# The worst television shows of all time. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 1, 1999, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-television-shows-of-all-time/8601 "1999-09-01T18:15:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Boris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@Boris\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boris_B)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 1999, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-television-shows-of-all-time/8601/61 "1999-09-23T22:35:00Z")
The show that wasted most of my time was The Dukes of Hazzard, followed closely by Scooby-Doo. Two of the most predicable shows ever. I don’t know why they ever made more than one episode, when they could have just repeated the same one over and over and nobody would have noticed. The evillest show around must have been the A-Team. Hackneyed theme (some good guys accused of war crime in Vietnam). Ridiculous premise (same good guys become nice caring mercenaries). The happiest violence on TV. Sure, most show are violent, but only on the A-Team could you blow up a jeep in a foreign country, have the whole crew climb out unharmed, and get away with it. Every show was a series of morally unassailable explosions. My fantasy: a closing episode to the Dukes of Hazzard. About two minutes into the show, Bo and Luke get pursued by Roscoe and Enos to a bridge under repair. Actually, the whole section of the bridge is gone, with a downward slope section. So instead of jumping the canyon, the Duke boys hurtle downward toward the opposite wall. After a short (seven-minute) commercial break, we return to find the General Lee smashed to bits, with blood and autoparts all over the canyon floor. There is a faint gurgling sound issuing from under the vehicle’s more-or-less intact roof, with the Confederate flag obscure by debris. The next seen is a very sombre funeral, with Daisy and Cooter looking very upset. After another commercial break (seven more minutes), we see Uncle Jesse drinking a huge bottle of whiskey with a revolver to his head. The screen goes blank, there is the sound of a gunshot. Then there are commercials until the next show comes on, ten minutes later. ---
**Author:** ![cody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@cody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cody)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 1999, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-television-shows-of-all-time/8601/62 "1999-09-23T23:06:00Z")
OK, here we go: One Day at a Time Happy Days Laverne and Shirley Matchgame '73 Dean Martin roasts Chimleski (sp?) Fun Time (regional - Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa) Lawrence Welk Dif’rent Strokes The Mike Douglas Show Dukes of Hazzard Are You Being Served (British) Geraldo Rivera Sally Jesse Raphael Anything featuring Vickie Lawrence Jerry Lewis Labor Day telethon Wheel of Fortune Real People Dallas Beverly Hillbillies any show where the main character is an angel The Midnight Special (bad 70s rock music show) CPO Sharkey (featuring Don Rickles as a Chief Petty Officer in the navy) Tony Orlando and Dawn Land of the Lost (70s Saturday morning live-action crap show) The Man from Atlantis Charley’s Angels The New WKRP in Cincinnati Mr. Belvedere (Reagan-era show about a limey pedophile nanny) Bob Hope specials Jake and the Fatman The Jeffersons Bionic Woman Hunter Dusty’s Trail (featuring Forrest Tucker and Bob Denver) Doogie Howser, MD ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 1999, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-television-shows-of-all-time/8601/63 "1999-09-24T02:56:00Z")
LMAO! How can you list “Real People” and forget it’s trailer-trash brother “That’s Incredible!” My mother FORBID\* us to watch both of those, no matter how much we wanted to see a guy hammer a nail up his nose, hahahahaha! \*Uh, forbade? Forbidded? Apologies in advance for not knowing. ---
**Author:** ![DW3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@DW3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DW3)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 1999, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-television-shows-of-all-time/8601/64 "1999-09-24T03:43:00Z")
Diagnosis Murder Murder She Wrote What’s Happening? A Team Blossom Duke’s of Hazzard (If Daisy wasn’t in it) Benson (There was a show the title was the name of the main characher twice) shrimp kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo, panfried, deep fried, pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp… shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich… ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 1999, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-television-shows-of-all-time/8601/65 "1999-09-24T11:55:00Z")
Without a doubt, \* Three’s Company \*. The same bad script over and over and over. ---
**Author:** ![cody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@cody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cody)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 1999, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-television-shows-of-all-time/8601/66 "1999-09-24T14:16:00Z")
I regret the omission of That’s Incredible! I should go into more detail about Dusty’s Trail. It was a Gilligan’s Island ripoff, if you can believe that. Only instead of an island, it was set in the Old West. Bob Denver and Skipper substitute, Forrest Tucker, are lost in the wilds of the Old West. Lamer, way the HELL lamer even than Gilligan’s Island. ---
**Author:** ![cody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@cody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cody)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 1999, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-television-shows-of-all-time/8601/67 "1999-09-24T20:50:00Z")
Oh, I just remembered another one: WEBSTER ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 1999, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-television-shows-of-all-time/8601/68 "1999-09-24T20:54:00Z")
CARTER COUNTRY was ghastly, but it did come across with one line I still quote to this day, 20 years afterward: “Bein’ poor is easy, ain’t nothing to it. See, every time you want somethin’…you can’t have it.” * * * Uke ---
**Author:** ![cody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@cody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cody)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 1999, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-television-shows-of-all-time/8601/69 "1999-09-25T02:10:00Z")
On ON DAY AT A TIME, Bonnie Franklin was so sickening that member of my family, sometimes myself included, would retch. Only when Nancy Reagan appeared on Dif’rent Strokes to deliver her “just say no” message was television so effective in inducing dry heaves on its audience. And Mackenzie Philips (sp?) was so strung out on 'caine it made you queasy just to look at her. I watched it with morbid curiosity every week, like someone huffing glue. ---
**Author:** ![White\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f19dbf/32.png) [@White\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 1999, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-television-shows-of-all-time/8601/70 "1999-09-25T02:39:00Z")
Someone said “Everything on the Sci-Fi channel.” I have to disagree there because of “Quantum Leap.” (I don’t care what you say, I like it.) To add to the “worst list”: almost everything on TV Land Late-night Disney almost ALL the new sitcoms Arliss ALL Nickelodeon shows and just for the record, the BEST all times TV shows: Home Improvement The Sopranos * * * * * * White Wolf “Honesty is the best policy, but insanity is a better defense.” “Half the world is composed of idiots, the other half of people clever enough to take indecent advantage of them.” ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 1999, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-television-shows-of-all-time/8601/71 "1999-09-26T06:55:00Z")
> [@](#): > > There was a sitcom that came on this summer on one of the networks about Pilgrims. I can’t say that I watched it, but the idea itself makes my brain hurt. **Thanks**. I kinda wanted to check it out; the way I perceived it, it could have been good or bad. But Mr. Rilch watches wrestling at that time on one channel, and I was watching “70s Show” on another. > [@](#): > > BAD cats - Michelle pfiffer in her probably only TV role as a Burglary Auto Detail ( hence, BAD cats) undercover cop. 1981? No, she was in a show called **Delta House** in 1978 or 79. It was one of three ripoffs of **Animal House** ; the most relatively successful, but it only lasted half a season. > [@](#): > > My mother FORBID\* us to watch both of those, no matter how much we wanted to see a guy hammer a nail up his nose, hahahahaha! > > \*Uh, forbade? Forbidded? Apologies in advance for not knowing. Forbade. But I believe “forbid” would also be acceptable. > [@](#): > > (There was a show the title was the name of the main characher twice) **Kelly Kelly** , starring Shelley Long? ## I mentioned this once before, but does anyone remember a show from the early 80s called **Making the Grade**? It was a year or so before the (unrelated) movie of the same name. (Does anyone remember the movie, for that matter?) Anyway, it was about a high school, with the main character being the irreverent principal. (Unusual: a principal you’re supposed to root for.) It ran for seven weeks, and what I chiefly remember is that they didn’t even bother to resolve the last episode. Not a cliffhanger; they had a crisis, the principal was in a hospital, flipping out, someone came in to tell him that things were at critical mass, and he just carried on flipping out. Freeze frame, credits. Remember, I’m pulling for you; we’re all in this together. —Red Green ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 1999, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-television-shows-of-all-time/8601/72 "1999-09-26T18:10:00Z")
List bad television shows? Holy Moses on the mountain, this could go on forever. Still, I feel compelled to mention a few things that I remember from years past: Yes, I remember Grand; I even remember the theme song. Thanks a mil for getting it in my head again. I caught about 15 min of a Thanks episode weeks ago and still haven’t recovered. Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader comes up with a few that I’d never heard of; how about Turn-On, a Laugh-In ripoff that was supposedly so bad the the Denver network affiliate cancelled the show halfway through the premiere? They claim that part of the producers’ cancellation agreement was that the tapes be locked up and never shown again. Needless to say, I really gotta see this show. UJBR also lists a show called Melba that premiered as a mid-season replacement on the day of the Challenger disaster. Bad luck, Melba. Bad sitcoms: The Brady Brides Hot! (Remember? The people at the record company? Remember?) All of the Saved By The Bell wannabees that air Saturday mornings: what are they, something like Hang Time? Student Bodies? Laguna Malibu Surf Beach Pacific Spirit High? Bad scifi: M.A.N.T.I.S. The Flash Manimal Automan Blue Thunder/Airwolf (may have been the same show) An unknown show that only had a pilot: a scientist gets combined with a defense satellite a la The Fly and transforms into a freaky metalbeast when threatened. Incidentally, once, as part of a consumer survey I participated in, I was sent a pilot video of a potential sitcom. Lemme tell ya, if you think the stuff that GETS on TV is bad, you should see the stuff they REJECT. In closing, does anyone else remember a show from the 80s that I used to like called UNSUB? It aired for about 3 months or so; it was about a forensic team (scientists, criminal psychologists, detectives, etc.) that tried to catch especially dangerous or freaky criminals. The UNSUB stood for UNknown SUBject. Ah well. I have more, but that’ll do for now. ---
**Author:** ![Yankee\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/7ea924/32.png) [@Yankee\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yankee_Blue)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 1999, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-television-shows-of-all-time/8601/73 "1999-09-26T19:01:00Z")
How about these stinkers: The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries The Partridge Family Anything that has “Caught on Tape” in the title As to networks, you have to pick and chose on Fox - I happened to like the recently created/canceled Brimstone on Fox. It had the virtue of being a semi-original thought. Someone also listed Barney Miller on his bad list, but I loved that show - maybe because I was allowed to stay up late (11pm) to see the reruns. ---
**Author:** ![gary\_horaczek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@gary\_horaczek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gary_horaczek)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 1999, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-television-shows-of-all-time/8601/74 "1999-09-26T19:32:00Z")
The Trouble With Tracy (Canada),Apple Pie (w/ the actress that played Blanche on Golden Girls), Fridays (Saturday Night Live ripoff) and Howard Cosell’s mid 70’s tv series. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 1999, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-television-shows-of-all-time/8601/75 "1999-09-26T20:44:00Z")
“Lassie” Or “Flipper”. God, how I hated that damn dolphin! Really, any show which stars an animal that is smarter than the human cast is bound to suck! And any actor that consents to be second fiddle to a beast, & ends up looking **dumber** than the beast, **is dumber than the beast**. Remeber what WC Fields said about working with kids & dogs? * * * We have met the enemy, and He is Us.–Walt Kelly ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 1999, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-television-shows-of-all-time/8601/76 "1999-09-26T21:07:00Z")
How could we forget el lamo show, " BJ and The Bear." ---
**Author:** ![omniscientnot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a5b964/32.png) [@omniscientnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omniscientnot)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 1999, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-television-shows-of-all-time/8601/77 "1999-09-26T22:09:00Z")
I’m with you, Blue: Barney Miller was one of the best sitcoms I’ve watched over the years. Inspector Luger, on that show, was a _gem_. ---
**Author:** ![Valerieblaise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@Valerieblaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valerieblaise)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 1999, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-television-shows-of-all-time/8601/78 "1999-09-26T23:19:00Z")
For everyone that mentioned “Saved By the Bell,” HOW could you forget “Saved By the Bell: the College Years” (or, College Semester, as it turned out)? That was some much-needed programming. Bleech. ---
**Author:** ![cody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@cody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cody)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 1999, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-television-shows-of-all-time/8601/79 "1999-09-27T16:50:00Z")
I forgot: HEE HAW ---
**Author:** ![torq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@torq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torq)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 1999, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-television-shows-of-all-time/8601/80 "1999-09-27T22:55:00Z")
> [@](#): > > (There was a show the title was the name of the main characher twice) Are you thinking of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (not sure about the spelling)? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-television-shows-of-all-time/8601.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-television-shows-of-all-time/8601.md?page=5)