# Shows with a stupid premise executed really well **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 28, 2018, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-a-stupid-premise-executed-really-well/811319 "2018-03-28T04:02:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-a-stupid-premise-executed-really-well/811319/41 "2018-03-30T22:38:34Z")
> [@JackieLikesVariety](#): > > in the old time list add Hogan’s Heroes for sure. I loved the show but think it should win Worst Premise Ever. I’m going to second this. I’ve seen some episodes recently and while it was full of silly bits, there was a serious core in every episode that this was a team that was out to battle Nazis. It was a sort of Mission Impossible with jokes. The first season or so of McHale’s Navy was like that, too, but it quickly moved to McHale saving the crew from their wacky hijinks. ---
**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 30, 2018, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-a-stupid-premise-executed-really-well/811319/42 "2018-03-30T22:43:20Z")
> [@Jennshark](#): > > “The Detectorists,” a UK comedy about nerdy metal detector hobbyists. I mean, who the heck would read this description and be eager to see it? ThelmaLou, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-a-stupid-premise-executed-really-well/811319/43 "2018-03-30T23:24:18Z")
Mystery Science Theater 3000 - A janitor and two homemade robots watch terrible movies and talk over them. That’s ‘internet meme’ level of randumb elements, even before gilding the lily with the space station and mad scientists. But, it works. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-a-stupid-premise-executed-really-well/811319/44 "2018-03-31T00:22:40Z")
> [@Jennshark](#): > > “The Detectorists,” a UK comedy about nerdy metal detector hobbyists. I mean, who the heck would read this description and be eager to see it? … > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > ThelmaLou, apparently. But only after being endorsed by Dopers. Heck, I don’t buy toilet paper unless it’s endorsed by Dopers. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-a-stupid-premise-executed-really-well/811319/45 "2018-03-31T00:54:33Z")
> [@Raza](#): > > A comedy about four aliens coming to Earth, assuming human forms, and getting day jobs. It’s one of those plots you wouldn’t expect to make it past a pilot. > > But superb casting and great dialog made **3rd Rock from the Sun** a wonderful treat that still holds up well. I came to offer this. So, this one probably won’t fly, but _Nova_ in the '70s & '80s. “Let’s get sciency-types [‘nerd’ was not in use then] to wax enthusiastic in overly technical language about subjects people don’t understand, and then over simplify it for people.” Everyone I knew loved it, watching the enthusiastic scientists with bated breath until the host or voiceover told them what that all meant. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-a-stupid-premise-executed-really-well/811319/46 "2018-03-31T13:54:31Z")
_The Blues Brothers_ movie is a fine example of throwing everything at the wall and creating a masterpiece. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-a-stupid-premise-executed-really-well/811319/47 "2018-03-31T21:34:06Z")
\*Lucifer \*- the Devil gets tired of being in Hell, so he moves to Los Angeles to fight crime! This is one of my favorite shows, and almost all of it is because of Tom Ellis, who pulls it off. They know how silly their premise is, too. They even wrote lyrics to their theme-song riff: “Crime-solving Devil It makes sense. Don’t overthink it.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2018, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-a-stupid-premise-executed-really-well/811319/48 "2018-04-01T12:55:43Z")
> [@JackieLikesVariety](#): > > thanks for the list of newer stuff to try out. > > in the old time list add Hogan’s Heroes for sure. I loved the show but think it should win Worst Premise Ever. I couldn’t stand the show, because I could not imagine ever finding WWII funny. But I found out that many of the actors were Jewish, and many of the actors had fled, survived, or escaped the Nazis. They were able to make the Germans the butt of every joke, and the good guys won every time at the insistence of Werner Klemperer (Klink). Idea for a new thread: is there any better way to demoralize an enemy than ridiculing them? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2018, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-a-stupid-premise-executed-really-well/811319/49 "2018-04-01T14:49:58Z")
Add _M_A_S_H\* to the list of war comedies. Started in 1972 with obvious references to the then long running Vietnam War. Didn’t look to many that it would work. Became one of the most successful sitcoms of all time. The finale set Nielsen records. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2018, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-a-stupid-premise-executed-really-well/811319/50 "2018-04-01T15:27:29Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > _The Blues Brothers_ movie is a fine example of throwing everything at the wall and creating a masterpiece. FTFY version; _The Blues Brothers_ movie is a fine example of throwing **a brick of cocaine** at the wall and creating a masterpiece. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2018, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-a-stupid-premise-executed-really-well/811319/51 "2018-04-01T18:07:28Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Add _M_A_S_H\* to the list of war comedies. Started in 1972 with obvious references to the then long running Vietnam War. > > Didn’t look to many that it would work. Became one of the most successful sitcoms of all time. The finale set Nielsen records. My late husband, who was a Medivac (Dustoff) pilot in VietNam in 1966-67, said that M_A_S_H_ captured perfectly the feeling, with all the conflicting emotions, of being there. ---
**Author:** ![Egnu\_Cledge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@Egnu\_Cledge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Egnu_Cledge)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-a-stupid-premise-executed-really-well/811319/52 "2018-04-02T03:35:42Z")
_Warehouse 13_. It’s kind of like a _USA Up All Night_ version of the _X Files_, but charming, gung-ho actors with great chemistry make it work. Also, there are a surprising number of cameos from _Star Trek_ actors. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-a-stupid-premise-executed-really-well/811319/53 "2018-04-02T04:00:56Z")
\*\*Psych \*\*- especially as it aired against the ‘serious’ version of ‘The Mentalist’. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-a-stupid-premise-executed-really-well/811319/54 "2018-04-02T05:02:20Z")
> [@Raza](#): > > A comedy about four aliens coming to Earth, assuming human forms, and getting day jobs. It’s one of those plots you wouldn’t expect to make it past a pilot. > > But superb casting and great dialog made **3rd Rock from the Sun** a wonderful treat that still holds up well. I’m still amazed at how fantastically good _3rd Rock_ is. I regularly rewatch it whenever I can. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2018, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-a-stupid-premise-executed-really-well/811319/55 "2018-04-03T13:28:54Z")
Having just watched the concert version, I would add: _Jesus Christ Superstar_: Let’s release a concept album by two unknown very young British menle about the last days of Jesus’s life from Judas’s perception. A very hard rocking concept album.That should really do well. And 50 years later, we are still listening to this classic work ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2018, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-a-stupid-premise-executed-really-well/811319/56 "2018-04-03T14:29:56Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Yes, I know, it’s an insult to my Jewish heritage, but my wife turned me on to this delight. > > You boil it an hour until it turns gray. Then you can eat it cold. The flavor of pork and garlic is unforgettable. Is that like _Homeland_ and _In Treatment_ — a show based on an Israeli one? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2018, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-a-stupid-premise-executed-really-well/811319/57 "2018-04-09T13:25:15Z")
To quote a statement made by Andrew Lloyd Webber in this month’s Playbille magazine: if you were talking to an investor and said "I’m intending to do a musical about a founding father of America that nobody’s ever heard of and it’s going to be in hip-hop, they would probably say “Would you please go and kindly jump out the window.” Yet the West End production of _Hamilton_ just picked up 7 Oliver Awards, including Best Musical. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2018, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-a-stupid-premise-executed-really-well/811319/58 "2018-04-09T15:43:16Z")
> [@simster](#): > > \*\*Psych \*\*- especially as it aired against the ‘serious’ version of ‘The Mentalist’. Though, to be fair, Psych did it first (it premiered two years before The Mentalist). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-a-stupid-premise-executed-really-well/811319.md?page=2)