In this Book
- The Essential Cult TV Reader
- Book
- 2014
- Published by: The University Press of Kentucky
- Series: Essential Readers in Contemporary Media
The Essential Cult TV Reader is a collection of insightful essays that examine television shows that amass engaged, active fan bases by employing an imaginative approach to programming. Once defined by limited viewership, cult TV has developed its own identity, with some shows gaining large, mainstream audiences. By exploring the defining characteristics of cult TV, The Essential Cult TV Reader traces the development of this once obscure form and explains how cult TV achieved its current status as legitimate television.
The essays explore a wide range of cult programs, from early shows such as Star Trek, The Avengers, Dark Shadows, and The Twilight Zone to popular contemporary shows such as Lost, Dexter, and 24, addressing the cultural context that allowed the development of the phenomenon. The contributors investigate the obligations of cult series to their fans, the relationship of camp and cult, the effects of DVD releases and the Internet, and the globalization of cult TV. The Essential Cult TV Reader answers many of the questions surrounding the form while revealing emerging debates on its future.
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- p. vii
- Absolutely Fabulous
- pp. 7-14
- The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.
- pp. 15-21
- The Avengers
- pp. 36-43
- Battlestar Galactica
- pp. 44-50
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- pp. 60-67
- The Comeback
- pp. 68-76
- Dark Shadows
- pp. 84-89
- Doctor Who
- pp. 97-103
- Freaks and Geeks
- pp. 120-126
- The League of Gentlemen
- pp. 134-141
- Life on Mars
- pp. 142-148
- Miami Vice
- pp. 159-165
- Monty Python's Flying
- pp. 166-173
- My So-Called Life Michele Byers
- pp. 174-180
- Mystery Science Theater 3000
- pp. 181-188
- The Prisoner
- pp. 189-200
- Quantum Leap
- pp. 201-207
- The Simpsons
- pp. 221-228
- South Park
- pp. 229-236
- Stargate SG-1
- pp. 237-243
- The Star Trek Franchise
- pp. 244-259
- Supernatural
- pp. 260-267
- The Twilight Zone
- pp. 291-298
- Twin Peaks
- pp. 299-306
- Ultraviolet
- pp. 307-313
- Veronica Mars
- pp. 314-321
- Wonderfalls
- pp. 322-328
- Xena: Warrior Princess
- pp. 329-336
- The X-Files
- pp. 337-344
- Appendix: Series by Genre and Nationality
- pp. 345-348
- TV and Filmography
- pp. 349-358
- Works Cited
- pp. 359-380
- List of Contributors
- pp. 381-386