# The Single WORST Episode Of Your Favourite TV Series
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [November 16, 2009, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717 "2009-11-16T01:01:58Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2009, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/1 "2009-11-16T01:01:58Z")
What is your favourite show? Got it down, OK…Now what is the ONE single episode of that series that is horrible.
I don’t mean an episode that you midly dislike, but the one single episode that you feel should NEVER have been made.
And episode of the TV show that you think ruins the whole series.
The one rule for this thread is I will discount pilot and last episodes of the series. Because the pilot is often changed significantly and often the last episode of a TV series is made for the purposes of providing a wrap of of a storyline.
For me my favourite show is “The Simpsons,” and like a lot of other people I have to say the worst episode of that, for me, is the episode where we find out Principal Skinner is really Armand Tanzarian
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### Author:  [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2009, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/2 "2009-11-16T01:21:18Z")
I’m going to go back a ways and choose one from the **Brady Bunch** --not my all time favorite series but one that I’ve seen every episode of.
In the final season, there is one show where the Brady’s virtually don’t appear at all in which instead features a guy and his wife who adopt three boys, one black, one white and one Asian. The couple has to fend off some mildly racist observations from the nosy old lady neighbor which is overheard by one of the boys. The three then decide to run away and make their way over to the Bradys who naturally save the day. The episode was going to be a springboard to its own series as the dad was also a vaudeville actor or something but it fortunately never made it any further. But the implausible set-up, the shameless promoting of one show from another, and the fact that the show’s cast members appear in less than 10% of the air time make it an absolute rock bottom low point not just for the Brady Bunch but for any television series ever created or aired since the dawn of television.
Let’s see someone top that!
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2009, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/3 "2009-11-16T01:27:31Z")
Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
Bad Eggs
I hate that one, enough to skip it when we watch the show through.
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### Author:  [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2009, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/4 "2009-11-16T01:49:07Z")
One of my favorite TV shows in recent memory was Battlestar Galactica. Three words that should make any BSG fan shudder are “The Woman King.”
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### Author:  [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2009, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/5 "2009-11-16T01:54:37Z")
> [@Markxxx](#):
>
> Principal Skinner is really Armand Tanzarian
Nit: Armin Tamzarian.
I’ll start off by discussing two “single WORST episodes” of TV shows that I like, but by no means are my favourites. One of which, making use of the available segue, is The Simpsons. Can’t remember the episode name but it’s where, after the death of his wife (a few months or so, less than a year I’m sure), Ned meets an attractive lady (later discovered to be a famous movie star) and he dates, and eventually beds, her. (In one scene all his excuses not to sleep with her “blow away”, literally).
The other show is Family Guy. IMHO, it constantly denigrates from the pinnacle of writing that was the first season or so (before the first cancellation) into sophomoric scatological jokes, but every now and then it shows some of that clever writign and spot-on wit that I fell in love with it for. One episode that does not fall into that category is where the Griffins become a singing group, touring all over, and Meg has a major makeover in relation to this (becoming a blonde). Near the end of the episode, they go on SNL, and Meg falls for Jimmy Fallon, who eventually beds her (only to reveal her defloration was actually part of a opening skit).
The reason I hated these two episodes were what they had in common. No, not sex, although you’re close (in a way, I mean come on I like watching,l and having, sex as well as the next red-blooded male). I’m talking about a fundamental shift in a hard and fast aspect of a character’s makeup - these kind of shows continuity is often played fast and loose, and is usually done well with comedic effect (heck, my favourite Simpsons episodes are usually the Halloween and other “trilogy” ones where continuity is thrown out the window completely to tell a story), but there are still hard and fast rules that must be obeyed. Flanders is a deeply religious person who does not believe in pre- or extra-marital sex (not stating my views on it, just Flanders’). Having him do it pretty much makes him a hypocrite. Meg is an “ugly girl” (personally, I’ve always found her very cute, but the standard gag is that “she’s so ugly her momma won’t kiss her goodnight”) who can’t get a date and will always be a virgin. Even after the Jimmy Fallon incident, while I don’t think they’ve mentioned it specifically, she seems to be viewed as a virgin. Those were two rule breakings “up with which I did not put”, and was soured on both shows for a while. (It’d be like having Wile E. Coyote catch and eat the Road Runner, that kind of thing.)
Now, to my two favourite shows, Corner Gas (which recently ended its run) and Mythbusters (still on the air). Why do I like them? Well, in part because there is not a single episode I can describe as “the single WORST” episode, that’s why I like them by definition I suppose. If I don’t like an episode vehemently, like I did with Simpsons and Family Guy, it definitely won’t be my favourite show (although they never were), but I’d probably still watch.
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### Author:  [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2009, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/6 "2009-11-16T02:02:58Z")
> [@Markxxx](#):
>
> For me my favourite show is “The Simpsons,” and like a lot of other people I have to say the worst episode of that, for me, is the episode where we find out Principal Skinner is really Armand Tanzarian
We aren’t to mention that under penalty of torture.
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### Author:  [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2009, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/7 "2009-11-16T02:06:58Z")
There was an episode of Married with Children that apparently was supposed to be a test pilot for a spinoff show or something, except it wasn’t for any of the main family or friends or acquaintances, but for some never-before-seen-friend of Al’s named Charlie Verducci. His son Vinnie, played by Matt Le Blanc, were featured in the episode. Al steals their TV at the end for some reason. Hated it, it had nothing to do with Married with Children and I resent networks trying to piggyback crappy spinoffs on more popular shows.
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### Author:  [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2009, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/8 "2009-11-16T02:20:38Z")
“Spock’s Brain.”
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### Author:  [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2009, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/9 "2009-11-16T02:23:13Z")
I don’t know if I’d call it my favorite show, but the one where there is a huge nexus between ‘like the show’ and ‘find the producer and burn the master tape of the episode!’:
\*A Night in Sickbay, \* **Enterprise**. I honestly wonder if Scott Bakula was screwing around with a writer’s wife and/or teenage son and this was inflicted upon him in retaliation. [This review doesn’t convey the full horror,](http://www.jammersreviews.com/st-ent/s2/sickbay.php)but [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWz9onFebHA)promo gets close. [TWOP has 14 pages to try to explain it all.](http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/enterprise/a_night_in_sickbay.php) We need Joel, Mike and the 'bots for this one
I think I’ve completely blocked out that episode of Heroes that involved Elle, Sylar, the worst acting I’ve ever seen on film committed by Robert Forster, baked ziti and suicide.
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### Author:  [@wedgehed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wedgehed)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2009, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/10 "2009-11-16T02:32:31Z")
> [@dropzone](#):
>
> “Spock’s Brain.”
Nah. _Spock’s Brain_ is golden compared to _Miri_.
First, you have an exact duplicate of Earth for no reason whatsoever.
Second, you have annoying brats going **BONK!, BONK!, BONK!** every five minutes.
Nuke’em from orbit, Captain. It’s the only way to be sure.
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### Author:  [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2009, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/11 "2009-11-16T02:34:56Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#):
>
> There was an episode of Married with Children that apparently was supposed to be a test pilot for a spinoff show or something, except it wasn’t for any of the main family or friends or acquaintances, but for some never-before-seen-friend of Al’s named Charlie Verducci. His son Vinnie, played by Matt Le Blanc, were featured in the episode. Al steals their TV at the end for some reason. Hated it, it had nothing to do with Married with Children and I resent networks trying to piggyback crappy spinoffs on more popular shows.
I was going to say the exact same episode.
On _The Simpsons,_ the worst is the one where Bart and his friends form a boy band as a recruiting tool for the Navy. The second worst is probably the one where they adopt Duncan the racehorse.
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### Author:  [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2009, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/12 "2009-11-16T02:36:55Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#):
>
> There was an episode of Married with Children that apparently was supposed to be a test pilot for a spinoff show or something, except it wasn’t for any of the main family or friends or acquaintances, but for some never-before-seen-friend of Al’s named Charlie Verducci. His son Vinnie, played by Matt Le Blanc, were featured in the episode. Al steals their TV at the end for some reason. Hated it, it had nothing to do with Married with Children and I resent networks trying to piggyback crappy spinoffs on more popular shows.
This. Was just insultingly bad. Absolutely painful. And “the daughter” on this was one of the ugliest, most emaciated, repellant skanks I’ve ever seen anywhere. Like the total opposite of the beautiful Christina Applegate.
I wouldn’t say it was one of my favorite shows, but I did watch Private Practice, up until the cliffhanger last episode last season. Wherein a mentally ill woman drugged pregnant Violet so she was paralyzed, punched her in the nose, “heard” the baby asking to come out, and proceeded (with textbook in hand and weary instructions from Violet) to begin to cut the baby out of the womb. I don’t think something so evil and ghastly should be fodder for a humping-doctors show. It was so appalling I can’t ever watch Private Practice again.
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### Author:  [@wedgehed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wedgehed)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2009, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/13 "2009-11-16T02:44:17Z")
The episode of _Gilligan’s Island_ where Gilligan screws up the rescue.
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### Author:  [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2009, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/14 "2009-11-16T03:08:57Z")
> [@wedgehed](#):
>
> Nah. _Spock’s Brain_ is golden compared to _Miri_.
>
> First, you have an exact duplicate of Earth for no reason whatsoever.
Eh, weird ass coincidences, the all-Nazi planet, gangsterland, all par for the _Trek_ course, but then:
> [@](#):
>
> Second, you have annoying brats going **BONK!, BONK!, BONK!** every five minutes.
Dammit Jim, just smack that kid! The child protection workers on that planet died 300 years ago- the only person who’d give you shit about it is Rand, and you get to tell her to shut up since you’re her CO.
I honestly thought he was going to throw the little one at the Bonk Bonk kid when I saw that
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2009, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/15 "2009-11-16T03:11:58Z")
There was a Columbo episode - “Dead Weight” - where the guy killed someone in broad daylight, while standing in front of a plate-glass window; anyone could’ve seen it, and someone who did promptly called the police. I’d give the killer points for hiding the body, except (as per the title) he didn’t weigh it down enough; it washed up on the shore all by itself, which means the cops presumably didn’t need our hero.
But play along with the concept for a minute and pretend they _ **do** _ need a murder weapon to make the charges stick; other episodes include that bit along with framing someone else while arranging a clever alibi, but this guy doesn’t have _ **anything** _ else going for him and so absolutely needs to pin all his hopes on hiding the gun. Okay. I’m with you, writers. Go make this plot sing.
_“What, that gun right there? I assure you, it wouldn’t match the bullet.”_
Columbo wonders if the guy is lying.
He _ **is!** _ It’s a perfect match!
Yay for Columbo!
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/16 "2009-11-16T03:12:50Z")
**ST:TNG:** [Family](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_%28Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation%29) The show was hated, and, as was usual, the producers took the wrong lesson from that. They thought the problem was that there were no action sequences. But, no, the problem was that it was a mass of third-rate cliches and by-the-book heart-tugging revelations. Not a single moment of it rang true (especially absurd was the Picard vs. his French brother – both with English accents – solving things after a bit of mudwrestling).
For **Doctor Who,** I’d go with “Kinda.” Really awful pseudopsychological mumbo jumbo, with a solution that is just plain stupid.
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### Author:  [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2009, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/17 "2009-11-16T03:14:17Z")
A Million Little Fibers, Season 10, South Park.
It’s so bad, Matt and Trey apologized for it on the DVD commentary.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2009, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/18 "2009-11-16T03:14:37Z")
Well, I’m not going to try to figure out precisely what my “favorite show” is, but _Babylon 5_ has to be high on the list. There’s one episode, “TKO”, where a washed-up human boxer decides to compete in some alien Ultimate Fighting sport from which humans had previously been excluded. After 43 minutes of tribulations and really bad fighting form, he manages to get allowed in the ring with the galactic champion at this sport, and fights until the other guy agrees to a tie and to let humans compete from now on. There’s no broader significance to the episode at all, nor any connection whatsoever to any of the grand overarching storylines that were woven throughout the series. Every single other episode of the show, without any other exception, at least has Kosh show up for a scene and say something cryptic, or something.
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### Author:  [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2009, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/19 "2009-11-16T03:17:01Z")
Not my favorite show, but the first series of The Sarah jane Adventures ended with a bit of a wimper imo, with [The Lost Boy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_Boy_(The_Sarah_Jane_Adventures)).
What makes the Slitheen an amusing enemy is all thrown out the window. Yeah, I thought the fat suits and the farting were funny and it set them apart from other enemies in the Whoniverse. Sure, they’re a menace, but that’s all tapered with the fat farting.
Then it all turns out to be a plot by the computer Mr. Smith to crash the moon into the Earth. Fortunately, they were able to infect him with a virus and rebuild him so he wouldn’t want to do it any more. Yay, we’re saved.
I thought the series was pretty good, but suffered from fairly uninspired bookends if you include the pilot.
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### Author:  [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2009, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/20 "2009-11-16T03:19:44Z")
[QUOTE= YogSosoth]
There was an episode of Married with Children that apparently was supposed to be a test pilot for a spinoff show or something, except it wasn’t for any of the main family or friends or acquaintances, but for some never-before-seen-friend of Al’s named Charlie Verducci. His son Vinnie, played by Matt Le Blanc, were featured in the episode. Al steals their TV at the end for some reason. Hated it, it had nothing to do with Married with Children and I resent networks trying to piggyback crappy spinoffs on more popular shows.
[/QUOTE]
Would that be Vinnie Verducci, of “Top of the Heap” and “Vinnie and Bobby” fame?
😃
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