# Sit-com Rasputins: Worst sit-coms ever to last 5 or more years **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 11, 2005, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365 "2005-05-11T06:46:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2005, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/181 "2005-05-16T22:23:30Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > I’m pretty sure that Oscar’s garbage can is also architecturally impossible. Not really, but it totally needs to be redecorated. Maybe when the _Queer Eye_ crew comes to Sesame Street they can talk him into one of the new Rubbermaid split level or put on mirrors that open up some space (which Bert & Ernie have been suggesting he do for years). ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2005, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/182 "2005-05-16T23:05:24Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Not really, but it totally needs to be redecorated. Maybe when the _Queer Eye_ crew comes to Sesame Street they can talk him into one of the new Rubbermaid split level or put on mirrors that open up some space (which Bert & Ernie have been suggesting he do for years). That would be “Queer Ping-Pong Ball for the Straight Muppet” then? ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2005, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/183 "2005-05-16T23:57:27Z")
> [@BobT](#): > > Rick was the guy with “street smarts”. He ran a club and, by logical extension in Hollywood, he knew shady characters who could help out a private eye. I know we’re getting off the subject here, but I have to chime in here. Larry Manetti (who played Rick on “Magnum”) has a restaurant at the Plaza Casino here in Sin City–and on Sundays hosts a “celebrity brunch”. No word on whether any actual celebrities have shown up yet. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/184 "2005-05-17T00:43:46Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > I’ve posted this elsewhere, but not everybody loves Raymond. > > That show was soooo bad. And everyone is all weepy and orgasmic over it. You’d think their brother had died when the show’s end was announced. :rolleyes: My sisters and I took my mom out to dinner tonight for her birthday, and she wanted to be home in time to watch the finale. She was just amazed that the three of us weren’t interested in staying to watch it with her. She often calls me on Tuesdays to see if I’ve _Raymond_ or _Still Standing_ the night before, and is always disappointed that I haven’t. (I think I watched _Raymond_ the first year or two and then gave up because it was just too insipid) She kept raving about _Still Standing_, saying the family was just like mine and that I **just had** to watch it. I gave it a try a few times and was highly insulted. Okay, I’m a brunette and my husband’s kinda chubby, but the resemblence stops there - and I told her as much. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/185 "2005-05-17T01:08:52Z")
I though for sure it would be Married With Children. Or was that less than 5 years? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/186 "2005-05-17T01:10:10Z")
> [@etmiller](#): > > I though for sure it would be Married With Children. Or was that less than 5 years? Eleven years and 262 episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/187 "2005-05-17T04:33:36Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > Eleven years and 262 episodes. Oh, the humanity! ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/188 "2005-05-17T04:41:05Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Yep. The back door is on the front. Sometimes there’s a formal dining room and an office that are somewhere between the living room and K (rather like sometimes the _Brady_ attic is 3 feet high and sometimes it’s huge) and other times there’s not. Where the bedrooms are in relation to the staircase landing upstairs would defy the laws of gravity (unless they’re built on stilts over the front lawn). > IIRC there’s been a whole thread devoted to this, and _The Brady Bunch_ is mentioned below, but other impossible TV floorplans that come to mind: _The Jeffersons_ (where are the bedrooms?), _Happy Days_ (which also had the most unrealistic outdoor sets of all time) and lots of other shows. (Shows in which the architecture makes perfect sense include _Bewitched_, _All in the Family_ and _Dallas_, though few of these agree with the exterior shots of the house used in the credits.) > > Geek rant out. How dare you presume to respond to this. Only one person on earth is qualified to do so, and that is [Art Vandelay, Architect](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?userid=17739). ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/189 "2005-05-17T05:36:57Z")
> [@want2know](#): > > I know we’re getting off the subject here, but I have to chime in here. Larry Manetti (who played Rick on “Magnum”) has a restaurant at the Plaza Casino here in Sin City–and on Sundays hosts a “celebrity brunch”. No word on whether any actual celebrities have shown up yet. 😛 To get a little further off subject, Larry Manetti is also Robert Conrad’s half-brother (though they barely know each other- Conrad was married by the time Manetti was in pre-school). ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/190 "2005-05-17T07:06:24Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > (Meredith Baxter’s) mother was Grace Whitney (who played the mom on Hazel and later became a very successful producer/director [_One Day at a Time_ being her most lucrative creation]). Actually, Meredith was the daughter of Nancy Whitney, whose professional name was [Whitney Blake](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0086756/bio). Pointless trivia: David Birney’s brother Greg was a guidance counselor at my high school. I was in eighth grade during the season _Bridget Loves Bernie_ was on the air. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/191 "2005-05-17T14:33:23Z")
**Oslo Ostragoth** and **etmiller** , if you are going to disparage my favorite sitcom of all time, you, I and my close friend, Mr. L. Slugger, are going to have to have a talk out back. Just a polite warning, Louie tends to hog the conversation. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/192 "2005-05-17T15:25:42Z")
We’re on page four of a thread about the worst long running sit-coms ever and no mention of the abomination known as “Mama’s Family” has appeared? ---
**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:** [May 17, 2005, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/193 "2005-05-17T15:33:22Z")
Post #20. First page. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/194 "2005-05-17T15:51:02Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Post #20. First page. I swear I read the whole thread, but apparently I missed a post or two. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/195 "2005-05-17T16:10:12Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > I swear I read the whole thread, but apparently I missed a post or two. 🙂 It’s ok. “Mama’s Family” was so bad that even limited exposure to it via reading its name on this board can cause temporay blindness. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/196 "2005-05-17T17:02:07Z")
> [@zamboniracer](#): > > It’s ok. “Mama’s Family” was so bad that even limited exposure to it via reading its name on this board can cause temporay blindness. 🙂 Well, at least Mama’s family had one redeeming moment. There was one episode where Tim Conway was describing a siamese-twin elephants joined at the trunks. As he is so good at doing, he made the rest of the cast lose it during the performance. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/197 "2005-05-17T17:23:24Z")
> [@zev\_steinhardt](#): > > Well, at least Mama’s family had one redeeming moment. > > There was one episode where Tim Conway was describing a siamese-twin elephants joined at the trunks. As he is so good at doing, he made the rest of the cast lose it during the performance. It was when he said one sneezed, and it went, “Brzzp,” and it made the other’s eyes bug out. Guest star Dick Van Dyke fell off the couch laughing, and then Vicki Lawrence said something like, “Is that little shit finished?” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/198 "2005-05-17T17:36:31Z")
> [@zev\_steinhardt](#): > > Well, at least Mama’s family had one redeeming moment. > > There was one episode where Tim Conway was describing a siamese-twin elephants joined at the trunks. As he is so good at doing, he made the rest of the cast lose it during the performance. > > Zev Steinhardt According to other members of the cast, it was even funnier because the script only called for him to say “Elephants?” ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/199 "2005-05-17T17:39:53Z")
I’m pretty sure the conjoined-twin elephants bit was on one of the Mama sketches on _The Carol Burnett Show_, and not on _Mama’s Family_. ---
**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:** [May 18, 2005, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/200 "2005-05-18T00:58:39Z")
[Last Of The Summer Wine](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069602/) British comedy that has been running for over 30 years, and AFAIK has _never_ been funny. (_Hey, Dad_ mentioned earlier as the longest running current sitcom… wasn’t. By the time it started, LOTSW had already been running for 13 years.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365.md?page=11)