The Greatest Cult TV Series...Ever!

[MacNimon]

It's been a while since I've picked up an issue of SFX magazine, but the current TV Sci-Fi Classics Special currently on the news-stands was irressistable. "Rediscover the coolest shows ever" reads the cover blurb..."TV that changed your life"

On the cover is a montage of the Incredible Hulk, Steve Austin, Micheal Knight, Buck Rogers and Wilma Deering, and an original 70s Cylon Warrior. Series covered (or at least mentioned in passing) inside include Knight Rider, Doctor Who, Monkey, Six Million Dollar Man, Bionic Woman, Hulk, The Prisoner, Buck Rogers, Logans Run, Robin Of Sherwood, The Tripods, The Adventure Game, The Avengers, Star Maidens, Time Trax, Sapphire & Steel, V, Alien Nation, Space 1999, Battlestar Galactica, Batman, The Tomorrow People, and UFO. And more.

While I'm finding the mag an enjoyable read (even though I haven't really learned anything new other than an article explaing why Star Maidens was actually so bad) that's not my real reason for posting this. It got me thinking, though...and I'm wondering what would be Planet Skaro's favourite Cult TV series of them all? Being primarily a Doctor Who fan site, it stands to reason that Doctor Who would be the obvious choice here...

I know that we have a wide variety of tastes here, so it's also possible that Doctor Who may not come out on top. So what I was thinking was to do a sort of spin-off of the Into The Vortex thread, but covering Cult tv series instead. It would take on a similar format, where we would award each series marks out of ten, or abstain from voting if we're not familiar with a particular series. Exactly what series we would cover will depend on you lot...what series would you like to see included here? And exactly what form it would take would also depend on how many series we will have to deal with...it could be done alphabetically, or it could be done decade by decade, or UK series first then US series, for example...we'll just play it by ear for the moment.

Star Trek should be included as five seperate series, imo. The Avengers, though...should that come under one umbrella or should we consider the Rigg episodes a seperate entity to the Blackman episodes...and if we count the Avengers as one series, should The New Avengers be included or be a seperate series entirely? (I know that the 1960s Avengers episodes were all one series, with The New Avengers a seperate entity, but the style of the series changed so much during it's run that the question has to be asked). As for Doctor Who, I propose that we omit it from this thread...we'll give it it's place in the scope of things of course (but we've discussed the entire series in some depth elsewhere) so what I'd suggest is to use the average score for the entire series from the Vortex thread (after we've done Series 3 and VOTD in the New Year)


I'll take the list of series above for starters, and add a few more to kick us off

Knight Rider,
Doctor Who,
Monkey,
Six Million Dollar Man,
Bionic Woman,
The Incredible Hulk,
The Prisoner,
Buck Rogers In The 25th Century,
Logans Run,
Robin Of Sherwood,
The Tripods,
The Adventure Game,
The Avengers,
Star Maidens,
Time Trax,
Sapphire & Steel,
V,
Alien Nation,
Space 1999,
Battlestar Galactica,
Batman,
The Tomorrow People,
UFO
Blakes 7
The Saint
The Sweeney
Randall & Hopkirk
Invasion Earth
X-Files
Planet Of The Apes
The Fantastic Journey
Doomwatch
Danger Man
The Champions
Quantum Leap


There's loads more to choose from...what do you think we should include? And what should we limit ourselves to? What is Cult TV? Should there be a place for those classic comedies which have cult status as well...the Steptoes, Hancocks, Alf Garnetts and Goodies etc?

So it's up to you guys now...this project can be as big or small as you want. So I'm open to suggestions...

[Wayne]

Don't forget Babylon 5 & Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Star Trek should be included as five seperate series, imo.

By that criteria, isn't there a case for Dr.Who: The Classic Series, & Dr.Who:The New Series? Just a thought to throw into the pot.

[Logo Polish]

Don't forget Babylon 5 & Buffy the Vampire Slayer.



By that criteria, isn't there a case for Dr.Who: The Classic Series, & Dr.Who:The New Series? Just a thought to throw into the pot.

Along with Torchwood and The Sarah-Jane Adventures.

[Wayne]

Along with Torchwood and The Sarah-Jane Adventures.

Quite.

[Perry Vale]

And the McGann TV Movie.

[Wayne]

@Steve. Ever reliable.

[Alex]

Well I think Twin Peaks should definitely be in there too...And what about current US shows which only have a cult following, like Journeyman?

Edit: Thinking about it, the new BSG deserves a place too, cause it's lovely...And I think Lost should be included as well...Oh, and Carnivale, that definitely should...Er, I better stop now before I list every US show I love with a vague fantasy / sci-fi element...!

[stuartdg]

I think Prisoner:Cell Block H should be in there,20 years after its ended it still attracts a great deal of interest

[MacNimon]

I've added a few more possibles to our list as well. Remember though, I'm really just thinking out loud at the moment. We'll see if there's enough interest to begin with, and then figure out the best way to run it.

But for now, I'll just make the list a little bit clearer...

UK SERIES

Doctor Who: classic series/new series;Doctor-by-doctor;decade-by-decade; or use Vortex results?
The Avengers: as one series, or seperate Blackman/Rigg/Thorsen?
Quatermass
The New Avengers
Torchwood
The Sarah Jane Adventures
Robin Of Sherwood
The Tripods
The Adventure Game
Sapphire & Steel
Space 1999
The Tomorrow People,
UFO
Blakes 7
The Saint
Return Of The Saint
The Sweeney
Randall & Hopkirk
Invasion Earth
Doomwatch
Danger Man
The Champions
Hammer House Of Horror
Thriller
Survivors
Jupiter Moon


US SERIES

Star Trek: one series or five...ST:TOS/ST:TNG/STDS9/Voyager/Enterprise?
Knight Rider
Six Million Dollar Man
Bionic Woman (old and new)
The Incredible Hulk
Time Trax
V
Alien Nation
Battlestar Galactica (old and new)
Batman
X-Files
Planet Of The Apes
The Fantastic Journey
Quantum Leap
Babylon 5
Buffy
Angel
Alias
Twin Peaks
Journeyman
Pushing Daisies
War Of The Worlds
Lost
Carnivale
Tales Of The Gold Monkey
Mystery Science Theatre 3000 (aka MST3K)


INTERNATIONAL

Monkey
Star Maidens
Prisoner Cell Block H

Alex, don't worry about listing too many. The longer the list is, quite simply the longer the thread will last. I'll not be rushing through things, anyway. But before we kick things off, everyone will have the chance to say whether they think a series doesn't belong in the list for any reason, whether they may think it too obscure and maybe not many have seen or remember it, or they think it may not fit the criteria of Cult tv (whatever that criteria might be!) I think the first thing is to create a list, then whittle it down a bit if necessary.

Stuart...list edited to include Quatermass.

Who wants to add more to it? Or is there anything which doesn't really deserve to be there, no matter how good or bad it is?

[stuartdg]

Quatermass should also be on the list I reckon

[Kinggodzillak]

Mst3k.

[MacNimon]

It's in now.

Although I'll admit that I had to check out what Mst3k actually was...

I should have known all along!

[WhiteCrow]

Don't forget ... & Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Reading MacNimon's first post and knowing SFX as I do, how could they possibly resist naming Buffy and Angel number 1 and 2 on the list of all time shows. They just love Joss Wheldon, with an intensity more unnerving than travelling through Southern America and hearing someone playing a banjo.

"Can I kiss Joss Wheldon?"

[WhiteCrow]

By the way what goes for Star Trek should go for Who - Star Trek might have had 5 franchise, but surely each Doctor counts as a new franchise, with different lead actors, location, themes?

Along with Torchwood and The Sarah-Jane Adventures.

TORCHWOOD IS NOT DOCTOR WHO!!! Snarl snarl ...

[SiHart]

I think Sliders should be on the list!

Which Randall and Hopkirk (deceased) are you including? Both? Same with The Tomorrow People... I'd like to see the 90s version in there too.

The Avengers I think can be divided neatly by Blackman/ Rigg/ Thorson like Doctor Who/ Star Trek.

And I know it's new, but I'd like to see Heroes on the list too.
Si xx

[Carol Baynes]

The Avengers was one series which ran from 1961 until 1969. I'm quite certain on that, regardless of changes in style and content. Patrick Macnee was in it throughout which must count for something. The New Avengers is a differnt series of course.

I can't believe I bothered typing that out. If in doubt I go with the average joe who watches telly, not anal cult gimps who disect everything within an inch of it's existence (present company excepted of course. )

[Logo Polish]

Spiderman, Red Dwarf, Mork and Mindy (or don't comedies count?), Wonderwoman, The Prisoner, Lost In Space, Life On Mars...?

[stuartdg]

Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis
Smallville
Roswell
Charmed

All should make the list

[Ralph]

So far I think I see everything on the latest lists - but I've just noticed you missed out The Twilight Zone and the Outer Limits in the US section

[Alex]

Alex, don't worry about listing too many. The longer the list is, quite simply the longer the thread will last. I'll not be rushing through things, anyway. But before we kick things off, everyone will have the chance to say whether they think a series doesn't belong in the list for any reason, whether they may think it too obscure and maybe not many have seen or remember it, or they think it may not fit the criteria of Cult tv (whatever that criteria might be!) I think the first thing is to create a list, then whittle it down a bit if necessary.

Ah, that's cool, and well, I'd suggest Firefly should be on the list, even if it was cruelly cancelled after just 14 episodes (I still feel the pain now!), and Six Feet Under, what with the blurring between reality and fantasy that the first few series had.

I was going to suggest Lars Von Trier's The Kingdom, but as the Beeb scheduled it at such a ridiculously late time I doubt many people will have seen it alas (though if you ever get the chance you really should, especially Darkplace fans which heavily homages it throughout).

I'm not sure if we should include comedy shows outside of the fantasy genre though, as, well, then it could turn out to be an enormous list...

[stuartdg]

Xena should be there too thinkin about it

[Jon Masters]

I'd like to add Supernatural, although I doubt many other people will be voting for it ...

[stuartdg]

Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy
Dallas
Jonathan Creek
Terrahawks

should all make the list as well

[MacNimon]

The Avengers was one series which ran from 1961 until 1969. I'm quite certain on that, regardless of changes in style and content. Patrick Macnee was in it throughout which must count for something. The New Avengers is a differnt series of course.

I can't believe I bothered typing that out. If in doubt I go with the average joe who watches telly, not anal cult gimps who disect everything within an inch of it's existence (present company excepted of course. )

Carol talks sense here. I think we'll just call it one series for the moment, and we can debate the pro's and con's of each era at a later date. We'll go with 5 Trek's for the moment, and any other series which have had more than one version then we can look at them seperately.

Not that that's much help in the case of Doctor Who, as it's just such a long running series with a massive history...

The list so far then, with a few more suggestions thrown in...

UK SERIES

Doctor Who: classic series/new series;Doctor-by-doctor;decade-by-decade; or use Vortex results?
The Avengers
Quatermass
The New Avengers
Torchwood
The Sarah Jane Adventures
Robin Of Sherwood
The Tripods
The Adventure Game
Sapphire & Steel
Space 1999
The Tomorrow People (old and new)
UFO
Blakes 7
The Saint
Return Of The Saint
The Sweeney
Randall & Hopkirk (old and new)
Invasion Earth
Doomwatch
Danger Man
The Champions
Hammer House Of Horror
Thriller
Survivors
Jupiter Moon
Jonathan Creek
Terrahawks
Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy
Life On Mars
Red Dwarf
The Prisoner
The Persuaders
Crime Traveller
Timeslip
Adam Adamant Lives
Day Of The Triffids
The Nightmare Man
The Baron
Moonbase 3
Star Cops
Thunderbirds
Captain Scarlett & The Mysterons
Joe 90
Supercar
Space Precinct
Edge Of Darkness




US SERIES

Star Trek (all versions)
Knight Rider
Six Million Dollar Man
Bionic Woman (old and new)
The Incredible Hulk
Time Trax
V
Alien Nation
Battlestar Galactica (old and new)
Batman
X-Files
Planet Of The Apes
The Fantastic Journey
Quantum Leap
Babylon 5
Buffy
Angel
Alias
Twin Peaks
Journeyman
Pushing Daisies
War Of The Worlds
Lost
Carnivale
Tales Of The Gold Monkey
Mystery Science Theatre 3000 (aka MST3K)
Dallas
Hercules The Legendary Journeys
Xena Warrior Princess
Supernatural
Stargate SG-1
Stargate Atlantis
Smallville
Roswell
Charmed
Spider-Man
Mork And Mindy
Wonder Woman
Lost In Space
The Twilight Zone (all versions)
The Outer Limits (old and new)
Firefly
Six Feet Under
Logans Run
Sliders
The Tenth Kingdom
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman
The Invaders
The Invisible Man (David McCallum)
Land Of The Giants
Smallville
The Munsters
The Addams Family
The Flash
Farscape
Crusade
MacGyver
Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea
The Time Tunnel
Early Edition
Space Above And Beyond
The Man From Atlantis
Earth 2
The Man From UNCLE
Mission Impossible





INTERNATIONAL

Monkey
Star Maidens
Prisoner Cell Block H

[Wayne]

Not that that's much help in the case of Doctor Who, as it's just such a long running series with a massive history...

Doctor Who: classic series/new series;Doctor-by-doctor;decade-by-decade; or use Vortex results?

My say would be to just divide Dr.Who into Classic Series, & New Series, with Torchwood & SJA rightly listed seperately as spin-offs.
Personally, i wouldn't even worry about the TV Movie & where it fits in. Unless you're going to start worrying about where Star Trek movies like 'Generations' fit into it all.