# Worst TV Shows, or-Why we call it The Idiot Box **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 21, 2013, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-or-why-we-call-it-the-idiot-box/653559 "2013-03-21T18:56:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-or-why-we-call-it-the-idiot-box/653559/81 "2013-03-22T03:01:18Z")
Real American Hero. I didn’t watch much TV growing up, so this was the worst I saw. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-or-why-we-call-it-the-idiot-box/653559/82 "2013-03-22T03:18:12Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Firefly was not the worst show you ever saw. Maybe you didn’t like it, maybe you hate Joss Whedon because he killed your parents, maybe you can’t stank Nathan Fillion’s smirk. Whatever. But it ain’t the worst show you ever saw, unless you’ve only seen three shows and therefore the three shows you listed are also the best shows you’ve ever seen. > > This thread isn’t “Shows that are overrated by the fanboys”. > [@RikWriter](#): > > :rolleyes: > > So it was the only show you ever watched? I second these comments. The thread isn’t “shows I didn’t like,” it’s about shows that are really bad. ---
**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:** [March 22, 2013, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-or-why-we-call-it-the-idiot-box/653559/83 "2013-03-22T03:19:44Z")
**[Nearly Departed](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096659/)**. It was greeted with high anticipation because it starred Eric Idle. It turned out to be a third rate **Topper** , with Idle as a ghost that only – you guessed it – only the hero could see or hear. The stupidity was great on this one. Worst part of the pilot was when Eric helped the hero out with a DMV eye test by forming the letters with his body, with everyone forgetting that no one else could see or hear him, so all he had to do was shout out the letters on the chart. The critical reaction was similar to that of the audience after viewing “Springtime for Hitler” and the consensus was that Idle must have been desperate for the cash (he didn’t write the show, BTW). ---
**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:** [March 22, 2013, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-or-why-we-call-it-the-idiot-box/653559/84 "2013-03-22T03:25:12Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > “Dinosaurs” was pretty fucking stupid. (“Not the mama!”) It would have worked as a kid’s cartoon – as an adult show, not so much. Agreed that the show was lame, but I’d give it a pass for being ‘worst ever’ solely on the basis of it’s series finale in which… The reckless, irresponsible disregard of the environment by the dinosaurs results in a global cooling expected to lasts tens of thousands of years. Basically everybody on the show dies by freezing to death. Not exactly as cute as the “Newhart” finale, but still it took some balls to air THAT as the end of a kid-centric show. Oh, and another candidate for worst ever: [Woops!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whoops!), which was basically “Gilligan’s Island” transposed onto a post-nuclear Armageddon wasteland. ---
**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:** [March 22, 2013, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-or-why-we-call-it-the-idiot-box/653559/85 "2013-03-22T03:44:56Z")
The infamous _Heil Honey I’m Home_. So bad it was pulled after one episode. [Watch it here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf9jJx0NSjw), if you dare. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-or-why-we-call-it-the-idiot-box/653559/86 "2013-03-22T04:11:55Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Obviously, none of you ever saw **[Dusty’s trail](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dusty's_Trail)**. I’d seen it once or twice when I was a kid. Mercifully, it’d been excised from my memory. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-or-why-we-call-it-the-idiot-box/653559/87 "2013-03-22T04:26:38Z")
Anyone else remember _Mr. Smith_ about the wacky hijinks of a talking monkey? ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-or-why-we-call-it-the-idiot-box/653559/88 "2013-03-22T04:38:40Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Real American Hero. I didn’t watch much TV growing up, so this was the worst I saw. Do you mean _The Greatest American Hero_? 🙂 > **[The Greatest American Hero](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatest_American_hero)** > > The Greatest American Hero is an American comedy-drama superhero television series that aired on ABC. Created by producer Stephen J. Cannell, it premiered as a two-hour pilot movie on March 18, 1981, and ran until February 2, 1983. The series features William Katt as teacher Ralph Hinkley, Robert Culp as FBI agent Bill Maxwell, and Connie Sellecca as lawyer Pam Davidson. The lead character's surname was temporarily changed to "Hanley" for a few months immediately after President Ronald R The se... ---
**Author:** ![Dancer\_Flight](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dancer_flight/32/7601_2.png) [@Dancer\_Flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dancer_Flight)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-or-why-we-call-it-the-idiot-box/653559/89 "2013-03-22T04:43:28Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > It was an “Episodic Spinoff” (though there are probably other terms). > > There are three basic types of spinoff- > > \ > > And then there’s this one: a character is written especially for no other purpose than to be spun off, like Random (in an episode where Fonz has to fight the devil for some reason or other) and Mork. Often the pilot starts like an episode of the regular show and quickly switches to characters you’ve never seen before. Pilot-episodes that were never picked up include one about an interracial marriage on _Facts of Life_ (the bride was Tootie’s aunt) or Ken Berry and his wife raising three multiracial children on an episode of _The Brady Bunch_. You don’t have these so much anymore. This situation is often called a Back-door pilot, CSI:Miami and CSI:NY both were spun off in this fashion. The [Wikipedia Article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_pilot#Backdoor_pilots) has other examples. -DF P.S. More on topic: I loved it when I was a kid but it really was a terrible show and they cancelled it after 9 episodes: The Highwayman. The series had Tim Russ (Tuvok from Voyager) and the pilot movie had Claudia Christian (B5’s Susan Ivonova). More Glen Larson Show Alumni (did I mention it was developed By Glen Larson?) guest starred all over the place in the short run. I’ll Second Studio 60 as well. I like Aaron Sorkin’s writing, I liked a lot of the actors, but that show got really intelligence-insulting really fast. ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-or-why-we-call-it-the-idiot-box/653559/90 "2013-03-22T05:56:59Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I’ll go with three hated shows of my youth: > > 1. [Farmgate](http://regina.ctvnews.ca/farmgate-1.567664) My god, I thought I was the only one haunted by Farmgate as a kid. Most boring show _ever_. To be fair, I don’t think it’s actually bad, I think they just inexplicably used to show it in the midst of a bunch of kids shows and it was definitely not kid-friendly. > [@Guinastasia](#): > > In the same vein, does anyone remember “Hi Honey, I’m Home”? It was about a 1950s sitcom family transported into the real life in the 90s? It was bad. I remember that. Even at the time (and I would watch \*anything \*when I was a kid), I knew it was bad news. > [@](#): > > I’m embarrassed to admit that I liked “Small Wonder”, but keep in mind, I was only about six when it was on. I too loved Small Wonder, but I was also about 6. They have [whole episodes on youtube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aftd7osrVoc), and good lord they’re awful - it turns out I really had terrible taste when I was 6. But looking it up I see that it was on for 4 years! How the hell did that happen? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-or-why-we-call-it-the-idiot-box/653559/91 "2013-03-22T06:01:04Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > **[Nearly Departed](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096659/)**. It was greeted with high anticipation because it starred Eric Idle. It turned out to be a third rate **Topper** , with Idle as a ghost that only – you guessed it – only the hero could see or hear. The stupidity was great on this one. > > Worst part of the pilot was when Eric helped the hero out with a DMV eye test by forming the letters with his body, with everyone forgetting that no one else could see or hear him, so all he had to do was shout out the letters on the chart. > > The critical reaction was similar to that of the audience after viewing “Springtime for Hitler” and the consensus was that Idle must have been desperate for the cash (he didn’t write the show, BTW). Not only do I remember that show, but I remember that episode. You know, you gotta wonder just how bad the stuff that _doesn’t_ make it to TV is. ---
**Author:** ![Mann\_Slaughter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@Mann\_Slaughter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mann_Slaughter)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-or-why-we-call-it-the-idiot-box/653559/92 "2013-03-22T09:19:34Z")
Boooo… Why just 3 shows? I’m sure we could get a thread running past 180 pages, like some others. (SRIOTD) My vote goes to any of the poorly-acted, poorly-produced rehash shows that popped up in syndication in the 80’s-90’s. Shit like “[The Munsters Today](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094518/combined)”, and “[What’s Happenin’ Now](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088640/combined)” Also, a special 1986-87 shout-out to the newborn Fox network and their willingness to throw EVERYTHING against the wall in an attempt to see what would stick… “[Married With Children](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092400/combined)”? Sure… “[Werewolf](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092480/combined)”…? “[Top Of The Heap](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101222/combined)”…? “[Babes](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098745/combined)”…? (It’s funny because they’re FAT! Get it?) :smack: Not so much. And though I don’t watch TV today, I will be so glad when we’ve purged our nation’s system of so-called “reality TV”. The glut of talk shows in the early-to-mid 90’s eventually came to an end, so I have hope. -Slaughter ---
**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 22, 2013, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-or-why-we-call-it-the-idiot-box/653559/93 "2013-03-22T12:06:26Z")
> [@kneegrow](#): > > that’s weird. > a. when in the series do they claim that the moon goes FTL? > b. given all the crap we accept from sci fi shows, like sound in space, braking, artificial gravity without explanation, all aliens being humanoid, complaining about the moon going FTL seems … petty? > > besides, if you accept a ship going ftl, there’s no good reason why the moon couldn’t. the moon gets blown out of the solar system by the explosion of a nuclear waste dump and ends up in other solar systems. It sure as heck was going faster than light. They also had the wonderful cliche of someone trying to break a port window on the moon in the freakin’ pilot episode. I never watched the show again. It’s one thing to take liberties (and I still hate most of those on your list, but I can accept humanoid aliens and even earth gravity on thre moon as a consequence of, you know, having to film on a limited budget here on earth), but it’s another to abuse your audience with outright stupidity. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-or-why-we-call-it-the-idiot-box/653559/94 "2013-03-22T12:26:40Z")
Most of my submissions have been mentioned but not the worst of all time. [Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancelot_Link,_Secret_Chimp) ---
**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:** [March 22, 2013, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-or-why-we-call-it-the-idiot-box/653559/95 "2013-03-22T12:41:42Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > the moon gets blown out of the solar system by the explosion of a nuclear waste dump and ends up in other solar systems. It sure as heck was going faster than light. Either that, or time dilation. ---
**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:** [March 22, 2013, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-or-why-we-call-it-the-idiot-box/653559/96 "2013-03-22T12:55:10Z")
[Murder in Small Town X](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_in_Small_Town_X), which was pretty horrible. Only notable for the fact that the winner of the show was killed in the Twin Towers attack one week after he won. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-or-why-we-call-it-the-idiot-box/653559/97 "2013-03-22T13:09:33Z")
OK, how many of us have fond memories of at least two shows that someone else has named? ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-or-why-we-call-it-the-idiot-box/653559/98 "2013-03-22T13:12:18Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > OK, how many of us have fond memories of at least two shows that someone else has named? I LOVED Lancelot Link when I was about 6 years old. ---
**Author:** ![Postariti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Postariti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Postariti)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-or-why-we-call-it-the-idiot-box/653559/99 "2013-03-22T13:25:58Z")
> [@Sweetums](#): > > What no hate for “Pink Lady and Jeff?” A third vote for Pink Lady and Jeff. You can read detailed recaps of the show [here](http://www.agonybooth.com/recaps/Pink_Lady_and_Jeff/). I loved the show, by the way. I was a kid and loved all kinds of awful shows. How about the real, original “Ghostbusters?” With a catchy song introducing the characters - “I’m Spencer, I’m Tracy, he’s Kong.” The joke being - brace yourself - Kong is a man, but Tracy is a gorilla! I hope you didn’t hurt yourself laughing. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-or-why-we-call-it-the-idiot-box/653559/100 "2013-03-22T13:30:47Z")
> [@Postariti](#): > > A third vote for Pink Lady and Jeff. You can read detailed recaps of the show [here](http://www.agonybooth.com/recaps/Pink_Lady_and_Jeff/). > > I loved the show, by the way. I was a kid and loved all kinds of awful shows. How about the real, original “Ghostbusters?” With a catchy song introducing the characters - “I’m Spencer, I’m Tracy, he’s Kong.” The joke being - brace yourself - Kong is a man, but Tracy is a gorilla! I hope you didn’t hurt yourself laughing. That show did have one funny scene that stuck with me from watching it as a kid. One of the bad guys was an aircraft mechanic for the WWI German Air Force and he talked with this really thick accent, like someone from Alabama or Mississippi. Larry Storch heard him talk for the first time and asked him “What part of Germany are you from?” and the guy responds, deadpan, “Southern Germany.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-or-why-we-call-it-the-idiot-box/653559.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tv-shows-or-why-we-call-it-the-idiot-box/653559.md?page=6)