Cult Television Sara Gwenllian-Jones and Roberta E. Pearson, editors Table of Contents		$23.50 paper ISBN: 0-8166-3831-4 ISBN-13: 978-0-8166-3831-4 $70.50 cloth ISBN: 0-8166-3830-6 ISBN-13: 978-0-8166-3830-7
Exploring the definition and appeal of cult TV from Emma Peel to Buffy. A television series is tagged with the label “cult” by the media, advertisers, and network executives when it is considered edgy or offbeat, when it appeals to nostalgia, or when it is considered emblematic of a particular subculture. By these criteria, almost any series could be described as cult. Yet certain programs exert an uncanny power over their fans, encouraging them to immerse themselves within a fictional world. In Cult Television leading scholars examine such shows as The X-Files; The Avengers; Doctor Who; Babylon Five; Star Trek; Xena, Warrior Princess; and Buffy the Vampire Slayer to determine the defining characteristics of cult television and map the contours of this phenomenon within the larger scope of popular culture. “A fresh cult text and the recognition that cultism is global.” —Symploke “A very useful book that is taking a serious topic—how television shows work as both art and commerce—very seriously indeed. I hope there will be more books like Cult Television.” —Science Fiction Studies Contributors: Karen Backstein, David A. Black, Mary Hammond, Nathan Hunt, Mark Jancovich, Petra Kuppers, Philippe Le Guern, Alan McKee, Toby Miller, Jeffrey Sconce, Eva Vieth. Sara Gwenllian-Jones is a lecturer in television and digital media at Cardiff University and coeditor of Intensities: The Journal of Cult Media. Roberta E. Pearson is a reader in media and cultural studies at Cardiff University. She is the author of the forthcoming book Small Screen, Big Universe: Star Trek and Television. 272 pages | 5-7/8 x 9 | 2004 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Sara Gwenllian-Jones and Roberta E. Pearson PART I. CULT 1. Toward a Constructivist Approach to Media Cults Philippe Le Guern 2. The Mainstream, Distinction, and Cult TV Mark Jancovich and Nathan Hunt 3. Quality Science Fiction: Babylon 5's Metatextual Universe Petra Kuppers 4. "Bright Particular Star": Patrick Stewart, Jean-Luc Picard, and Cult Television Roberta E. Pearson PART II. FICTIONS 5. Virtual Reality and Cult Television Sara Gwenllian-Jones 6. Charactor; or, The Strange Case of Uma Peel David A. Black 7. Flexing Those Anthropological Muscles: X-Files, Cult TV, and the Representation of Race and Ethnicity Karen Backstein 8. Monsters and Metaphors: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Old World Mary Hammond PART III: FANS 9. How to Tell the Difference between Production and Consumption: A Case Study in Doctor Who Fandom Alan McKee 10. Trainspotting The Avengers Toby Miller 11. Star Trek, Heaven's Gate, and Textual Transcendence Jeffrey Sconce 12. A Kind of German Star Trek: Raumpatrouille Orion and the Life of a Cult TV Series Eva Vieth Contributors