# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Millit\_the\_Frail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@Millit\_the\_Frail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Millit_the_Frail)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/81 "2005-05-12T19:03:29Z")
Fox should have stuck a fork in “That 70s Show” a few years ago. And I’ll third (or fourth?) that “Wings” was a pretty good show. I heart Thomas Haden Church! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/82 "2005-05-12T19:11:38Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > _The Cosby Show_, for example, single-handedly initiated a rebirth of the American sit-com genre. How? I watched three or four episodes without a single good laugh. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/83 "2005-05-12T19:38:54Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Personally, I’d make a distinction between shows for which there is some reasonable explanation for its longevity, in particular, if it had a solid streak of artistic success which propelled it through a slow death. > > You could make that case for shows like _Seinfeld_, _Cheers_, _Friends_, _MASH_, _Wonder Years_, and several other shows that have been mentioned in this thread. _The Cosby Show_, for example, single-handedly initiated a rebirth of the American sit-com genre. I would also add another distinction for sitcoms that, while not artistic successes, were tremendously popular in terms of viewership. The aforementioned _Beverly Hillbillies_ is an example of this. During its run, it was one of the most critically blasted and derided shows on American television but it was still a ratings juggernaut. Until the last couple seasons it was on, I believe it was either the top rated show or somewhere in the top five (someone please check). It also spawned a number of other ratings-successful rural-themed comedies like _Green Acres_and _Petticoat Junction_. I think what the OP of this thread is mainly about those mediocre-to-wretched shows with modest-to-borderline ratings that somehow stay on the air for five or more years (e.g., the previously discussed _Gimme a Break_). Basically, the type of program that, when you stumble across while reading TV Guide or channel surfing, makes you exclaim, “That _thing’s_ still on the air? I thought it was canceled years ago.” > [@acsenray](#): > > Let me add to that list _Dear John_, starring Judd Hirsch – “Is it something … _sexual_?” It doesn’t qualify. I think it was on the air for no more than two or three seasons. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/84 "2005-05-12T20:03:33Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > It doesn’t qualify. I think it was on the air for no more than two or three seasons. You’re right. It falls short, but only by one season. It ran from 1988 to 1992. > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > How? I watched three or four episodes without a single good laugh. How? By being popular. It might not have been to your taste (nor to mine, for that matter), but there’s really no mystery regarding why it lasted as long as it did. Before _Cosby_ hit big, papers were printing articles on the death of the sit-com, etc. It became the centerpiece for N.B.C.'s revival and the network’s means for showcasing the shows in the time slots following _Cosby_ – _Family Ties_, _Cheers_, _Night Court_, _A Different World_ (legitimately in the “lame” column), _Wings_, as well as dramas such as _Hill Street Blues_, _L.A. Law_. All those shows owe a portion of whatever success they had to _Cosby_ ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/85 "2005-05-12T20:15:09Z")
Yipes, I can’t believe no one has mentioned **The Nanny** starring Fran heh-heh-heh Drescher. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/86 "2005-05-12T20:15:16Z")
Whoo … taking a look at the 1984 network lineup – full of absolute dogs as far as comedy goes, many of them aging series on their last legs – The Jeffersons, Alice, Kate & Allie, Three’s A Crowd, AfterMASH, E/R (the C.B.S. sit-com; not the N.B.C. drama), Charles in Charge, Facts of Life, It’s Your Move, Who’s The Boss?, Benson, Webster, Diff’rent Strokes, Gimme a Break. The only ray of hope in there is the N.B.C. Thursday night lineup (Cosby, Family Ties, Cheers, Night Court) and _Newhart_ on C.B.S. The only “must-see” shows were dramas – _St. Elsewhere_, _Hill Street Blues_, _Remington Steele_, _V_. Other dramas included _Murder, She Wrote_, _Knight Rider_, _Scarecrow and Mrs. King_, _The A-Team_, _Riptide_, _The Fall Guy_, _Dynasty_, _Hotel_, _Magnum, P.I._, _Simon and Simon_, _Knots Landing_, _Dukes of Hazard_, _Dallas_, _Falcon Crest_, _Hunter_, _Miami Vice_, _T. J. Hooker_, _Love Boat_, _Fantasy Island_. Pret-ty bleak. But, hey, reflecting a level of investment in creative output not reflected in today’s network schedule. So, who knows? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/87 "2005-05-12T20:24:17Z")
It didn’t run for 5 years (only 3 1/2), but I’ll mention it anyway: [Nurses](http://imdb.com/title/tt0101158/) (a spin-off of Empty Nest and grandspin-off of Golden Girls). Total dreck that wouldn’t go away. ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/88 "2005-05-12T20:24:41Z")
I thought it was a pretty decent show for a big part of its run, but the _Drew Carey Show_ probably deserves special Rasputin mention. It actually kept shooting for a full season after everybody thought it had been cancelled. ---
**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 12, 2005, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/89 "2005-05-12T20:34:49Z")
> [@Rube E. Tewesday](#): > > I thought it was a pretty decent show for a big part of its run, but the _Drew Carey Show_ probably deserves special Rasputin mention. It actually kept shooting for a full season after everybody thought it had been cancelled. This is one of those shows that I call stealth shows. Since I don’t actually watch much TV, it’s fairly easy for me to delude myself into thinking that a show that isn’t getting a lot of network publicity has been cancelled. Drew Carey was one of those. According to Jim is another one I was suprised was still alive. Suck City… ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/90 "2005-05-12T20:35:48Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Before _Cosby_ hit big, papers were printing articles on the death of the sit-com, etc. It became the centerpiece for N.B.C.'s revival and the network’s means for showcasing the shows in the time slots following _Cosby_ – _Family Ties_, _Cheers_, _Night Court_, _A Different World_ (legitimately in the “lame” column), _Wings_, as well as dramas such as _Hill Street Blues_, _L.A. Law_. All those shows owe a portion of whatever success they had to _Cosby_ Between the _Cosby Show_, _Cheers_, _Friends_ and _Seinfeld_, NBC owned Thursday evenings for most of the 1980’s and 1990’s. They usually had successful sitcoms on at 8pm, 9pm and a big drama at 10pm (first _LA Law_ and then _ER_). And Thursday nights are when the movie studios want to advertise the movies for the weekend, so there’s a lot of money to be made then. So one point is that both the _Cosby Show_ and _Seinfeld_ were enormously profitable for NBC on Thursday. BusinessWeek ran an article in the last year of _Seinfeld_ that said the show was worth something like $500 million in revenues to NBC over the course of the year. That’s why they offered Jerry Seinfeld $5 million an episode or $110 million in total to keep it going for one more year (but he turned the money down). Another point is how few successful shows NBC was able to groom in the 8:30pm and 9:30pm timeslots. Both of those slots had lots of carryover audience from the previous and upcoming shows, and yet so many of the shows in those slots were dreck. Anyone remember _Jesse_ or _Caroline in the City_? ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/91 "2005-05-12T20:38:47Z")
Hey, Hey! I liked _Caroline in the City_! Well at least before they made the curmudgeon into the love interest. Bah! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/92 "2005-05-12T20:59:23Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Before _Cosby_ hit big, papers were printing articles on the death of the sit-com, etc. They do that every so often. I’m pretty sure there was another spate of it just recently, with _Frasier_ and _Friends_ wrapping up last year and _Everybody Loves Raymond_ this year. They’ll probably do it forever. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/93 "2005-05-12T21:14:01Z")
_The Simpsons_ have been pretty horrible for the past five years. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/94 "2005-05-12T21:16:34Z")
I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that the worst episode of _The Simpsons_ is better than ninety percent of what’s on television during the rest of the week. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/95 "2005-05-12T21:46:03Z")
> [@Dewey Finn](#): > > I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that the worst episode of _The Simpsons_ is better than ninety percent of what’s on television during the rest of the week. I’d agree with that. I’ve never seen an episode of _The Simpsons_ that didn’t make me laugh or at least smile really big at some point, but I’ve seen plenty of episodes of _Yes Dear_, _Golden Girls_ or _King of Queens_ caliber of shows that were total “what else is on” half-hours. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/96 "2005-05-12T21:55:08Z")
Okay, how about **Too Close for Comfort** , starring Ted Knight, a cartoon cow, and an assortment of heaving double-Ds? Believe it or not, this actually ran for five 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 12, 2005, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/97 "2005-05-12T21:56:13Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Okay, how about **Too Close for Comfort** , starring Ted Knight, a cartoon cow, and an assortment of heaving double-Ds? Believe it or not, this actually ran for five years. Ah, yes. And it’s the show that launched Jm J Bullock. For that alone, it should rot in Hell for eternity. ---
**Author:** ![Try\_As\_I\_Might](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Try\_As\_I\_Might](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try_As_I_Might)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/98 "2005-05-12T23:42:29Z")
> [@Agrippina](#): > > _The Simpsons_ have been pretty horrible for the past five years. It’s deteriorated recently, but one of the worst sit-coms to last five years or more? As bad as Full House? IMHO, that’s like saying seinfeld deserves to be put on this list because the last year (except the final show) pretty much sucked in comparison the rest of the years. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/99 "2005-05-13T00:04:47Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Okay, how about **Too Close for Comfort** , starring Ted Knight, a cartoon cow, and an assortment of heaving double-Ds? Believe it or not, this actually ran for five years. The reason? The assortment of double-Ds. Didn’t one of those chicks end up in a porno or something? I wouldn’t count _Saved by the Bell_-it was on on Saturday mornings after cartoons and was marketed to the pre-teen set. So yeah, it seems stupid to us, but not for its target audience. I was going to name _My Two Dads_, but that only lasted about three years. What about _Perfect Strangers_, the show that spawned the horror that was _Family Matters_? I HATED Larry. Hate hate hate hate hate hated him. **eleanorigby** -you’re thinking of _Empty Nest_-that was a spinoff of _The Golden Girls_-the doctor was their neighbor. Blanche was always trying to get into his pants. (Duh). The funny thing is, I used to watch an awful lot of these shows. While I admit all of them were awful, some of them I still would watch, just because they were so bad and silly. Sort of like pixi stix for the brain. **Sampiro** -what’s the dirt on Ben Savage? I used to watch BMW religiously in high school because I had a massive crush on Will Friedle. (He’s now doing voice work in cartoons ala Mark Hamill-_Batman Beyond_, _Kim Possible_). ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/100 "2005-05-13T00:22:22Z")
> [@Sternvogel](#): > > What **don’t ask** meant was that by its final season, _Hey Dad_ was the longest-running **active** sitcom anywhere in the world . Ahh, Ok. I get it. Sorry for the misunderstanding. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365.md?page=6)