- 5 months ago
From talking dogs to talking cars, we're counting down the most disastrous attempts at small screen comedy! Join us as we explore sitcoms so bad they make laugh tracks seem dishonest. These shows prove that having a "situation" doesn't guarantee the "comedy" part will follow. Which of these TV train wrecks do you remember suffering through?
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00:007, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most egregious examples of the small screen situation comedy.
00:12We'll be omitting animated shows, however, and saving them for another day.
00:16How can I put this baby? Um, that girl a lot.
00:24Number 50. Flatbush
00:26The modern television landscape is, generally speaking, devoid of the sort of ethnic stereotyping that was prevalent within older programs.
00:34Flatbush was proof that no societal group was safe from lampooning, to the point where Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden formally demanded the show's cancellation.
00:42Then those five guys from Flatbush premiere, jumping to the beat of the street and having a ball.
00:48Only three out of the six produced episodes were aired.
00:51It's this little bit of outrage-slash-trivia that's made the sitcom last within the public consciousness.
00:57So go to Flatbush, Monday at 8.30, 7.30 Central and Mount.
01:00Because the reality was that Flatbush wasn't really outstanding or atrocious.
01:04Just a below-average, by-the-number situation comedy that relied upon low-hanging fruit for its cultural jokes.
01:10Number 49. My Big Fat Greek Life
01:17It's important to contextualize the popularity of the original My Big Fat Greek Wedding from 2002,
01:23because this is essentially why Nia Vardalos' sitcom was given the green light.
01:27It's also proof that some stories are probably best told in a single cinematic sitting.
01:31My Big Fat Greek Life didn't seem to resonate with viewers on a week-to-week basis.
01:49This was despite initially strong ratings that led some critics and network executives to believe the opposite.
01:54Unfortunately, My Big Fat Greek Life struggled as more episodes hit the airwaves.
02:06The show was eventually canceled within a year.
02:09Dad, what were you and Yanni talking about?
02:11Oh, he just said that you should be nicer to your father.
02:16Nice try.
02:19Number 48. Supa Ninjas
02:21Everything is relative and the power of nostalgia is real.
02:25Thus, there's probably a certain section of viewers that can recall the Nickelodeon sitcom Supa Ninjas with pleasantly positive memories.
02:36This powerful children's television behemoth has produced a lot of content over the years, however.
02:42It's Supa Ninjas' comparatively brief run on the network that has allowed it to slip through the memory bank cracks over the years.
02:48We can't do this, not in public.
02:54Well, I know I can't do that.
03:01The show was notable for the inclusion of Ryan Potter in the cast, who voiced Hiro Hamada in Disney's Big Hero 6, as well as for its inclusionary spirit.
03:11Today, though, it's unclear how Supa Ninjas would translate to a modern audience.
03:16And now I'm just talking to myself.
03:18Number 47. Who's watching the kids?
03:21The job of a television producer, like anything else, has its ups and downs.
03:25The career of industry legend Gary Marshall didn't always strike the same level of success achieved with shows like Happy Days.
03:39Who's watching the kids was just one of Marshall's failed sitcoms to be saddled with a Las Vegas setting,
03:44this time with two showgirls who live together with their younger siblings.
03:47And the sunlight clasps the earth, and the moonbeams kiss the sea.
03:53What are all these kissings worth, if thou kiss not me?
03:57Pretty heavy stuff here.
03:59Did it come in a plain brown wrapper?
04:02The show feels very much cut from the jiggle television mold, indicative of many 70s shows.
04:08It's a sitcom where innuendo and skin feel omnipresent,
04:11despite the presence of Scott Baio and Tammy Lauren as youngsters to the career women of Karen Kay and Linda Goodfriend.
04:18Want proof?
04:19The pilot's original title was simply,
04:21Legs.
04:22This mind is not the first heartbroken
04:26My eyes are not the first to cry
04:32Number 46. Mr. T and Tina
04:36The beloved and much-missed Pat Morita wasn't only known for his work in the Karate Kid franchise.
04:42Right circle.
04:44Left circle.
04:46He was also an omnipresent personality on many television shows back in the day.
04:51Mr. T and Tina isn't as remembered as Morita's work on Happy Days,
04:55despite being a spinoff from the successful sitcom Welcome Back Cotter.
04:58Not even the Sweathogs could save Mr. T and Tina from the ire of Japanese-American activists,
05:12who complained about the script's stereotyping of Asian characters and culture.
05:16Although Mr. T and Tina was somewhat ahead of the curve regarding inclusionary casting,
05:20the show was cancelled after only five episodes.
05:23It's considered partially lost today.
05:25Mr. T and Tina is brought to you by all-temperature cheer.
05:31Number 45. Game Shakers
05:33Today's savvy television viewership would likely be reluctant to spend much time with any show
05:38that featured the involvement of disgraced Nickelodeon producer Dan Schneider.
05:42Now we have some adults looking back at them 20 years later through their lens,
05:48and they're looking at them and they're saying,
05:50I don't think that's appropriate for a kid's show.
05:52This wasn't always the case, of course.
05:54Game Shakers ran for three seasons before being cancelled in 2019.
05:59The premise was certainly interesting.
06:01Some young entrepreneurs see success in the crowded field of video game development.
06:05However, the ultimate creative synergy that Nick expected with the fictional games crossing over
06:10to real-life tech problems never truly took off to lofty heights.
06:14Game Shakers did feature Kel Mitchell in the cast,
06:23but not even this was enough to save the show from receiving the axe.
06:26Drop that, let the face hit low.
06:29Drop that, and make the whole club go.
06:33Drop that, cause I can't get enough.
06:36Number 44. Co-ed Fever
06:38Never underestimate the desire of the small screen to try and emulate big-screen success stories.
06:44National Lampoon's Animal House was a smash hit in 1978,
06:48so it kind of goes without saying that TV copycats would try and follow in those shoes.
06:52Dear mom and dad, I'm fine.
06:55How are you?
06:56School's okay.
06:58There's not much new.
06:59No less than three in 1979, to be exact.
07:03None of which went on to any major success.
07:05Co-ed Fever is probably the most remembered today,
07:08although neither Delta House nor Brothers and Sisters did much to differentiate it from the Lampoon formula.
07:14Eww!
07:15What are you three doing in Mr. Crandall's house?
07:19Well, see the old geezer went upstairs, he's gonna come down, he's gonna give us a piece of...
07:23His thanks!
07:24Co-ed Fever never even got a second season in the can,
07:26since viewer response to its debut pilot's special preview was so bad that CBS cancelled it outright.
07:33I beg your pardon?
07:35Women are just as coordinated as men?
07:37Then how come they keep dropping their books?
07:41Number 43.
07:42The Ugliest Girl in Town
07:44Some ideas are just beyond the pale.
07:46The worst sorts of examples for bad taste during a questionable time.
07:50The titular ugliest girl in town wasn't even a girl, but a man played by Peter Kastner.
07:55Look, it's my only chance to be with Julie.
07:58And that's how I became the ugliest girl in town.
08:02Kastner's Timothy Blair masquerades as Timmy to seek out the affections of an actress played by Patricia Brake.
08:07Jokes about Blair's drag appearance and less-than-stellar ability to live up to female beauty standards are the crux of the jokes here.
08:14And they really aren't funny.
08:15It's my cooking they want, my washing, my ironing.
08:18Who'd believe I flunked domestic science?
08:21Oh, darling, you must be exhausted.
08:23I am exhausted.
08:25You've never seen a poorer darling.
08:26This isn't only by contemporary standards either,
08:29since viewers back in the late 60s also responded in cringeworthy fashion to this barely-there premise.
08:34Shall I follow the calling of my art or remain locked in the prison of my kitchen forever?
08:42Producer Gary Marshall once again took off to Las Vegas for this ill-advised spinoff of Happy Days.
08:48Nancy Blansky was a blink-and-you-missed-her character,
08:50a cousin of Howard Cunningham who appeared on a single episode of Happy Days.
08:54The resulting spinoff, Blanksy's Beauties, possessed a tenuous connection to its parent show
09:08in the form of Fonzie's ex-girlfriend Pinky Tuscadero,
09:11but was notable for featuring future Galaxy of Terror co-star Taffy O'Connell in the cast as a showgirl.
09:17Ranger!
09:18Jamie, you're calling the press!
09:22Ranger!
09:23Blanksy's Beauties only mustered a single season of Jiggle Television
09:27before it was sent packing home from Sin City.
09:31Pinky Tuscadero does it again!
09:35Number 41. House of Pain.
09:37Here's a question.
09:38Do you prefer your sitcoms to only occasionally include a very special episode?
09:42Or are you in constant need of some serious themes to intrude upon your sitcom enjoyment?
09:47Tyler Perry's House of Pain definitely seemed to focus upon the latter,
09:50to the point where it sometimes didn't feel like a sitcom at all.
09:53At least, not in the traditional sense.
09:55What does that mean?
09:56A lot!
09:59A lot of what?
10:00What is that?
10:03A lot of everything.
10:06Maybe that was the point, and also why House of Pain has enjoyed a lengthy lifespan.
10:11It ultimately comes down to one's personal subjective criteria for a sitcom,
10:15and how much realism audiences feel should be included at the end of the day.
10:19Oh, you big ballin' like that?
10:24Girl, you know who you're dealing with.
10:27For us, House of Pain comes off as uneven, as is the case with many of Perry's works.
10:32Is that boy with you?
10:36What boy?
10:39Malik.
10:40That's the end of it.
10:42Then you can't come in either.
10:44Number 40.
10:45Making It.
10:53Disco, as everybody knows, was a big deal back in the 1970s.
10:57Saturday Night Fever was everywhere, and there was no shortage of opportunistic screenwriters
11:02seeking a chunk of that leisure suit-wearing change.
11:05Making It starred David Naughton, who would make horror history as the lead in John Landis'
11:10An American Werewolf in London.
11:12Naughton also sang the title theme song, which sets up Making It's premise of a young hip lad
11:17working the disco circuit looking for love and adventure.
11:19Unfortunately, disco was about to be a thing of the past, in the U.S. at least, and Making
11:30It was a casualty of this backlash.
11:32It achieved only nine episodes before being shuffled off the dance floor.
11:41Number 39.
11:43Me and the Chimp.
11:44There's an old saying, one that's often and nebulously attributed to W.C.
11:48Fields, that states,
11:49Never work with children or animals.
11:52This is ostensibly because the human star of such a vehicle is just bound to take a
11:56second banana to said child or beast.
12:05Consider banana to be a pun, too, because Ted Bessel definitely didn't matter as much as
12:10the titular monkey in 1972's Me and the Chimp.
12:13This was yet another small-screen failure for Gary Marshall, as well as an example of an
12:18extremely thin premise running its course by the time the first episode hits its credits.
12:22Well, you look pretty proud of yourself this morning.
12:25Why not?
12:26Didn't we play a great game?
12:28Didn't we have a lot of fun?
12:29The monkey and man idea wouldn't go away, however, as evidenced by yet another weird
12:34sitcom idea, BJ and the Bear.
12:43Number 38.
12:44Quark.
12:44It's fun to look back now upon the original run of Star Trek and its seemingly endless
12:49assembly line of Starfleet Academy professionals wearing miniskirts to work.
12:53Quark was a short-lived parodic sitcom that had fun with this trope, even going so far as
12:58to double down on the sexiness by casting twin co-leads, Sib and Patricia Barnstable.
13:02Richard Benjamin's Interstellar Garbage Man leads his trash-collecting crew throughout various
13:15well-worn plotlines of other more famous sci-fi shows.
13:26Quark did receive an Emmy nomination for costuming, but a show this broad probably wasn't destined
13:32for much more than being highlighted on videos such as this one.
13:36I have two questions.
13:37First of all, why do you think about things like that?
13:40And secondly, what does that mean?
13:42Number 37.
13:44Hee Haw Honeys.
13:45The monumental 26-season success of Hee Haw sort of made it impossible for the show not
13:50to attempt at least one spin-off.
13:52Now you see why Cornfield County is one county I'd never raced through.
13:57Hee Haw Honeys didn't achieve the same sort of popularity as its parent show, despite retaining
14:02many of the beloved cast members from Hee Haw's legacy lineup.
14:05Kathie Lee Gifford starred in the show, which combined sitcom comedy alongside musical performances
14:10from many of country music's biggest and brightest stars.
14:14Gifford's fictional Truck Stop co-starred one of Hee Haw's other biggest stars, Misty Rowe,
14:18but only lasted from the 1978 to 1979 television seasons.
14:22Please, I'm dying of thirst.
14:24Could you give me something to drink?
14:25And the guy says, I'm sorry, I can't let you in without a tie.
14:29All right, Anthony.
14:30Number 36.
14:33Babes.
14:33We sometimes, and perhaps unfairly, only highlight older decades for their bad entertainment ideas.
14:39But it's important to remember that, yes, the 90s were also pretty terrible.
14:43Do you guys remember what mom told us?
14:46Stay away from your Uncle Lou?
14:49No, if we stick together, nothing can hurt us.
14:53Case in point, Babes.
14:54A sitcom that aired on Fox with a title that we hope isn't being facetious.
15:00There was a skinny brunette and I overheard her saying if she looked like me, she wouldn't
15:03be caught dead in public.
15:05It was so humiliating.
15:07That's because this show focused upon the weight of its leading ladies, and not in the
15:11inclusive, body positive way we might expect by today's standards.
15:15Although Babes could potentially be reframed in this latter light, it's difficult to do so
15:19given the landscape of television during this time, that title, and many of the jokes.
15:24Let's get something straight, Vince.
15:26I don't run, I don't jump, and I walk only when I hear smoke alarms.
15:31Then passive exercising is for you.
15:33Uh-huh.
15:33You don't do a thing.
15:34Number 35.
15:36Shasta McNasty.
15:37Some sitcoms seem to unfairly fail, while others feel doomed from the start.
15:42How else could one explain the title of this late 90s oddity, Shasta McNasty?
15:46No, it's not like we're stealing anything, or we're putting stuff in.
15:48I mean, if that's a crime, then string up Santa Claus.
15:51Yeah?
15:51Yeah, come on, come on, what do you say?
15:53Sure, the show would later shorten its name to simply Shasta, but that one's even worse
15:57if you ask us.
15:58There was admittedly some fan buzz for the show with the most of its time premise ever,
16:02that of a struggling rap rock band.
16:05Whoa, well, you said anybody moving in, you said we were gonna find him.
16:08He's living in the street in the box.
16:09Let me out.
16:10Oh, well, I guess he moved on up to the penthouse.
16:12Get him out of there.
16:13Not until he apologizes.
16:14The fourth wall breaks and band dynamics of Shasta McNasty worked less often than they
16:19did.
16:20The show only mustered a single season of early millennial shenanigans.
16:24That's Diana.
16:26She lives next door and shares our kitchen, something the landlord failed to mention when
16:29we first moved in, which made for a very interesting first morning.
16:33Number 34, The Ropers.
16:35This next sitcom is one that routinely makes the rounds on lists like this, specifically
16:39of spinoffs that probably should never have existed.
16:42Helen, I didn't mean anything by it.
16:44It's all your fault.
16:46Three's Company was a smash hit.
16:48The landlord characters of Stanley and Helen Roper were a big part of that show's ensemble
16:52cast.
16:53They were not, however, the stars of the show.
16:55And it could be argued that Three's Company retained just enough of their humor to make
16:59it memorable.
17:00I don't know why you started this silly nonsense anyway.
17:04It's not nonsense, it's my hobby.
17:06The Ropers was a step too far, since the couple's marital bickering was better off in
17:10small doses, coming across as irritating when it came to their own show.
17:14Number 33, Bucket and Skinner's Epic Adventures.
17:25There was little in the way of Epic Adventures when it came to this brief Nickelodeon show
17:29from the early 2010s.
17:31Bucket and Skinner's Epic Adventures didn't have much going for its premise, other than
17:39that of two young boys who frequently get in over their heads while living under the bright
17:43California sun.
17:44You got a lot of nerve showing your face around here, tanning her hand.
17:50The network canceled Bucket and Skinner's Epic Adventures before the entirety of their
17:54first season run could air in the United States.
17:57Although, these lost episodes could be found on Nickelodeon affiliates in Greece and Australia.
18:02Okay, how are we ever going to get that key from Klaus's sweater?
18:05You can't.
18:06It's impossible.
18:07Just leave it alone.
18:10Number 32, Webster.
18:12The real-life husband-and-wife duo of Alex Karras and Susan Clark took on this sitcom
18:17job during the twilight of their careers, and it shows.
18:20How exactly is that done?
18:22You don't know how to make coffee?
18:24Instant.
18:26How about a beer?
18:27Beer I can make.
18:29The talents of Karras, who earned his reputation as a successful athlete-turned-actor, were largely
18:34wasted, as was Clark's notable chops as a dramatic actor.
18:38What does he call you, George?
18:40He calls me George.
18:41And why does he call you George, George?
18:44Because my name is George.
18:46They played a distant fiddle to Emanuel Lewis's title character, for which Webster was clearly
18:51the vehicle.
18:52Then again, Clark and Karras did co-produce the show alongside Lewis's own production company,
18:57perhaps realizing how this sort of harmless but toothless sitcom pablum could placate the
19:01masses for 22 minutes.
19:03It did for six seasons, but different strokes this ain't.
19:06That's it, Catherine.
19:07Believe me, darling.
19:09Hey, hoo-hoo!
19:10I quit.
19:11Number 31.
19:13Small Wonder.
19:14Call this sitcom one that succeeded, despite the odds.
19:17Kids admittedly love to watch this cheesy sitcom involving a robotic girl named Vicky,
19:21who lives with her inventor and his family.
19:23And its brain is a data flow system using wapers-scale integration, with the data pads hooked into
19:28a self-organizing systolic array processor.
19:31That makes sense.
19:34The plot lines here were basic fare for the 1980s, while also ensuring to revolve around
19:38Vicky's robotic nature and keeping it all under wraps.
19:41Small Wonder is basically harmless, but more of a time capsule of the decade than anything
19:45mean-spirited or outlandishly offensive.
19:48Stop showing off, Vicky.
19:49Let's go.
19:51Let's go.
19:53Oh, and it also ran in first-run syndication for four seasons.
19:57Go figure.
19:59Uh-huh.
20:00We thought something might be wrong.
20:02Number 30.
20:03Bleep My Dad Says.
20:05Outrageous quotes from Justin Halpern's dad were such a sensation on Twitter that CBS made
20:09a fictionalized sitcom.
20:11Come on, Barb.
20:12Stay with me!
20:15Why can't someone do a good impression of me?
20:18William Shatner plays the loudmouth namesake in Bleat My Dad Says, whose son turns his
20:22rants into a column after moving back home.
20:24Broadcast TV was already the wrong platform for Sam Halpern's infamous profanity.
20:29Still, the thoughtless father-son farce had nothing more to say than embarrassingly lowbrow
20:33gags.
20:34Okay, well, I'm not going to look up Horses and Beautiful Women because I did that once
20:37and I'm still trying to un-see it.
20:41It was canceled after one season, with ratings suggesting that it was mostly known for its
20:45bad reputation.
20:46If anything, controversy surrounding the title gave Bleat My Dad Says a boost.
20:51What really silenced the show was actual viewers seeing that it was, let's just say,
20:55a piece of junk.
20:57Number 29.
20:58Hello Larry.
20:59Yes?
20:59Oh boy, we're back on the air with, I didn't know we were on the air lair.
21:04McLean Stevenson struggled for a hit after MASH.
21:06There was much buzz about Hello Larry, in which he plays a newly divorced talk radio host.
21:12It sounds like the creators of Frasier were listening to that premise.
21:15Hello Martin, this is Dr. Frasier Crane.
21:18I'm listening.
21:19But the critics agreed that NBC's tediously unfunny sitcom was dead air.
21:24Some even misinterpreted its desperate crossover with different strokes, believing it set up
21:29a spin-off which was already on the air.
21:31NBC's own Johnny Carson even joined in the trash talk.
21:34After the network shockingly gave the flop a second season, with more focus on the lead's
21:39daughters, it was goodbye to Hello Larry.
21:41Decades later though, its failure is still being talked about.
21:46She was smashed, Ruthie.
21:47She fell asleep while I was talking to her.
21:50Gee, Dad, you don't have to be drunk to do that.
21:54Number 28.
21:55Dads.
21:56A pair of successful but immature video game developers suddenly have to adapt to their
22:01fathers moving in with them.
22:02Yeah, things are going great now, but Dad?
22:05What?
22:06I was just gonna say someday they won't be.
22:08The makers of Family Guy do have a knack for edgy family dysfunction, at least in animation.
22:14Fox's dads, on the other hand, could not salvage its unlikable characters on shock value alone.
22:19The politically incorrect humor is all the more offensive for how uninspired and obnoxious
22:24it is.
22:24It especially didn't work in the bland multicam format, whose laughs could not have been from
22:29a live audience.
22:30Well, at least he died in the line of duty.
22:36Contrary to the premise, nothing ever really grew up in the forgettable-at-best dads.
22:41With catastrophic reviews and ratings already reducing the episode order, it's game over
22:46after just one season.
22:48Number 27.
22:49Ferris Bueller.
22:56This is television.
22:58This is real.
22:59Teen comedies don't get much cooler than Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
23:03The high school hero of John Hughes' instant classic would continue his adventures on TV.
23:08Unfortunately, NBC's Ferris Bueller was way off.
23:12It featured none of the original cast or crew, and relocated the story from Chicago to
23:17Los Angeles County.
23:18The often blatant disrespect for the original would be more forgivable if not for the cheesy
23:23writing.
23:23Once beloved characters were reduced to their most obnoxious tropes.
23:27What do you have against me, genie?
23:29You're a scrawny, immature pile of dog dew, and you hang around with my brother who is
23:35the king of scrawny, immature dog dew.
23:38Meanwhile, Fox's Parker Lewis Can't Lose debuted to much more favorable comparisons to Ferris
23:44Bueller's Day Off.
23:45The movie's technically official successor was thus cancelled after one season, with no
23:50nostalgia for the few who remember its existence.
23:53Number 26.
23:54George.
23:55Heavyweight boxing legend George Foreman is larger than life in personality as much as
23:59stature.
24:00He seemed ideal to lead his own sitcom about a retired boxer running a program for at-risk
24:04high schoolers.
24:05Hey, he couldn't be less qualified for this noble enterprise than Foreman is of being an
24:10actor.
24:10And according to your highly skilled professional counselor, you're a select group of students
24:15who have a proven talent to be a pain in the behind.
24:19But the harder blow to ABC's George was its corny writing around such a limited premise.
24:24From painful humor to trite schmaltz, it was heavy-handed enough to qualify for a championship
24:30belt.
24:30No, there you go.
24:32I was trying to do something right and you don't even notice.
24:34You should try listening.
24:35Listen?
24:36Who'd you ever listen to?
24:37Whoa!
24:39Time out.
24:40Instead, the poor reception from a small crowd put the show down for the count after a single
24:44round.
24:45George has since faded into legend itself, mostly for the grilling it got from critics.
24:51Number 25.
24:52She's the Sheriff.
24:53And good morning to you, Max.
24:55Yeah, how are you, sweetheart?
24:56As disappointed as Three's Company fans were by Suzanne Somers' departure, her big comeback
25:03to TV was totally unqualified.
25:05She's the Sheriff follows a Nevada lawman's widow as she takes up the star of her deceased
25:09husband.
25:10What sounds like an empowering romp ends up turning the lead's ditzy incompetence into
25:15the main joke.
25:16Ranger here was not all that convinced to do so.
25:18Isn't that true, Sheriff?
25:19There is no excusing that on the rest of the show's lack of imagination.
25:28There wasn't even much crime to fight.
25:30The series did get a second season, ostensibly for the initial hype, but was left to waste
25:35in a weekend time slot.
25:36In a decade overrun with first-run syndicated sitcoms, She's the Sheriff was expected to
25:41stand out.
25:42And it did.
25:43In all the wrong ways.
25:44Number 24, We Are Men.
25:47Dumped at the altar, some slacker moves into an apartment with three divorcees also trying
25:52to get on their feet.
25:53This was my defining moment.
25:55But there's nothing actually grown up in CBS's We Are Men.
25:58The likable likes of Cal Penn, Jerry O'Connell, and Tony Shalhoub are wasted on unlikable characters,
26:04cracking lazy jokes and having derivative adventures.
26:07It's like a male-centered version of Sex and the City that doesn't have any real insight.
26:12Yo, I'm home.
26:14Oh my god.
26:16His wife caught him having the world's worst affair.
26:18The character's stereotypical boorishness is just offensive to both women and men.
26:23The themes may have matured over time, but we'll never know.
26:27The ratings and reviews for We Are Men were so bad that it was pulled after airing just
26:31two of the eight episodes produced.
26:33Number 23, Aftermash.
26:35Excuse me, Mike, but I spent too many years in the cavalry not to recognize the gentle
26:40thud of stable droppings.
26:42CBS's MASH is considered one of the greatest, biggest TV shows ever.
26:47Its blend of wacky comedy and uncompromising war drama is not just hard to replicate.
26:52It was impossible to continue.
26:54Aftermash depicts some veterans of the original returning to civilian life after the Korean
26:59war, the less funny moments admirably tackled themes of PTSD, veteran services, and mainstream
27:05healthcare.
27:06The thing is, there are hardly any funny moments between the clunky commentary.
27:10I married a wonderful girl overseas.
27:13Wonderful.
27:14But believe me, Eva Braun wouldn't get the kind of look she gets over here.
27:19Aftermash came under such high standards that MASH fans landed it a second tour.
27:24With that though, outrage over the show's quality cut its deployment.
27:27You'd be honoring a classic show's memory by forgetting that its battle-worn sequel ever
27:32happened.
27:33Number 22, The Paul Reiser Show.
27:35By 2011, sitcom veteran Paul Reiser was so desperate for a hit that he created a show
27:41about that ordeal.
27:42The Paul Reiser Show was a semi-improvised, semi-autobiographical comedy in the vein of
27:47Curb Your Enthusiasm.
27:48Well, nobody seemed enthusiastic about it.
27:50Yes, no, it was a lovely show business experience.
27:52We're going to give you no lead up, and we're not spending literally a nickel on a promotion,
27:56and you'll be up against American Idol.
27:58And I said, might that be problematic?
28:00It was reported that the show had the worst premiere episode ratings in NBC history.
28:06The unlucky few who did see it said that its self-deprecating humor was painful, and it
28:11didn't have much plot besides what was stolen from Larry David.
28:14What are you, out of your mind?
28:16Did you ask me that question?
28:17That's, alright, never mind.
28:18Sorry I asked.
28:18No, no, no, no, wait a second.
28:19After an even worse performance the following week, the remaining five episodes of The Paul
28:24Reiser Show were pulled.
28:25Reiser's comeback would come eventually, but he could not have been happy about this
28:30disastrous attempt.
28:31Number 21.
28:32The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer
28:34Desmond, how are you this glorious morning?
28:38Fine, Mrs. Lincoln.
28:40I see you've finally gotten around to opening that Christmas present from the Jamaican ambassador.
28:44A sitcom based on sensitive history needs to be smart and funny.
28:49The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer, the P is not silent, had its work cut out with the
28:54exploits of President Lincoln's black British valet during the American Civil War.
28:58UPN faced massive controversy over potentially making a joke out of this tragedy and slavery.
29:04In fact, it was closer to a lazy allegory for Bill Clinton's presidency, among other contemporary
29:09pop culture topics.
29:10Well, I got news for those guys.
29:13Just because you're a world leader doesn't mean you automatically get a mistress.
29:17There was no edgy satire to the crass humor and thin storylines.
29:20The arbitrary backdrop just happened to be uniquely costly for a sitcom in both production
29:25and reputation.
29:27Pulled from the air after four episodes, Desmond Pfeiffer would stay a secret if not for its
29:32historic misguidance.
29:34Number 20.
29:35Work It.
29:36Work It was an awful sitcom that ran for two episodes back in 2012.
29:40The show featured two guys who, because of the awful economy, had to dress like women
29:44in order to get a job.
29:45But just one more thing I have to say.
29:47Given how women have historically been treated with less respect than men in the workforce,
30:04the premise of the show is beyond insulting.
30:07But also, as a pure situation comedy, the show was pretty much completely lacking in the
30:11comedy department as well.
30:12Just because bosom buddies kind of worked back in the early 80s doesn't mean men dressed
30:24as women is going to work every time.
30:26As one critic wrote, Work It was, quote,
30:28witless, tasteless, poorly acted, abominably written, clumsily directed, hideously lit,
30:35and badly costumed.
30:37Number 19.
30:38Joanie Loves Chachi.
30:39You look at me.
30:43Look at me.
30:47And suddenly I'm captured.
30:52ABC's Happy Days had a great early track record with spinoffs.
30:56Chachi Arcola and Joni Cunningham moved to Chicago in search of their own hit with a music career.
31:00The couple did produce some catchy tunes in the style of 60s pop, but dreams of replicating
31:05Happy Days' nostalgic style were broken by shameless anachronisms.
31:09Otherwise, it was a campy, unfunny rom-com that became a permanent pop culture punching bag.
31:14And we're talking about the franchise that inspired the term Jumping the Shark.
31:18Let me tell you something.
31:19If Fonz don't fake nothing, never has, never will.
31:24This time I will.
31:27Nostalgia for the original show allowed Joanie Loves Chachi to fall in the charts for two seasons.
31:32The characters then returned to Happy Days like nothing happened, but their raw solo note
31:36still resonates today.
31:38Number 18.
31:39Are We There Yet.
31:40Both the 2005 Are We There Yet movie and the similarly titled television show that came
31:45out five years later were pretty successful.
31:48Suzanne, Terrence is threatening to kill me again.
31:51Terrence, don't kill my husband.
31:54That's one.
31:55That's one.
31:55That's one, one.
31:58What are you liking?
31:59The movie grossed over $97 million on a $32 million budget, and the series ended up running
32:05for three seasons and 100 episodes on TBS.
32:08They also both had something else in common.
32:11They weren't very good.
32:13We like Terry Crews, but even his big muscles couldn't lift the sitcom beyond the generic
32:17family comedy it was.
32:18See what I'm dealing with, y'all?
32:20I see what you're dealing with.
32:21It left us asking ourselves, is it funny yet?
32:24And more often than not, the answer was no.
32:27Number 17.
32:28Kath and Kim.
32:29To our Australian viewers, before you jump angrily into the comment section,
32:33let us be clear that we are not talking about the very funny hit sitcom that aired in your
32:38country from 2002 to 2007.
32:40What?
32:41Don't be a fool, Kim.
32:42You're not as young as you used to be.
32:44You've got a chucky neck.
32:45What?
32:46And crow's feet.
32:47What do you mean, chucky Kim?
32:49I'm not criticizing you, Mom.
32:51I'm just saying you look bad.
32:52We are talking about the poorly written and conceived American version of Kath and Kim that
32:56the San Francisco Chronicle called, quote, a contender for worst remake ever.
33:01Kim, I really like it.
33:03You're very serious and businesslike on the top with a scarf, and then you stand up from
33:07the news desk and bang!
33:09Keeps them guessing, right?
33:10And while a decent-sized audience showed up for the series premiere, it didn't take
33:14long for them to realize the show sucked.
33:17By the third episode, the audience was already one-third smaller.
33:22Number 16.
33:23Talia in the Kitchen.
33:24A 14-year-old girl, a family restaurant, a passion for cooking, and magical spices all
33:29came together to create the meal that was 40 episodes of Talia in the Kitchen on Nickelodeon
33:34in 2015.
33:35Wow.
33:37Yeah.
33:38That's...
33:38That's huge.
33:41I know.
33:43But you can't tell anyone, though.
33:44Don't worry.
33:45I won't.
33:45And while 40 episodes might sound like a lot, it should be noted that it was just one season,
33:51after which the series was canceled due to low ratings and less-than-stellar critic reviews.
33:55Seriously?
33:57Oh, you see?
33:58I told you.
33:59Now we waste the time.
34:00On IMDb, the teen telenovela comedy holds a rather paltry 3.3 rating out of 10, with
34:06one review using the right-to-the-point headline, quote,
34:09God-awful.
34:11Number 15.
34:12Veronica's Closet.
34:13When Veronica's Closet made its debut in 1997, Variety said in their tepid review of
34:18the show that it had potential.
34:19That is a lousy thing to say.
34:22Well, it's true.
34:24Well, maybe.
34:26Well, all we can say to that is it definitely didn't live up to whatever potential the magazine
34:31saw in it after that pilot episode.
34:33Being sandwiched between Seinfeld and ER on must-see TV Thursday nights for two seasons
34:39made the show a top-10 hit.
34:41But once NBC moved it to a new night, season 3 saw a 50% audience drop.
34:46And that was that for Veronica's Closet.
34:49Well, then, there you go.
34:52Number 14.
34:53Baby Bob.
34:55A talking baby!
34:56How funny is that?
34:57Well, in commercials it works, but in sitcom form, it's not funny at all.
35:02Well, at least that was the case for Bob the Talking Baby, who got his start in ads for
35:06freeinternet.com in 2000.
35:09The character's popularity led TV execs to build a show around him.
35:12And in 2002, the world got Baby Bob.
35:15Mommy, don't be silly.
35:17Cows don't talk.
35:18They just moo.
35:20Huh?
35:23Oh my god.
35:27And nine episodes later, they lost Baby Bob.
35:30Although, all one had to do was watch the first five minutes of the first episode to
35:34know it wasn't gonna last.
35:35How can you be so calm about this?
35:38I'm not.
35:39I've just had time to get used to it.
35:41We're not being overdramatic when we say it's truly painful to watch.
35:45After the end of the show, Bob went back to commercials.
35:49This time for Quiznos.
35:51Number 13.
35:51That 80s show.
35:53We have to admit that a spinoff of That 70s show that takes place in the 1980s with some
35:57of the same characters and storylines sounds like it would be awesome.
36:00How do you get it to stand up?
36:05How do you get it to stand up?
36:09Unfortunately, we'll never know because that isn't what That 80s show was.
36:14Instead, it was a brand new show that took place in the 80s with brand new characters and
36:18storylines.
36:18And while much of the team behind that 70s show was also at the helm of the 80s one,
36:24whatever magic they sprinkled on the former was all used up when they went to make the
36:27latter.
36:28Can you just be a little careful about who you pick?
36:31Why?
36:33Because if it doesn't work out, I'll never get the end of it.
36:35The 80s coined the use of the word bad to mean good.
36:39But when it comes to that 80s show, bad just means bad.
36:43Number 12.
36:44Harry and the Hendersons.
36:45Based on the moderately successful 1987 film of the same name, the Harry and the Hendersons
36:50TV show ran for 72 episodes over three seasons.
36:54Oh, I can't let anybody know he's here.
36:56Before you know it, he'll be in a cage, he'll be tested and gawked at, he'll have his blood
37:00drawn and his brains wired.
37:01While the series was also somewhat successful, do you know what it wasn't?
37:05Any good.
37:06It was as if the creators figured that a Bigfoot living with a family was funny enough that
37:11they didn't need to put any effort into creating interesting characters or writing good jokes.
37:15Oh Harry, I don't know if you were ever a teenager, but you can't take anything they'd
37:20say personally.
37:21They're very emotional.
37:22I am not emotional!
37:26See?
37:27And to be blunt, they were wrong.
37:30Even the canned laughter of the laugh track could barely muster up any enthusiasm for what
37:34passed his humor on the show.
37:37Number 11.
37:37Marvin Marvin.
37:38My force field is rather powerful.
37:41Is it not, Dad Bob?
37:43Since a sitcom for YouTube veteran Lucas Cruikshank didn't work the first time, Nickelodeon decided
37:48to try again.
37:49And you can barely tell I'm different.
37:51This time, they tried their hand at a Mork and Mindy ripoff, where Lucas plays Marvin,
37:56an alien taken in by a human family who tries to fit in disguised as a teenager.
38:01Except he makes invader Zim look subtle.
38:04Can't get rid of me that easily.
38:06There's probably a deeper meaning of how you shouldn't be afraid to be yourself, but said
38:10moral, along with the supporting cast, are drowned out by Marvin's quirky overacting
38:14and heavy reliance on gross-out humor.
38:17Thankfully, both the series and Lucas' time at the network had run out, burying this mess
38:23for good.
38:30Number 10.
38:31I hate my teenage daughter.
38:33What's going on?
38:34Oh my God, who's pregnant?
38:36Single mothers Nikki and Annie have inadvertently turned their teenage daughters into their worst
38:41nightmare, a pair of spoiled, popular monsters.
38:44A domestic satire like this sounds good on paper, but ultimately flops in execution.
38:51The characters are unbelievable and unsympathetic, even the ones we're supposed to sympathize
38:56with.
38:56And it's difficult to truly get invested in any of them.
38:59You told me this started two hours ago.
39:01It's what I do.
39:03The writing is completely toothless, with the premise feeling more like a setup for feeble
39:08punchlines.
39:08Fortunately, plummeting ratings finally ended the show, and we all learned a valuable lesson.
39:15Don't be Annie or Nikki, and discipline your children.
39:18That's really not that bad.
39:23Number 9.
39:24Homeboys in Outer Space.
39:25I knew I should've listened to my horoscope.
39:27It said, I'm gonna die!
39:28A sci-fi parody sitcom can be hilarious if done right.
39:33If only UPN knew that when they greenlit this.
39:36Flex and Daryl Bell star as the fun-loving Tiberius and the straight-laced Morris, two 23rd
39:42century astronauts traveling through the cosmos in their winged car.
39:46The series boasts some memorable guest star appearances, but not so much humor, mostly relying
39:51on rather forced sci-fi references and racial stereotyping.
39:55You, me, and a nuclear warhead.
39:58A menage of boom!
40:01Following a long line of low ratings and criticism, including protests from the NAACP, the show
40:07was cancelled and rightfully forgotten in the black void of space.
40:11But I must warn you ladies, I don't perform well under pressure.
40:15Number 8.
40:16Blockbuster.
40:16Haven't Netflix humiliated their would-be owners enough?
40:19And we will once again be fighting for freedom.
40:23Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution, but from annihilation.
40:28Is that from Independence Day?
40:30Yes!
40:31Blockbuster fictionalizes misadventures at the last remaining store of the fallen video
40:35rental giant.
40:36Relocated from Oregon to Michigan, the streaming giant was clearly capitalizing on their successful
40:41run of the 2020 documentary The Last Blockbuster.
40:44There was potential with a showrunner whose workplace sitcom resume includes Brooklyn Nine-Nine
40:49and Superstore, but it all feels like an outdated format that nobody was asking for.
40:53You're all gonna feel bad when they find my body under an avalanche of wedding crashers!
40:57I'm here!
40:58I'm here, let me help!
40:59Oh, actually, Hannah, no, that's not what I meant.
41:00No, no, no, I can't, don't worry.
41:01Uninspired nostalgia couldn't make up for the atrocious writing and bland stories that led
41:08to the show's cancellation after one season.
41:11Blockbuster ironically represents everything wrong with Netflix's business model in original
41:15shows.
41:16Whether that will one day kill the company, subscribers should leave this title on the shelf.
41:21Number 7.
41:22Mulaney
41:22They're like, does that work?
41:24I'm like, it didn't not work.
41:28It's not uncommon for stand-up comedians to land their own sitcoms as fictional versions
41:32of themselves.
41:33While some thrive like Seinfeld, others like Mulaney, not so much.
41:38To better explain, comedian John Mulaney portrays himself being hired to do work for a comic legend
41:43while trying to make time for his roommates, a wound-up trainer and a fellow stand-up comic.
41:49There's no such thing as ghosts.
41:51What ultimately dooms this sitcom is how dated it all feels.
41:58It follows a similar formula to 90s sitcoms and comes off as a Seinfeld rip-off.
42:04With nothing new to offer, you'd be better off like Motif and binge-watching Friends instead
42:08of one episode of this mediocre program.
42:11Oh, I remember these faces on TV.
42:13I always thought it was a noob.
42:15Number 6.
42:16Dog with a blog
42:17No, wait.
42:17I didn't get to that part of my blog yet.
42:20I'll do that after my new product review.
42:22In recent years, Disney's had a reputation for producing horrible teen and tween sitcoms.
42:27And this is just one example.
42:30This blight of a series follows three step-siblings adjusting to life as a new family.
42:35And living with a talking dog named Stan, who runs his own blog.
42:39Because, of course he does.
42:40It makes me so mad.
42:42I just wanna...
42:43I wanna...
42:45While there is a heartwarming feeling with the dog bringing the family closer together,
42:52the sentiments feel cheesier than intended.
42:54Especially when mixed with the hokey acting, unimaginative writing, annoying characters,
42:59and generous amount of cliched jokes.
43:01And in the story, a bad, bad thing happens.
43:06And I'm talking butt-scooting on hot asphalt bad.
43:10As you probably guessed, Disney screwed the pooch with this show.
43:13Pun intended.
43:14But at least it was given a fitting ending.
43:17Did Stan just talk?
43:20Uh, no.
43:21I mean, woof.
43:22There's a lesson to be learned about giving a beloved TV character their own spin-off.
43:32Make sure they can pull off the leading man.
43:35After the finale of Friends, our favorite dim-witted ladies' man, Joey Tribbiani,
43:40moved on to Los Angeles to focus on his acting career.
43:43Long-time Friends fans loved Joey and his chemistry with the rest of the gang.
43:47But now he's on his own and down on his luck, making the experience feel empty.
43:51I totally lost it.
43:53I'm never gonna get this.
43:54While the premiere had successful ratings, it was all downhill from there.
43:59And trying to compete with American Idol didn't help either.
44:03The series concluded after two seasons.
44:05But Matt LeBlanc is not out of the sitcom game yet.
44:08Ask your mother.
44:09Not now.
44:10Do it later when I'm not around.
44:13Love you, Daddy.
44:15See?
44:15Katie thinks I'm doing great already.
44:17Number 4.
44:18Caveman
44:18The Caveman Geico commercials are truly some of the smartest and funniest television commercials
44:23of all time.
44:25It's so easy to use Geico.com, a caveman could do it.
44:29What?
44:30Oh, no.
44:31Not cool.
44:32I did not know you were there.
44:34I could know I could change.
44:35Unfortunately for all those involved with the Caveman television show, based on those
44:39commercial characters, the series is not remembered as fondly.
44:42While there might have been a few moments of actual wit and humor, the attempt to translate
44:47the ads to longer-form storytelling was pretty much an abject failure.
44:52Really?
44:53That's Nick.
44:53He's Joel's best friend.
44:55Oh, my God.
44:56No, he's all right.
44:56A little pushy.
44:58I'm standing right here.
44:59The Chicago Tribune even called it one of the 25 worst TV shows ever.
45:03Not just sitcoms, but shows.
45:06Turns out that making a quality sitcom is so hard, even a caveman can't do it.
45:10Yeah, I'm done.
45:13Are you serious?
45:15Number three, Fred the Show.
45:17Yeah, you're right.
45:18This one's terrible.
45:20Be careful of what you adapt to TV from the internet.
45:24It could be something great and hilarious, or it could be Fred the Show.
45:28What's wrong?
45:30The door won't open.
45:32It must have walked behind us.
45:34That's right.
45:35Someone over at Nickelodeon greenlit three TV movies and a sitcom for Lucas Cruikshank's
45:40character slash YouTube sensation, Fred Figglehorn.
45:44Not unlike the web videos, the series follows Fred's misadventures while he talks to us
45:49and shrieks at us.
45:51Wow, you look so cool.
45:53You can't make me wear this, Figglehorn.
45:55His annoying behavior and aggravating voice wore thin on critics' nerves, and ratings plummeted
46:01until Fred was finally put to rest after one season.
46:05Thankfully, after this and Marvin Marvin, Lucas cut ties with Nickelodeon and retired the Fred
46:10character, and we couldn't be happier.
46:13I've decided the change in scenery is definitely necessary.
46:16Number two, My Mother the Car.
46:18Hello, Davey.
46:19Oh, Mother.
46:22The series follows attorney David Crabtree as he buys a 1928 porter that ends up being
46:28the reincarnation of his departed mother.
46:31David, it's very sweet of you to put a lock on the door, but I'm perfectly capable of taking
46:35care of myself.
46:36Spoken like a true mother.
46:38For the rest of the series, David tries to protect his mother from a shifty car collector
46:42fresh out of a silent film.
46:44There have been plenty of gimmicky sitcoms over the years, but this one takes the cake.
46:49The concept is ridiculous, the characters are unrelatable, and the whole thing didn't stand
46:55a chance with the critics.
46:57Luckily, the crew moved on to more acclaimed projects, but it's hard to forget something
47:01this unreal.
47:02If that's what my son wants, that's fine with me.
47:08Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified
47:12about our latest videos.
47:14You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
47:18If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
47:22Number one, Heil Honey, I'm Home.
47:26Thank you, Heil Honey me.
47:29What did I do now?
47:31Britain has boasted its fair share of vulgar comedies, but this was just in poor taste.
47:37The premise for this disaster is basically the Honeymooners meets the Third Reich.
47:41Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun as a typical sitcom couple with dull Jewish neighbors.
47:46Obviously a controversial topic, the series was designed as a spoof of the idea that anything
47:58and everything could be a sitcom.
48:00Even having the German characters speak with Brooklyn accents.
48:09Even with the corny jokes and cliched sitcom characters, you just can't do it.
48:16It can't overlook Hitler being the protagonist.
48:18Thus, the series was pulled after one pilot episode.
48:22It's for the best anyway, as there are far better ways to parody the Nazi leader.
48:34Be honest, do you enjoy the bad shows more than the good ones?
48:37We kind of do.
48:38Let us know your so-bad-they're-good sitcoms in the comments.
48:41Wow!
48:43Wow!
48:44Can be used as a tape recorder, too.
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