# 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:** 19\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2005, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/101 "2005-07-04T13:24:30Z")
Can we pick on a couple of shows in which people got caught up in the upswing in their careers and made a _very_ bad decision? Shows like… [The Captain and Tennille](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073970/) and [Shields and Yarnell](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075582/) To capitalize on America’s 14-second long fascination with mimes, apparently. ---
**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:** [July 4, 2005, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/102 "2005-07-04T14:06:30Z")
> [@mike1dog](#): > > [Payne.](http://imdb.com/title/tt0182623/) Take Fawlty Towers, set it in the U.S. and take all the humor out of it. And then there was [Reggie](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085076/) - an ill-fated attempt to Americanize “The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin”. I like Richard Mulligan, but he was just doing his “Burt Campbell” schtick in a different setting. ---
**Author:** ![marque\_elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71c47a/32.png) [@marque\_elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marque_elf)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2005, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/103 "2005-07-04T16:28:17Z")
My thanks to Morgyn for giving me names for my "Knight"mares. 😃 If we’re discussing reality shows, I’m surprised that no one has mentioned Geraldo’s adventures in Al Capone’s vault. Not only was it wretched television, 2 hours of filler followed by 15 seconds of the largest anti-climax in Television history, but it was television that made you disgusted with yourself that you sat through the whole thing. The empty bottle that Rivera found in the vault must be the most expensive bottle in TV history when you consider the cost of airtime and the salaries of all involved in the production. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2005, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/104 "2005-07-04T18:03:18Z")
Shoot…I liked **Get a Life** and **Quark**. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2005, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/105 "2005-07-04T21:07:11Z")
No mention yet of: **Gimme a Break** - basically conceived as a “wouldn’t it be funny if Mammy lived in the 1980s?”, an obese nanny for an obese cop secretly rules the roost. Had a moment or two in the first season, then obese cop dies (in real life and on the show) and the show spirals into “make it up as you go along” plot twists and dialogue, an overdose of too-cute-kids (they brought on TWO bowl cut elementary age Lawrence brothers, for God’s sake!), changed the setting to NYC (where a former maid somehow has the money to rent a large 3 BR), bring on a young Rosie O’Donnell and descend from Nell as “Reagan Era Stock Company Sassy Black Woman™” to “insufferable egomaniacal inconsiderate b!tch”, one of the least likeable characters ever to headline a show. The only respite came when Nell was given a musical number. **Hogan’s Heroes** - the wacky hijinks of a prison camp where Nazis speak English, prisoners come and go as they please and talk sarcastically to Gestapo officers, nobody suspects when the prisoners are well fed, nobody ever gets shot and PoWs eat barbecue and take saunas while Jews and Poles and gypsies are being gassed and cremated by the same army. How could it not be funny? (And for extra laughs, most of the Nazis were in fact played by Jews who fled the Nazis… yay!) The last 3 decades of **Alice**. LINDA LAVIN CAN’T SING! STOP GIVING HER MICROPHONES! And in 9 years or whatever, nobody can find a job better than “waitress at a greasy spoon that never has more than five customers”? ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/106 "2005-07-05T00:00:08Z")
Right about the time of the aforementioned **Woops!** , Fox aired (mercifully briefly) a sitcom starring Howie Mandel as a nutcase who inherits a funeral home. I don’t remember the name, but it was Og-awful!And, continuing on the Death theme, “Jennifer Slept Here” and some stupid show with Eric Idle as a ghost–“Nearly Departed”, or something like that? ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/107 "2005-07-05T00:15:40Z")
> [@want2know](#): > > … and some stupid show with Eric Idle as a ghost–“Nearly Departed”, or something like that? Yeah, that was it. The theme song was catchy enough that I can still remember a little bit of the tune. ---
**Author:** ![supervenusfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@supervenusfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supervenusfreak)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/108 "2005-07-05T00:17:36Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > …bring on a young Rosie O’Donnell … I seem to remember a sit-com with a young Rosie O’Donnell and an older Melissa Gilbert trying a pseudo New Jersey/ Long Island accent. It was set in a mansion and somehow involved a divorce. I can remember thinking “Poor Half-Pint. To have sunk so low…” ---
**Author:** ![Margaret\_Drysdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@Margaret\_Drysdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Margaret_Drysdale)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/109 "2005-07-05T05:32:15Z")
> [@Soylent Gene](#): > > \*Another horrible show (though I never dared watch it) was… > > **Pink Lady and Jeff**. The promos for this late-70s variety-show nightmare (Pink Lady were two japanese girls who not speak English) were sickening. I DID watch it! In fact, I have some of it floating around on an old VHS tape and even now its’ racism is overtly shocking. “Jeff” makes jokes about their eyes, etc. Would I like to watch “The Jackson 5” cartoon now, though. I bet there’s some priceless Michael dialogue! ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/110 "2005-07-05T12:56:34Z")
Well, I never saw it, but I’ve worked with the doofus who was the “groom”, so I nominate: **"Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire"**. embarrassing all the way around. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/111 "2005-07-05T14:58:07Z")
> [@Cardinal](#): > > How could you screw up Star Wars that badly, you’re wondering. This must be overstatement. > > I would rather watch 2 hours of any of the shows mentioned here than sit through this, because although they may not be funny, I bet something actually happens in them, and I bet I can laugh at them. TSWHS is so bad that it’s NOT funny. I have to agree with **Cardinal** on this one. I just couldn’t believe how bad this was until I saw it with my own two eyes (which I had to gouge out with a spoon after watching only 5 minutes of this truely awful program). I mean, COME ON! Chewbacca’s father’s name is “Ichy” and his son’s name is “Lumpy”? Who the h\*ll thought of that? What I find odd is that it is considered part of the Star Wars Universe Canon. Of course if Lucas had his way, he would burn every single bootleg copy that is out there. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/112 "2005-07-05T18:49:00Z")
One of the most successful dinner & a movie parties I ever had was when I used the DVD of **The Brady Bunch Variety Hour** as pre-game entertainment. People were so transfixed at seeing Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, Ann B. Davis and the kids all singing along to “Shake Shake Shake, Shake Your Booty…” that they wanted to watch more before going to the real movie. ( **Pinky Lady & Jeff** is also available on DVD.) ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Gene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@Soylent\_Gene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Gene)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/113 "2005-07-05T19:07:10Z")
Sampiro, thanks for the hot tip!!! I’m getting this now!!! [the dvd](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004WMP2/qid%3D1120591250/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/103-4465141-6547018) I cant wait for the three-piece disco suits, bitchin dance numbers, and permed hairdos. Barry Williams rocks! ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/114 "2005-07-05T20:15:27Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Can we pick on a couple of shows in which people got caught up in the upswing in their careers and made a _very_ bad decision? Shows like… > > [The Captain and Tennille](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073970/) > > and > > [Shields and Yarnell](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075582/) To capitalize on America’s 14-second long fascination with mimes, apparently. You win. Wasn’t there also a horrid variety show with two prepubescent Japanese gals? It should get a mention, but I can’t recall the name. Also, [\*\* It’s About Time\*\*](http://home.att.net/~scifitv/shows/abouttime.html), where two wacky astronauts hit a time warp and wind up in the stone age. ::sings:: _It’s about time, it’s about space, about two men in the strangest place…_. Hey, I was what? 11 years old? I watched Car 54 Where are You?, [Sally Star](http://www.geosound.org/sally-star.htm) and Mr. Ed, too. 😛 Almost forgot. [**Get Christie Love.** \*](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071548/) \*She’s one bad mamma jamma. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Gene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@Soylent\_Gene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Gene)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/115 "2005-07-05T20:23:36Z")
[QUOTE=koeeoaddi] You win. Wasn’t there also a horrid variety show with two prepubescent Japanese gals? your thinking of Pink Lady and Jeff, previously discussed. Hard to get any worse. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@bmoak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/116 "2005-07-06T01:28:33Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Can we pick on a couple of shows in which people got caught up in the upswing in their careers and made a _very_ bad decision? Shows like… > > [The Captain and Tennille](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073970/) > > and > > [Shields and Yarnell](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075582/) To capitalize on America’s 14-second long fascination with mimes, apparently. Didn’t the Starland Vocal Band of “Afternoon Delight” fame also get a really short-lived variety show? ---
**Author:** ![Margaret\_Drysdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@Margaret\_Drysdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Margaret_Drysdale)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/117 "2005-07-06T03:45:33Z")
> [@bmoak](#): > > Didn’t the Starland Vocal Band of “Afternoon Delight” fame also get a really short-lived variety show? They DID - and you know who the host was? David Letterman! ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/118 "2005-07-06T13:06:14Z")
No one has mentioned \*\*Carter Country \*\* or **Misfits of Science**? I liked **Quark** although I was only 8. But the only part I remember was a gag about them using “The Source.” ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259/119 "2005-07-06T16:05:40Z")
…The only thing I remember about “Gimme A Break” was that in one episode Nell takes the white kids to a black church. One of the kids asks why the picture of Jesus is black. Nell explains “No one knows what Jesus looked like. White people wanted him white and black people wanted him black… (realizing this is a little heavy for a little kid)…and Kermit the Frog wanted him green.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-of-all-time/310259.md?page=5)