EW 25 best cult tv shows from the past 25 years

Veronica Mars first 2 seasons were really good/fun.

twin peaks
arrested
vmars
mst3k
party down

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.

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

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

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

TWIN PEAKS

easiest poll ever

Can't pick won't pick.

No 'Terriers' no credibility.

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

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

jbn on the money.

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

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

Yeah I bought that song on iTunes!

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

how is The Wire a cult show & not Deadwood?

omar otm

otmar

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

they took me boibee!

lol

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.

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)

jake, not vienna!

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.

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

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

I guess either Twin Peaks or MSCL or MST3k

but god damn does battlestar galactica deserving that title ever more.

The last season destroyed that show for me.

maybe my standards are tougher but I don't think a show that had more than 3 seasons on network tv/basic cable or 4 seasons on premium cable can be considered cult

they forget this gem

http://www.impawards.com/tv/posters/john_from_cincinnati.jpg

Buffy over Twin Peaks for me on grounds of sustained excellence, but this wasn't easy -- nothing ever came close to Twin Peaks for sheer intensity of "I can't believe this is actually on television right now."

Hard to believe there'd be a poll in which I would NOT vote for Undeclared or Party Down or Firefly, but there it is.

Why isn't "Get a Life" on this list?

Twin Peaks
Arrested Development
The Wire

Twin Peaks vs Wire vs Buffy = I refuse to choose.

Community

― Whiney G. Weingarten, Friday, July 27, 2012 6:49 PM (14 minutes ago)

._.

this is tough, i'm a card-carrying member of many of these cuts:

25. Pushing Daisies
23. Better Off Ted
21. Party Down
15. Community
13. Veronica Mars
10. Lost
7. Star Trek: TNG
5. The Wire
3. Mystery Science Theater 3000

Wire or MST3K is prob the best of those but it's nice to be able to vote for something genuinely slept on like Better Off Ted or Pushing Daisies

cuts cults

deep cults

Undeclared is just kinda not that good, i was shocked at how high it got on the ilx 2000s tv poll

if buffy and the wire were eliminated, i might vote party down. but buffy, obvs.

Erica, did you end up finishing the x-files???

this is going to come down to Buffy vs. TP, isn't it?

dude this is ILX, Buffy wins

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

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

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

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

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

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.

these results seem completely otm

Yeah. Top 3 are pretty much perfect.

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.

Party Down beating Arrested Development is so awesome

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

not holding my breath for that

A/V Club's Ten essential MST3K episodes:

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

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.

wtf

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

where's frickin SPACE MUTINY

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

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.

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.

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

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

srsly though, I almost hurt myself watching Eegah!

at least they got Werewolf right.

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

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

A/V Club's Ten essential MST3K episodes

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

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

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

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.

oh yeah so many of my favorites are shorts

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

go wonder showzen!

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