There were so many bad episodes from all versions of Star Trek that they deserve their own thread…
[Voice of Emily Procter] Oh, wait! There have been! Lots of them! :eek:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php?searchid=10853087
That actually is one of my favorite episodes. How the hell is Conrad gonna explain away the evidence since only the murderer would know that the victim had changed clothes? :dubious:
The one I saw last week with Anne Baxter strained my credulity. She commits murder by arson, trying to make it look like an accident, and then leaves the frickin’ gas cans at the scene of the crime? ** Really?!?** :eek:
I nominate the episode of MASH*** where Alan Alda is stranded with a family that doesn’t understand English, and it’s 25 minutes of him talking to himself and being brilliant. :rolleyes:
The best thing about this episode was the description in TV Guide: “Hawkeye crashes his Jeep and wakes up inside a Korean.” 
It’s possible I am remembering it incompletely. I remember it that there was no evidence other than the laces, which isn’t really evidence as there is nothing to say the victim just didn’t tie them the ‘wrong way’ but it has been a long time since I have seen it (40 years! Say it ain’t so!).
Homicide - There’s an episode (or mini-storyline) where a couple of the detectives fall in love with the crime scene recreation model-maker lady. After they’ve all spatted it over, one of them ends up going out with her, just to discover that she’s very weird, and they have sex in a coffin.
The Unit - There are two episodes that sort of tie for worst, one about Voodoo Magic and the other about Psychic Powers… The first season of the show was reasonably grounded in reality (for TV) and keeps with it until these two pop up midway through the season, and then the overall level of quality decreases substantially for the rest of its run. It’s pretty clear, watching it, that they had lost some major portions of their creative team soon after starting work on Season 2.
Conrad was tripped up by his sworn statement that the victim told him over the phone he had changed clothes before working out, and Columbo was able to demonstrate how easily he could have faked the phone call.
The thing about the shoelaces is true; try doing it “the wrong way” sometime and you’ll see it’s about as easy as putting a pocket knife in your left-hand pocket while you’re running (assuming you’re right-handed, of course).*
Did you know, BTW, that the foxy wife of the victim in that episode was actually this girl?
http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0005745/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_70
*Cite: Encyclopedia Brown! 
Thought of a couple more:
24: “Day 2: 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.” Kim and the cougar. Oy vey.
Torchwood: “Meat.” A heartbreaking story ruined by horribly low-budget visual effects.
Do we ever see evidence the Roshenko’s are Jewish? I know they come across as stereotypical hick Russians.
With Theodore Bikel as Sergey, I think it’s a fair assumption.
According to Wiki, the Rozhenkos are Belarussian; interesting, since Rozhenko is actually more a Ukrainian name.
Also interesting is that the actress who played Helena Rozhenko was on The Ed Sullivan Show the same night as the Beatles’ American premiere!
The *Firefly *episode is called “The Message” and I agree it’s the weakest episode of the lot by a long way.
While I agree there were no truly bad episodes of The Wire in absolute terms my least favourite (and therefore worst in relative terms) episode would have to be Season 5, episode 6 “The Dickensian Aspect” because it has the most screentime devoted to the weak Baltimore Sun storyline.
The worst episodes of The Sopranos are the weird little arc where Chris and Carmine are trying to get their movie made, and are following Ben Kingsley around and coveting all the little gift bags he gets comped.
I disagree. Their son was played by Paul Sorvino. Yet, they clearly aren’t Italian.
I must disagree- ‘Heart of Gold’ is approximately 18x worse. Trite, cliched crap with a cardboard cut-out villain, as well as one of my least favorite re-occurring Whedonisms ( well, he has done it at least twice ) - the super-horse.
I can’t quite decide which is worse - horses keeping up with a Winnebago in Buffy for multiple miles or horses outrunning a hovercraft in Firefly. But both make me roll my eyes right up into my head and out the other side :D.
Whatever ethnicity they’re supposed to be, they are standard Jewish parent stereotypes. As Dan Greenberg wrote, “You don’t have to be Jewish or a mother to be a Jewish Mother.”
And then Deep Space Nine has that one where Sisko and Jake beat the world record for solar sailing. I hate that one.
The original GI Joe had one, The Gamesmaster, that I never even heard of until I was in my twenties. And I’d watched the show religiously as a kid.
It’s basically GI Joe/Cobra vs. Candyland. Well, strictly speaking, only the battlefield is made of candy, the adversaries are giant toys and the robot-clown henchman controlled by an insane, obsese…forget it, I can’t describe it. Or maybe I just don’t want to.
Also features the Baroness running around in a bikini, and the Joes torturing a prisoner for information. Who actually turned out to honestly not know anything about what they were interrogating him for. :smack: *
Really, it’s a good lesson for judging how silly and lighthearted you can get before you compromise the “tone” of your series. That, and why it’s not a good idea to drink the pretty candy under the kitchen sink.
*Well, technically, they were just threatening to infect the prisoner with a horrific bioweapon. And the prisoner, Zartan, was both a) not a nice guy, b) arguably an unlawful combatant, and c) the guy who was running the horrific bioweapons lab when they caught him.
I concur. And the worst episode before this arc was “D-Girl.” The Sopranos going Hollywood just never worked for me.
“Fly” was the only episode of Breaking Bad that I ever thought basically treaded water. Not a terrible episode, just a noticeably off one in an otherwise stellar run.
Hard to pick the worst Next Gen episode, though I wouldn’t agree with any of the choices proffered thus far. Probably “Shades of Grey” (aka the clip show) or that awful “Masks,” which even Brent Spiner complained about. Listening to all that rubbish about Masaka and Cogarno or whatever reminded me of the incessant patter about Mastretta and Gallano in Mitchell.
Let’s see;
Stargate SG-1: Had a more than a few in the first season which were not just awful, but were GOD AWFUL including: Emancipation (uniquely terrible AND racist), ***Politics ***(Shut down the Stargate Program? Huh?) and The Broca Divide (Just a terrible mid-season show shown too early in the series).
Also most of the ones with Cameron Mitchell were terrible, but Claudia Black’s figure made them watchable.
Star Trek: TOS - The always execrable The Omega Glory (what the f8ck where they thinking? Or were they?).And the Children Shall Lead (Really Roddenberry?). Turnabout Intruder (umm…so in the 23rd century women STILL aren’t equals?)
Kolchak: The Night Stalker - Mr. R.I.N.G (How do make an episode about AI android dull? They found a way).Legacy of Terror (Even with Erik Estrada this one bit.). ***Chopper ***(Not so “special” special effects and a weak story really makes this one a laugher)
Oh Christ yeah they’re up there too. Awful, awful!
Karen Valentine? Homage to “Play Misty for me”?