Tyrion Lannister vs. Lucille Bluth

October 15, 2012 10:29 PM

Vulture's Top 25 Most Devoted Fan Bases: "Vulture has scanned the great plains of pop culture, weighing passion versus mere popularity to decide the 25 Most Devoted Fans of entertainment, which kicks off our weeklong exploration of all things Fandom. It's important to underscore that this list is not about mere numbers — it’s about fervency."

The writers mention Facebook and Twitter data, but somehow forgot the all-important MetaFilter tag count, so I took care of that below.

25. MAD MEN (51 tags)
24. REAL HOUSEWIVES (1)
23. LIL B (6)
22. STEPHEN COLBERT (43)
21. PHISH (18)
20. KEVIN SMITH (29)
19. INSANE CLOWN POSSE (14)
18. NEIL GAIMAN (60)
17. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (22)
16. TRUE BLOOD (7)
15. OPRAH (30)
14. STAR TREK (211)
13. COMMUNITY (between 8 and 185)
12. JOSS WHEDON (32)
11. TYLER PERRY (1)
10. ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT (17)
9. DOCTOR WHO (118)
8. LADY GAGA (53)
7. HUNGER GAMES (9)
6. LORD OF THE RINGS (77)
5. JUSTIN BEIBER (7)
4. HARRY POTTER (107)
3. TWILIGHT (30)
2. STAR WARS (393)
1. GAME OF THRONES (29)

posted by roger ackroyd (81 comments total)

Should probably mention the weird psychotic "Hatedom" following some of those. Most of the US Who fan base is completly off its rocker, as far as I can tell.
posted by Artw at 10:35 PM on October 15, 2012 [3 favorites]

Anyone who has concluded that Potter, Twilight, and ASoIaF fans are more dedicated than Tolkien people needs a broader dataset and/or to have spent more time on Usenet before the turn of the century.

I'll give them a pass on Star Wars, much as it pains me. Those people are fucking insane.
posted by brennen at 10:36 PM on October 15, 2012 [8 favorites]

Where's Homestuck on this list.
posted by Sokka shot first at 10:37 PM on October 15, 2012 [9 favorites]

THE TOP TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT THE INTERNET RIGHT NOW

1. LISTICLES
posted by mwhybark at 10:39 PM on October 15, 2012 [6 favorites]

TWIN PEAKS 4 EVER
posted by grapesaresour at 10:39 PM on October 15, 2012 [16 favorites]

Good work on the tag totals, BTW. More than a few posts there are multiples, as well, for crossover crazy.
posted by Artw at 10:41 PM on October 15, 2012

Well they might have missed me while counting Tolkien devotees. I've been too busy translating the Red Book of Westmarch back into elvish to join tweeter or the facepage.
posted by Ad hominem at 10:43 PM on October 15, 2012 [13 favorites]

26. WIL WHEATON (20)?
posted by unliteral at 10:49 PM on October 15, 2012 [2 favorites]

Most of the US Who fan base is completly off its rocker, as far as I can tell.

DUDE WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT THOSE GUYS TOTALLY ROCK BABA O'RILEY IS THE BEST SONG EVER!!!!

TEENAGE WASTELAAAND !! (BRANG! BRANG!) ONLY TEENAGE WASTELAND !! THEY'RE ALL WASTED !! WATCH ME WINDMILL THE AIR GUITAR JUST LIKE PETE TOWNSHEND !!!!!!!!!
posted by soundguy99 at 10:51 PM on October 15, 2012 [16 favorites]

I guess the Wire (64?) doesn't really count as a fandom, otherwise it'd be way up there. "Have you seen the Wire?"
posted by Lorin at 10:54 PM on October 15, 2012 [1 favorite]

I should watch The Wire again.
posted by hellojed at 10:56 PM on October 15, 2012 [5 favorites]

Where's Homestuck on this list.

The Homestuck fandom has reached a critical mass of people on Tumblr who think Karkat lives in their heads and transcended the physical plane.

Godhead Fan Base: Fondly regard competition.

(actually I think homestucks are too busy F5ing in anticipation of more mellowed-out vriska adventures to appear on lists right now)
posted by emmtee at 11:10 PM on October 15, 2012 [3 favorites]

"Have you seen the Wire?"

Asked in the same tone as "Have you heard the Good News?" Less of a fandom, more of a religious movement.
posted by nebulawindphone at 11:13 PM on October 15, 2012 [21 favorites]

Notably rabid groups missing from this list:

video game players
programming language devotees
re-enactors
food fanatics
anime fans
sports enthusiasts
ravers
burners
posted by poe at 11:16 PM on October 15, 2012 [3 favorites]

I was about to laugh at your list, poe, until I realized I was three of them.
posted by Mars Saxman at 11:19 PM on October 15, 2012

Which three?

Me, I'm a Burning Man sports re-enactor. We ride these extra-dusty mountain bikes around and pretend we're in the middle of the desert on E.
posted by nebulawindphone at 11:23 PM on October 15, 2012 [6 favorites]

No Bronies?
posted by radwolf76 at 11:26 PM on October 15, 2012 [7 favorites]

Why U No Apple?
posted by Yowser at 11:33 PM on October 15, 2012

Why U No Apple?

I don't think they were doing cults.
posted by brennen at 11:36 PM on October 15, 2012 [3 favorites]

56. MOTHERHOOD (19)
...
38. ROMANTIC LOVE (72)
posted by chrchr at 11:42 PM on October 15, 2012 [1 favorite]

Supernatural isn't on this list.

Therefore, this list is wrong.

I have gazed long into that abyss. Believe me. There are places the mind was not meant to go, and yet that does not stop them.
posted by a power-tie-wearing she-capitalist at 11:45 PM on October 15, 2012 [11 favorites]

emacs vs vi?
posted by destrius at 11:47 PM on October 15, 2012 [6 favorites]

Commodore Amiga! I gotta see if it has a twitter or Facebook.
posted by Ad hominem at 11:48 PM on October 15, 2012 [1 favorite]

Most of the US Who fan base is completly off its rocker, as far as I can tell.

Crazy as in they actually think the new series has been good, or crazy in the sense of nothing but the real Who counts?

(Probable answer: yes, but let's not be that guy.)
posted by MartinWisse at 12:01 AM on October 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

What about the KISS Army?
posted by zippy at 12:02 AM on October 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

... with merch, natch.

Pepsi Gene Simmons' Tongue
posted by zippy at 12:03 AM on October 16, 2012

THEY LEFT OUT PONY.

PINKIE PIE WILL MESS THEIR SHIT UP.
posted by JHarris at 12:23 AM on October 16, 2012 [6 favorites]

It's important to underscore that this list is not about mere numbers — it’s about fervency.

Here's a list of all the shows that have used the word "fervency":
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
posted by twoleftfeet at 12:32 AM on October 16, 2012

I normally hate these kinds of lists, but I kind of dug how this was a state of fandom "right now" attempt. It's interesting to think of which groups have staying power(Springsteen), and which ones are the contemporary replacements of groups that would have dominated the list in the past. Like Bieber single handedly filling the boy band slot, or Gaga taking the reins from Madonna.

Personally, I would add Scarface to the list. Probably not measurable in terms of twitter followers, but if "most owned movie poster in the history of MTV cribs" was a category, it would be tough to beat.
posted by billyfleetwood at 12:55 AM on October 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

emmtee: "(actually I think homestucks are too busy F5ing in anticipation of more mellowed-out vriska adventures to appear on lists right now)"

Whenever a Homestuck fan presses F5 it gives Hussie a mild electric shock. That's why he keeps sinking everyone's ships.
posted by ArmyOfKittens at 2:31 AM on October 16, 2012

I second billyfleetwood, this was a well-written effort to sample what our culture is obsessed with at the moment.
posted by maxwelton at 2:32 AM on October 16, 2012

I have gazed long into that abyss. Believe me. There are places the mind was not meant to go, and yet that does not stop them.

Dean/Castiel Mpreg.

This list lacks a certain degree of ... crazy.
I doubt it.
posted by Mezentian at 2:37 AM on October 16, 2012

You know, the thing about Homestuck is that although I know there are thousands of fans, and they love Homestuck enough to donate $2.4 million dollars, I don't have a single real life friend who reads it. And anybody I introduce it to finds it way too long.

So lonely.
posted by destrius at 3:12 AM on October 16, 2012 [3 favorites]

What does it say about me that I've never heard of three or four of these, uh, phenomena, on this list?
posted by tommyD at 3:16 AM on October 16, 2012

It's important to underscore that this list is not about mere numbers — it’s about fervency.

This person has not read the Bethesda forums before Fallout 3. The general sentiment was that the company was holding the fans' collective baby hostage AND IT SHOULD DO THE 18696 CONFLICTING THINGS WE WANT rather than developing a new game of the series after a decade.
posted by ersatz at 3:20 AM on October 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Judging from the fact that something called Lil'B has six tags here:
You don't spend enough time here.

Now, if you will excuse me, I need to craft a good 200-odd Dr Who posts so we can put those damned Trekkies in their place before November 23, 2013.
posted by Mezentian at 3:20 AM on October 16, 2012

Anyone who has concluded that Potter, Twilight, and ASoIaF fans are more dedicated than Tolkien people needs a broader dataset and/or to have spent more time on Usenet before the turn of the century.

The old that is strong does not wither
posted by ersatz at 3:22 AM on October 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

personally, I'd like to go to Dimension Jump
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 3:41 AM on October 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

No Apple or Radiohead? Or BEATLES?! Fuck that noise.
posted by dbiedny at 3:43 AM on October 16, 2012

Wait, NO ELVIS?!?!? TOTAL FAIL
posted by dbiedny at 3:44 AM on October 16, 2012

This list has a "yeah, if you were born yesterday" sort of feel to it. It's a mixture of things (TV shows, movies, singers, authors, directors) that manages to be both too broad and too narrow. Its breadth means it's just a few things from each category; it's far too narrow in that things like technology companies and professional sports belong on such a list but aren't there.

Also, I am sick of paging through lists on the internet.
posted by graymouser at 4:18 AM on October 16, 2012

I was about to get indignant not because of what's missing but what's included...before I realized I'd misread Real Housewives as Desperate Housewives. (I mean, come on.)

And on the Real Housewives tip: It's all hatedom, right? The knock on them seems to be you get one of three bins: horrible, delusional, or boring. There's nobody out there who is actually rooting for them, gets indignant on their behalf, etc... Any time one of them releases a single (why does sudden fame make people think they can sing?), it always, always flops.
posted by psoas at 4:24 AM on October 16, 2012

destrius: "You know, the thing about Homestuck is that although I know there are thousands of fans, and they love Homestuck enough to donate $2.4 million dollars, I don't have a single real life friend who reads it. And anybody I introduce it to finds it way too long."

Dress up as this guy and walk two metres behind them wherever they go until they agree to give it another chance.
posted by ArmyOfKittens at 5:00 AM on October 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Gangnam Style?
posted by oddman at 5:06 AM on October 16, 2012

Supernatural isn't on this list.

Therefore, this list is wrong.

I have gazed long into that abyss. Believe me. There are places the mind was not meant to go, and yet that does not stop them.

If you go by fandom_wank entries, I'm pretty sure SPN is right behind in Harry Potter in terms of sheer WTFery.

Dean/Castiel Mpreg

Dean/Cas mpreg is practically vanilla for SPN.
posted by kmz at 5:08 AM on October 16, 2012 [2 favorites]

I was surprised to read the comparison of Real Housewives fans to wrestling marks.

I stopped being able to enjoy The Real Housewives of New York when I could no longer ignore how staged it was. I still enjoy professional wrestling though.
posted by Egg Shen at 5:35 AM on October 16, 2012

Still Team Jill though.
posted by Egg Shen at 5:35 AM on October 16, 2012

So glad someone else mentioned Supernatural.

And Homestuck, yeah. How much money did they raise on Kickstarter for no apparent reason?

Kind of glad I'm not in either of those. They're forces to be reckoned with.
posted by six-or-six-thirty at 5:36 AM on October 16, 2012

Oh THAT'S the problem they didn't even LOOK at tumblr. Christ people that's a major oversight.
posted by six-or-six-thirty at 5:37 AM on October 16, 2012 [2 favorites]

Bonkers list. Nice to get a mention though.
posted by prolific at 5:48 AM on October 16, 2012

I'm okay with them not using kickstarter as a metric for this, as I really doubt New York/Vulture Mag's ability to comprehend Homestuck, Order of the Stick, or Double-Fine.

Minecraft could've used an entry, though.
posted by Navelgazer at 5:50 AM on October 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Josh Groban? Grobanites abound.
posted by X | ANA | X at 5:52 AM on October 16, 2012

Dean/Cas mpreg is practically vanilla for SPN.

*fails SAN check*
posted by Mezentian at 6:25 AM on October 16, 2012

This list purports to somehow quantify the rabidness of a fandom. But if that's the case, by every single metric the My Little Pony fandom wipes Mad Men's fandom off the map.

Image macros? Oh yeah. Obsessive Tumblrs? Got it. Fanart squadrons? Done. Detailed analysis of every episode? Check.

But wait, there's more!

Pony fandom also has Equestria Daily as its main news outlet. The breadth and sheer volume would, I wager, smother any comparable Mad Men site.

And!

Pony fandom has at least three full-scale conventions happening around the country every year (that I know about - I'm sure there are more). The one recently held in Seattle sold out in about two days and set attendance records like wow.

I'm not saying "ponies are better than Mad Men." That's a judgment call I'm not prepared to make. I'm just saying, this list is surprisingly ill-informed.
posted by ErikaB at 6:26 AM on October 16, 2012 [5 favorites]

Kpop fans! They are mostly overseas though. But kpop groups exist purely in order to cater to (insane) kpop fans, creating a situation where an overreacting teen fanbase, a massive media machine, and weak-to-nonexistant harassment laws combine to create the deeply insane and frightening fan culture anywhere in the world.
posted by subdee at 6:28 AM on October 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

West Wing?
posted by hmo at 6:31 AM on October 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

"Have you seen the Wire?"

Asked in the same tone as "Have you heard the Good News?" Less of a fandom, more of a religious movement.

I resisted till this year. Wow, it's really, really good.
posted by Artw at 7:13 AM on October 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

If we're talking strictly about fervency, then I really don't see how Firefly (even distinct from Whedon's work as a whole) isn't in the top 3.
posted by dry white toast at 7:36 AM on October 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

As one of the top Mad Men posters on Metafilter, can just I ask that everyone who's used it go back and fix their "Mad" and "Men" tags to be just one tag called "madmen"?

Thanks so much.

#superfan.
posted by sweetkid at 8:11 AM on October 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

subdee, it would be unfair to include kpop in there. They'd wreck the curve for everyone else.

These fandoms can get back to me when entire subcultures pop up that are devoted to literally stalking their objects of devotion 24/7. Google sasaeng and be afraid. Be very afraid.
posted by imnotasquirrel at 8:19 AM on October 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Anyone who has concluded that Potter, Twilight, and ASoIaF fans are more dedicated than Tolkien people needs a broader dataset and/or to have spent more time on Usenet before the turn of the century.

The Harry Potter fandom includes almost every person in the English speaking world born after 1988.
posted by riruro at 9:16 AM on October 16, 2012

I'm surprised The Walking Dead didn't chart. My Facebook friends post about it non-stop, even during the hiatus.
posted by roger ackroyd at 9:27 AM on October 16, 2012

Dean/Cas mpreg is practically vanilla for SPN.

*fails SAN check*

Don't drag me into this, even the Old Ones think it's a bit unsavory.

seriously i hate the part of my brain that actually understands that first sentence
posted by FatherDagon at 9:50 AM on October 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

"Have you seen the Wire?"

Asked in the same tone as "Have you heard the Good News?" Less of a fandom, more of a religious movement.

I resisted till this year. Wow, it's really, really good.

Yes, but have you seen The Wire?
posted by Nomyte at 10:02 AM on October 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Star Wars (393) (394) sigh
posted by roger ackroyd at 10:20 AM on October 16, 2012

Oh, should I do a Madmen post? The Nerdist Season Five wrap up almost seems worth it, but it's audio and people generally don't like that.
posted by Artw at 10:22 AM on October 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

yes please.
posted by sweetkid at 10:40 AM on October 16, 2012

What the Supernatural fandom lacks in numbers, they make up for in sheer blahglarfsquefghgrieetsdfeean.

By which I mean irksome craziness, and foaming-at-the-mouth, kill you where you stand, partisanship that would shock even major league sports fans.
posted by Squeak Attack at 11:15 AM on October 16, 2012

I have a hard time believing the Springsteen fandom is more rabid than Radiohead's. Do a Radiohead tumblr tag search sometime. You'll see.
posted by Windigo at 11:23 AM on October 16, 2012

"combine to create the MOST deeply insane and frightening fan culture anywhere in the world," that should be.

When those other things produce dynamics of fan group versus fan group, fans vs anti-fans of the same group, and fans disavowing stalker fans for their unauthorized stalking outside of acceptable areas like the recording studio and the airport... yeah.
posted by subdee at 12:12 PM on October 16, 2012

These days, I ignore the existence of all of these. And I will keep it this way.
posted by The Biggest Dreamer at 2:00 PM on October 16, 2012

In all of these listed, I can probably say that I passively enjoy:

Stephen Colbert
Neil Gaiman
Bruce Springstein
Lord of the Rings
Hunger Games
Star Wars
Game of Thrones

And probably take some (or have taken some) active participation in the fandoms of:

Community
Joss Whedon
Arrested Development
Doctor Who
Harry Potter

So I guess the list fairly represents me. Which is frightening in some way.
posted by Navelgazer at 3:57 PM on October 16, 2012

Tum te tum...
posted by Artw at 5:43 PM on October 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

I'm so there ArtW!
posted by sweetkid at 6:07 PM on October 16, 2012

No Homestuck? No ponies?

Whateverrrrrr.
posted by egypturnash at 7:05 PM on October 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Lorin writes "I guess the Wire (64?) doesn't really count as a fandom, otherwise it'd be way up there. "Have you seen the Wire?""

dry white toast writes "If we're talking strictly about fervency, then I really don't see how Firefly (even distinct from Whedon's work as a whole) isn't in the top 3."

They put their thumb on the scale by not including anything that isn't "current" and then fudged the current list.
posted by Mitheral at 7:25 PM on October 16, 2012

Most of the things there that are not TV shows don't even have an applicable concept of current.
posted by Artw at 8:00 PM on October 16, 2012

GO PACKERS.
posted by j03 at 10:26 PM on October 16, 2012

Neil Gaiman episode confirmed for 7th series of Doctor Who.
posted by Artw at 6:46 AM on October 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

Lost’s Carlton Cuse Relives Dealing With the Modern Celebrity of the TV Showrunner
posted by Artw at 5:40 PM on October 19, 2012

Oh god look, Lindelof is right between them and they haven't tied him up and shipped him to a country with no internet access, no pens, no scriptwriting paper and basically nothing but papayas. Traitors.
posted by ArmyOfKittens at 4:27 AM on October 23, 2012