CULT TV

A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of culture. A film, book, musical artist, television series or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fanbase.

One of the most famous of cult movies is Rocky Horror Picture Show which depicts a group of selfie posting mountain climbers caught in an avalanche.

Pulp Fiction is a compilation of tales about practical uses for the innards of oranges, none of which actually work.

Our televison sets have been the receptors of many such shows that became cult classics such as The Ernie Kovacs Show  which surprisingly had no one named Ernie or Kovacs associated with it.

Recently we have witnessed a spate of final episodes of TV cult classics.

Mad Men was concerned with the creation of a satirical magazine in the 1950’s, while Breaking Bad  was a documentary series about the members of an orthopedic physicians’ practice in Ottumwa, Iowa.

The Sopranos had as its theme a female a capella chorus assuming management of a strip club in New Jersey.

The Colbert Report had as its host Bill O’Reilly’s lesser known brother who had a knack for emulating his brothers declarations word for word but somehow they sounded funnier.

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson starred a Scotsman who took the job away from a white American male. But as soon as Ferguson became a U.S. citizen himself his job was outsourced to Indonesia where a group of pre-teens split the 75 cent hourly salary. But hey! At least dark skinned people and females are being utilized.

Of somewhat older vintage the final episode of the Jerry Seinfeld Show caused critics to long wishfully for the snow globe sensibilities of St. Elsewhere.

On Cheers, where the only name everbody knew was “Norm!”, the lights went dark as Sam Malone was revealing to Diane Sawyer that he was now, offically, Samantha Malone.

Alas, one such cult series will probably not be accorded a final episode to celebrate the ones preceeding it.

I speak, of course of 19 Kids And Counting or as it is now known 19 Kids And Counting While Four Daughters Silently Scream In The Night. This is the Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar clan, living its way through our TV screens, thjough failing to show the immaculate conception details that bring ever more kids.

That program qualifies as a cult classic not only due to its cult following but…because IT IS A CULT!  Sort of like viewing the Manson Family in action but far more disturbing to watch.

Think it’s not a cult? Well look at this check list of the characteristics of cults provided by Janja lalich and Michasel D. Langone, both PhD’s.

http://www.csj.org/infoserv_cult101/checklis.htm

The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.

Check.

The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members

Check

The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society.

Check

The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.

Check

The group is preoccupied with making money.

Check

Now it is difficult to envison anyone named Jim Bob as a charismatic leader, but in Arkansas anything is possible, I suppose. After all, some old geezer there became a billionaire selling shoddily made foreign goods to unsupecting masses.

How the molestation by son Josh of his sisters stayed unrecognized by his parents for so long is a mystery. After all,during those Monopoly games on family games night, since there were not enough of the usual tokens to go around, weren’t Jim Bob and Michelle suspicious when Josh used a pair of girls panties? Of course their Monopoly games were also notable  for the younger kids being berated when they inevitably went bankrupt for being either lazy or black…or both.

That this all played out on TLC (The Lurid Channel) is not surprising What also is not surprising is the defense of the evangelical right…and FOX News, offered in support of the Duggars.

Gotta go. I need to get ready for Reefer Madness tonight. Not the movie.

Seinfeld vs Sopranos

Not having HBO, I never saw The Sopranos in all its bare-breasted, foul-mouthed, bloody violent glory. I have had the opportunity to view most episodes on A & E. But I have been unable to watch them in their precise order and and feel somewhat deprived. (most people probably consider me more than somewhat depraved.)

After seeing these episodes multiple times, I have been able to draw certain conclusions, which likely put me outside the mainstream of both the bulk of professional critics and the show’s many fans who were enthralled by the series.

I think the entire premise was actuallu a parody of Seinfeld. seriously.

In this case, Carmela was the stand-in for Jerry Seinfeld himself. She is the sanest of the Soprano core family, which isn’t to suggest any are truly sane. But the plots usually come back to her trying to maintain a facade of normality amidst the chaos around her. But many of the show’s highlights resulted from her stepping outside her normal bounds, such as when she committed adultery, and had the intense sexual flirtation with the priest. That is akin to Jerry stealing the marble rye.

A.J. is George Costanza. He’s stupid, fails at everything he attempts while failing to maintain any observable moral principles along the way, or even attempt or aspire to any action even remotely noble. He lives off others and will do so his entire life, destined to be a pernicious, simpering fool. If the story had continued, I could see him eventually killing his fiance without intent or guile and exhibiting no remorse whatsover.

Meadow is Elaine. She uses sex and sexuality to advance herself and a vague, undefined agenda. While she projects an air of competence or even achievement, her pettiness on many levels will inhibit true success in life. She can be completely self-indulgent and I would not be surprised to learn she totally botched a completely simple task such as returning a borrowed tennis racket.

That leaves Tony. Not nearly a physical euivalent of Kramer, he is his equal in promulgating big ideas and even convincing others to go along but is disturbingly unpredictable. Just like you always wondered how Kramer ever survived when he produced only cracked eggs from his ill-hatched schemes, Tony is an example of the dregs, not the cream, rising to the top. They both actually inhabit a parallel universe quite apart from the one where logic, common sense and critical thinking dwell. That they both manage to bed pretty attractive women from time-to time, is one of those inexplicable mysteries that will always remain unsolved in the cold case files.

Uncle Junior and Livia are just like George’s parents. They are petty, inconsiderate, loud, whining, vindictive and stupid. They care not about how their actions affect their progeny. Whatever good will they engender is immediately offset by actions that to term despicable is too kind to them. They are too unpleasant to even have in your home through the medium of television.

Carmela’s parents are similar to Jerry’s. They are generally tolerable, have unresolved conflicts with George’s folks (Junior and Livia), yet somehow live in a world nominally apart from the other characters without making any remarkable contributions to that world, either good or bad.

The other characters like Paulie or Christopher and anyone whose path is crossed by Tony and his cohorts is inevitably and eventually worse off for the encounter.

Dr. Melfi is a special case. Special in that she does not truly exist but is a personna created out of whole cloth by Kramer, er Tony, to satisfy his desire for respectability. Much like the pipe-smoking pseudo-doctors portrayed on occasion by Cosmo, she exists only in Tony’s warped mind . In their counselling sessions as she encourages Tony to voice his thoughts, the end product is irrational babble just as Kramer expounds incoherently in trying to impress a true professional with his nonexistent medical knowledge.

If you still aren’t convinced by my argument, please name me the two long-running TV series that were loved by fans and critics alike but whose final episodes were deemed to be maddeningly unsatisfying. Need I say more?