Subject presents with symptoms in discord: high ratings and position as top ten primetime show contrast with cult devotion and frequent online involvement by fans in show plotlines. “Coolness” factor rising through innovative episode topics, but popularity increase may cause decrease in same factor, and decrease total numbers of dedicated fanbase viewership of show. Possible diagnosis: hybrid blend of cult show with mainstream success, yielding unique position in television. Will continue to observe for further consult. Case history attached.

CASE HISTORY: THE PRECARIOUS HEALTH OF CULT TELEVISION SHOWS

In the days before DVD releases, digital video recorders, and the Internet, it was relatively easy to tell the difference between a mainstream hit TV show and a cult TV show. The mainstream show was the television program that a majority of viewers in a timeslot or an age group watched on a somewhat regular basis. It was, to borrow a phrase from NBC, “Must-See TV.” The cult show was the offbeat, underground show that only a handful of people watched, but that handful was vocal, involved with one another, and could potentially be found dressing up as the show’s characters. The cult show was often a short-lived series that rarely reappeared on television, while the mainstream show could go on for seasons before then moving into perpetual syndication. To twist a joke about cult films, “a mainstream show is seen one time by 1,000 people; a cult show is seen 1,000 times by one person” (“Cult Classic”).

Diagnostically speaking, with the current television  …