Rockne O'Bannon's "Cult" picked up for a pilot - Science Fiction Fantasy Chronicles: forums

Texane · 31st August 2005, 06:18 AM

Cult Inspired By Farscape Fans

Writer/producer Rockne S. O'Bannon told SCI FI Wire that the idea for Cult, the TV pilot he's currently working on for The WB, was inspired by his experience as executive producer for the SCI FI Original series Farscape. "It's kind of based on my experiences with the Farscape fan community, obviously taken to an extreme," O'Bannon said in an interview. "One of the aspects of Cult is the subculture that grows up around a television series. It's kind of a show within a show. And it's totally based on that [experience], but an extreme extrapolation, because the Farscape fans are wonderful, benign people, and not all the fans of Cult are anywhere near as benign. They're actually quite nasty."

Cult, which is currently in preproduction for a potential debut in the fall of 2006, centers around two brothers, one of whom is involved in the fan community of a fictional television series called Cult. When he goes missing, his older brother begins unraveling the mystery behind his disappearance and discovers that it may have something to do with the fandom of the show.

"It has to do with a kind of Charles Manson-slash-Hannibal Lecter kind of cult figure," O'Bannon said of the fictional series around which Cult is based. "[The brother] would go on the Internet and deal not only with the official Cult network Web site and post to that, but there's a whole set of other Web sites related to the television series, some of which are very hard to get into. They're somehow related to this Charles Manson/Hannibal Lecter cult figure, who is fictional, but you kind of wonder whether he's fictional or not."

O'Bannon said he is looking forward to next year's Comic-Con International in San Diego, where he hopes to preview the show for its ideal intended audience. "It's so perfect for Comic-Con, I can't tell you," he said. "In the pilot there's a scene that takes place at Comic-Con. Our cast of the fictional television show Cult go to Comic-Con, and the actor who plays the Charles Manson/Hannibal Lecter guy, people in the front row fall to their knees in front of him. He's like in his 50s. He used to be in, like, Glen Larson TV shows back in the '80s. So to him it's like, 'Why are these people wearing T-shirts with my face on it, kneeling for me? I'm just an actor in a TV show.' But he plays this cult leader, and suddenly it's blurring the line between the screen and life. It's TV that reaches through the screen."

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire2005/index.php?id=32199

McHorde-Trooper · 3rd September 2005, 12:06 AM

That's an interesting idea . .

I wonder how many people will catch on to it.

31st August 2005, 06:18 AM	#1 (permalink)
Texane Frelling Wicked Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Texas (of course!) Posts: 3,877	Rockne O'Bannon's "Cult" picked up for a pilot Cult Inspired By Farscape Fans Writer/producer Rockne S. O'Bannon told SCI FI Wire that the idea for Cult, the TV pilot he's currently working on for The WB, was inspired by his experience as executive producer for the SCI FI Original series Farscape. "It's kind of based on my experiences with the Farscape fan community, obviously taken to an extreme," O'Bannon said in an interview. "One of the aspects of Cult is the subculture that grows up around a television series. It's kind of a show within a show. And it's totally based on that [experience], but an extreme extrapolation, because the Farscape fans are wonderful, benign people, and not all the fans of Cult are anywhere near as benign. They're actually quite nasty." Cult, which is currently in preproduction for a potential debut in the fall of 2006, centers around two brothers, one of whom is involved in the fan community of a fictional television series called Cult. When he goes missing, his older brother begins unraveling the mystery behind his disappearance and discovers that it may have something to do with the fandom of the show. "It has to do with a kind of Charles Manson-slash-Hannibal Lecter kind of cult figure," O'Bannon said of the fictional series around which Cult is based. "[The brother] would go on the Internet and deal not only with the official Cult network Web site and post to that, but there's a whole set of other Web sites related to the television series, some of which are very hard to get into. They're somehow related to this Charles Manson/Hannibal Lecter cult figure, who is fictional, but you kind of wonder whether he's fictional or not." O'Bannon said he is looking forward to next year's Comic-Con International in San Diego, where he hopes to preview the show for its ideal intended audience. "It's so perfect for Comic-Con, I can't tell you," he said. "In the pilot there's a scene that takes place at Comic-Con. Our cast of the fictional television show Cult go to Comic-Con, and the actor who plays the Charles Manson/Hannibal Lecter guy, people in the front row fall to their knees in front of him. He's like in his 50s. He used to be in, like, Glen Larson TV shows back in the '80s. So to him it's like, 'Why are these people wearing T-shirts with my face on it, kneeling for me? I'm just an actor in a TV show.' But he plays this cult leader, and suddenly it's blurring the line between the screen and life. It's TV that reaches through the screen." http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire2005/index.php?id=32199

3rd September 2005, 12:06 AM	#2 (permalink)
McHorde-Trooper Registered User Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: McEarth Posts: 248	That's an interesting idea . . I wonder how many people will catch on to it.