Whedonesque : Comments on 4055 : TV Guide Covers.

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May 24 2004

TV Guide Covers. Top 25 cult shows ever. BTVS at #3.

Has cover devoted to them:

#6 The Simpson
#3 BTVS
#2 The X-files
#1 Star Trek

Katy | BtVS | 23:26 CET | 26 comments total | tags:

The whole list:

25 Freaks and Geeks
24 AB FAB
23 Forever Knight
22 H.R. PufnStuf
21 Mary Hartman Mary Hartman
20 Twin Peaks
19 Dark Shadows
18 Doctor Who
17 The Avengers
16 My So-Called Life
15 Quantum Leap
14 Beauty and the Beast
13 Babylon 5
12 Family Guy
11 Mystery Science Theater 3000
10 Pee Wee's Playhouse
9 Xena
8 The Twilight Zone
7 The Prisoner
6 The Simpson
5 Monty Python Flying Circus
4 Farscape
3 BTVS
2 The X-files
1 Star Trek

[ edited by Kate on 2004-05-24 21:39 ]

Katy | May 24, 23:32 CET

Well, take the top five, remove Farscape (which I've never seen), replace with Angel, then change the order to:

1. Angel
2. Star Trek (the Original Series)
3. Buffy
4. The X-Files
5. Monty Python's Flying Circus

... and you've got my top five. (The top three are interchangeable, actually, as are the bottom two with one another; this is just the order of the moment) I refuse to lump Angel in with Buffy, as they are very distinctly different shows even though they share a 'verse, and if TV Guide has done this, boo to you. Fans know the difference -- so should you.

When it comes to cult show adoration, Angel/Buffy fans may not have written the book on raising hell on behalf of their chosen series -- that honor goes to ST:ToS -- but we've sure added a few new chapters.

Wiseblood | May 25, 00:14 CET

I prefer Buffy over Angel.

Katy | May 25, 00:17 CET

5: The Simpsons
4: The X-files
3: Angel
2: Monty Python's Flying Circus
1: Buffy

Top Five As Seen By Me.

redruIvI | May 25, 00:27 CET

My top five:

1. Buffy
2. Angel
3. The Simpsons
4. The Prisoner
5. The Avengers (Diana Rigg version)

And the difference between 1 and 2 is just about non-existent.

[ edited by Chris in Virginia on 2004-05-24 23:14 ]

Chris in Virginia | May 25, 01:14 CET

I'm surprised that Angel didn't make that list. But after looking at the whole list, wheter I like most of those shows or not, the list seems very accurate. I think its cool that Family Guy and the Simpsons made the list. Was Freaks and Geeks really that popular?

Gio | May 25, 01:27 CET

Freaks and Geeks does have a cult following.

electricspacegirl | May 25, 01:38 CET

Was Freaks and Geeks really that popular?

I wouldn't say the show was popular in terms of numbers of people who know it, but we fans are pretty darned rabid, which I think is really the mark of a true cult show. There was quite a movement to keep it on the air, and the fans had a lot to do with getting a show that was very much in the red released on DVD, with all of its expensive original music intact, too.

keever | May 25, 01:40 CET

5 Monty Python's Flying Circus
4 Angel
3 Mystery Science Theater 3000
2 Buffy the Vampire Slayer
1 The Prisoner

I am not a number, I am a free man!

TheJoyofZeppo | May 25, 01:45 CET

Since we're doing top fives, here's mine:

1. Buffy
2. Angel
3. My So-Called Life
4. Family Guy
5. MST3K

So I take it that this issue has 4 different covers, with BTVS being on one of them? I'll have to pick that up.

MindPieces | May 25, 01:47 CET

I'll do the ones I loved as a kid in the 60s/70s

1. Star Trek TOS
2. The Avengers
3. Mission Impossible
4. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
5. Captain Scarlet

... with The Thunderbirds and The Freewheelers bubbling under. NOBODY remembers that last one. And then there was 'Kung Fu' as well...

Caroline | May 25, 02:04 CET

No Eerie Indiana? Surely not. Or what about the A-Team, Knightrider, Airwolf, Streethawk, Are You Being Served, The Man From Uncle?

Simon | May 25, 02:30 CET

1. Angel
2. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
3. Monty Python's Flying Circus
4. The X-Files
5. Futurama (because I don't know if Northern Exposure has a cult following)

bloodflowers | May 25, 02:40 CET

Thanks, Simon, for remembering The Man from U.N.C.L.E. My very first childhood crush on an actor was on David McCallum. But the show wouldn't make my top five:

1. Buffy
2. The Prisoner
3. Angel
4. The Avengers
5. Star Trek

palehorse | May 25, 02:54 CET

I'm not an X-files fan, so I wouldn't know, but are they more rabid and obsessive than Buffy fans? My first guess would be no, hence this is how my top 5 would look

1. Star Trek (dude, they dress up)
2. BtVs
3. X-Files
4. The Simpsons
5. Xena

PS: I love Farscape and all, but until last year, I had no idea what it was, and I'm sure that goes far many still.

nychick | May 25, 06:32 CET

Was glad to see Beauty and the Beast and MST3K on the list, but no Northern Exposure? Aside from B/A and Star Trek: TOS, those three would be way up there for me. X-Files too.

But Northern Exposure comes out on dvd tomorrow, so I'm glad! Woo-hoo!

And nychick, not to be snide or anything, but just wondering, if you aren't an X-Files fan, then why did it make your top 5?

Willowy | May 25, 07:31 CET

Um...

Max Headroom?

Anybody?

Chris inVirginia | May 25, 07:32 CET

I did watch Max too. Good show. Very ahead of its time.

Willowy | May 25, 07:37 CET

1. Buffy
2. Angel
3. Northern Exposure
4. Simpsons
5. MST 3000

Those are the ones I'd have to watch if I came across them on tv.

lycoming | May 25, 08:45 CET

15 minutes ahead of its time, to be exact.

meredith | May 25, 17:29 CET

Willowy... It wasn't my personal top five, it was what I thought from experience with fans of the shows would be the top five. I may not be an X-files fan, but I do realize it was popular and had mucho fans. Just wasn't sure if it was more "cult-ier" than BtVs is all. I'm not a Star Trek fan either, but I do know the fans are pretty rabid.

[ edited by nychick on 2004-05-25 19:53 ]

nychick | May 25, 21:52 CET

Has anyone read the TV Guide article itself? I was wondering what their definition of a "cult" show is. The long-running, widely-popular "Simpsons" seems an odd choice for what I understood a cult show to be.

Also, nice that they mentioned "Profit" as a shoulda-been.

yourlibrarian | May 25, 23:29 CET

ok nychick, I getcha.

Seeing Profit (loved it, btw...) mentioned reminded me of Wise Guy, another great show. Kevin Spacey played an evil, incestuous cuss named Mel Profitt. The gorgeous Joan Severance played his drug-addicted sister. Ken Wahl was always going up against those two.

Willowy | May 26, 00:07 CET

yourlibrarian, TV Guide defines a cult show as a "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."

I've never seen The Simpsons and I'm not familiar with the fandom, but I suppose it could be considered a cult show under their definition.

On a somewhat unrelated note, I love the pic of Sarah they used for the cover, it's one of my favorites.

[ edited by +Faith+ on 2004-05-25 23:29 ]

faith1984 | May 26, 01:29 CET

+Faith+, I was confused about how one of the most highly regarded shows in TV history (Time named it the best show of the twentieth century, and well, until just recently, that meant all of TV history!), but I do worship The Simpsons...it has taken a back seat to Buffy and Angel...but it is similarly a towering achievement.

Chris in Virginia | May 26, 01:40 CET

1. Star Trek (TOS)
2. Buffy
3. Angel
4. The Twilight Zone (TOS)
5. Kolchack: The Night Stalker
6. X-Files

I did a top SIX 'cause I wanted to ad the X-Files in there even though it sucked the last three seasons. Kolchack: The Night Stalker was only one season long, but it inspired the X-Files and to a lesser degree Buffy and Angel. It blended horror and comedy long before anyone knew it could be done. ;)

[ edited by JamieCOTC on 2004-05-26 06:41 ]

JamieCOTC | May 26, 08:40 CET

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