# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/101 "2011-03-17T11:44:14Z")
The Littlest Hobo sucked like a hairy goat. Alf was pretty ordinary as well. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/102 "2011-03-17T12:17:46Z")
[Probably this.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMecO38MZCc#t=0m53s) ---
**Author:** ![Sakuma\_Drops](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sakuma\_Drops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sakuma_Drops)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/103 "2011-03-17T12:37:20Z")
100+ posts and no one’s mentioned [Baby Bob](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Bob) yet? Color me shocked. ---
**Author:** ![Shark\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Shark\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/104 "2011-03-17T12:45:42Z")
How about _[AfterMash](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AfterMASH)_? CBS’ attempt to keep a-churnin’ the money machine that was M_A_S\*H. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/105 "2011-03-17T13:53:42Z")
Cartoons, back in the day… We loved Warner Brothers (Bugs Bunny, etc.). To this day, I still like the non-character Warner Brothers cartoons made in the 30’s and 40’s . We adored Rocky & Bullwinkle! (hey, we weren’t stupid even as little kids). Roger Ramjet. Popeye, appallingly violent, but marvelous to look at. Even Beany & Cecil had a certain charm. And then, Hanna Barbera took over. Waiting for supper around 5 p.m., we didn’t want to watch the evening news or a game show, we wanted to watch cartoons. And what did we get but the crude, bland, primitive, witless Deputy Dawg. Hucklelberry Hound. Magilla Gorilla. Yes, and this includes f’ing Yogi Bear. Just bumbling along. Stupid voices. Lowest common denominator. Witless animated timekillers for babies! Watch a Hanna Barbera cartoon then and now, and I think: Dumbasses. ---
**Author:** ![EristicKallistic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/85e7bf/32.png) [@EristicKallistic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EristicKallistic)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/106 "2011-03-17T14:32:49Z")
I don’t know about “all time”, but I’m gonna strongly agree with everyone saying _Everybody Loves Raymond_. I hate that show so, so much. I can’t imagine how or why anyone would ever watch it, never mind giving it an award. I kind of liked a lot of the weird crap from the 80s, like _Alf_ or _Small Wonder_, but I was like 10. At least I got over the _Brady Bunch_ obsession I apparently had as a toddler. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/107 "2011-03-17T14:41:26Z")
> [@](#): > > witless Deputy Dawg nitpick: Deputy Dawg wasn’t Hannah-Barbera. It was Terrytoons. You could see it was a very different style. Hanna Barbera was big because it produced cost-effective cartoons to fill the bottomless maw of network TV. They just weren’t particularly _good_ cartoons. As the powerhouse that was Jay Ward productions showed (Rocky and Bullwinkle, George of the Jungle, and a great many others, including the nearly-forgotten Crusader Rabbit0, you could make up for cheap animation with good writing and wit. Hanna-Barbera didn’t have that, either. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/108 "2011-03-17T15:27:59Z")
I was in Japan a few years ago and experienced Japanese TV first hand. The talk shows, news shows and game shows were excrutiating on every level. The production values (sets, lighting, camera work, audio, etc.) were at a level of 1970’s American TV. The game shows all seemed to be designed to have cute young singers, comics and other “celebrities” do stupid things, while the talk shows were focused on having the same group of young celebrities say stupid things. You know that scene in \*How I Met Your Mother \*when Robin was anchoring a Japanese newscast and a chimp was throwing stuff at her? Now imagine that scene overexposed, with distorted audio, where the set doesn’t fill the entire picture, and Robin not only has to deal with a chimp, but an annoying stand-up comedian who delivers a puncline after every story. I swear, Japanese TV makes \*Small Wonder \*look like a Hallmark Hall of Fame production. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/109 "2011-03-17T16:00:48Z")
M_A_S_H_ Who thought a comedy about a war would ever be a good idea? And can you believe it ran eight years longer than the war itself? Man, total shite and just no redeeming qualities about it whatsoever. And believe me, I know what I’m talking about. I’ve seen at least two full episodes which is twice as much as some people in this thread have given their suggestions before passing judgment. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/110 "2011-03-17T16:45:27Z")
I think we’ve found our _Raymond_ fan. ---
**Author:** ![Sakuma\_Drops](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sakuma\_Drops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sakuma_Drops)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/111 "2011-03-17T16:52:24Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > M_A_S_H_ > > Who thought a comedy about a war would ever be a good idea? And can you believe it ran eight years longer than the war itself? Man, total shite and just no redeeming qualities about it whatsoever. > And believe me, I know what I’m talking about. I’ve seen at least two full episodes which is twice as much as some people in this thread have given their suggestions before passing judgment. While I’m not the world’s biggest M_A_S\*H fan, I can think of plenty of shows that are far worse. You can’t see why it ran for so long? I wonder how _Three’s Company_ had such a long run, given how they recycled basically the same plot (haha wacky misunderstanding haha) about 3,000 times. John Ritter was funny but his character could only do so much when everyone else was so monumentally stupid. Or how about the late '80s Miller-Boyett comedies like _Perfect Strangers_ or _Family Matters_ aka The Urkel Show? You may not like M_A_S\*H but IMO there wasn’t anyone on that show as annoying as Urkel or Balki. And I don’t even think _these_ are in the running for The Worst Show Ever. Remember that they actually made a television show with the Geico cavemen… ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/112 "2011-03-17T16:57:04Z")
My standard is “Big Eddie” an early '70s sitcom starring Sheldon Leonard. Apparently he got tired of producing everybody else’s sitcoms, and decided to give it a try himself. It didn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/113 "2011-03-17T17:10:43Z")
**Sakuma** , I think you were whooshed. (At least, I hope so.) Read the last paragraph of **Enderw24** ’s post again. ---
**Author:** ![Unpronounceable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9de0a6/32.png) [@Unpronounceable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unpronounceable)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/114 "2011-03-17T17:56:55Z")
What, no love for the _Star Wars Christmas Special_? ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/115 "2011-03-17T18:23:42Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > **Sakuma** , I think you were whooshed. (At least, I hope so.) Read the last paragraph of **Enderw24** ’s post again. Yeah, ok. I actually lied in my post above. I’ve never seen a single episode of M_A_S_H_. Seriously. Not one. It just never appealed to me. But that’s really a far cry from saying a show like is the worst show of all time. That is, as someone mentioned upthread, objectively wrong by almost any measure. Because opinions are like assholes and assholes can be wrong with alarming frequency. My real vote: bridalplasty. Another show I’ve also never seen a single episode of and yet feel confident in the veracity of my choice. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/116 "2011-03-17T18:30:06Z")
For current sitcoms, another vote for **House of Payne**. They made the mistake of ordering several seasons without even seeing the first one. Past sitcoms: bunches of syndicated ones present themselves. _She’s the Sheriff_ (Suzanne Somers as she), _Small Wonder_ (how many child murderers were caused by that show?), _The New Adventures of Gidget_, etc. all come to mind. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/117 "2011-03-17T18:45:11Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > M_A_S_H_ > > Who thought a comedy about a war would ever be a good idea? And can you believe it ran eight years longer than the war itself? Man, total shite and just no redeeming qualities about it whatsoever. > And believe me, I know what I’m talking about. I’ve seen at least two full episodes which is twice as much as some people in this thread have given their suggestions before passing judgment. In the same vein, but even worse: Hogan’s Heroes. A comedy set in a POW camp run by Nazis. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/118 "2011-03-17T18:50:53Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > run by Nazis. All of whom were played by Jewish actors, quite a few of whom either were in or lost family in the concentration camps. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/119 "2011-03-17T19:00:07Z")
The Ropers. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428/120 "2011-03-17T19:05:44Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > The Ropers. I actually think, of the _Three’s Company_ family of shows, _Three’s A Crowd_ was the worst one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-show-of-all-time/568428.md?page=7)