- Twin Peaks
The definitive Cult Show in my opinion. With an amazing cast of characters and actors, David Lynch makes a TV show the only way he can - surreal, hilarious, melodramatic, terrifying and touching all at the same time.
- Wonder Showzen
Only lasted for 2 seasons on MTV2, but it remains one of the all time most deranged comedy experiments I’ve ever seen. The second season episode about cooperation made my brain explode.
- It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia
A show created & written by three young, out of work actors & shot on a budget of one shoestring shouldn’t have worked - nor lasted 8+ seasons. But it’s proven to be as consistently inspired as it is consistently hilarious. Sunny… is The Three Stooges reborn as Seinfeld.
This remains one of my favorite shows of last couple of years. Witty dialogue, fun action and full of so many references and jokes from everything to Trek to DIE HARD it’s hard to believe it was only one crazy season.
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- CARNIVÁLE
It’s status as a “cult” TV show is perhaps questionable, it was rightfully a hit for a short while there, but I think it deserves a place on the list not only because of its quality of the product (it’s up there with the most beautifully shot/scored/acted/written shows of all time) but also because the appreciation of it has grown substantially over the years and continues to do so every time a mythology-driven mystery show shits the bed which is, I’d say, 99% of the time. A lot of series that are held in greater esteem (Lost, BSG, X-Files etc.) could have learned a thing or 2 from Knauf and Co on how to do their world and mythology-building.
- SPORTS NIGHT
Sorkin’s little seen, deeply underappreciated and wildly uneven first foray into a regular TV series. Other than A FEW GOOD MEN, it was my first sustained exposure to Sorkin’s writing and sensibilities. (And I didn’t see the show until after it aired; I mainlined the series on DVD and watched it, no joke, in probably two weeks or less.) While the show often feels more like a play than TV show, and Sorkin’s weaknesses (and weirdly sexist attitudes) are firmly on display, the show still manages to charm, entertain and immerse you in the world of the show within a show. All the players bring their A game, and the chemistry between Danny (Josh Charles) and Casey (Peter Krause) is fantastic and infectious. It’s also one of those odd show that debuted with a stunningly strong first season, and then, due to the creator being distracted (Sorkin was starting up WEST WING) and network interference (which became a huge part of the S2 overall plot arc), had a very uneven (though still quite good) second season before being cancelled.
If you haven’t seen it, and wonder what Sorkin is like when his political pontificating is kept to a minimum, I can’t recommend it enough.
If you have seen it, the AV Club just finished a complete viewing series. As usual, the official articles are good but the real treasure is in the commentary below the articles.
- POLICE SQUAD!
(in color)
Before the Naked Gun movies was this gem of a show, which only ran for 6 episodes. A nonstop barrage of jokes, and every episode’s closing credits freeze slays me:
- PARTY DOWN
Party down is a hilarious gem and, in my opinion, the best thing Rob Thomas has ever had his name attached to. Unfortunately, it seems people weren’t ready for the uncomfortable mix of humour and melancholy that has more in common with BBC shows like The Office or Extras than with most American sitcoms, and it was canceled after 2 seasons.
- Terriers
Only lasting one fantastic season, this FX crime show was one for the ages, but was a victim of awful marketing and a lousy title. Donal Logue and Michael Raymond-James had fantastic chemistry, and while I would have loved several seasons, it managed to end perfectly. Catch up with it on Netflix, it’s well worth it.
- Upright Citizens Brigade
This is in my top 5 comedy shows ever, and one of the best things to ever come out of Comedy Central. It ran 3 seasons from 1998-2000, but only the first 2 are on DVD, which gives me a major headache (they recorded the commentaries for season 3 a friggin year ago!).
I’ve seen every episode of the first 2 seasons at least 20 times. They are as essential to me as breathing air. Before Amy Poehler started slumming it on SNL, she brought her demented fire to the UCB, which will probably always be her finest work. My favorite out of the crew would have to be Matt Besser, though.
If you haven’t seen the show, imagine the best filmed segments of Kids In The Hall, then take it further down the rabbit hole.
Amazing show. As I’ve said before, if AD was the perfect sitcom for the absurdity of the Bush era, Party Down was a great chaser for the economic downturn and general depressing fuckery left in his wake.
24?
Undeclared also belongs on this list. It’s not quite to college what Freaks and Geeks was to high school, but it’s pretty close. Incredible cast. (Even Charlie Hunnam haters can’t bitch about him here.) Like F&G, it went beyond the comedy to find something emotionally true. Like Steven’s weird, but warm relationship with his dad. Or the episode with Eric, where Steven helps him try to win back Lizzie even though he’s really into her.
Also, this…
Can you have a cult show that everybody watched? Is people not knowing why , or for that matter what, they were watching enough?
A vexing question for the ages.
It’s a tricky question: Python, for example, was originally the definition of cult here in the States (the LP’s were available long before we ever had a chance to see the TV series, and even that came and went before being revived in later years), but obviously grew well beyond that. Twin Peaks may have had the numbers, since it was on network TV, but its appeal was decidedly cultish.
25 (I think): The Chris Isaak Show (Showtime 2001-2004). A relatively early embrace of the comedy of awkwardness, with Isaak a wonderful straight man to the slightly unhinged world around him (one episode featured Chris’ friends getting him a GPS for his car, which turned out to be voiced by an ex-girlfriend, which eventually became sufficiently sentient to start arguing with him) , and a deft supporting cast (his longtime drummer Kenny Dale Johnson is a natural at dry comedy). Sadly, never to be available for commercial purchase (the music licensing for the guest stars would be prohibitive), but possible to find as a low-res (by today’s standards) DVD set to treasure.
- My So Called Life (1994-95)
Possibly the greatest teen drama of all time and definitely the most influential, yet know almost no one watched it during its one and only season. It also contains Claire Danes greatest performance as Angela Chase - trumping even her work in Homeland. It’s hard to believe she was only 14 when the pilot was first shot. There are a couple of clunky episodes in the first season, but also some terrific writing from Winnie Holzman and company, perfectly capturing the emotional roller coaster of being a teenager in that period.
- Bunheads (2012-13)
It might be too soon to call this recently cancelled series a cult classic, but I think people will look back in a few years and wonder why the hell this very flawed series wasn’t allowed to find its audience. From Amy Palladino, creator of Gilmore Girls, comes a dance dramedy, with her trademark quirky characters and rapid fire dialogue. But the real treat and why I put it up here, is the dance sequences. Where else will we see a two minute long, single shot, dance number on tv anymore? This dance sequence is not only incredibly well choreographed, its perfectly shot… exceptional camera work. And for that reason alone, I throw it out there as a cult classic:
The AV Club feels exactly the same way. I enjoyed almost every ep of Bunheads.
- Rome
“Let me tell you about your father…”
McKidd and Stevenson - a double-act for the ages.
Polly Walker - the proto-MILF, the original Lady McBeth.
Also - thirteenth!
- Pee Wee’s Playhouse: Quite possibly one of the most subversive and creative Saturday morning programs ever. Cowboy Curtis, talking furniture, a giant ball made out of tin foil and so much more.