(Camille Bacon-Smith, Ph.D. wrote a book called "Enterprising Women: Television Fandom
and the Creation of Popular Myth" which was published by the University of Pennsylvania
Press as part of its series on contemporary ethnography in 1992. This is just one of several
academic studies that explore the concept of "fandom". Bacon-Smith shared the insight
that, with some television programs, the viewers' "enjoyment does not arise out of passive
reception but out of an active engagement with her favorite genre or medium". And that's
how I perceive "cult" TV. 

The television industry has taken a lot of hits for turning our society into a generation of
couch potatoes. But there are some viewers who embrace this media --and certain television
shows--as an opportunity to do more than sit in front of the TV. They collect tapes, making
a serious effort to see all the episodes they might have missed and schedule social events
around the viewing of these episodes. Some fans let their creative impulses free and create
costumes, stories, artwork, songs, games, even Web pages that can be shared with other
like-minded viewers. They attend--or instigate--conventions where the programs can be
explored in-depth, sometimes with the participation of the industry professionals responsible
for the product. 

These viewers look for means to communicate their thoughts on the show with others face
-to-face, via organized letterzines and on-line across the information superhighway. Star
Trek was the granddaddy of "fandom" and cult TV. But many more programs today also
trigger that degree of loyalty and participation, including Babylon 5, Forever Knight,
Highlander, and Kung Fu: The Legend Continues.... This is a wonderful time in TV history,
when we have so many quality dramas on the networks to challenge and entertain us.
I hope they all get renewed and there are several that I never miss. But these acclaimed
programs don't become "cult" hits. 

I think the reason for this is that a show that will motivate the viewer to really become 
involved in the program, to care about the characters as if they were family, and to make
the program a "hobby" bringing pleasure more than one hour a week, requires something on
another level. This type of show often has a story arc and--like Murder One--if you've
missed the keynote episodes you may be missing the backstory, the wealth that lies beneath
the surface. Babylon 5 is famous for having a story arc with a definite five year plan, the
ending foreseen before the first episode ever aired. Getting the most out of such a series
does require a commitment from the viewer. 

With most of these cult TV shows, there are pivotal episodes that reveal the story arc
-one that may be obscure to the casual hit-or-miss viewer. Fans of these shows can usually
tell you exactly which episode captured their attention and their hearts forever. Those
episodes usually reveal a depth of character that rivals anything on mainstream network
TV and the caliber of acting does too. But I admit, if you haven't caught one of the pivotal
episodes, then the show may appear to the casual viewer as nothing more than a guilty pleasure. 

Highlander is more than a series about a pony-tailed hero who solves his problems by
decapitating his enemies. It's the saga of a man, immortal without choosing to be, and
about facing today's conflicts and challenges with all the wisdom and pain of someone who
has lived for hundreds of years and has seen how humans learn from their mistakes and how
we fail to learn from the past too. 

Forever Knight is more than a series about a vampire cop who has to work the night shift; It's
the saga of a man who tries to choose who and what he will be-- he chooses not to be a
vampire - and accepts all the struggles that choice entails -- a metaphor for anyone who
aspires to overcome the disadvantages of his or her birth or current circumstance and to be
fully human, with all the nobility and frailty that involves. 

Kung Fu: The Legend Continues is not just Kwai Chang Caine in the 20th century, using
martial arts to defeat the villains of the week. It is really exploring the impact that Caine,
with his Shaolin philosophy and Eastern ideals, has on his son Peter, who is a very Western
thinking cop. They were separated through tragedy when Peter was 12 and he was raised 
in an orphanage and then fostered into the care of a cop's family. A recent discussion on the
Internet, instigated by a viewer in Australia, suggests that it "is a traditional mythological
hero journey, with one very cool transformation/reversal--Peter doesn't go anywhere.
Peter, the scarred contemporary hero who never moves house or city voluntarily, has all
the characters he would meet along his journey to responsibility and adulthood--either on
the quest, in which case it would have been the quest to recover his father, or accidentally
-come to him. Even his father came back to him, to force him along the path to growth." 

All of these shows and many other cult hits, like Dr Who, involve heroes who face challenges
far greater than anything modern society throws at most of us. They are flawed heroes, with
tragic pasts, who continue to confront those challenges with compassion and courage and
sometimes humor too. They give us hope. 

Cult TV rarely gets the attention of organizations like Viewers for Quality Television; never
gets the acclaim of Emmy nominations. In some cases these shows have episodes every
bit as worthy as the major networks' show pieces. But unless the stray viewer has come
upon an episode that reveals the story arc and depth of character, he or she may miss the
wealth. And then the weekly content may appeal to his or her taste for guilty pleasures (or
not, just as "quality" programming appeals to some and not all.) Week in and week out, cult
hits may not hold up the standard that their biger budget network counterparts do. But don't
judge them all by the fact that one viewer wore her Starfleet uniform out in public. They
deserve better than that. There is treasure there for those who want to be "engaged". 

Ann Raymont