# 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:** 8
**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 13, 2005, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/141 "2005-05-13T20:59:50Z")
> [@Tracy Lord](#): > > 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. This is exactly correct. Mainstream entertainment is almost invariably predictable and formulaic specifically because it is therefore comfortable and familiar; c.f. the “kiss my grits” anecdote related above. Similarly, note how the height of Steve Martin’s popularity coincided with his clockwork employment of the “excuuuse me” catchphrase, and almost to the instant he got bored and stopped using it, his popularity fell away. Says something about human nature that we seek comfort in a world of chaos by telling ourselves rigorously regularized stories over and over again, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/142 "2005-05-13T21:43:27Z")
> [@Oslo Ostragoth](#): > > I am reminded of an article I read in _ **Newsweek** _ or some other news weekly some time in the '80s about the death of the sitcom. The point was that Hollywood was saturated with cocaine at the time and the writers, etc., would sit around thinking that they were producing comedic gold, when, in actuality, they were producing laff-track crap. One wonders what we would be watching if Hollywood’s drug of choice became LSD . . . 😉 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/143 "2005-05-13T21:49:38Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > You think that’s bad? What about Knight’s short-lived (six episodes in 1978) pre-_Too Close for Comfort_ star vehicle, _The Ted Knight Show_ (not to be confused with the late-life retitling of _T.C.C._)? Knight played the owner of (I am not making this up) an _escort service_, peddling the charms of characters called Graziella, Honey, and Irma. I remember that show – it was about an “escort service” in the original sense of the term, i.e., providing arm-candy to gentlemen who will be seen in public, sexual services definitely not included. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/144 "2005-05-13T21:52:01Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Not Magnum! C’mon! Stuffy British guy! Tall dude in short shorts! Helicopters! Eyebrow wiggling! A character named Icepick! > > Magnum is my favorite show. _Magnum P.I._ doesn’t qualify anyway. It wasn’t a sitcom. (Was it?) ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/145 "2005-05-13T22:23:06Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > It was the same thing over and over and over. But, doesn’t that sentence apply to every sitcom ever made? ---
**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 14, 2005, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/146 "2005-05-14T00:13:13Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > One wonders what we would be watching if Hollywood’s drug of choice became LSD . . . 😉 I think that already happened in the 60’s. How else can you explain how [this show](http://imdb.com/title/tt0058830/) got on the air? ---
**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 14, 2005, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/147 "2005-05-14T00:28:27Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > - > > She’s a small wonder, and she’ll make your heart beat twice.\*\* That’s “make your heart take flight” As a man who’s watched alot of TV. I agree with the nomination of Perfect Strangers. No joke, plot or gimmick was too cliched, stupid or overused for them. OTTOMH, this included being locked in their own apartment with a security system gone beserk (naturally, they use a massage/stereo chair to break a window only to discover that the system doesn’t really release poison gas), setting up a driver education system using a plunger for a shifter, and having a wife go into labor while on a hot air balloon. Re Family Matters Erkel not only had a talking doll. He had his own cereal- Erkel O’s! The slogan? “You’ll be Erkelized with Erkel-O’s!” ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/148 "2005-05-14T00:35:29Z")
Man, I really love sitcoms, so I actually like most of the ones mentioned. If I hate a sitcom, it must be bad, because I’ll watch almost anything. So, here’s my list: Yes, Dear–I don’t know how this got past two episodes Married with Children–Never thought it was funny Still Standing–Zero talent in the whole bunch, 'cept maybe that girl who can sing Full House–I always just assumed that was a kid’s show ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/149 "2005-05-14T01:16:29Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > What about _Perfect Strangers_, the show that spawned the horror that was _Family Matters_? I HATED Larry. Hate hate hate hate hate hated him. > [@DocCathode](#): > > As a man who’s watched alot of TV. I agree with the nomination of Perfect Strangers. No joke, plot or gimmick was too cliched, stupid or overused for them. OTTOMH, this included being locked in their own apartment with a security system gone beserk (naturally, they use a massage/stereo chair to break a window only to discover that the system doesn’t really release poison gas), setting up a driver education system using a plunger for a shifter, and having a wife go into labor while on a hot air balloon. **Don’t be ridiculous!** [sub]Ok, you’re right, I just wanted to get that in there…[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![supervenusfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@supervenusfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supervenusfreak)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/150 "2005-05-14T01:29:26Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > I think that already happened in the 60’s. How else can you explain how [this show](http://imdb.com/title/tt0058830/) got on the air? Funny thing is that Jerry Van Dyke had to choose between his part in this show and the part of “Gilligan”. He couldn’t see how a show about castaways would last very long… ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/151 "2005-05-14T01:32:11Z")
Something I thought was very funny on the recent _Happy Days_ reunion was that the cast chided Garry Marshall for his non-stop attempts to launch fads and catchphrases. After “Heyyyy!” and “Sit on it!” and “Nerd” entered the pop-culture he became a man obsessed. That’s why Chachi was seen for an entire season wearing a bandanna around his leg (Marshall was trying to start a fad among high school age boys) and why he said “Wah-wah-wah” all the time, and it’s why Joanie had some embarassing hairstyles and outfit choices and why Richie always sang “Blueberry Hill”. Garry, darling- I _loved_ you on Murphy Brown, but fads are just sort of naturally occurring for the most part, or at least don’t usually take cues from Scott Baio. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/152 "2005-05-14T01:49:42Z")
I must be humor impaired from reading some of the nominations for good sitcoms (almost an oxymoron). Gilligan’s Island, The Andy Griffith Show, the original I Love Lucy-that stuff was funny. The whole Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore crowd was about as humorous as a fire in an orphanage. Bob Newhart should get a lifetime achievement award for producing the most totally unfunny TV shows. The only sitcoms which come to mind as being tolerable would be Cheers, Taxi, 3rd Rock from the Sun, and Married with Children-but the last was just an excuse to check out the eye candy. 😉 For true humor, give me Ren and Stimpy, Duckman, and Rocko’s Modern Life. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/153 "2005-05-14T02:36:30Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > Re Family Matters Erkel not only had a talking doll. He had his own cereal- Erkel O’s! The slogan? “You’ll be Erkelized with Erkel-O’s!” His doll was originally named Steven, and he was evil. So, he called himself…STEVIL!!! I honestly laughed at that for a good twenty minutes. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/154 "2005-05-14T04:40:52Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > 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). WATCH it rather than make assumptions. It was a comedy of manners in the classic tradition and Moliere would’ve loved it. And it was cancelled because of a new direction at CBS, not because of bad ratings. AND with her money Irene Ryan (Grannie) endowed the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship at the Kennedy Center which helped finance Dan Butler’s (Bulldog on _Frasier_, another show that outlived its welcome) education. But Moliere would’ve liked _Green Acres_ [/QUOTE] even more, especially after dropping acid. That’s the problem with you kids today. You don’t approach these shows in a condition that harmonizes with that of the guys who wrote them. “The Dick Van Dyke Show”: permanently tipsy. “Green Acres”: tripping. "Alice’: while vomiting. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/155 "2005-05-14T04:49:20Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Until Helen Hunt’s character had the shark… The best abreviation for “the writers made her have a baby because they had run out of ideas” I’ve ever heard. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/156 "2005-05-14T05:09:50Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > The best abreviation for “the writers made her have a baby because they had run out of ideas” I’ve ever heard. Other shows with totally pointless pregnancies (i.e. the actress wasn’t pregnant in real life): _Too Close for Comfort_ (a show already mentioned on here- Ted Knight’s wife has a baby in her 40s I think strictly because they couldn’t think of anything else to do with her, and of course the baby ate steroids and aged three years in the first few months) _Frasier_- a great show in its prime, but I just don’t think that Roz was the type to have an unplanned pregnancy (or for that matter, the type to go to full term with it if she did). _Murphy Brown_- another “this woman was a feminist before there were feminists”- her first birth control pill was probably shaped like Dino and she’s been spouting safe-sex and condoms for a decade. The odds of this happening are incredibly slim. _Fresh Prince of BelAir_- we have to do something with Vivien- knock her up. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Punkyova](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@The\_Punkyova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Punkyova)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/157 "2005-05-14T06:36:44Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Other shows with totally pointless pregnancies (i.e. the actress wasn’t pregnant in real life): > > _Murphy Brown_- another “this woman was a feminist before there were feminists”- her first birth control pill was probably shaped like Dino and she’s been spouting safe-sex and condoms for a decade. The odds of this happening are incredibly slim. Are you sure about this one? My recollection is that Candice Bergman gave birth to her daughter Chloe around that time. I’m not disagreeing with you in the context of the show (I remember thinking that the baby was pretty much ignored and invisible after that big public birth scandal), just that I think they wrote it in because the acress was pregnant. ---
**Author:** ![RobuSensei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@RobuSensei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobuSensei)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/158 "2005-05-14T11:55:09Z")
> [@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). Ah, memories… I was attending St. Olaf College in Minnesota while _The Golden Girls_ was on TV. (The school sent her shirts & memorabilia…I didn’t see it myself, but supposedly several items made it on the air) The St. Olaf Choir went on tour through California a couple of times during the run of the series. The first time, they got to watch a taping of the show – and to serenade Rue McClanahan, on her birthday. The actresses had learned the St. Olaf fight waltz for the occasion. The second time, Betty White came to watch one of our concerts (I was in the choir at this point). She enjoyed it. The next year, Ms. White visited the St. Olaf campus, where she watched another choir concert (the crowd acknowledged her with an ovation, which she immediately tried to re-direct to the choir. Classy lady) and gave a lecture to the theater department. Much fun was had by all. During her lecture, Ms. White told this story: While she was on the plane to Minnesota, a flight attendant came by and asked her what she was going to do there. She told him that she was going to visit St. Olaf College. The steward then looked at his watch, and said, “I hope we arrive on time. There’s only one road up to the St. Olaf campus, and it closes every night at eight!” Ms. White went on to say that she actually believed him for a moment, until she saw him laughing with another flight attendant about it. He was wrong, by the way. There are _two_ roads up to the St. Olaf campus. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RobuSensei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@RobuSensei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobuSensei)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/159 "2005-05-14T11:57:11Z")
disclaimer: mind like a steel sieve; your milage may vary. Do not attempt to operate heavy machinery without the appropriate precautions. ---
**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 14, 2005, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365/160 "2005-05-14T12:12:47Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > Re Family Matters Erkel not only had a talking doll. He had his own cereal- Erkel O’s! The slogan? “You’ll be Erkelized with Erkel-O’s!” Nitpick: His name was Steve **U** rkel and the cereal was called Urkel-Os. > [@Sampiro](#): > > After "Heyyyy! There’s no “H” in that “Ayyyyyy!” (Fonzie must have been Cockney.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sit-com-rasputins-worst-sit-coms-ever-to-last-5-or-more-years/303365.md?page=9)