TV Guide: The Top 30 Cult TV Shows Ever

POSTED BY: cljohnston108
UPDATED: Tuesday, July 10, 2007 00:47
VIEWED: 8803
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CLJOHNSTON108

Saturday, June 30, 2007 12:27 AM

Saw this posted on SF Signal, and I really liked the commentary and discussion...

SF Signal: TV Guide: The Top 30 Cult TV Shows Ever
http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/005280.html

Joss made the list twice!

The article also asks: "Did the big-screen Serenity help or hinder Firefly's under-the-radar cachet?"

TV Guide Names the Top Cult Shows Ever - Celebrity and Entertainment News | TVGuide.com
http://www.tvguide.com/news/top-cult-shows/070629-01

*Denotes newcomer to the list

30) Strangers with Candy (1999-2000)*
29) Absolutely Fabulous (1994-2003)
28) Stargate SG-1 (1997-2007)*
27) H.R. Pufnstuf (1969-1971)
26) Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1975-1978)
25) Firefly (2002-2003)*
24) Twin Peaks (1990-1991)
23) Dark Shadows (1966-1971)
22) Doctor Who (1963-present)
21) Freaks and Geeks (1999-2000)

20) The Avengers (1966-1969)
19) Quantum Leap (1989-1993)
18) Veronica Mars (2004-2007)*
17) Beauty and the Beast (1987-1990)
16) Babylon 5 (1994-1998)
15) Family Guy (1999-present)
14) Battlestar Galactica (2003-present)*
13) Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1989-1999)
12) Pee-Wee's Playhouse (1986-1991)
11) Jericho (2006-present)*

10) Xena: Warrior Princess (1995-2001)
9) Twilight Zone (1959-1964)
8) The Simpsons (1989-present)
7) The Prisoner (1967-1968)
6) Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969-1974)
5) Lost (2004-present)*
4) Farscape (1999-2003)
3) Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)
2) The X-Files (1993-2002)
1) Star Trek (1966-1969)

________________________

"Spry for a dead fella!"

FREEBAGEL

Saturday, June 30, 2007 1:17 AM

Most of my favorite shows are on this list, including Firefly, B5, BSG, Jericho, and Lost.

As a fan of all five, I would put none of the latter three ahead of Firefly and B5, yet they all appear higher on the list seemingly just because they were more popular, which shouldn't be how this works..

DRU

Saturday, June 30, 2007 3:21 AM

I would have kept Forever Knight on the list..

MARYLOU

Saturday, June 30, 2007 3:24 PM

Methinks Jericho gets cult status merely because of the NUTS thing...and if that's not a small, devoted fanbase, what is?
(And, I don't know particularly why, I LOVE that show, even though I came into it post-nuts...it's like Lost, somehow, without the smoke monsters...)

Lost, although I love it, does not belong on this list. I believe that yes, too much widespread popularity (in the news and popular media, especially) disqualifies it. In my opinion, if everyone is talking about last night's episode around the water cooler (or school hallway) the next morning, it's not cult.
The same can go for The Simpsons (yay!!) and Family Guy (eeewww), too, though not to the same degree...even though, I confess, I know very little of their fanbases.

I'm not sure about Doctor Who...I LOVE the new series, but I understand that it's quite popular in Britain, so does that make it go the same way as Lost? Can a show be cult in one country, but not in another?

Oh, yeah. And Firefly is love, obviously. :D

- \\// Mary Lou

IRISHWASH

Sunday, July 1, 2007 6:19 PM

good list, nearly all my favourite shows are there including,
buffy, firefly, farscape, SG-1 and the absolutely brilliant doctor who and it deserves to be on this list, but will agree with lost and the simpsons as being to mainstream

irishwash

LEXAN

Monday, July 2, 2007 12:35 AM

The Prisoner shouldn't be #7...It should be #6.

CLJOHNSTON108

Monday, July 2, 2007 1:01 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Lexan:
The Prisoner shouldn't be #7...It should be #6.

Hehe, yeah!

Of course, I thought numbering the Crybaby #6 was a nod to The Prisoner.

LEXAN

Wednesday, July 4, 2007 4:53 AM

Arrested Development should probably also be there...

ANOBJECTINSPACE

Wednesday, July 4, 2007 11:45 AM

Quote:
I'm not sure about Doctor Who...I LOVE the new series, but I understand that it's quite popular in Britain, so does that make it go the same way as Lost? Can a show be cult in one country, but not in another?

Dr. Who should still have cult status. Even though they don't really distinguish the new revived version to the old one the Cultiness of the old one should be able to keep it up and alive in the cult catagory.

I think B5 should be up a lot higher. It was the defining series for an enclosed series. In that the creator wanted his five seasons to tell a story and he got it and his story out.

4) Farscape (1999-2003)
3) Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)
2) The X-Files (1993-2002)
1) Star Trek (1966-1969)

The Top four makes me orgasm. It is brilliant and I would agree with it whoel heartedly. They get Kudos for that.

I think though, The Simpsons, Lost, Jericho and the New BSG don't really deserve to be there. The Simpsons and Lost are too mainstream and have been for a long while. Jehricho, despite the nuts campaign, and the new BSG just don't have that cult TV show feeling to them.

Finally, OMG I can;t believe they put AbFab on there. That is brilliant!

.....
"It's just an Object"
[IMG]

[/IMG]

THEHOPGOBLIN

Thursday, July 5, 2007 7:29 PM

Erm. Am I the only one who remember's Space: Above and Beyond? The first Fox-downed sci-fi show that had a big following? Its only been 10-12 years :( . It should be up there more than some of those. Twin Peaks? C'mon - the following stopped after about 1-2 years.

Is the cult-statis simply the popularity at the time and shortly thereafter, or popularity still today?

Strangers with Candy?? Pee-Wee's playhouse??? Freaks and Geeks????
Some of these seriously need to be reconsidered.

When the hell did Pee-Wee's play house get a bunch of 'brown-coat'-like folks together to beg, plead, petition to get the show back on air?

Me = Very not happy with the position of Firefly and Space, or BSG for that matter.

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