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Josh Swartz

Crazed Fandom Show CULT Debuts February 19th on The CW – Updated

What happens when a rabid, obsessed fandom crosses the line between the imagined and reality? We’ll get to see in three weeks when the buzzed-about meta series Cult debuts on The CW. The pilot episode introduces us to journalist Jeff (Matt Davis from the Vampire Diaries) searching for his brother whose disappearance may be linked to the fans of a TV series called Cult recreating what they’ve seen on the show. Jeff enlists the help of production assistant Skye (Jessica Lucas) from the show-within-a-show to examine the dark influence of its cult leader character Billy (Robert Knepper) on the fans and how the show-within-a-show’s creator might be purposefully manipulating them. The next twelve episodes track the fan reaction to twelve episodes of the show-within-a-show, culminating in season finales for both.

[sz-youtube url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F65Zw_BLtqA” /]

[Update: A new promo asks What is Real? One is TV. One is Reality. As it cuts back and forth  between scenes from the show-within-a-show and “reality”.  Cult filmed the scene of car vs  train on railroad tracks in Langley and caused traffic gridlock on a Friday afternoon as drivers slowed down to stare.]

[sz-youtube url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22aMECBzGUc” /]

Related: Matt Davis filming TV pilot Cult in Gastown

Showrunner Rockne O’Bannon of Farscape fame told the Television Critics Association (TCA) winter press tour that Cult puts a magnifying glass on the potential dangers of a passionate fan base of a dark show. Executive producer Josh Swartz elaborated, saying today’s fans feel like they have an emotional ownership of their show and get so  much more access to the people who create, write and star in it that they “may feel they control that conversation as well. And when things don’t go the way they have tweeted, there’s a certain level of animosity Read More »Crazed Fandom Show CULT Debuts February 19th on The CW – Updated