Cult TV and movies
 

What cult television shows and movies that may have been cut off early or bombed initially in the box office that you love? They can also just be old school shows you can never get sick of watching on repeat.

TV for me has to be Freaks and Geeks. A totally kick-ass show revolved around loser 70's high school kids who love Zeppelin and Bob Dylan. Sadly, it only went for 1 season.

Movies would be The Hairy Bird and Donnie Darko (your face is over-rated).

How exactly does one suck a fuck?

but seriously, Donnie Darko is mad overrated. I do like it though.

TV shows that are cult favorites for me would have to be FireFly and 4400. I would have rather seen 4400 last longer than Heroes did.

Movies, I would have to say Toxic Avenger is my favorite cult film on and for modern day cult films would have to be Snakes on a Plane!

oh I almost forgot the original Starship Troopers

Brian De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise is one of my favorite movies of all time, cult or otherwise:

Twin Peaks (the show). I would kill to see it continued. As for the movies Ghost World and Donnie Darko definitely

I'm not sure about this but I love watching Paranormal Activity and i really think it's a cult movie

that's my fave De Palma

cult TV - Police Precinct (wacky police comedy with Adam West), Jack of Hearts, Automan, Omegaman, Bigfoot and Small Boy

cult movies - Hudson Hawk, Southland Tales, A Snake of June (Japanese), Blues Brothers, Cobra

all the above tanked for no good reason

Cult shows, I like Freaks and Geeks and Firefly a lot.

Movies, there are a lot, but I'll mention Gummo and Mulholland Drive.

Blues Brothers tanked? really? They made Blues Brothers 2000 because it did so well imo.

it originally tanked at the box office

the sequel was only made after the original gained a cult following after its box-office demise

ooh okay. Well I love the original a bit more than the sequel but they are still both funny.

i never bothered with the sequel

Harold & Maude. I never thought I'd enjoy that film... until I actually watched it. It's a really beautiful story and funny as well.

On a side note I hardly recognized Bud Cort in The Life Aquatic, didn't realize he was the tax goon until I saw it online. He sure has changed alot since his youth, hah.

The Room? The Room.

I'd like to echo Twin Peaks. It's like every genre of television in one show.

I've been watching a lot of avant-garde film on Ubuweb, and I'd have to give a nod to Kenneth Anger. His films are short, non-narrative, but amazingly influential. It's obvious he was a bit influence onto Lynch. He also is one of the first to marry occult, Nazi imagery, and homoeroticism into film. Making him kind of the archetype for the entire undercurrent of shocky art film.

**** yeah. Those two shows getting cancelled is like the greatest TV crime in history. **** Fox.

Yeah, The Room pretty much defines cult movie. That's my pick as well.

Undeclared was good as well.

It took them 20 years to release a sequel. If that doesn't hint at a slow build in popularity I don't know what does.

Yep, I have to second Kenneth Anger, although he's cult more among the audience that likes experimental and out there cinema. Well, the occult and nazi imagery kind of go hand in hand, as forms of transgression, as perceived in society. His films are...um, enchanting, as in Magick. They are visual rituals of sorts, which is not surprising since Kenneth Anger was a Thelemite. Suddenly the word 'cult' gains a literal meaning eh.

Ubuweb has an excellent collection of all kinds of 'absurdities'. That site will also become cult, if it already hasn't.

It doesn't get anymore cultier.

I loved it because of how awful it really was. There were times that it was so awful it wasn't even really enjoyable, but it was like a trainwreck; couldn't look away!

As far as cult TV shows, the superb, underrated, and devastatingly short-lived Pushing Daisies:



One of my absolute favorite shows, and it only got two seasons. They also wrapped it up rather hastily, and broke my heart.

is that really a cult tv show? I thought it just got canceled early? i loved it as well but yeah

me three - for some reason or the other, it is very popular here - they keep rerunning the 2 or more seasons

What defines a cult movie or tv show?


I don't think a tv show that gets canceled early is automatically a cult tv show

it's probably something which caters for a small and devout following, and not the mindless masses

Star Wars - not cult

I'm a Cyborg but that's Ok - cult

Pushing Daisies is. It only appealed to a small audience, was completely different from other things on the television, and was unable to make a mainstream impression. The fans the show did have / still has are completely nuts for it.

Also, I googled it just now, and it came up on a lot of lists for cult TV shows; it even got #15 on a list for the best cult TV shows ever, lol.

http://img.filmous.com/static/photos/504/poster.jpg
Although quite rightly regarded as a great movie now, this bombed at the box office originally and gained a cult following on video later to become a favourite.

Even though it's easy to state after the fact. I saw this at the cinema and loved it immediately and knew it was something special.

It is odd watching it now as it is infamous for it's many gaffes technically but at the time it didn't matter.

Didn't know that. That's pretty surprising. I don't even think I've ever come across someone who didn't love that movie.

Yeah, I remember when it came out I wanted to see it but it ended up being one of those movies that's gone from the theaters before you can blink. It wasn't until a few years later that it started to get the reputation it has. Another movie that comes to mind that was like that was Office Space.

This would have to be my favourite then.

"You see, there's this mat on the floor with different CONCLUSIONS written on it that you could JUMP to." One of the most quotable movies ever.

aw, c'mon, it was nominated for Best Picture, how can that be cult?

**** yeah, I loved that show! I watched every single episode cause I just knew that it would get cancelled. It never stood a chance. It was just too different.

Undergrads and Clone High of course.

yes yes and more yes!

I haven't seen it in awhile but I love Gremlins and Gremlins 2.

Gremlins was a hit when it came out and has remained popular ever since which doesn't scream cult to me.

Cult is usually a film or show that remains largely ignored upon general release but gains a steady following through word of mouth or (in this day and age) internet forums which then means the media re-evaluates it and declares it the best thing since sliced bread.

http://www.hitsville.org/wp/wp-conte...nal-season.jpg
This only made it on mainstream T.V here last year which is when I caught it (in fact I bought the boxset a couple of months back and I'm halfway through season 3) and everyone with half a brain was hooked. I am sure it took a long time to catch on in the states too.

Yeah, I don't think The Wire caught on with it's popularity until like season 5 or 6.

My oven can cook bits of OVEN!

^I only have two episodes left to watch :(. I've never laughed so hard watching tv as I had with Black Books.

EDIT:
Really wished that the last episode was aired. I mean, Hitler wanting to send his fellow students to Concentration Camp to help them study? That sounds nothing less then spectacular (plus, what a cliffhanger).