Wikipedia talk:Requests for mediation/Cult television

Summary by Sanhedrin
Group A: The page should list any television show ever considered cult in any market.

Group B: The page should only list shows considered cult in their original market. This avoids disputes where, for example, a show may be cult in 7 countries but not in 9 other countries. Additional lists may be created for individual markets where foreign shows are considered cult. For example, a list of foreign shows attaining cult status in the United States, which may include shows not considered cult anywhere else in the world.

Users involved
Group A:
 * User:Stephenb
 * User:HowardBerry

Group B:
 * User:sanhedrin

Comment: User:Sanhedrin has grossly exaggerated this issue by refusing to recognise the opinions of two other editors, constantly worked against several reverts, and holds an opinion of what cult tv is which is in opposition to a large amount of sources (including the BBC cult television webpages). He/she is also editing out shows relevant to the USA, and refuses to accept that cult American shows (such as Star Trek and The X Files) are actually cult because they are popular in America. How can Star Trek (about which a discussion on the Cult TV page has already confirmed it has a place on the list) not be considered to be cult television? This issue is already listed at Mediation_Cabal. I attempted to resolve the issue by creating a discussion about the dispute on the appropriate discussion page and Sanhedrin still went ahead and removed the content yet again, before it was reverted for the seventh time. HowardBerry 22:22, 7 December 2005 (UTC)

The definition of cult television Group A proposes is too broad to be useful. As it currently stands, it says a cult television show is hugely popular, moderately popular, or unpopular, and may have any number of these qualities in various degree in any number of television markets around the world. In other words, the world’s most watched show will make the list if it has cult status in a single locality. As the tastes of each television market vary, a list culled from this definition would include practically every show ever produced, and lose all value as a work of reference.

Group A resists efforts to enact a more specific definition of the terms involved by specifying exactly where and with whom a show has achieved cult status. Sanhedrin 05:10, 8 December 2005 (UTC)

If Sanhedrin had attempted to edit the article to suggest which markets the shows were considered cult in, I would have had no problem - as it is, he simply removed shows! While I agree that the list could be endless, simply removing information is not helpful. Popularity, incidentally, should not be not the only consideration of "cult". Stephenb (Talk) 11:40, 8 December 2005 (UTC)


 * Group A does not "resist efforts to enact a more specific definition of the terms involved...". Group A resists the fact that Sanhedrin decided to just delete half of the page content and rewrite what he/she considers to be the definition of cult television.  Had the content just been moved into a seperate section (such as: "US shows considered to be cult in the UK") then it would not have been disputed.  However the content was just deleted entirely.  As it stands, Sandhedrin refused to acknowledge that a show should be listed as cult at all if it had been popular in it's own market.  Therefore Star Trek, The X Files etc. would not be allowed to be considered cult shows.  Now Sanhedrin has changed his/her tune and decided that they are allowed, just not on a generic "all cult tv" page.  Which one is it?  Splitting the page up ultimately makes little sense, as a show that is considered to be cult in several countries would have to be listed each time (if we were to split the page up into a list of cult shows in each and every country).  I still propose that the list remain as it is, as it is a listing of shows to be considered cult - with no location given; therefore it's not claiming to be list of cult shows just in America - it's just a listing of shows which might be considered to be cult.  If it's not cult in the readers' own country, the so be it - but it might be considered cult somewhere else.  And if the list is split up into every country, then I still say that Star Trek should be on the US list.  After all, the show has a whole load of fans who meet the criteria described for a cult show - some even walk about in starfleet uniform in their every day lives (anyone who has seen the film Trekkies will see what I mean). HowardBerry 12:22, 8 December 2005 (UTC)


 * I have asked Asbestos to look at this case. R  e  dwolf24  (talk)  Attention Washingtonians!  02:01, 8 December 2005 (UTC)