# Worst concept for a TV special or series ever? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 1, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-concept-for-a-tv-special-or-series-ever/566011 "2011-01-01T01:44:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-concept-for-a-tv-special-or-series-ever/566011/21 "2011-01-01T17:37:40Z")
Mores and values have changed since then, but [_Turn-On_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turn-On) was a horrible concept for its time, and a comedy show with endless surrealism and double entendres doesn’t strike me as being a good concept even now. Looking at the jokes that did make it on I’d be afraid of the ones that didn’t. In fact, when I think about it I can come up with shows that have elements as described but not one that puts the whole package together, probably for good reason. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-concept-for-a-tv-special-or-series-ever/566011/22 "2011-01-01T17:39:22Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > Amen. Actually a very clever show, especially on the meta level as most of the Nazis were played by Jewish actors. Well, I know your opinions. You know mine. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-concept-for-a-tv-special-or-series-ever/566011/23 "2011-01-01T17:59:39Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > Amen. Actually a very clever show, especially on the meta level as most of the Nazis were played by Jewish actors. And the Americans were played by perverts. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-concept-for-a-tv-special-or-series-ever/566011/24 "2011-01-01T18:52:05Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > And the Americans were played by perverts. Larry Hovis and Ivan Dixon were perverts? ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-concept-for-a-tv-special-or-series-ever/566011/25 "2011-01-01T19:10:31Z")
Remaking The Rockford Files was a horrible concept. Luckily someone smartened up at the last minute. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-concept-for-a-tv-special-or-series-ever/566011/26 "2011-01-01T19:19:28Z")
Bridalplasty, a reality show competition for brides who compete to get the plastic surgery of their dreams for their big day [This article](http://www.cracked.com/blog/bridalplasty-new-reality-show-that-proves-were-doomed/) says it better than I can. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-concept-for-a-tv-special-or-series-ever/566011/27 "2011-01-01T19:51:35Z")
[The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Diary_of_Desmond_Pfeiffer) About a Black servant in the Lincoln White House. Lincoln is an idiot; his wife is perpetually horny and eats everything in sight (setting up every obvious fat joke ever invented). ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-concept-for-a-tv-special-or-series-ever/566011/28 "2011-01-01T20:17:26Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > Larry Hovis and Ivan Dixon were perverts? Actually, Ivan Dixon had a [pretty decent career](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0228853/), mostly as a Director. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-concept-for-a-tv-special-or-series-ever/566011/29 "2011-01-01T23:33:19Z")
[The Adventures of Superpup](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Superpup). Little people dressed in dog costumes spoofing “Superman.” What’s not to dislike? ---
**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:** [January 1, 2011, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-concept-for-a-tv-special-or-series-ever/566011/30 "2011-01-01T23:47:28Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > [The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Diary_of_Desmond_Pfeiffer) About a Black servant in the Lincoln White House. Lincoln is an idiot; his wife is perpetually horny and eats everything in sight (setting up every obvious fat joke ever invented). Also, and what was most offensive to me, the show was a shameless, poorly executed, and uncredited rip-off of [Blackadder the Third](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Adder_The_Third) from its basic concept (a British nobleman with literary ambitions who’s fallen on hard times is forced to become a servant for a dimwitted national leader) to its inclusion of a grimy Baldrick-type character as Pfeiffer’s assistant. I think even if controversy over its racial content had been avoided, it probably would’ve been sued off the air by Richard Curtis, Ben Elton, and Rowan Atkinson. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-concept-for-a-tv-special-or-series-ever/566011/31 "2011-01-02T00:24:41Z")
The worst I can think of is [_Who’s Your Daddy?_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who's_Your_Daddy%3F_(TV_series)). Sounds like a light hearted sitcom, right? It wasn’t. > [@](#): > > For the show’s premise, an adult who had been put up for adoption as an infant was placed in a room with 25 men, one of whom was their biological father. If the contestant could correctly pick out who was their father, the contestant would win $100,000. If they chose incorrectly, the person that they incorrectly selected would get the $100,000, although the contestant would still be reunited with his or her father. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-concept-for-a-tv-special-or-series-ever/566011/32 "2011-01-02T01:02:30Z")
(dis)Honorable mention for _Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire._ ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-concept-for-a-tv-special-or-series-ever/566011/33 "2011-01-02T01:32:12Z")
Wow, some excellent candidates here, most of which I’ve never heard of. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-concept-for-a-tv-special-or-series-ever/566011/34 "2011-01-02T02:46:39Z")
Sounds like we could put together a great evening for “Nick at Night” ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-concept-for-a-tv-special-or-series-ever/566011/35 "2011-01-02T03:05:36Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Bridalplasty, a reality show competition for brides who compete to get the plastic surgery of their dreams for their big day > > [This article](http://www.cracked.com/blog/bridalplasty-new-reality-show-that-proves-were-doomed/) says it better than I can. A review stated “as shallow as a plastic kiddy pool, and as full of whiny brats”. Isn’t there something on MTV called “Date My Mom”? I haven’t seen it, don’t know what it entails, but just the title makes me shudder. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-concept-for-a-tv-special-or-series-ever/566011/36 "2011-01-02T13:17:50Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > (dis)Honorable mention for _Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire._ One of the all-time low points in television history. What’s more, I remember that when that program was broadcast my state was voting whether or not to allow same sex marriage (it was ultimately defeated). I had to hear all kinds of bullshit from every homophobe idiot about how same sex marriage would "destroy the sanctity of marriage, " while no one seemed to give a shit about programs like this one where, y’know, the sanctity of marriage wasn’t even factored into the equation. GMAFB! ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-concept-for-a-tv-special-or-series-ever/566011/37 "2011-01-02T13:31:38Z")
I was going to mention Homeboys in Outer Space (wait. . ., I did just mention it) but these reality shows take the cake and the pie and all the cookies too. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-concept-for-a-tv-special-or-series-ever/566011/38 "2011-01-02T13:49:29Z")
[The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Diary_of_Desmond_Pfeiffer) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/mrQRdDui-n4/hqdefault.jpg "The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer "AOL: Abe on Line" Pt 1") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrQRdDui-n4) ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-concept-for-a-tv-special-or-series-ever/566011/39 "2011-01-02T13:59:06Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Actually, Ivan Dixon had a [pretty decent career](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0228853/), mostly as a Director. Being a notable director does not mean that one is not a pervert Roman Polanski but Ivan Dixon apparently was a fine person as well as being a fine director. They’re just not mutually exclusive. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-concept-for-a-tv-special-or-series-ever/566011/40 "2011-01-02T14:28:48Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > Being a notable director does not mean that one is not a pervert Roman Polanski but Ivan Dixon apparently was a fine person as well as being a fine director. They’re just not mutually exclusive. His best acting performance in my opinion was in the movie _Car Wash_. He gives a touching performance as an ex-con trying to get by on a crappy job. The last scene in this underrated movie is one of the best in movie history, and I mean that. And Ivan nails that scene. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-concept-for-a-tv-special-or-series-ever/566011.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-concept-for-a-tv-special-or-series-ever/566011.md?page=3)