Cult Curiosity Battlestar Galactica Meerkat Manor Dexter Heroes and Jericho
With so many choices on TV nowadays, there’s something for almost everyone, even if you happen to prefer shows that veer from the usual formulas. Of course, you may need to go to cable to find it, or to trust that it will have staying power. (Last season was not kind to network fantasies like
Invasion and
Surface.) Cult shows by definition attract obsessively loyal followings — you can’t spell “fanatic” without “fan.” But just because a show is different doesn’t necessarily make it the next
Buffy the Vampire Slayer or (wishful thinking)
Lost. Here’s my critical spin on some of TV’s highest concepts.
Battlestar Galactica
Fridays, 9 pm/ET, Sci Fi
Target audience: Sci-fi/action fans
Cult classic? Even beyond. The new Battlestar transcends genre. One of TV’s boldest and best dramas evolves in its third season into an intensely suspenseful, oh-so-topical war allegory. As a resistance movement plots against the occupying Cylons, troubling ethics of warfare loom large as we ponder humanity’s shaky future.
My score (0-10): 10
Meerkat Manor
Fridays, 8 pm/ET, Animal Planet
Target audience: Animal and nature lovers
Cult classic? In its own modest way. What sets Meerkat apart is its clever narration (read by Sean Astin), imposing a soap-operatic narrative of love triangles, power struggles and family rivalries onto an absorbing study of the scrappy Whiskers tribe, an adorably frolicking, desperately foraging group of meerkats in the South African desert. It’s Dallas with fur.
My score: 7
Dexter
Sundays, 10 pm/ET, Showtime
Target audience: Hannibal Lecter devotees
Cult classic? And then some. Gruesome and gripping, laced in bloody, dark humor, this macabre gem (not for the squeamish) stars Six Feet Under’s Michael C. Hall, who’s electrifying as Dexter, “a very neat monster.” He’s an oddly likable vigilante serial killer who fakes human emotion as a forensics blood expert when he's not stalking bad guys to kill.
My score: 8
Heroes
Mondays, 9 pm/ET, NBC
Target audience: Comic-book geeks
Cult classic? Hardly, but this overly sprawling show does boast awesome cliff-hangers. If only the stories in between were coherent. Too much pretentious hooey about destiny obscures an unfocused saga of normal folks with odd powers. Early breakout: Hiro (Masi Oka), a Japanese nerd who loves being able to bend space and time.
My score: 5
Jericho
Wednesdays, 8 pm/ET, CBS
Target audience: End-of-the-world enthusiasts
Cult classic? More like a bomb. Literally. Jericho, an isolated Kansas burg, isn’t a fun place to visit, but since nuclear blasts seem to have obliterated the big cities, it will have to do. Downbeat and earnestly preachy about community and survival, this weird show is further hampered by glum Skeet Ulrich’s miscasting as the all-purpose prodigal hero.
My score: 3
