new BSG together, because I think they have a lot less ultimate cohesion than the various Treks do.

[pocketmouse]

It's got the dates listed under it for the Old Trek, doesn't it?

[hth-the-first.livejournal.com]

Hah, you're right! I didn't even notice that. Okay, I retract my statement: it's no longer a moderately clever and understandable cheat, it's now just stupid. I mean, certainly there's been a kind of diminishing return on cultural relevance over the various incarnations (even my *father,* who's been a Trekker since the original run, doesn't watch Enterprise), but at the *very* least, TNG should qualify. Maybe we can give it Mary Hartford, Mary Hartford's spot.