# Worst TV Shows of All Time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 28, 2005, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259 "2005-06-28T19:54:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/61 "2005-06-29T14:48:19Z")
> [@Biffy the Elephant Shrew](#): > > > [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > > > All In The Family > > That’s it–this thread has officially jumped the shark. ::shrug:: I know that it was groundbreaking, dealt with a lot of timely issues which dramas of the day didn’t dare touch, and was intended to be ironic…but from the opening credits (sung by Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton) to the kazoo-like whining of Sally Struthers and the dopey, spineless mumbling of Rob Reiner, all played out in that Og-awful Queens rowhouse with its nasty yellow and green '50s-era interior, the show just made me want to hurl. This was, amazingly enough, the only show I can think of where the addition of a child late in its run actually improved the show, if only by diluting the rest of its most hideous qualities. And sorry, **Happy Lendervedder** , but _Alice_…ugh! Especially after seeing Scorsese’s _Alice Doesn’t Live Here Any More_. And I stand by the rest of the list, _especially_ _Green Acres_. 😃 > [@DeadlyAccurate](#): > > I’ve loathed this show [_Hee Haw_ with every fiber of my being from the time I first saw it. I would rather watch the entire run of _Full House_ than be forced to watch even a single episode of this show ever again. Well, I’m glad someone agrees with me. I caught about thrity seconds of it a few years ago while flipping through channels at someone else’s house, and at first I thought it was a parody of an awful variety show, but no, it was the real deal. I’m morally convinced that the entire cast of the show committed mass suicide when it was cancelled in recognition of the fact none of them would ever be hired as so much as a convenience store clerk again. Looking it up on IMDb I’m amazed to see that it survived until 1993 in first-run syndication. The single user comment in IMDb says > [@](#): > > It’s a shame that this show is currently off the air- I don’t think you can even catch reruns nowadays. Hopefully, Hee Haw (or at least the early seasons) will eventually become available on DVD. I certainly hope so. I live in perpetual fear of the coming of _Hee Haw_ on DVD. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/62 "2005-06-29T15:35:03Z")
a page and a half and noone has mentioned _Renegade_ or _Relic Hunter_? ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/63 "2005-06-29T17:00:00Z")
> [@AmbushBug](#): > > I nominate [Quark](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077066/). Obviously you’ve never seen an episode. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Bongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@Winston\_Bongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Bongo)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/64 "2005-06-29T17:33:23Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > I live in perpetual fear of the coming of _Hee Haw_ on DVD. > > Stranger Then allow me to destroy all your hope in humankind by showing you [this](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0009F43SG/qid=1120066784/sr=1-5/ref=sr_1_5/002-2932950-3517623?v=glance&s=dvd). Volume four was just released this month, in fact. Yes, volume _four!_ ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/65 "2005-06-29T17:43:26Z")
Everyone here should be glad that [the small screen adaptation of Blazing Saddles](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121113/combined) was never picked up. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/66 "2005-06-29T17:51:08Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Everyone here should be glad that [the small screen adaptation of Blazing Saddles](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121113/combined) was never picked up. Would it have featured cowboys silently lifting their legs up and dancing around? > [@Winston Bongo](#): > > > [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > > > I live in perpetual fear of the coming of Hee Haw on DVD. > > > > Stranger > > Then allow me to destroy all your hope in humankind by showing you this. > > Volume four was just released this month, in fact. Yes, volume four! So, somebody out there in Hollywood thinks that _Hee Haw_ fans a) own, and b) can operate a DVD player? Sounds like the miscalculation of the century to me. Awful…just…awful. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/67 "2005-06-29T18:36:11Z")
There is, of course, the _Power Rangers_. More Saturday morning crapfare includes the _Tri-Stars_, or the _Sports-Stars_, or whatever the show with Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, and Bo Jackson was. I also need to step in to defend _Woops!_ which had a bizarre concept, but was moderately amusing. Let’s see… I agree that \*Hee Haw’s \* up there with the stinkers. I’m sure I’ll think of more… ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/68 "2005-06-29T18:43:30Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > Would [Black Bart] have featured cowboys silently lifting their legs up and dancing around? Not likely. I’ve seen the pilot (it’s one of the extras in the 30th Anniversary DVD) out of curiosity and it was absolutely painful! The only thing it has in common with the movie is it features a black sheriff in some Western town. ---
**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:** [June 29, 2005, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/69 "2005-06-29T18:46:02Z")
> [@AmbushBug](#): > > I nominate [Quark](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077066/). Hey, I loved that show. One of the reasons I married my husband was because he had a reel-to-reel video recorder in the '70s, and he had taped **Quark**. I watched an episode not long ago, and it’s still funny stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/70 "2005-06-29T18:48:44Z")
> [@Mockingbird](#): > > _Two episodes._\* > > [http://hometown.aol.com/jamesarey/poundstone5.html](http://hometown.aol.com/jamesarey/poundstone5.html) > > And I did watch them. The link was for substantiation. > > In another thread in Cafe you also were talking out of your ass. > > This may be Cafe Society, but you really shouldn’t spout off with such inaccuracies. Again, I apologize to the entire SDMB community for my egregious error. I don’t know what I could have possibly been thinking. I only hope that the quality of the boards recovers from my **outrageous** displays of inaccuracy. We should all be grateful for your tireless pursuit of setting the record straight. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/71 "2005-06-29T19:52:37Z")
> [@Dooku](#): > > Again, I apologize to the entire SDMB community for my egregious error. I don’t know what I could have possibly been thinking. I only hope that the quality of the boards recovers from my **outrageous** displays of inaccuracy. We should all be grateful for your tireless pursuit of setting the record straight. Please. You’ve spouted off like this in other threads in this forum. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/72 "2005-06-29T21:56:15Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > I’m morally convinced that the entire cast of the show committed mass suicide when it was cancelled in recognition of the fact none of them would ever be hired as so much as a convenience store clerk again. Looking it up on IMDb I’m amazed to see that it survived until 1993 in first-run syndication. God, I had no idea that Roy Clark, who, far from being unfit to work in a convenience store, is a highly talented musician, actually stuck it out as host of that ridiculous show on into the '90s. (And Buck Owens, his original co-host, only bailed in 1986.) Shudder. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/73 "2005-06-29T21:59:14Z")
> [@Mockingbird](#): > > Obviously you’ve never seen an episode. Seconded. Although I will grant that it probably did not age well. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/74 "2005-06-29T22:02:32Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > Tim Conway’s "Laugh-In clone … can’t remember the name … lasted just one episode, and was supposedly not worthy of that ep. Odd trivia: The show “Turn-On” is perhaps the one & only case of a network show being cancelled while still on the air! It was an hour-long show, but at the 30-minute mark of its’ first episode, the feed abruptly cut-off and a message was substituted in its’ place reading “the network has decided not to broadcast the rest of this show”, which ran until the rest of the hour was up! As for worst show to make it past one episode, there was the two-episode “wonder” entitled [No Soap Radio](http://imdb.com/title/tt0083457/). Then there’s the mindless abomination that was [Supertrain](http://imdb.com/title/tt0078697/): A bad ripoff of “the Love Boat”, now that takes the prize. Honorable mention has to go to a series that never even made to the airwaves: the proposed Batman-inspired campy sitcom “Wonder Woman: Who’s Afraid of Diana Prince?” The premise was that Diana Prince was an inept & ugly, ugly, ugly superheroine who foolishly believes she’s a sexpot. Whenever she looked into a mirror, she saw a gorgeous reflection. ---
**Author:** ![Jpeg\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@Jpeg\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jpeg_Jones)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/75 "2005-06-29T22:05:52Z")
> [@DooWahDiddy](#): > > Anyone remember that sitcom with Chris Elliot… and he finds an alien or something… I remember I think they named him “Spewy” or something? And I think Tea Leoni was in it… God, the horror!! Hey, come on. Get a Life was hilarious. I have 2 seasons on DVD. The _Zoo Animals on Wheels_ sequence was the funniest 15 minutes of television I have ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/76 "2005-06-29T22:08:20Z")
> [@AmbushBug](#): > > I nominate [Quark](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077066/). I’ll have to third or fourth the love for this show (whatever number we’re on). Ok, I was 10 years old at the time, but it was one of the few shows my entire family loved. I was so disappointed when my mom told me it was only scheduled to run a short time. ---
**Author:** ![Khan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3ab097/32.png) [@Khan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khan)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/77 "2005-06-29T22:22:45Z")
> [@DrMemory](#): > > American Dad Also in the vein of political satire gone horribly wrong, I’ll mention “That’s My Bush.” Tongue in cheek or not, it just sucked. Seriously, some otherwise brilliant writers need to leave their political angst out of their work. I’ll also back up the mention of “Small Wonder.” Just remembering the opening jingle makes me want to scalp myself and bite off my tongue. Some more: [Free Spirit](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096589/): I had to read the entry on IMDB to even realize that it had already been done by Bewitched. Even when I was seven I thought it sucked. I am, however, very intrigued by the fact that Alyson Hannigan was in it. =d [Doghouse](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0122340/#comment): My younger sister loved this show. It’s about a cop who gets killed in the line of duty and ends up reincarnated as a dog living with his brother’s family. I remember a sitcom that aired in the late 80’s that involved fairy tale characters living in the present day. There was a Rumplestiltskin-esque dwarf, prince charming, and a princess of some variety, among others. I can’t remember what it was called or what channel it was on, but the more I remember, the more I think that this one oughta top the shitlist. What the fuck were people thinking back then?! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/78 "2005-06-29T22:26:27Z")
> [@Jpeg Jones](#): > > Hey, come on. Get a Life was hilarious. I have 2 seasons on DVD. It would have been funnier without Chris Elliot. ---
**Author:** ![Khan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3ab097/32.png) [@Khan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khan)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/79 "2005-06-29T22:28:23Z")
My mention of Doghouse is also dredging up some memories of stuff my younger sister liked that I loathed. I say we exclude any original stuff from the Disney Channel or the Family Channel. Going after that saccharine crap is like shooting fish in a barrell. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/80 "2005-06-29T23:02:07Z")
> [@Khan](#): > > I remember a sitcom that aired in the late 80’s that involved fairy tale characters living in the present day. There was a Rumplestiltskin-esque dwarf, prince charming, and a princess of some variety, among others. I can’t remember what it was called or what channel it was on, but the more I remember, the more I think that this one oughta top the shitlist. That would be _The Charmings_. Not great, kind of uninspired, but not the sort of true awfulness we’re looking for here. And the woman who played Snow White (first season) was a babe, which helps. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259.md?page=5)