This is a difficult question because so many shows are so terrible, they air 1 or 2 episodes, are canceled, and immediately forgotten by most.
One show that definitely deserves to be on the list (it was indeed cut after 2 episodes aired according to Wikipedia) is Viva Laughlin.
Magic Johnson show. Oof.
I actually like Last of the Summer Wine…
I know I have shows that I have seen that I couldn’t believe were on the air, but none of them are coming to my brain right now, dang it!
I will say Small Wonder was a pretty stupid show.
My mother the car has to be in there somewhere.
Sacriledge ! Keep in mind that “My Mother the Car” was on air around the time “Mr. Ed” was a huge hit. So perhaps the bar was a bit low. But I remember enjoying that show.
As for worst shows, I’ll nominate:
3’s Company
Baywatch Nights (or After Dark or whatever the spinoff was)
Whoops!
Coupling (and this includes BOTH British & American versions)
Good Morning, Miami
Three’s Company
Full House
King of the Heap–This was the shit-com spin-off from Married with Children starring Matt LeBlanc as the heir apparent to his father’s trash collecting business.
DC Follies–if you click the link, make sure you take your antacid.
The View–(comment withheld)
Bless this house–Starred Andrew “Not Dice” Clay in a remake of the Honeymooners.
Dusty’s Trail–Sherwood Schwartz creation to try to recapture the success of Gilligan’s Island.
SSG Schwartz
Obviously i am the first (but not the last) to recall Pink Lady and Jeff.
Nancy Grace. I WIN!
Hee Haw (I know it has its fans, but when it was on in re-runs in the early morning, I woke up with the worst hangover of my life, and it was on the TV, and I was too sick to get up and turn it off. So it’s on my list.)
Three’s Company. Never understood why anyone found that idiotic mugging, snickering, and slapstick funny, and Suzanne Sommers looked like a mannequin with a bad wig on her pointy head.
Hey, I still remember all the words to the theme song!
Five is just too small a number to contain the five worst.
I’ll throw out:
Benson
The Time Tunnel
Well, I won’t try to come up with the very worst shows of all-time, but these are ones that I have viewing experience with. The first four popped into mind and I Googled enough to come up with a fifth.
Home Movies, I thought, was a dismal short-lived animated series on UPN. A check of Wikipedia reveals to me that it actually survived the quick hook from network TV and lived on for four seasons on cable… damned if I know how or why.
The George Wendt Show was George Wendt’s return to series television after Cheers. I remember the promos: “George Wendt… George Wendt… George Wendt to CBS!” This brilliant play on words was funnier than anything in the show.
Alright Already was a Carol Leifer vehicle not long after Seinfeld, a show she did a lot of writing for, ended its run. I like Carol Leifer. I decided after watching an episode or two of Alright Already that I needed to stop watching, so that I could continue to like Carol Leifer.
Encore! Encore! was an awful, short-lived Nathan Lane vehicle.
Emeril. A sitcom vehicle for Emeril Lagasse. Great idea written all over it.
I would quibble with a number of the shows mentioned, but defending Cavemen or According to Jim as good enough to not be one of the five worst shows of all time is not a hill I want to die on. That said, I will stick up for the wildly uneven Dana Carvey Show… parts of that were pee-your-pants funny. Heh… re-reading, I see this was breezman’s pick along with Alright Already, which I’m surprised anyone else even thought of.
Children’s programming takes the worst categories IMO:
“Barney” - it’s not the obnoxious purple dinosaur that disturbed me the most. It was the impossibly cheerful, overly tolerant, uber-polite, phony-ass kids on the show, many who were allowed to stay years past the point where they were cute. No, I don’t love you, Barney, and we’re not a happy family.
But nothing, and I mean, nothing prepared me for the imported twin horrors that my 3 year old niece became obsessed with a few years ago: “DoodleBop” and “The Wiggles.” Oh my. At least it was kids who embarrassed themselves on “Barney.” These shows hired full grown adults to routinely debase themselves for a paycheck. Bad writing. Bad singing. Bad dancing.
Kath and Kim
Testees
The Nanny
What’s the one with the designers? The one that gave us “hot mess”. That show.
Dog the Bounty Hunter
Oh Lordy - how could I forget The Chevy Chase Show, launched in a post-Carson era along with a flurry of others. Scuttlebutt was that Chase had wanted a sketch show but talk shows were hot and so that’s what he got. Never before or again have I seen a program in which the star so obviously - desperately - painfully - did not want to be there from the very beginning. His commercials for Doritos, airing at the same time, were far superior.
I have to disagree. This show was at least well cast. Judy Parfitt (Lillian) and Paul Winfield (The Mirror) have done some good work. And Caitlin O’Heaney was perfect as Snow White (first season only); a rare combination of innocent and sexy.
It didn’t add up to much, but I’m sure there are five TV shows that had less going for them than that.
That would be The Munsters Today.
Pfft, Benson was entertaining.
I’ve never seen “DoodleBop,” but I think you’re being way too harsh on the Wiggles. Okay, so their show isn’t exactly Masterpiece Theatre, but what do you expect? It’s designed to be pre-school kiddie fare, and it’s pretty good at what it does.
Not at all bad - rather endearing in fact - during the Foggy, Clegg & Compo time (late 70s). I must say you need an ear tuned to Oop North English to get a lot of the gags, though. A season or two of All Creatures Great and Small and I was good to go.
Probably helped that my PBS affil ran it very late Saturday night and I usually had a few tied on at the time.
To the Manor Born, OTOH…was there anything at all to that show other than the vanishingly remote possibility that one day Marjory Frobisher might get laid?