How
Cult
TV
Became
Mainstream




When
this
collection
was
in
development
I
sent
out
a
call
for
papers

containing
a
suggestive
list
of
possible
television
worthy
of
consideration.
One
series

on
that
original
list,
Grey’s
Anatomy
(ABC,
2005‐
),
the
popular

American
hospital
melodrama/chick
flick,
provoked
the
strong

objection
of
an
eventual
contributor
to
these
pages.
How
on
earth

could
I
suggest
Grey’s,
a
mainstream
entertainment
which,
beginning

in
the
Fall
of
2007
had
been
brazenly
positioned
by
its
network
to
go

up
against
ratings
champion
C.S.I.,
deserved
coverage
in
a
book
such

as
this?
Arguing
that
Grey’s
conformed
to
the
basic
cult
media
litmus

test,
established
by
Matt
Hills,
in
attracting
“passionate,
enduring,
and
socially

organized
fan
audiences,”
I
defended
my
position.
(The
reader
will
note
that
Grey’s

did
not
make
the
Essential
Cult
Television
Reader’s
final
cut.)

The
tiff
was
nevertheless
revealing
in
its
way
about
the
current
debate

st
regarding
cult
media,
including
television,
in
the
early
21 
century.
Cult
and

mainstream,
obscure
and
popular,
esoteric
and
exoteric—the
boundaries
have

blurred.
At
the
end
of
the
last
century
movie
studios
began
trying
to
harvest
the

genius
behind
increasingly
successful
independent
filmmaking
by
institutionalizing
it,

setting
up
their
own
in‐house
“independent”
nurseries.
In
a
less
noticed
but

comparable
development,
an
American
television
network
rolled
the
dice
on
a
new

series
co‐developed
by
that
most
cultish
of
directors
David
Lynch
(Eraserhead,
Blue

Velvet).
The
result
was
Twin
Peaks.
After
momentarily
capturing
the

public’s
almost
undivided
attention,
it
flamed
out
(see
David
Bianculli’s

essay
on
Twin
Peaks
in
this
volume),
but
the
precedent
had
nevertheless

been
set.
Individuals
with
cultish
sensibilities—Judd
Apatow
(Freaks
and

Geeks),
Chris
Carter
(The
X‐Files),
J.
J.
Abrams
(Alias,
Lost),
Joss
Whedon

(Buffy
the
Vampire
Slayer,
Angel,
Firefly),
Carlton
Cuse
(The
Adventures
of

Brisco
County,
Jr.,
Lost),
Eric
Kripke
(Supernatural),
Matt
Groening
(The
Simpsons),

Rob
Thomas
(Veronica
Mars),
Matt
Stone
and
Trey
Parker
(South
Park),
Bryan
Fuller

(Wonderfalls),
Jon
Stewart
and
Stephen
Colbert
(The
Daily
Show
and
The
Colbert

Report),
James
Manos,
Jr.
(Dexter),
Damon
Lindelof
(Lost),
Ronald
D.
Moore
and

David
Eick
(Battlestar
Galactica),
Tim
Kring
(Heroes),
Rockne
O’Bannon
(Farscape),

Jeremy
Dyson/Mark
Gatiss/Steve
Pemberton/Reece
Shearsmith
(League
of

Gentlemen),
Rob
Tapert
(Xena:
Warrior
Princess),
Joe
Ahearne
(Ultraviolet),
Russell

 The Collected Works of David Lavery 2

Davies
(Absolutely
Fabulous,
Doctor
Who,
Torchwood)—began
contributing
to

television
in
the
UK
and
the
US,
giving
us
much
of
the
essential
cult
television
this

book
seeks
to
comprehensively
cover.




Apatow
|
Carter
|
Kring




Kripke
|
Lindelof
and
Cuse
|
Whedon

The
Essential
Cult
Television
Reader
also
examines
a
good
number
of
older

“classic”
cult
programs,
created
and
originally
broadcast
before
cult
tv
had
become

quite
so
conscious:
The
Avengers,
Blake’s
7,
Dark
Shadows,
Miami
Vice,
Monty

Python’s
Flying
Circus,
Mystery
Science
Theater,
The
Prisoner,
Quantum
Leap,
Red

Dwarf,
Star
Trek,
Twilight
Zone,
as
well
as
a
number
of
more
recent
series/shows

which
have
come
to
be
considered
cultish
whether
they
intended
to
be
or
not.

No
doubt
every
reader
of
this
book
will
be
ready
to
contest
some
of
its

contents,
dubious
about
the
inclusion
of
this
specimen
or
that,
upset
that
a

particular
favorite
has
been
excluded.
That
is
as
it
should
be,
for
cult
television
will

always
be,
as
Steven
Peacock
deems
in
these
pages,
“notoriously
slippery.”
(Nota

bene:
readers
wishing
to
propose
additional
essays
on
other
cult
television
for

posting
on
an
ever‐expanding
ECTVR
website
are
encouraged
to
do
so.
Write

david.lavery@gmail.com.)
In
the
essays
to
follow
you
will
find
a
wide

variety
of
justifications
for
cult
membership.

The
Jones/Pearson
establishment
clause—“Cult
television’s

imaginary
universes
support
an
inexhaustible
range
of
narrative

possibilities,
inviting,
supporting
and
rewarding
close
textual
analysis,

 The Collected Works of David Lavery 3

interpretation,
and
inventive
reformulations”—is
often
cited
or
evoked
in
these

pages,
as
are
their
equally
important
observations
that:
cult
tv
has
evolved
into
“a

meta‐genre
that
caters
to
intense,
interpretive
audience
practices,”
affording
“fans

enormous
scope
for
further
interpretation,
speculation
and
invention.”

Not
surprisingly,
the
important
investigations
into
cult
media

of
Matt
Hills,
himself
a
contributor
to
this
book,
are
often

referenced,
especially
his
contention
that
cult
television
is

distinguished
by
its
“hyperdiegesis”:
”the
creation
of
a
vast
and

detailed
narrative
space,
only
a
fraction
of
which
is
ever
directly

seen
or
encountered
within
the
text
.
.
.”
(Fan
Cultures
137)
and
his

important
stance
that,
rather,
than
simply
“celebrating
cult
texts

for
their
supposed
uniqueness,”
we
should
focus
on
“analyzing
and
defining
cult
TV

as
a
part
of
broader
patterns
within
changing
TV
industries”
(“Defining
Cult
TV”
522).

We
should
also
note
that,
for
all
the
sophistication
of
the
debate
that
informs

these
pages,
what
we
might
call
the
common
sense
or
public
understanding
of
cult

television—that
it
is
most
readily
identifiable
by
“[t]he
fervency
of
a
program’s

audience
support,
the
degree
to
which
its
“language”
and
catchphrases
enter
its

audience’s
vocabulary,
fans’
determination
to
amass
collectibles
and
memorabilia,

and
conventions
at
which
likeminded
souls
can
congregate
and
share
their
passion”

(Robert
Holtzclaw,
recapitulating
TV
Guide,
in
his
essay
on
Mystery
Science
Theater

3000)—underpins
more
theoretical
considerations.

In
their
investigations
into
particular
cult
works,
the
authors
of
the
essays

offer
a
number
of
probing
questions.



 Is
it
possible
that
a
dip
in
a
show’s
quality
may
actually
enhance
its
cult

appeal?
(we’re
looking
at
you
24).

 What
obligation
do
the
makers
of
a
cult
series
have
to
answer
the
clamor

of
fans
for
more
involvement?

 Does
the
presence
of
a
star
with
cult
street
cred
or
a
cult
of
personality

guarantee
cult
status?

 What
is
the
relationship
of
camp
and
cult‐ivation?
Of
badness—what

Steven
Duckworth
calls
“the
sheer
crappiness
of
the
series
and
the

crappiness
it
attributes
to
the
universe”
in
his
essay
on
Blake's
7—and
cult

tv?

 What
are
the
specific
relations
between
genre
hybridity/genre
bending

 The Collected Works of David Lavery 4

and
cult
status?

 Does
“brilliant
but
cancelled”
status
(the
name
of
a
website
on
the

subject)
actually
enhance
culthood?

 Why
is
the
fantastic,
“left
of
real”
(J.
J.
Abrams’
term),
such
a
fertile

ground
for
television
cult
shows?

 How
does
the
strategic
use
of
the
cameo
amp
the
possibilities
of
cult?

 Is
it
possible
for
a
television
show
to
gain
cult
status
largely
through

nostalgia?

 Would
the
current
conversation
about
cult
television
have
transpired

without
the
validation
of
tv
on
DVD?

 Are
“B.Y.O
subtext”
shows
(Joss
Whedon’s
phrase)
ipso
facto
cult
shows?

 What
role
do
intertextuality,
metaxtextuality,
and
seriality
play
in
the

growth
of
cult
television?
Is
cult
tv
always
counter‐cultural?
(Is
the

reverse
true?)

 Has
SHOWTIME
consciously
positioned
itself
(against
its
“not
TV”
rival

HBO)
as
a
cult
tv
venue?

 Does
cult
television
exhibit
a
unique
approach
to
character
investment?

 Is
it
still
true
that
your
standard
issue
television
cult
work,
in
keeping

with
the
tradition,
“represents
a
disruptive
rather
than
a
conservative

force”
(Kawin)?

 How
does
cult
television
differ
from
cult
film?

 Do
cult
shows
by
their
very
nature
record
seismic
shifts
in
the
evolution
of

television
programming?

 How
will
the
emergence
of
multiple
platforms
for
television
programming

change
the
nature
of
cult
television?

 Are
there
narrative
forms
unique
to
cult
television
and
have
they

influenced
all
of
series
television?

 What
is
the
place
of
the
“conspiracy
theory”
in
fostering/sustaining
cult

tv?

 Are
the
traditional
youth
demographics
of
cult
television
changing?

 To
what
degree
has
cult
television
created
“transnational”
languages
and

viewing
practices
and
furthered
globalization?



The
answers
to
these
questions—tentative,
of
course,
because
the
state
of
cult

television
is
in
constant
flux,
and
sometimes
in
the
form
of
more
questions—are
to

 The Collected Works of David Lavery 5

be
found
in
the
essays
to
follow.




Update:
Winter
2009

Of
the
forty
four
series
covered
in
this
book,
twenty
are
either
still
on
the
air
or

“alive”
in
some
shape
or
form
at
the
time
of
writing
(this
introduction
was
completed

several
month’s
later
than
the
rest
of
the
entries).
After
a
year’s
lay
off
due
to
the

writers’
strike,
the
seventh
day
(aka
season)
of
24
has
now
begun,
but
the
Bush

administration
is
over
and
the
“tortures”
of
Jack
Bauer

may
well
have
lost
their
appeal.
FOX
is
about
to

transplant
AbFab
to
American
shores.
The
stories
of

Angel
and
Buffy
have
been
reborn
in
comic
book
form

(Angel:
After
the
Fall
and
Buffy
the
Vampire
Slayer:
Season
Eight).
The
final
season
of

a
grimmer‐than‐ever
Battlestar
Galactica
is
only
a
half
dozen
episodes
from
the
end,

both
human
and
Cylon
have
made
it
to
a
devastated
earth,
and
the
final
Cylon
has

been
revealed
to
be
.
.
.
Ellen
Tigh?
After
gorging
on
the
satiric
feast
of
the
2008

American
elections,
The
Daily
Show
and
The
Colbert
Report
are
learning
to
cope
with

the
Obama
era.
Dexter
recently
completed
a
third
season,
which
saw
our
favorite

serial
killer
getting
married,
about
to
become
a
father,
and
perhaps
preparing
to

“jump
the
shark.”
Doctor
Who
is
in
a
period
of
huge
transition,
with
the
mastermind

behind
the
series’
regeneration,
Russell
Davies,
about
to
replaced
as
showrunner
by

one
of
its
most
brilliant
writers
(Steven
Moffat),
and
the
Tenth
Doctor
(David
Tenant)

about
to
regenerate
into
a
twenty‐something
Eleventh.
By
general
consensus
Heroes

had
a
terrible,
strike‐shortened,
sophomore
season
(creator
Tim
Kring
even
issued
an

apology)
and
has
continued
to
gravely
disappoint
its
audience,
both
mainstream
and

cult,
in
Season
Three.
After
making
yet
another
Atlantic
crossing,
Life
on
Mars
has

Starsky
and
Hutched
Sam
Tyler
into
1973
New
York,
but
the
series
is
having
a

difficult
time
adjusting
to
the
longevity
demands
of
American
television
and
may
well

not
be
renewed.
Five
episodes
into
its
penultimate
season,
Lost,
assured
in
a
deal

with
ABC
that
guarantees
two
more
seasons
and
predetermined
end
date,
has
come

boldly
out
of
the
cult
closet
and
declared
itself
to
be
a
mind‐bending
sci‐fi
series

more
complex
and
challenging
than
any
in
the
history
of
the
medium.
The
Prisoner,

like
AbFab
and
Mars,
is
coming
to
American
basic
cable
(American
Movie
Classics),

though
it
is
being
filmed
in
Africa.
The
Simpsons
is
now
half
way
through
a
record‐
setting
twentieth
season
(at
the
end
of
which
it
will
have
aired
over
440
episodes!)

and
still
retains
much
of
its
world‐wide
appeal.
About
to
begin
its
fourteen
season

 The Collected Works of David Lavery 6

(and
already
signed
for
a
fifteenth)
the
still
controversial
and
profane
South
Park
is

far
behind
The
Simpsons
in
longevity
(only
181
episodes)
but
continues
to
push
the

taste
envelope
as
its
satirizes
right
and
left
(a
dream
sequence
in
“The
China

Probrem”
has
George
Lucas
and
Steven
Spielberg
raping
Indiana
Jones).
Star
Trek
is

no
longer
on
the
small
screen,
but
cult
tv
maestro
J.
J.
Abrams’
origins
movie
is

about
to
relaunch
the
franchise
in
the
multiplexes.
The
‘verse
of
Stargate
SG‐1
is

still
alive,
though
barely
perpetuated
in
a
series
of
straight‐to‐DVD
movies.
With

Dean
rescued
from
Hell
by
an
angel,
the
Winchester
boys
are
now
battling
with

divine
minions
from
both
above
and
below
in
order
to
present
a
coming
apocalypse

on
Supernatural,
while
exhibiting
its
cult
allegiances
in
stand‐alone
episodes
like

“Monster
Movie,”
in
which
a
murderous
shape‐shifter
takes
on
the
form
of
1930s

movie
monsters
from
Dracula
to
the
Mummy.
Torchwood’s
future
is
somewhat
in

doubt
but
the
UK’s
finest
alien/monster
squad
will
return
in
a
Spring
2009

miniseries.
The
X‐Files
was
briefly
reincarnated,
for
the
second
time,
in
a
pedestrian,

forgettable
movie,
2008’s
The
X‐Files:
I
Want
to
Believe,
reminding
us
yet
again,
as

had
Buffy,
Star
Trek,
Twilight
Zone,
Stargate,
and
Doctor
Who
before
it
that
some

cult
‘verses
are
indigenous
to
television.