To me, since I did not have any idea what is cult TV and how it is created, the 'Cult TV' obviously looks like a genre which is set apart from genres in the mainstream such as fantasy, science fiction and other popular shows on TV. Generally, cult TV shows would be differentiated by an uncommon and ground-breaking material, I guess, for example, improved roles for women like the heroine character, Buffy in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. By just looking at one of the definitions of cult, 'fan practices and activities' by Hills (2004), I would notice that fans are an indispensable part of the genre.
According to Hills (2004), a group of dedicated fans, participating in such activities as online discussions and engaging with subsidiary texts related to a cult program, express their fandom through it. Hills continues by saying the engagement of fans positions "cult TV as a 'grassroots' phenomenon, assuming that it is created by fans rather than by media producers." (p.510) Development of the genre seems to be dependent fully upon the royal and devoted fans. In terms of fan activities on TV shows, I think it affects not only for the cult TV genre but for other genres in some degree as well. For example, I’ve seen fans of soap operas, talk shows, reality TV shows in Korea conducting activities a lot such as commentaries, discussions, blogging on certain TV shows and it also would have affected them somehow.
A lot of fans get into a broader fan community with an intertextual network, including many other programs, books, films and so on. This is because without the references and comparisons to the intertextual network, it would be hard for fans to discuss about certain programs (Jenkins, 1992 as cited in Hills). Besides there are many more fan activities such as commentaries, fan fiction, episode guides to sustain its fandom. These activities can be carried out as fans can re-view their favourite shows as much as they can, which results in fans accumulating their knowledge about narratives, characters as well as production details. This would affect the primary text of a certain program. Hills (2004) further states that cult fans have organised Appreciation Societies and assemblies to share their thoughts and interests. As such conventions provide a spectacular visibility, fandom of cult can be "stereotyped and represented in media coverage". (p.519)
New media such as virtual spaces enables the fans to post their thoughts, opinions and fanzines which create a relationship between a primary text and the fans. The internet makes much easier for fans to gather each other and do activities together that could lead to fandoms possibly appearing in a wider variety of TV shows. Therefore, such media seems to activate those fan actions. However, we need to be aware of something at this point. Getting into group discussions on the internet easily doesn’t mean that everyone is welcomed because they might have a superficial knowledge thus lack of an interpretative competence (Hills, 2004)
References
Hills, M. (2004). Defining Cult TV; Texts, Inter-Texts and Fan Audiences, The
Television Studies Reader, in R. C. Allen & A. Hill. London and New
York: Routledge
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