25 Top Cult Shows
According to a 2004 TV Guide
This is from a TV Guide dated from May 30 – June 5, 2004 ’25 Top Cult Shows Ever!’. I found this TV Guide when I was clearing out some stuff in my garage, there it was buried in a box with some other TV Guides (ones with Angel on the cover, Stargate SG1, & Lord of the Rings).
Once I saw it I remembered “rescuing” it from my parents recyclable garbage. I was all, “Buffy is on the cover! How can you just throw this out?” They looked at me like I was weird. Go figure. Anyway, just thought it might be amusing to post these 25 Top Cult Shows. If you want to learn more about the shows I linked to their IMDb pages.
25. Freaks and Geeks (1999-2000) – I recently checked this out on Netflix streaming, and loved it. Really wish there was more of it.
24. Absolutely Fabulous (1992-2004) I watched this occasionally on PBS, but I honestly don’t remember much about it.
23. Forever Knight (1989-1996) I only saw a little bit of this show. I probably would have seen more, but at the time it started to air I wasn’t watching much TV, so I kinda missed out on seeing this one.
22. H.R. Pufnstuf (1969-1971) I remember watching this when I was a kid. Looking back now I can’t help but wonder what kind of stuff the creators were puffing. See what I did there? Yeah…I’m not very clever.
21. Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1975-1978) I’ve heard of it, but I’m not sure if I have seen it. So I’ve got nothing, but it was apparently a soap opera parody.
20. Twin Peaks (1990-1991) I just saw this show for the first time. I decide to watch the pilot on Netflix. I’m not sure what to think, at times I was incredibly bored, yet I kinda want to know what happens.
19. Dark Shadows (1966-1971) I do remember watching this at some point in time, but unfortunately don’t remember much about it, or even if I liked it or not. But it’s on Netflix, so I’m planning on checking it out soon.
18. Doctor Who (1963-1989) They were only talking about the classic, seeing as the new one hadn’t started at that time. I always watched it on PBS, and it was my favorite show. They did mention in the TV Guide that there was going to be new Doctor Who in the UK. I remember being excited at that news, but then thinking we probably wouldn’t see it out here. Glad I was wrong about that.
17. The Avengers (1966-1969) No. Not the superheroes. This is that show with Emma Peel. You know, the chick in the tight catsuit? I used to watch this, haven’t seen it in forever, but I remember that I liked it.
16. My So-Called Life (1994-1995) I’m sure you’ve heard of this one. I tried to watch it, but could never get into it.
15. Quantum Leap (1989-1993) I loved this show, I use to watch it as it was airing, but I didn’t start until around the second season. I got into it when I caught, “Quantum Leap Week”, and fell in love with it.
14. Beauty and the Beast (1987-1990) I tried watching this on some streaming service, I wanted to like it, but I remember being bored with it quiet a bit.
13. Babylon 5 (1994-1998) So glad to see this was included on the list. We love us some B5! This was really a great show, and people who have never seen it should give it a try.
12. Family Guy (1999-2004) This was put on the TV Guide list at the time Cartoon Network had just ordered new episodes of the series.
11. Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1989-1999) Awesomeness. This was one of those things that I just HAD to watch.
10. Pee-Wee’s Playhouse (1986-1991) OK, I’m going to have to say it…I never got the attraction to this show. I had some friends who watched it, and they loved it. So based on that I tried to watch it, and I just thought it was dumb. Oh well.
9. Xena: Warrior Princess (1995-2001) I watched this show (and Hercules) all the time. I happen to be a fan of campy.
8. The Twilight Zone (1959-1964) One of my favorite shows when I was a kid.
7. The Prisoner (1967-1968) Heard of it, pretty sure I haven’t seen it. I don’t think it ever interested me, but maybe I will check it out.
6. The Simpsons (1989-Present) Who hasn’t seen the Simpsons? Is this actually a cult show?
5. Monty Pythons Flying Circus (1969-1974) I used to watch this on PBS, ages ago. Really need to check it out again.
4. Farscape (1999-2003) One of the best shows, in our humble opinion. I loved TV Guide for putting it in their top 5. It’s just one of those shows that so often goes overlooked, even in the geek community.
3. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) Another one of my favorites….Obviously, seeing as the Buffy cover was the reason I kept this TV Guide.
2. The X-Files (1993-2002) I had a passing interest in this show, and did watch quiet a bit of it. But I’m not finding myself wanting to rewatch, maybe I will someday.
1. Star Trek (1966-1969) Kinda figured this would come in at #1.
The also listed a few shows as “Cults In-Waiting”:
Alias
24
Stargate SG-1
All in all, it seems like a pretty good cult TV show list. Although I really would not have included Pee-Wee’s Playhouse (cause I thought it was lame). Inspired by this I figured we need to do our top cult shows list, but will probably keep it down to about 10.
A lot of these shows are streaming on sites like Netflix and Hulu, so go check them out!
