TV Guide's 50 Worst Shows of All-Time

[ClassyCo]

Do you agree with their list?

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls000999108/

 

[Angela Channing]

Any list that claims Cop Rock was a bad show doesn't deserve to be taken seriously.

 

[Daniel Avery]

I guess I should be relieved that while I recognized/remembered many of these failures, I wasn't a regular viewer of a single one listed. I saw one or two episodes of The Ropers and the pilot episode of Life With Lucy, but I can only trust the judgment of others regarding the rest of these. Some are only known because of their (bad) reputation--I think Turn On and You're In the Picture are famous for being cancelled after one airing (each).

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

God, can't they leave MY MOTHER THE CAR alone??

 

[Daniel Avery]

I hear the spin-off, My Uncle The Food Processor was much better received, but the network had no option but to cancel after the....um, accident involving guest star Martha Stewart.

 

[TaranofPrydain]

Cop Rock, despite bad dancing, was otherwise a quality show with a fine plot, good acting and singing, and some genuinely stunning scenes.

The Flying Nun is sweet and harmless.

Barney is banal though....

 

[Seaviewer]

Some of these were bona fide hits - Hogan's Heroes for one - which doesn't necesaarily mean it's "good", of course. Whatever "good" is. Conversely, a short run doesn't necessarily equate to a bad show.

I think Turn On and You're In the Picture are famous for being cancelled after one airing (each).

I've never seen it but I believe Turn On was a rip-off of Laugh-In. Interestingly, I see that one of the stars was Teresa Graves who later became a Laugh-In regular.

God, can't they leave MY MOTHER THE CAR alone??

I liked My Mother, the Car. Then again I was very young.

Cop Rock, despite bad dancing, was otherwise a quality show with a fine plot, good acting and singing, and some genuinely stunning scenes.

The Flying Nun is sweet and harmless.

Agreed on both.

 

[bmasters9]

And I certainly don't agree on Hogan's Heroes-- for a war comedy, it's, IMO, certainly funnier than M*A*S*H.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I liked My Mother, the Car. Then again I was very young.

To this day, I'm not sure I've ever seen MY MOTHER THE CAR.

And I certainly don't agree on Hogan's Heroes-- for a war comedy, it's, IMO, certainly funnier than M*A*S*H.

One has to assume that HOGAN'S HEROES' bizarre premise is the problem -- a sitcom in a German death camp (I'm guessing Dachau wasn't all that much fun).

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

Some of those shows were quite popular. Of course, popular does not always equal quality

I think a better description would be overrated, with the addendum that most of these show still had strong ratings
"Cheers" post season 4, "All in the Family" post season 5 (when Mike and Gloria moved out, the conflicts were not as strong"
"The Jeffersons" maybe post season 5 (At that point, the performances seemed "phoned in"),
"MASH" post Frank Burns(some seasons were still strong, but there was no effective adversary to the better natured Hawkeye,
Margaret became more sympathetic, and frankly, Hawkeye's self-righteousness became intolerable)
"After MASH" not really a bad show, but just boring ans a shadow of the original
"Hill Street Blue" was never as good, once Michael Conrad passed.
"Two and a Half Men" - not necessarily because of Charlie Sheens's departure (Ashton Kutcher was agood casting decision,
ratings wise and as a more ethical character), but because Alan became creepier and
Amber Tamblyn was written as cartoonish.
"LA Law" post Harry Hamlin (whether his character was likable or not, the show's dynamics didn't work anymore)
"Friends" the entire run, IMHO, the characters were just too smug
"Happy Days" post Ron Howard
"Big Bang Theory" last 2-3 seasons" (I never liked those Raj Mystery episodes. I would just change the channel)
More than enough has been posted about the decline of "Dallas" and "Dynasty"
"Melrose Place" post Courtney Thorne Smith and Grant Show
"Beverly Hills 90210" last 2-3 seasons
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" season 7 - less than satisfactory final season, did not like the finale
"The Sopranos" first two seasons were great, season 3 not, season 4 was elevated by Steve Buscemi, later eps/seasons not as good, did not like the finale)
"Thirtysomething" self-absorbed, unlikable characters. Depressing
"Designing Women" post Delta Burke (although I think Julia Duffy was a good casting choice, the scripts failed, not her)


Shows (scripted) that were really bad - "Mama's Family" (Not funny at all IMHO, just mean spirited, really over the top trailer)
"Joanie loves Chachi" (horribly written)
Reality shows - almost all of them

 

[bmasters9]

"Friends" the entire run, IMHO, the characters were just too smug

Indeed-- a smugness I hardly, if ever, detected in my 60s and 70s favorites (The Addams Family, The Bob Newhart Show and Barney Miller).

 

[Willie Oleson]

I wonder if Casablanca the TV series (!!) is similar to Bruce Boxleitner's Bring 'Em Back Alive (I think it was called Frank Buck when I watched it)

The PTL Club starring Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker seems like an interesting curiosity. Let's see if youtube got some.

Supertrain 1979...is that Hotel/Love Boat on wheels?

 

[bmasters9]

Supertrain 1979...is that Hotel/Love Boat on wheels?

This inside look from Today in 1979 on NBC would seem to indicate to that effect.

 

[Toni]

I wonder if Casablanca the TV series (!!) is similar to Bruce Boxleitner's Bring 'Em Back Alive (I think it was called Frank Buck when I watched it)

The PTL Club starring Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker seems like an interesting curiosity. Let's see if youtube got some.

Supertrain 1979...is that Hotel/Love Boat on wheels?

"Casablanca" was not THAT bad. It was very-well produced entertainment and Soul tried his best to fit into Bogey´s shoes. A young Ray Liotta was in this too, and Héctor Elizondo is always worth watching. However, it should have been either a prequel or a sequel to the Oscar-winning film. No Ilsa at sight, thank the Film Gods.

This show wasn´t like BEBA. Bruce was extrahot here, but the other series BEBA was usually compared with was "Tales of the Gold Monkey", with Stephen Collins. They were two failed copies of the Indiana Jones movie that didn´t hurt anyone, though. They were fun.

"Supertrain" was a wreck, literally. Maybe they had pretensions to be a "Hotel" on wheels, but it was claustrophobic and lackluster, despite there were some soapy guest stars.

Of this list, I only watched all of "Holmes and Yo-Yo" and, yes, it was one of the worst series I have seen even by today´s standards, followed by "Quark".

 

[Daniel Avery]

They were two failed copies of the Indiana Jones movie that didn´t hurt anyone, though. They were fun.

But BEBA had to crash so that Scarecrow and Mrs. King could soar. Boxleitner and Kate Jackson were terrific together in that series.

Keep in mind that this list is more of a "user un-popularity contest" for the site. Yes, there are many that are objectively bad but some of them only rate on this list because of personal animosity from users of the site as opposed to genuine concerns about quality. I doubt even a handful of the people who gave PTL Club the mention ever sat down and watched an episode; the downvotes are likely because of the enormous scandal(s) that brought the hosts down. Similarly, I'm pretty sure Barney landed on the list because the same things that made children flock to it were the same things that made adults want to throw the TV out a window---and the adults are the ones on the site filling out questionnaires.

Correction: I mentioned earlier that Turn On (a frenetic, 1969 rip-off of Laugh In) was cancelled after one episode. After looking it up, it turns out that show was technically cancelled while the (single) episode was airing on the East Coast. Some stations actually went to commercial and never came back for the second half. Word spread to affiliates on the West Coast (three hours ahead) and many opted not to air it at all. It was that bad, people! Now I never want to hear y'all bitch and complain about NuDynasty ever again.

 

[Seaviewer]

a sitcom in a German death camp

A POW camp, not a death camp. Although either would be unlikely to be made today.

"Casablanca" was not THAT bad. It was very-well produced entertainment and Soul tried his best to fit into Bogey´s shoes. A young Ray Liotta was in this too, and Héctor Elizondo is always worth watching. However, it should have been either a prequel or a sequel to the Oscar-winning film. No Ilsa at sight, thank the Film Gods.

It was a prequel, which immediately doomed it in my opinion. A sequel showing the energised Rick in his antiwar adventures would have been better .