Top 9 SDMB Cultural Icons--Tolkien, Beatles...

[Baal Houtham]

There are artists and creative works that have large fan bases here with new threads being started year after year. Such as:
Tolkien
Princess Bride
The Beatles

Those three are the most conspicuous to me. They receive respect from a lot of posters.

Other possibilities include: The Simpsons, Coen Brothers, Monty Python, Godfather films, LOTR movies, Star Wars.

...Buffy, South Park, Casablanca? Heinlein? They Might Be Giants? Queen?

What artists and creations do you see as the most widely (and conspicuously) respected on this board?

Top five, top nine, top seven, whatever.

[dalej42]

Harry Potter and Rush should be on that list.

[Ephemera]

JRR Tolkien and Joss Whedon are the obvious two to me.

The Simpsons, Star Trek, and Star Wars wound round out the top five, I think. I don't know what the other five would be.

[FordTaurusSHO94]

I'll add Star Trek (all of it) to that list. There's always 2 or 3 threads about it on here.

[Oakminster]

Batman/general comics/movies derived therefrom

[Mahaloth]

Joss Whedon for sure, even if a lot of people don't like him. He factors big time into this site.

[Thudlow Boink]

Terry Pratchett

[silenus]

Toss in Neil Gaiman as well.

Stan Lee's creations

[NoClueBoy]

Eating stupid food for breakfast.

[Noel Prosequi]

Big Bang Theory?

Blade Runner?

They tend to be popular in environments that slant to geek :)

[Baal Houtham]

Pratchett might well be the number 2 author behind JRRT. Rowlings has a higher recognition rate, but probably not as much respect.

On the television side, Joss Whedon does get a lot of play, but probably plays 2nd fiddle to Seinfeld.

Pixar Studios gets consistent respect for it's films, but I'm not sure if a production company should qualify. Hayao Miyazaki garners a lot of praise, but I couldn't guess if he's in the top nine.

After a few days of nominations, I'll try to organize a fair poll, and see if a top nine can be selected. Possibly with an option to vote on whether each nominee is either excellent/brilliant or overrated.

[Lamia]

Are The Beatles all that popular here? I mean sure, they're one of the most successful and beloved musical acts of all time, but I haven't noticed that there are that many threads about them.

[Baal Houtham]

Are The Beatles all that popular here? I mean sure, they're one of the most successful and beloved musical acts of all time, but I haven't noticed that there are that many threads about them.

A "just now" search turns up 48 threads with "Beatles" in the title in the last two years. Or 49 if you include this thread. :^)

[Ephemera]

Seinfeld over Joss? I've never noticed that this board has a huge hard-on for Seinfeld, but the Buffy and Firefly love here is ridiculous, and I say that as a fan of both series.

[koeeoaddi]

Mystery Science Theater, and rightly so.

[missred]

The works of Heinlen.

[Arrendajo]

And Dr. Who, of course.

[Alessan]

For better or for worse:

Tolkien
Whedon
Star Wars (Lucas et al)
Star Trek (Roddenberry et al)
Simpsons
DC Comics
Marvel Comics

... and I can't think of two more of equal stature here.

[Baal Houtham]

Seinfeld over Joss? I've never noticed that this board has a huge hard-on for Seinfeld, but the Buffy and Firefly love here is ridiculous, and I say that as a fan of both series.

Results of searching for threads started in the last 3 years, with at least 6 responses, including the word:
Seinfeld -- 23
Buffy -- 28
Firefly -- 14

Percentage of people ranking the shows as one of the 10 best ever in this thread (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/poll.php?do=showresults&pollid=928):
Buffy: 17%
Seinfeld: 28%
Firefly: 23%

Seinfeld is in 3rd place in the TV poll, behind MASH and the Simpsons (which is destroying all competition.)

So for the individual shows, you could say it's a toss-up, but Whedon's oeuvre definitely tops Larry David's.

In the TV poll The Daily Show is doing great. Tied for 4th I think. The Twilight Zone is finding a lot of love as well.

[pope_hentai]

the final episode of newhart

[Tim R. Mortiss]

Family Guy should be up there somewhere.

[Lamia]

A "just now" search turns up 48 threads with "Beatles" in the title in the last two years. Or 49 if you include this thread. :^)I'm getting only 45, including this thread, but our search engine here isn't terribly reliable. Either way, that still doesn't sound like that many to me. It may be high compared to other bands, but not compared to TV shows and movies that are popular around here. I get 78 CS threads from the past two years with "office" in the title, and 66 of those are actually about the TV show.

Going by the sheer number of threads with a word in the title is going to privilege current TV shows over all other forms of entertainment though, because there's a new thread for each new episode of most shows that are popular here. Threads about beloved older shows, movies, bands, or books might be less frequent but get more posts than threads about current TV shows.

[Zeldar]

Eating stupid food for breakfast.

You wish!

[Baal Houtham]

I'm getting only 45, including this thread, but our search engine here isn't terribly reliable. Either way, that still doesn't sound like that many to me. It may be high compared to other bands, but not compared to TV shows and movies that are popular around here. I get 78 CS threads from the past two years with "office" in the title, and 66 of those are actually about the TV show.

Going by the sheer number of threads with a word in the title is going to privilege current TV shows

I view 49 threads in two years as a lot. It almost equals the three year totals of Seinfeld and Buffy combined.

But you're right that just the number of recent threads won't provide the best measurement, and that current TV shows would have an edge in that metric.

Any input on a good way to phrase a poll is welcome. Right now my idea is to list the top 18 or so prospect and offer two choices for each of those prospects. Something like:

(A) This work (or the creations of this person/group)
--is something I have discussed in multiple SDMB threads.
--has provided me with enduring pleasure and I regard it as unique and touched with brilliance.
--is personally important to me or was very important to me at one time.

or (B) I'm familiar with this and it's not personally important to me or is widely overrated.

That's a long way from perfect, and maybe this isn't something that can be quantified.