# Worst TV show of all time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 21, 2011, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428 "2011-01-21T06:37:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/1 "2011-01-21T06:37:23Z")
I’ve always heard how awful “The Trouble With Tracy” (a early 70s Canadian sitcom) was and tried to find footage online. [This was all I could find.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFLEvAhSTwQ) How could this be worse? There’s not a single funny line, no actors shows any comic timing (or the ability to deliver dialogue decently), and it’s got sub cable access production values. It doesn’t help that the laugh track seems to randomly pop rather than enhance what feeble laughs were available. Anyone got a better candidate for the worst TV show of all time? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/2 "2011-01-21T06:55:50Z")
Small Wonder. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/3 "2011-01-21T06:58:17Z")
“The Man Show”. ---
**Author:** ![tingbudong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tingbudong/32/520_2.png) [@tingbudong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tingbudong)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/4 "2011-01-21T07:04:55Z")
Short-lived early 80’s television series [The Master](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Master_%28TV_series%29). Strangely enough Tim Van Patten went on to become a fairly good writer. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/5 "2011-01-21T07:18:20Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > Anyone got a better candidate for the worst TV show of all time? No. “The Trouble with Tracy” was the worst sitcom ever. Its 130 episodes ran for what seemed to be 20 years in syndication. Please take it away and put it out of our misery. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/6 "2011-01-21T11:25:50Z")
I can’t decide between “Malcolm in the Middle” and “Everybody Loves Raymond”. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/7 "2011-01-21T12:30:56Z")
The official answer to that is [Heil Honey I’m Home.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWjCkcAmzDc) No contest. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/8 "2011-01-21T12:40:14Z")
Mantis ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/9 "2011-01-21T12:48:20Z")
Wikipedia has long had a “List of worst television shows” but you really can’t beat the contents of the “List of television shows canceled after one episode” > **[List of television series canceled after one episode](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_television_series_canceled_after_one_episode)** > > Some television series are canceled after one episode, quickly removed from a broadcast schedule, or had production halted after their premieres. Such immediate cancellations are extremely rare cases and are usually attributed to a combination of very negative reviews, very poor ratings, radical or controversial content, or circumstances beyond the network's control. > Purposely excluded from this list are pilots, premiere episodes produced primarily to be reviewed by network executives as propo... ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/10 "2011-01-21T14:15:18Z")
I’m thinking Automan has to be in the running. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/11 "2011-01-21T14:23:36Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > “The Man Show”. i liked the man show. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/12 "2011-01-21T14:36:36Z")
> [@pancakes3](#): > > i liked the man show. My post stands. ---
**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 21, 2011, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/13 "2011-01-21T14:37:39Z")
[Dads](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0799994/). Admittedly, the OP probably wasn’t thinking of a failed pilot that, AFAIK, never actually was aired, but this is a special case. **Dads** is a sitcom starring Steven Eckholdt, C. Thomas Howell, and Adam Ferrera as three single fathers raising their kids, with a special mission to leave no sitcom cliche behind and read their lines with less expression than Steven Hawking. Rue McClanahan shows up to do exactly what she always did, clearly getting the whole thing over with to get her paycheck. As I said, the show never aired. I’m sure the network executives had the same reaction as the first night audience after the opening number of **Springtime for Hitler**. There was absolutely nothing about the show that was worth wasting electrons on. Like everyone else who’s ever seen it, I first heard of it through a market research firm. They wanted me to test view a new TV show and comment on it. It was sent on a self-destructing (Holy **Mission: Impossible** , Batman!) VCR tape and we were to sit through it and watch the show. They would call a few days later and, for answering the questions, we would get a few bucks. We watched. Dumbfounded. At the time, the tape was at least five years old, as was clear by looking at the actors. There was no way in hell any sane network executive would even consider giving this a green light, let alone sent it out for audience testing. Then came the commercial. This was oddly more modern, like it had been produced in the past few months. We caught on. The point was not to watch the show, but to watch the commercial. I suppose they chose a show that would make anything else look like entertainment by comparison. This was confirmed when they called to ask us questions. After a couple of perfunctory questions about the show, they asked a whole lot of in-depth questions about the commercials. I’ve since seen comments from others that this happened to them. So you had a show whose entire audience had to be _paid_ to watch it. And none of them thought it was any good. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/14 "2011-01-21T14:44:20Z")
Bridezilla. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/15 "2011-01-21T14:59:24Z")
the holy grail of bad TV: My Mother The Car. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/16 "2011-01-21T15:41:59Z")
I would say it’s a tie between [Homeboys in Outer Space](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115206/) and [The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0168373/). Both best forgotten, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/17 "2011-01-21T15:51:06Z")
It is remarkable how many of these programs (including _Turn On_) I remember. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/18 "2011-01-21T16:07:54Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > My post stands. Sorry. If you honestly think _The Man Show_ is the worst TV show of all time, you either have an axe to grind or haven’t seen enough truly awful TV. It was crude, juvenile, and frequently sexist, but also had some legitimately hilarious bits. It wouldn’t even rank among the worst shows Comedy Central ever produced, let alone across the entire history of television. A cultural gem compared with excrement like _Small Wonder_ or _Cheaters_, shows with absolutely no redeeming value on any level. ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/19 "2011-01-21T16:17:09Z")
Parks & Recreation, aside from the Tammy Swanson episode. How did this unfunny dreck get renewed AGAIN??? Actually, it’s probably better than any version of the Jay Leno show. Which itself is still way better than Tim & Eric’s “Awesome” Show. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/20 "2011-01-21T16:23:14Z")
In the first couple of seasons The Man Show could dumb, and it could also be a funny sendup of masculinity. After Kimmel and Carolla left, the satire went away and it was just awful. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428.md?page=2)