EW 25 best cult tv shows from the past 25 years

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http://popwatch.ew.com/2012/07/25/doctor-who-best-cult-tv-shows/

not really fair to have to pick 1 but......there it is

Poll Results

OptionVotes
12. Twin Peaks 29
3. Mystery Science Theater 3000 12
5. The Wire 11
1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer 10
21. Party Down 8
18. Wonder Showzen 8
2. Arrested Development 7
7. Star Trek: TNG 4
13. Veronica Mars 4
9. My So-Called Life 3
23. Better Off Ted 3
6. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia 2
22. Farscape 2
11. Firefly 2
4. The X-Files 1
10. Lost 1
15. Community 1
25. Pushing Daisies 1
24. Archer 0
20. Popular 0
8. The Comeback 0
19. Supernatural 0
17. Fringe 0
14. Battlestar Galactica 0
16. Undeclared 0


johnny crunch, Friday, 27 July 2012 22:41 (eleven years ago) link

wonder showzen
mst3k close second

electric point-electric counterpoint (m bison), Friday, 27 July 2012 22:47 (eleven years ago) link

whats the rationale for undeclared but not F&G. thats dumb

Hungry4Ass, Friday, 27 July 2012 22:48 (eleven years ago) link

tng had massive ratings especially considering that it was syndicated right out of the gate

Hungry4Ass, Friday, 27 July 2012 22:48 (eleven years ago) link

other than vmars all the wb/cw shows are like 'i guess i've heard of these?' 2 me

johnny crunch, Friday, 27 July 2012 22:49 (eleven years ago) link

i guess EW also did some list of best cult shows of all time and left star trek completely off it & ppl were butthurt

johnny crunch, Friday, 27 July 2012 22:50 (eleven years ago) link

would've voted for Profit if they'd bothered to include it

Hungry4Ass, Friday, 27 July 2012 22:51 (eleven years ago) link

Twin Peaks is better than everything, pretty much

Dunn O)))))))) (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 27 July 2012 22:52 (eleven years ago) link

feel like i should rewatch some xfiles some time does it hold up y/n

johnny crunch, Friday, 27 July 2012 22:52 (eleven years ago) link

n

Dunn O)))))))) (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 27 July 2012 22:53 (eleven years ago) link

y

Hungry4Ass, Friday, 27 July 2012 22:53 (eleven years ago) link

Arrested Development, no competition

Frank O'Fiall (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Friday, 27 July 2012 22:54 (eleven years ago) link

feel like i should rewatch some xfiles some time does it hold up y/n

started rewatching some earlier this year. the mulder/scully relationship is a lot more engaging than i remember - and gillian anderson acts it (and her other business) really nicely.

the deep throat stuff gets going surprisingly early.

j., Friday, 27 July 2012 22:57 (eleven years ago) link

isn't it, like, episode two

thomp, Friday, 27 July 2012 23:00 (eleven years ago) link

not sure i believe this is the answer, but i voted party down

Mordy, Friday, 27 July 2012 23:01 (eleven years ago) link

seems like it best maintained quality over course of life

Mordy, Friday, 27 July 2012 23:02 (eleven years ago) link

wonder showzen

iatee, Friday, 27 July 2012 23:02 (eleven years ago) link

Veronica Mars first 2 seasons were really good/fun.

n00bs on my damn chain (Spottie_Ottie_Dope), Friday, 27 July 2012 23:02 (eleven years ago) link

twin peaks
arrested
vmars
mst3k
party down

johnny crunch, Friday, 27 July 2012 23:04 (eleven years ago) link

isn't it, like, episode two

it is but i didn't remember the erlenmeyer flask - the s1 finale - being so soon. that kind of seems like the point where shit got real, conspiracy-wise.

j., Friday, 27 July 2012 23:04 (eleven years ago) link

i think if anna friel was not in pushing daisies i would not have stuck with it to the last ep despite my growing queasiness at its unremitting hi-intensity quirkiness

j., Friday, 27 July 2012 23:06 (eleven years ago) link

we're just voting for our favorite show? wire then buffy then

Al S. Burr! (k3vin k.), Friday, 27 July 2012 23:07 (eleven years ago) link

wire is my favorite show on the list but twin peaks set the bar for cult tv shows on this list

jbn, Friday, 27 July 2012 23:12 (eleven years ago) link

TWIN PEAKS

easiest poll ever

°™ (Pillbox), Friday, 27 July 2012 23:15 (eleven years ago) link

Can't pick won't pick.

LISTEN TO THIS BRAD (Nicole), Friday, 27 July 2012 23:19 (eleven years ago) link

No 'Terriers' no credibility.

Johnny Fever, Friday, 27 July 2012 23:21 (eleven years ago) link

Terriers had so much potential. It was just starting to develop.

n00bs on my damn chain (Spottie_Ottie_Dope), Friday, 27 July 2012 23:24 (eleven years ago) link

Star Trek - inconsistent, sometimes amazingly good - or Twin Peaks.

jim, Friday, 27 July 2012 23:24 (eleven years ago) link

jbn on the money.

n00bs on my damn chain (Spottie_Ottie_Dope), Friday, 27 July 2012 23:27 (eleven years ago) link

first season of 'veronica mars' is all time, but then

thomp, Friday, 27 July 2012 23:28 (eleven years ago) link

the Terriers intro theme song is totally dope imo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVHOn-S82ms

tbph tho, I think I liked it a bit more when I had no clue what the lyrics were

°™ (Pillbox), Friday, 27 July 2012 23:30 (eleven years ago) link

Yeah I bought that song on iTunes!

n00bs on my damn chain (Spottie_Ottie_Dope), Friday, 27 July 2012 23:33 (eleven years ago) link

Not that buying a song on iTunes is some kind of novel thing, but it was the only song I bought from there last year.

n00bs on my damn chain (Spottie_Ottie_Dope), Friday, 27 July 2012 23:35 (eleven years ago) link

I want to vote for Better Off Ted even though there are 10+ shows I liked better on the list. I never followed it closely (possibly because of changing timeslots/etc.) but every time I watched it was hilarious.

Kiarostami bag (milo z), Friday, 27 July 2012 23:37 (eleven years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh7Nz4bIwss

will never not laugh at "dick-infected man mattress"

Kiarostami bag (milo z), Friday, 27 July 2012 23:39 (eleven years ago) link

re: Terriers - such a misguided title, and the way it was branded/marketed didn't ameliorate the confusion, like AT ALL. Half of the first (and only, RIP) season had already gone by before I even caught wind of the fact that the show had nothing to do with dogs and dog-owners.

°™ (Pillbox), Friday, 27 July 2012 23:41 (eleven years ago) link

first season of 'veronica mars' is all time, but then

Veronica Mars is one of those shows that should have been cancelled after one season, because then it would have been perfect.

LISTEN TO THIS BRAD (Nicole), Friday, 27 July 2012 23:42 (eleven years ago) link

weird list. a better selection of cult shows would have shit like millenium and ez streets and profit and, idk, shannon's deal!

omar little, Friday, 27 July 2012 23:46 (eleven years ago) link

how is The Wire a cult show & not Deadwood?

°™ (Pillbox), Friday, 27 July 2012 23:48 (eleven years ago) link

omar otm

Hungry4Ass, Friday, 27 July 2012 23:50 (eleven years ago) link

otmar

Hungry4Ass, Friday, 27 July 2012 23:50 (eleven years ago) link

this is the zine that started it all for 'lost' http://ewpopwatch.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/ew-lost-cover-fox-emile_300.jpg

omar little, Friday, 27 July 2012 23:52 (eleven years ago) link

they took me boibee!

°™ (Pillbox), Friday, 27 July 2012 23:54 (eleven years ago) link

lol

Hungry4Ass, Friday, 27 July 2012 23:55 (eleven years ago) link

best "cult show" or just simple, straight-out best show?

buffy takes cake on persistence of quality, but god damn does battlestar galactica deserving that title ever more.

kelpolaris, Friday, 27 July 2012 23:57 (eleven years ago) link

i mean - best cult surrounding a show? least obnoxious fans? i'm sure it's just "yeah, best" being sought out for here but i want to believe that we're actually siphoning out which shows had the absolute worst fans

(winner: breaking bad)

kelpolaris, Friday, 27 July 2012 23:58 (eleven years ago) link

jake, not vienna!

omar little, Friday, 27 July 2012 23:58 (eleven years ago) link

this is a weird list

feel like i should rewatch some xfiles some time does it hold up y/n

― johnny crunch, Friday, July 27, 2012 6:52 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Most everything but their atrocious outfits do, yes.

(✿◠‿◠) (ENBB), Saturday, 28 July 2012 00:03 (eleven years ago) link

scully's shoulderpads were pretty off the hook in the first season iirc

°™ (Pillbox), Saturday, 28 July 2012 00:05 (eleven years ago) link

Yep. The patterns too. Watched it all again last year and the her outfits in the first couple seasons were just mind-blowing horrible.

(✿◠‿◠) (ENBB), Saturday, 28 July 2012 00:08 (eleven years ago) link

ok hitchhiker's clearly does not belong in the second list

(The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Thursday, 2 August 2012 20:08 (eleven years ago) link

why not? you're saying whiney secretly could fuck with it?

at some point or other in my life, i've enjoyed everything in whiney's FW list except: TMBG, MST3K, super nintendo, marvel cards

otoh, i LOVE everything in his WNF list except: tolkien

contenderizer, Thursday, 2 August 2012 20:14 (eleven years ago) link

the Marvel trading cards thing is a bit of a headscratcher

giallo pudding pops (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 2 August 2012 20:15 (eleven years ago) link

Whiney, Better Off Ted is a hilariously black-hearted satire of soulless corporate evil. I think you might like it. Check out the episode "Racial Sensitivity," when the company installs automatic light switches (to save money/energy) and/but they don't recognize black employees.

誤訳侮辱, Thursday, 2 August 2012 20:22 (eleven years ago) link

I'm already offended

giallo pudding pops (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 2 August 2012 20:27 (eleven years ago) link

it's a really good episode, maybe the best one.

horseshoe, Thursday, 2 August 2012 20:31 (eleven years ago) link

i've liked everything except marvel trading cards, xanth novels (only barely aware of wtf these even are), D&D, and RPGs. i don't really think of simpsons and super nintendo as 'nerd stuff' so much as 'stuff every other kid in the world was into too.'

(The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Thursday, 2 August 2012 20:33 (eleven years ago) link

yeah, my brother's the anti-nerd, and he was way more into video games than me. in a way, it seems nerdier to not play video games.

contenderizer, Thursday, 2 August 2012 20:44 (eleven years ago) link

I don't know what's worse, pretending the nerd versus geek thing is relevant ("I'm a music geek, not a NERD") or thinking that one obsession is worse than another

your native bacon (mh), Thursday, 2 August 2012 20:51 (eleven years ago) link

I mean, unless we're using "nerd" as a euphemism for "socially maladjusted" and "geek" just means "I am really into things"

your native bacon (mh), Thursday, 2 August 2012 20:52 (eleven years ago) link

http://images.wikia.com/x-files/images/6/6a/Humbug.jpg

Mordy, Thursday, 2 August 2012 20:53 (eleven years ago) link

I once saw the guy in Mordy's pic get a tattoo in person!

Jeremy Spencer Slid in Class Today (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 2 August 2012 20:56 (eleven years ago) link

I think his current performance partner is from around this area, I see him around town occasionally. That pic is pretty old!

your native bacon (mh), Thursday, 2 August 2012 20:56 (eleven years ago) link

I'm not a nerd. nerds are smart - Milhouse

Philip Nunez, Thursday, 2 August 2012 21:01 (eleven years ago) link

I'm a geek, there's a difference

jeez

what makes you think its a pun (Lamp), Thursday, 2 August 2012 21:07 (eleven years ago) link

voted for my so-called life btw just seemed like the right thing to do

what makes you think its a pun (Lamp), Thursday, 2 August 2012 21:08 (eleven years ago) link

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Friday, 3 August 2012 00:01 (eleven years ago) link

God, I only saw this thread in its early days. Well done, guys. Well done.

emil.y, Friday, 3 August 2012 02:34 (eleven years ago) link

NERD SHIT THAT WHINEY FUCKED WITH IN JUNIOR HIGH
They Might Be Giants, MST3K (maybe more early high school), deep Simpsons fandom, Devo, Monty Python, Super Nintendo, collecting Marvel trading cards but not actually reading comic books, Talking Heads, Weird Al,

NERD SHIT WHINEY COULD NOT FUCK WITH IN JUNIOR HIGH
Xanth novels, Dungeons & Dragons, whatever that fucking movie with the "I am Inigo Montoya" thing that all the drama kids quoted, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, JRR Tolkien books, RPGs, Star Wars

― MUBU gai pan (Whiney G. Weingarten), Thursday, August 2, 2012 7:06 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0Mku4aYMjEM/THxet02BAVI/AAAAAAAAAAM/9YSBtB50ouM/S760/who+gives+a+shit.jpg

emil.y, Friday, 3 August 2012 02:36 (eleven years ago) link

c'mon, how else will we know what it's ok to like

(The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Friday, 3 August 2012 02:54 (eleven years ago) link

I don't know what's worse, pretending the nerd versus geek thing is relevant ("I'm a music geek, not a NERD") or thinking that one obsession is worse than another

― your native bacon (mh), Thursday, August 2, 2012 4:51 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I mean, unless we're using "nerd" as a euphemism for "socially maladjusted" and "geek" just means "I am really into things"

― your native bacon (mh), Thursday, August 2, 2012 4:52 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah this is basically my neverending argument against whiney's neverending bile fountain in a nutshell

some random MC rappin' mcdude (some dude), Friday, 3 August 2012 02:57 (eleven years ago) link

I ran into some typical comic nerds at a shop I wouldn't expect them at and it wasn't their encyclopedic knowledge that was off-putting, but the way they related to it and the way they expressed it and talked to each other. Same goes for people into most things.

your native bacon (mh), Friday, 3 August 2012 03:27 (eleven years ago) link

these results seem completely otm

johnny crunch, Friday, 3 August 2012 03:49 (eleven years ago) link

Yeah. Top 3 are pretty much perfect.

Eric H., Friday, 3 August 2012 05:22 (eleven years ago) link

i have yet to be able to watch a twin peaks episode all the way through (doesn't help that I was made to watch Fire Walk With Me before I saw any) but I do love knowing this was ON TV whenever I see a bit.

da croupier, Friday, 3 August 2012 05:58 (eleven years ago) link

Party Down beating Arrested Development is so awesome

some random MC rappin' mcdude (some dude), Friday, 3 August 2012 10:38 (eleven years ago) link

I prefer Arrested Development but i have a feeling the Party Down movie will be better than any new AD

Number None, Friday, 3 August 2012 10:44 (eleven years ago) link

not holding my breath for that

some random MC rappin' mcdude (some dude), Friday, 3 August 2012 10:57 (eleven years ago) link

A/V Club's Ten essential MST3K episodes:

http://www.avclub.com/articles/ten-essential-mst3k-episodes,83328/

Eric H., Friday, 3 August 2012 18:48 (eleven years ago) link

ftr I disagree with a LOT of these choices, but fans can be all over the place on what the show's best episodes are.

Eric H., Friday, 3 August 2012 19:00 (eleven years ago) link

wtf

where are Manos, Egaah!, The Wild World of Batwoman and The Final Sacrifice

keeping things contextual (DJP), Friday, 3 August 2012 19:14 (eleven years ago) link

where's frickin SPACE MUTINY

keeping things contextual (DJP), Friday, 3 August 2012 19:15 (eleven years ago) link

whiney doesn't fuck w/ d&d OR rpgs in general

the late great, Friday, 3 August 2012 19:15 (eleven years ago) link

I'd have said Manos, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, Pod People and at least one of the Coleman Francis trio would all have been absolute no-contest sure things.

Eric H., Friday, 3 August 2012 19:24 (eleven years ago) link

Racket Girls, Village of the Giants and San Francisco International are probably my 3 very favorite eps, but I don't see many other fans giving those ones major support.

Eric H., Friday, 3 August 2012 19:25 (eleven years ago) link

I would have nommed The Girl With Gold Boots but I am pretty sure that's just me being a big booster for some precious nonsense

keeping things contextual (DJP), Friday, 3 August 2012 19:28 (eleven years ago) link

The only ep from seasons 8-10 that I'd rep pretty hard for is The Giant (Wisconsin) Spider Invasion.

Eric H., Friday, 3 August 2012 19:29 (eleven years ago) link

srsly though, I almost hurt myself watching Eegah!

keeping things contextual (DJP), Friday, 3 August 2012 19:30 (eleven years ago) link

at least they got Werewolf right.

WheatusVEVO (Hungry4Ass), Friday, 3 August 2012 19:35 (eleven years ago) link

time chasers and hobgoblins would have to be on my list too

WheatusVEVO (Hungry4Ass), Friday, 3 August 2012 19:37 (eleven years ago) link

Yes to Time Chasers, definitely a top ten. For me, Riding with Death is also on that list.

Marco YOLO (Phil D.), Friday, 3 August 2012 19:55 (eleven years ago) link

A/V Club's Ten essential MST3K episodes

http://s3.amazonaws.com/theoatmeal-img/comics/pelvic_thrusting_cats/ralphing_cats_of_infinity.gif

thomp, Friday, 3 August 2012 19:58 (eleven years ago) link

manos, final sacrifice, space mutiny, and pod people were covered in initial list - http://www.avclub.com/articles/mystery-science-theater-3000,61789/ - which this list is an "extension" of

balls, Friday, 3 August 2012 22:50 (eleven years ago) link

eh both lists are consistently good episodes, and they rightfully point out monster-a-go-go is a genuine chore in the original. skipped some faves but it's not like they're truly off-t-m

da croupier, Friday, 3 August 2012 23:03 (eleven years ago) link

I think one of the main other reasons I don't like seasons 8-10 is that they pretty much stopped doing shorts. If I counted them as separate entities, most of my top 10 would be shorts.

Eric H., Friday, 3 August 2012 23:56 (eleven years ago) link

oh yeah so many of my favorites are shorts

some random MC rappin' mcdude (some dude), Saturday, 4 August 2012 01:24 (eleven years ago) link

I love plenty of movies from the last few seasons but I skip 99.9% of the post-TV's Frank skit stuff.

da croupier, Saturday, 4 August 2012 03:05 (eleven years ago) link

go wonder showzen!

billstevejim, Sunday, 5 August 2012 18:38 (eleven years ago) link

one month passes...

voted for my so-called life btw just seemed like the right thing to do

― what makes you think its a pun (Lamp), Thursday, August 2, 2012 5:08 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Lamp = good person

^loves belaboured seething (Drugs A. Money), Monday, 17 September 2012 01:15 (eleven years ago) link


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