[srhDS]

There are quite a few threads in the US shows forum which really should be in "TV Shows: Cult, Sci-Fi & Fantasy" forum. I am just wondering why? Please don't see this as a rant or having a go, I am curious as to why this happens.
Do people think cult is only for geeks / nerds? Even though they watch sci fi and fantasy type shows, they feel they aren't a nerd so they must post in the "main stream" forum.

Examples of threads from US forum which should really be Cult:
American Horror Story *spoilers without tags*
Are 5* showing Terminator Sarah Connor Chronicles Seasons 1 and 2?
Once Upon a Time : C5
Teen Wolf Season 2 UK Air Date

And I often see threads get moved over to Cult.

The Sci Fi channel rebranded to Sy Fy, is this part of the same embarrassment about cult tv?

Cult no longer means small band of odd ball fanatics only. Shows like Star Trek TNG, X Files, Buffy, Lost and many others have moved into main stream culture. Comic Con every year is huge and has pulled in main other genres.

Am I reading too much into a few misplaced threads?

[Inkblot]

A lot of people probably think that if something's on a mainstream channel it isn't cult. Personally I'd call shows like Montalbano, The Bridge etc cult because they attract a hard core audience of fans of slightly obscure crime dramas, but I wouldn't post about them in the cult forum.

[theonlyweeman]

Nobody quite knows what cult is, it's very hard to define. Most people use "small but hardcore fanbase", but under that definition shows like Homeland, American Dad and 30 Rock could be included, despite only one of them being vaguely passable for cult

Also, most people assume US shows will be in the US section, which makes sense...

[petely]

Originally Posted by srhDS

The Sci Fi channel rebranded to Sy Fy, is this part of the same embarrassment about cult tv?

I don't think so. We were told at the time that it was to allow them to broaden their programming. What that meant is that almost nobody makes SciFi (i.e. fiction with a scientific theme) any more - it's all supernatural malarky: ghosts, vampires, witches etc.

[Steveaustin316]

Why not merge the US TV and Cult sections into one?

Either that, or remove the word cult and remame it TV Shows - Sci Fi & Fantasy.

[Lowri]

Originally Posted by Steveaustin316

Why not merge the US TV and Cult sections into one?

Either that, or remove the word cult and remame it TV Shows - Sci Fi & Fantasy.

Because not all US shows are cult. Not so long ago DS removed Cult and just had UK and US. On the surface this is much simpler and made things easier to find, however many forum members asked for the cult forum back because it gives a nice community feel and somehow it just feels right to put these shows together.
It might cause problems for location of threads but for self confessed geeks like me it's a nice place to be

[dsrichard]

Originally Posted by Steveaustin316

Why not merge the US TV and Cult sections into one?

Either that, or remove the word cult and remame it TV Shows - Sci Fi & Fantasy.

Nooooooooooooooo!

In the good old days there was a Cult forum with a tremendous community feel to it and a TV forum on here. All sorts of shows were discussed in the Cult room including most current US series. It didn't make much sense but it was a great forum.

Then the world was turned upside down.

TV was split into UK and US, Cult was removed and the community disappeared overnight. There was outrage.

After a while, they brought back the Cult forum but it's never regained its former status. I used to be in there all the time. I used to post five or six times a day. Not any more.

[barnsleykeith]

I used to spend a lot of time in the Cult section before it was closed down. Since it was reinstated I tend not to go in there much.

[barnsleykeith]

PS
Shouldn't this thread be in the Cult Forum?

[theonlyweeman]

I must say there is no community feel to the cult forum, either that or I'm an outsider. On the few threads I have posted in, it's been like any other forum, you recognize a few people, but it's hardly a community. Maybe for more regular posters it is, but it doesn't look or feel like it to me.

Surely DS should either pick a Country organizational system or genre, not both it's confuses people?

[syncage]

the whole us/uk vs genre thing is pretty confusing, add to that some posters are watching at us pace and some uk and sometimes this is virtually the same thing! I never visit the Cult forum as I just don't understand which programmes it relates to?

Are most digital spy users uk based (it is afterall a uk website) to me it would make sense to divide the tv section into channels as I would find that the easiest to locate the programme I want to read/talk about... and also it might naturally start to recreate the community feel as certain channels aim for a particular demographic so those with similar interest would find themselves congregating.. just an idea. sorry if I've derailed the thread OP.

[Rorschach]

Originally Posted by theonlyweeman

Nobody quite knows what cult is, it's very hard to define. Most people use "small but hardcore fanbase", but under that definition shows like Homeland, American Dad and 30 Rock could be included, despite only one of them being vaguely passable for cult.

Also there are some shows which whilst clearly based in the world of "cultish" sci-fi and fantasy (such as Doctor Who, Game of Thrones, Battlestar Galactica and Lost) generated huge mainstream audiences and therefore could be said to not be cult like at all.

[Rorschach]

Originally Posted by Steveaustin316

Why not merge the US TV and Cult sections into one?

Because as has been pointed out the likes of Being Human, Fades and Misfits are UK shows.

[Lawro2]

A show like The Wire can be identified as a US show and a cult classic.

[theonlyweeman]

Originally Posted by syncage

Are most digital spy users uk based (it is afterall a uk website) to me it would make sense to divide the tv section into channels as I would find that the easiest to locate the programme I want to read/talk about... and also it might naturally start to recreate the community feel as certain channels aim for a particular demographic so those with similar interest would find themselves congregating.. just an idea. sorry if I've derailed the thread OP.

Whilst DS originates in the UK there are both Australian and American versions of the site and I believe they all get the same forum (don't quote me on that). I think categorizing by genre would be better

[steven1977]

Originally Posted by srhDS

There are quite a few threads in the US shows forum which really should be in "TV Shows: Cult, Sci-Fi & Fantasy" forum. I am just wondering why? Please don't see this as a rant or having a go, I am curious as to why this happens.
Do people think cult is only for geeks / nerds? Even though they watch sci fi and fantasy type shows, they feel they aren't a nerd so they must post in the "main stream" forum.

Examples of threads from US forum which should really be Cult:
American Horror Story *spoilers without tags*
Are 5* showing Terminator Sarah Connor Chronicles Seasons 1 and 2?
Once Upon a Time : C5
Teen Wolf Season 2 UK Air Date

And I often see threads get moved over to Cult.

The Sci Fi channel rebranded to Sy Fy, is this part of the same embarrassment about cult tv?

Cult no longer means small band of odd ball fanatics only. Shows like Star Trek TNG, X Files, Buffy, Lost and many others have moved into main stream culture. Comic Con every year is huge and has pulled in main other genres.

Am I reading too much into a few misplaced threads?

There isnt anything worth posting there. No one talks about red Dwarf.

[codename_47]

I don't blame people for being confused, it's DS's obsessive compulsive "there must be forums for every type of topic imaginable" filing system that throws people into disarray. (Maybe so they can get better targeted ads in each section, I dunno...)

Personally Before I was exposed to topics on a greater number of series under the old system (having stuff like Family Guy and Buffy in the same forum was handy from my point of view) but under the newer "everything must be segregated" sorting system I primarily go to the Cult section and miss anything in the US forum.
There's only so much time in the day, you can't spend all of it flicking through hundreds of sub-forum to see if there's anything worth posting.

Oh well, I'll live.

[Gulfam1]

I believe moderators should rename the cult forum to sci-fi/fantasy as an above poster pointed out, also threads created in the US section based on sci-fi shows should be moved to that sub forum examples being person of interest UK speed and American horror story. sometimes there might be multiple threads created on the same show so 5 in the cult thread and 5 in the US. Posters should check for pre existing threads before creating new ones

[Lowri]

Originally Posted by Gulfam1

I believe moderators should rename the cult forum to sci-fi/fantasy as an above poster pointed out, also threads created in the US section based on sci-fi shows should be moved to that sub forum examples being person of interest UK speed and American horror story. sometimes there might be multiple threads created on the same show so 5 in the cult thread and 5 in the US. Posters should check for pre existing threads before creating new ones

When Cult came back, Sci-fi/Fantasy was added to the title to try and reduce confusion. While some shows may be on the border between the two categories I think the current system works quite well, you soon learn where you favourite shows can be found.
Regarding the community feel, I certainly get that in the Merlin thread although I had trouble "breaking in" to the Doctor Who group. It's nice to have a place for fans of a certain genre, I know I retreated back here during the National TV awards when the DW-hating got too much in UK TV!

@Steven1977 - When Red Dwarf starts back up and there's a bit more to comment on, I'll be quite happy to discuss it with you

[hyperstarsponge]

People post in what they want, Doctor Who forum would be great soon

[Doghouse Riley]

One person's "cult" is to someone else, just another TV programme.
There's too many different forums.
As a lot of US programmes are one the main UK channels, why not just "TV programmes?"

No one has to click on any thread that doesn't interest them.

[Lowri]

Originally Posted by Doghouse Riley

One person's "cult" is to someone else, just another TV programme.
There's too many different forums.
As a lot of US programmes are one the main UK channels, why not just "TV programmes?"

No one has to click on any thread that doesn't interest them.

That would certainly solve the problem of where to put things! My two objections are firstly the loss of any remaining community feel and secondly, I can rarely be bothered to go onto the second page of threads so a fast moving sub-forum doesn't suit me!

[theonlyweeman]

Originally Posted by Gulfam1

I believe moderators should rename the cult forum to sci-fi/fantasy as an above poster pointed out, also threads created in the US section based on sci-fi shows should be moved to that sub forum examples being person of interest UK speed and American horror story. sometimes there might be multiple threads created on the same show so 5 in the cult thread and 5 in the US. Posters should check for pre existing threads before creating new ones

Thank you for excellently demonstrating my point. By the majority of definitions POI isn't cult (13th most watched US network show last season), it's fantasy as in made up but not LOTR style fantasy. Cult is a very confusing phrase...

[srhDS]

I quite like the current structure. In the old TV Programmes and Cult split there were quite a few shows that I missed as I rarely went into TV Programmes as it was too cluttered with rubbish shows (like Come Dine with Me or Jeremy Kyle). I missed out on most of the US shows that weren't classed as Cult such as CSI. Although quite a few US shows started to post in the Cult forum even though they weren't Cult, which is probably what prompted them to just rename Cult to US Shows. This did cause an outcry amongst the Cult community so thankfully it was brought back. Although I agree that the community feel of the forum is not what it used to be. Although there aren't as many big sci fi cult type shows around just now. When Lost, BSG, Stargate, 24 and a few other shows were on air it was a more active forum. Although Game of Thrones (when on air) does approach Lost levels of thread activity.

Admitedly there are some shows, such as Nikita, Person of Interest or 24, which are close to being Sci Fi / fantasy due to their use of technology and super human martial arts and convoluted plots that stretch the bounds of credibility. So I can see why there could be confusion with some shows but the forum title is Cult, Sci Fi and Fantasy. So threads on Terminator or True Blood should be easily recognisable as sci fi and fantasy, yet they appear in US.
All in all I wouldn't change much just now. As some folk have said I might remove the word Cult as it does seem to put some people off. Simply calling it Sci Fi / Fantasy would be fine.

[Gulfam1]

In regards to the feeling of a community, I above made the point about checking for pre-existing show threads because if a 2 page discussion happened in one thread of True Blood and someone creates another then its like starting from beginning of the discussion no one is going to repeat what they said on a previous thread, there should either be one specific thread for an entire show or a specific season thread that everyone sticks to during the year either UK or US speed.