# 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:** 7
**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 13, 2005, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/121 "2005-05-13T16:06:55Z")
> [@Try As I Might...](#): > > 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. The final show of _Seinfeld_ alone should earn it the honors of being on this list. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/122 "2005-05-13T16:48:38Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > _Magnum, P.I._ > > [snip] > > Pret-ty bleak. Not Magnum! C’mon! Stuffy British guy! Tall dude in short shorts! Helicopters! Eyebrow wiggling! A character named Icepick! Magnum is my favorite show. As for the OP, I will never believe or accept that there has ever been a worse show than “Full House.” Nyet. Never. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/123 "2005-05-13T17:10:13Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > :eek: Here’s hoping it wasn’t breech. By the way, I used that phrase on purpose. I couldn’t decide between “had a kid” and “jumped the shark,” so I improvised. ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/124 "2005-05-13T17:43:10Z")
> [@adam yax](#): > > Everybody Loves Raymond suffers from the same thing. There is only one dynamic between the various characters and every show plays upon that dynamic. Both shows were essentially repeating themselves after the second season. One of my theater professor’s theory is that sitcoms are the present-day form of Commedia dell’Arte, where of course the dynamic between stock characters is always the same, and half the appeal is in the familiarity. The chicken soup of comedy, if you will. ---
**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 13, 2005, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/125 "2005-05-13T17:45:19Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > As for the OP, I will never believe or accept that there has ever been a worse show than “Full House.” Nyet. Never. Not even _Small Wonder_? ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/126 "2005-05-13T17:48:36Z")
> [@Oslo Ostragoth](#): > > I saw it as a metaphor for a logical engineer-type (which I was) attempting to get along in a non-logical world. Not to get off on a _Green Acres_ tangent, but I always looked at it as kind of an existential universe of being the only sane man in an insane world. When my wife worked in an office filled with crazy people, I remarked that she must have felt like Mr. Douglas, and she knew exactly what I meant. It was a great show, but in an excruciating sort of way. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/127 "2005-05-13T17:52:11Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Not even _Small Wonder_? See, I don’t know that show. And the thought that it might be worse than “Full House” is completely unacceptable. If there were a show worse than “Full House,” the universe would have already ceased to exist. In other words: La la la I’mnotlisteningI’mnotlistening! ---
**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 13, 2005, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/128 "2005-05-13T17:59:31Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > See, I don’t know that show. And the thought that it might be worse than “Full House” is completely unacceptable. If there were a show worse than “Full House,” the universe would have already ceased to exist. > > In other words: La la la I’mnotlisteningI’mnotlistening! Ah, but then you would never learn that it’s about a man who builds a robot daughter who turns out to be a button-cute kid who speaks in a very stiff manner and who has a wisecracking “brother”! It’s comedy _gold_, I tells ya! And it was ordered in 15-minute blocks to fill in the extra time after sporting events. A class act, through and through! ---
**Author:** ![supervenusfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@supervenusfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supervenusfreak)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/129 "2005-05-13T18:01:56Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I spent quite a few years waiting patiently for Rider Strong to become legal tender. Or is that legal AND tender? LOL Both. Actually he is pretty much that now, especially in a movie that you will not watch, [“Cabin Fever”](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303816/)\> Never watched Boy Meets World, but would really have to nominate as my most hated sit-com, **The Brady Bunch**. Loathed everything about it. From the awful house design, to Cindy’s lisp, it was craptacular. ---
**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 13, 2005, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/130 "2005-05-13T18:06:39Z")
_She’s a small wonder, pretty and bright with soft curls. She’s a small wonder, a girl unlike other girls. She’s a miracle, and I grant you She’ll enchant you with her sight She’s a small wonder, and she’ll make your heart beat twice._ She’s fantastic, made of plastic, Microchips here and there. She’s a small wonder, brings love and laughter everywhere.\* Microchps here and there! Hah! ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/131 "2005-05-13T18:09:48Z")
> [@nivlac](#): > > Yipes, I can’t believe no one has mentioned **The Nanny** starring Fran heh-heh-heh Drescher. Not a great show, but I find myself lingering on those reruns because she’s so damn HOT! ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/132 "2005-05-13T18:10:04Z")
> [@KRC](#): > > The \*\* Home Improvment \*\* show was far more than Tim Allen grunting. Although I got tired of that beeyotch Jill whining because Tim wasn’t being supportive if he didn’t go with her to the stupid opera, it was still miles ahead of dreck like \*\*Gimme a Break, Benson, \*\* and **Fool’s House.** (Sorry, I meant **Full House.** ) At least nobody on **Home Improvement** decided to perk up a lame episode by singing “Accentuate the Positive” or “Animal Quackers in My Soop.” I thought the thing that really brought the show down was Tim Allen. Replace him and I think the show becomes watchable. ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/133 "2005-05-13T18:14:23Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > By the way, I used that phrase on purpose. I couldn’t decide between “had a kid” and “jumped the shark,” so I improvised. Dude, the :eek: was because you like _Golden Girlds_, not because Helen Hunt had a shark. 😃 ---
**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 13, 2005, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/134 "2005-05-13T19:14:07Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Not even _Small Wonder_? Oh. oh. I had blocked that show. Until you brought it up, I had actually repressed my entire memory of that show and all of its awfulness. Eeeeeew. That was really bad. It may well tie Full House but it might be worse. I hate you for making me remeber that show. Now I have to go try to repress my memory again, shove the memory back to where it cam from. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/135 "2005-05-13T20:27:43Z")
> [@PoorYorick](#): > > Not to get off on a _Green Acres_ tangent, but I always looked at it as kind of an existential universe of being the only sane man in an insane world. When my wife worked in an office filled with crazy people, I remarked that she must have felt like Mr. Douglas, and she knew exactly what I meant. > > It was a great show, but in an excruciating sort of way. Yes, indeed, _ **Green Acres** _ was one of the greats! It really hit its stride starting with Season 2. It had a self-awareness that TV shows at that time did not have. It was a farce, you knew that it was a farce, and the show knew that you knew that it was a farce, and they played to that type of comedy througout the series by breaking the fourth wall repeatedly. Eva Gabor was just superb doing Lisa. And the great Eddie Albert, who’s still kicking at 97 years young, was a riot. Great sitcom comedies also have elements of continuity where throw-away remarks and gags are funny because of your familiarity with earlier episodes. This show is definitely **not** one of the worst sitcoms. Au contraire, it was one of the very best. ---
**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, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/136 "2005-05-13T20:33:50Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Not even _Small Wonder_? _Full House_ beats _Small Wonder_ because the latter was only on for 2, MAYBE 3 seasons. _Full House_ had what-eight? I actually liked _Small Wonder_ when it was on. But I was about seven, so what did I know? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/137 "2005-05-13T20:42:11Z")
> [@Uvula Donor](#): > > Dude, the :eek: was because you like _Golden Girls_, not because Helen Hunt had a shark. Another vote for “_Green Acres_ was the best sitcom ever,” and just to add that even the worst “Very Special Episode” _Golden Girls_ was worth sitting through on the off-chance of catching one of Rose’s St. Olaf stories (right up there with Gracie Allen’s riffs about her brother). ---
**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 13, 2005, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/138 "2005-05-13T20:53:06Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > _Full House_ beats _Small Wonder_ because the latter was only on for 2, MAYBE 3 seasons. _Full House_ had what-eight? While your general point is correct, in fact _Small Wonder_ was on for _four full seasons_, totalling 96 episodes. _Full House_ was on for twice as long, eight seasons totalling 192 (plus 1) episodes. Still, I believe the competition is close. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/139 "2005-05-13T20:58:06Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Another vote for “_Green Acres_ was the best sitcom ever,” and just to add that even the worst “Very Special Episode” _Golden Girls_ was worth sitting through on the off-chance of catching one of Rose’s St. Olaf stories (right up there with Gracie Allen’s riffs about her brother). Anything with Bob Newhart was the best sitcom ever. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/140 "2005-05-13T20:59:43Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Anything with Bob Newhart was the best sitcom ever. His [last](http://imdb.com/title/tt0103372/) [two](http://imdb.com/title/tt0118323/) were pretty bad, imo. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365.md?page=8)