# "How did anyone think that was a good idea?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 13, 2020, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-anyone-think-that-was-a-good-idea/849380 "2020-03-13T02:12:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-anyone-think-that-was-a-good-idea/849380/81 "2020-03-17T19:56:04Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > surprised nobody mentioned You’re in the picture show with Jackie Gleason. Lasted 1 week in 1961. > > Details here [You're in the Picture - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You%27re_in_the_Picture) That has to be the only time that’s ever happened – the first episode is broadcast, and the second episode is an apology for the first episode. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-anyone-think-that-was-a-good-idea/849380/82 "2020-03-17T23:22:39Z")
I’m not sure why everyone’s dumping on _Coneheads_. As far as movies go, it’s OK but not great. For SNL movies I have seen, I would rank it as a 5 with _It’s Pat_ at 0 as the worst and _Blues Brothers_ and _Wayne’s World_ at 10 as the best. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-anyone-think-that-was-a-good-idea/849380/83 "2020-03-17T23:58:44Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > I pick _[The Greatest American Hero](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081871/)_. Years ago there was a bit of a revival in interest in the show, and one of the cable networks (maybe SyFy?) ran a marathon of all the episodes. I tuned in to a few thinking it might be fun in a kitschy, “so bad it’s good” kind of way. It wasn’t. It basically just felt like a bad 1980s cop show that happened to include a superhero. [_Operation: Spoilsport_](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0592592/?ref_=m_ttep_ep_ep2), though. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-anyone-think-that-was-a-good-idea/849380/84 "2020-03-18T05:04:01Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > Hey, Greatest American Hero had a good theme song… Nope, you are plain ol’ objectively, empirically, peer-reviewed EL WRONGO, on that. That theme, without question, was the most horrendously, viley, stomach-turningly, god-awful, _pedestrian_ piece of diluted wussiness, like, _EVAAAARRRR_. Holy god. (to briefly derail) I say empirical, because, well, here: _Look at what’s happened to me I can’t believe it myself Suddenly I’m up on top of the world It should have been somebody else Believe it or not, I’m walkin’ on air I never thought I could feel so free-hee-heeeee!!! Flyin’ away OOOOONNNN a wing and a prayer Who could it be? Believe it or not it’s just meeeeeeee… Just like the light of a new day It hit me from out of the blue Breaking me out of the spell I was in Making all of my wishes come true…_ [Or you be the judge.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4JCehDOy54) Yeah? Feel like punching a wall, yet? > [@dorvann](#): > > Neither compare to the stupidity of a sitcom with Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun as main characters. Their neighbors are a Jewish couple!!! > > [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heil\_Honey\_I%27m\_Home!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heil_Honey_I%27m_Home!) I guess I’ll be the outlier and say I rolled with Adolf quite fine, here. Domestic fascism at its finest. No love for _Manimal / Man From Atlantis_? One of my favourite shows to trash on when I was kid lasted for nine episodes back in '79…[SUPERTRAIN!](https://designyoutrust.com/2017/06/the-supertrain-of-1979-will-blow-your-mind/). Truly awesome link. Maybe the 2nd or 3rd best series from '72 - [Me and the Chimp](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068104/). ---
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-anyone-think-that-was-a-good-idea/849380/85 "2020-03-19T18:42:41Z")
[quote=“Dropo, post:80, topic:849380”] _Monkeybone_ (2001) [/QUOTE] I’m pretty convinced they made that whole movie just to include that last line in the trailer. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-anyone-think-that-was-a-good-idea/849380/86 "2020-03-19T20:35:11Z")
This thread has been fun, even if it didn’t really hit what I was hoping for - I was looking more for single things that could easily be fixed (in my example, you could just cut out the gunner entirely and do regular ‘spaceship in combat’ scenes. Seeing the ‘whoa that’s bad’ movies and shows is fun though, even if a lot of them seem more like no one realized they were a bad idea until it was too late to change them (like the coneheads movie). ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-anyone-think-that-was-a-good-idea/849380/87 "2020-03-20T13:49:25Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > … > [Pink Lady](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_Lady_(TV_series)), a variety show from 1980. Let’s count the errors here > –Variety shows are virtually DOA and hoplessly unhip by this time > –Lead artists are virtually unknown in the U.S. > –The director hates the show > –And oh yeah, the lead artists don’t speak English. At all. I came here to mention this one. Incredibly uncomfortable to watch. Here’s a breakdown of everything which went wrong: > **[Lost in translation case file #48: Pink Lady And Jeff](https://www.avclub.com/lost-in-translation-case-file-48-pink-lady-and-jeff-1798286202)** > > To commemorate the March 1980 premiere of Pink Lady and Jeff, we’re looking back at our My World of Flops column about the odd variety show. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-anyone-think-that-was-a-good-idea/849380/88 "2020-03-20T14:18:25Z")
There’s a distinction, I think, between offbeat premises that just didn’t work, like _Coneheads_, as opposed to ideas that were stupid from the get-go (like a Hitler sitcom). If a screenwriter came to me and said, “Hey, let’s make a movie about two stoners who go back in time in a magic phone booth and kidnap Napoleon and Beethoven, so they can pass a history class”, I’d have shot it down as nonsense. Which is why I’m not a millionaire Hollywood producer, because _Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure_ was a funny movie that was positively received by critics, and made a nice chunk of money. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-anyone-think-that-was-a-good-idea/849380/89 "2020-03-20T15:28:12Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > There’s a distinction, I think, between offbeat premises that just didn’t work, like _Coneheads_, as opposed to ideas that were stupid from the get-go (like a Hitler sitcom). JoJo Rabbit, a movie about a kid with a fanciful imaginary Hitler as his friend, won “Best Picture” in the Academy Awards, Critic’s Choice, Golden Derby, Golden Globes, Hollywood Critics, and Producer’s Guild of America awards. So I don’t agree with the idea that “Silly Hitler” is such a bad concept that it should be dismissed out of hand, which seems to be what you’re saying, it’s possible to make an award winning movie with that basic idea. Same thing with a series like “My Mother the Car” - that show flopped, but Mr. Ed with a similar premise (talking horse instead of car) was a big success, and Knight Rider later on did quite well with a talking horse (with tech instead of spirits), and there tere were also very successful movies with sentient (though non-talking) cars like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the Herbie series. > [@](#): > > If a screenwriter came to me and said, “Hey, let’s make a movie about two stoners who go back in time in a magic phone booth and kidnap Napoleon and Beethoven, so they can pass a history class”, I’d have shot it down as nonsense. I think that shooting down a movie based on the fact that a one sentence summary sounds silly is just foolish. A huge number of very successful movies, especially comedies and kid’s movies, have a real one sentence summary that sounds like ‘nonsense’, and even more can have an absurd summary made. For that matter, lots of movies and TV shows have premises that are stupid or sound stupid and still make a great (even award winning) film/show once they’re actually executed. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-anyone-think-that-was-a-good-idea/849380/90 "2020-03-20T15:45:40Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > Knight Rider later on did quite well with a talking horse I must have missed that episode. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-anyone-think-that-was-a-good-idea/849380/91 "2020-03-20T15:48:55Z")
Reading this, I am sure that with a little imagination you could propose a movie/TV show for any of the above in a way that _ **seems** _ to be a practical show; but it all depends on the writing (and direction) IMHO. I mean, propose a film in the Batman series (a proven moneymaker), utilizing a several major stars and villains from the Batman universe that hadn’t appeared yet, and you have no trouble selling it…and you get _ **Batman and Robin** _. Or try to pitch “It’s about class divisions played out on a golf course, but it’s a wacky comedy with gophers and Bill Murray”, which sounds like a non-starter but you end up with _ **Caddyshack** _. It’s not in the proposal; it’s all in the writing and direction. IMHO as always; YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-anyone-think-that-was-a-good-idea/849380/92 "2020-03-20T17:11:33Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I must have missed that episode. lol that’s a good editing mistake (I reordered that sentence), it would definitely have been a different show if KITT had been a horse. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-anyone-think-that-was-a-good-idea/849380/93 "2020-03-20T17:14:46Z")
Considering how it was reviled as the epitome of television idiocy, _Gilligan’s Island_ somehow found an afterlife in syndication and has become culturally iconic. The boundary between entertainingly lighthearted farce and just plain stupidity is a difficult one to find. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-anyone-think-that-was-a-good-idea/849380/94 "2020-03-20T17:18:39Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > lol that’s a good editing mistake (I reordered that sentence), it would definitely have been a different show if KITT had been a horse. Now I’m picturing a SF show set on a backwater frontier planet ala’ _Firefly_ with a cowboy hero whose horse is an AI robot. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ecks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bcef8e/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ecks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ecks)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-anyone-think-that-was-a-good-idea/849380/95 "2020-03-20T17:39:30Z")
You mean Bravestarr? > **[BraveStarr](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WesternAnimation/Bravestarr)** > > BraveStarr was a Space Western action cartoon, produced by Filmation, which aired during that long acid trip we all know and love as The '80s. It aired in the wake of He-Man's success in 1987 and lasted one season. As the Expository Theme Tune … ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-anyone-think-that-was-a-good-idea/849380/96 "2020-03-20T18:36:35Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Well, since it’s (mostly) based on “Stalag-17”, an Academy Award winning picture, based on a successful Broadway play, that was proposed as a TV series a few years earlier, it makes a bit more sense. The translation to comedy certainly stands out as an interesting choice. And it’s actually pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-anyone-think-that-was-a-good-idea/849380/97 "2020-03-20T18:59:07Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > You’ll see lots of numbers, which also vary over time. Here’s an [article from 2018](https://christopherming.com/2018/05/how-many-tv-pilots-ordered/): > > … So, yeah, once it get to actually filming the pilot, a good number get on the air. But LOTS of \*pitches \*are done. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-anyone-think-that-was-a-good-idea/849380/98 "2020-03-20T19:04:10Z")
> [@TimfromNapa](#): > > I’d say “It’s About Time” sucked about as hard as MMTC. One reason to appreciate MMTC is that, without it, there would have been no SCTV parody of it (Tibor’s Tractor) on the Soviet takeover episode of Network 90, Season 2. IIRC the premise was originally that the astronauts were living back in Caveman times, but switched rapidly to the cavemen living in modern times. I remember the theme song- that, at least, was pretty good. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/DsJhBn0I9U4/maxresdefault.jpg "It's About Time TV Series Opening and Closing Theme Song") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsJhBn0I9U4) ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-anyone-think-that-was-a-good-idea/849380/99 "2020-03-20T19:27:57Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Now I’m picturing a SF show set on a backwater frontier planet ala’ _Firefly_ with a cowboy hero whose horse is an AI robot. Hmmm… Westworld has AI horses, and the AI humans are showing signs of independence, so if their ratings drop they could always turn into a Knight Rider ripoff… ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-anyone-think-that-was-a-good-idea/849380/100 "2020-03-20T20:19:30Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Well, since it’s (mostly) based on “Stalag-17”, an Academy Award winning picture, based on a successful Broadway play, that was proposed as a TV series a few years earlier, it makes a bit more sense. The translation to comedy certainly stands out as an interesting choice. Stalag-17 was somewhat a comedy to begin with. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-anyone-think-that-was-a-good-idea/849380.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-anyone-think-that-was-a-good-idea/849380.md?page=6)