- 6 weeks ago
What were they thinking?! Join us as we count down our picks for the most baffling decisions ever made in television history. From canceling future classics like "Star Trek" and "Freaks and Geeks," to passing on mega-hits like "Breaking Bad" and "The Sopranos," to green-lighting disasters like a Hitler sitcom, these TV blunders will leave you scratching your head.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00You finally went one step too far, Mr. Big Shot.
00:03Well, don't say I didn't warn you.
00:04Okay, Ava, you were right, I was wrong.
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the worst decisions made by TV producers,
00:12executives, and showrunners, not fictional characters.
00:15That's it.
00:16That's it.
00:18No, I don't buy it. That is not the reason you made us listen to this.
00:22Major spoilers, of course.
00:24Number 20. Blowing the Ending. Lost.
00:27Once we get Desmond to do what we need him to do, I'm going to sail away from this godforsaken place and watch it sink.
00:36This twisty show delivered a naturally twisty finale.
00:39There are two plot points, The Flash Sideways and The Island Storyline.
00:43In The Flash Sideways, the islanders find themselves in a kind of afterlife, engulfed by the light.
00:48On the island proper, Kate finally shoots the man in black, who is planning to destroy the island.
00:53I saved you a bullet!
00:54And she and Jack confess their love for each other.
00:57Jack is injured, and eventually dies of his injuries.
01:09One of the highest viewed series finales of all time, The Ends received polarized reviews,
01:13with some calling it emotionally satisfying, and others a dumb and eye-rolling conclusion.
01:18Nowadays, it is considered one of the worst TV finales of all time.
01:22Ouch.
01:27Number 19. Norm Macdonald is fired over hilarious O.J. Simpson jokes.
01:37Saturday Night Live.
01:37According to the National Transportation Safety Board, sleepy truckers are responsible for 1,000 deaths a year.
01:45In second place, O.J. Simpson had two deaths a year.
01:49This Canadian comedian was a Saturday Night Live alumnus for five years, eventually anchoring the new satire skit, Weekend Update.
01:56So it was a surprise to many when the president of NBC's West Coast Division, Don Olemeyer, had Macdonald removed.
02:03Macdonald claimed Olemeyer had fired him due to his tactless jokes about O.J. Simpson, calling him a murderer.
02:08O.J. Simpson's lawyers have decided to skip hearings on DNA evidence and go right to trial.
02:13Asked why they did this, the lawyers replied,
02:15We want to get O.J. acquitted as speedily as possible so he can get back to doing what he does best, killing people.
02:22It turned out that Olemeyer was a friend of Simpson.
02:24Macdonald did regular SNL skits, but it wasn't long before those two dried up.
02:29Things got heated when Olemeyer prevented NBC from airing ads for Macdonald's new film.
02:33Macdonald eventually came back to SNL to host the show in a famous monologue, airing his grievances.
02:39What drama.
02:40A year and a half ago, right, I had a sort of a disagreement with the management at the NBC.
02:47I wanted to keep my job.
02:53And they felt the exact opposite.
02:56Number 18. Putting kids on a Lord of the Flies-esque reality show, Kid Nation.
03:01I think the producers truly crossed the line with these kids.
03:04Talk about one whopper of a premise.
03:06This controversial reality TV show had kids build a society from scratch with little to no adult help.
03:12Oh look, it's footage of the creators of this show playing with fire.
03:15Before they can sleep in their prison, they gotta learn how to cook.
03:18So they spend all night burning themselves with fire, stoves, and boiling water,
03:21and eventually figure out how to make mac and cheese.
03:23And it's gross.
03:24Forty children were placed in a town in New Mexico and told to fend for themselves.
03:27Kids had to fetch water, wash dishes, and make their own breakfasts, as well as organize town meetings.
03:33One kid accidentally drank bleach.
03:36While the 200-something camera and crew and even a child psychologist were present,
03:40they intervened as little as possible.
03:42Advertisers dropped the show by the third episode, and most reviews were negative.
03:46There was also the issue of CBS's flouting New Mexico's child labor laws.
03:50This show was a mess.
03:51When we say one pancake apiece, you need to take one pancake apiece.
03:54Some people didn't get pancakes. I didn't get any pancakes.
03:56Number 17. Fox Gives Chevy Chase a Talk Show.
03:59The Chevy Chase Show.
04:00Last night on the show, I tried to apologize for another joke, I guess, apparently,
04:04that I made about Michael Jackson, because I screwed it up.
04:07Comedian Chevy Chase broke out in Saturday Night Live as both a performer and writer on the series.
04:12He later achieved great fame in films like Caddyshack,
04:15so when Dolly Parton rejected Fox's offer of being the host of its late-night program,
04:19Chase took up the gig instead.
04:21It wasn't long before critics began calling it the worst talk show in history.
04:24While a good comedian, Chase was terrible as a host, looking visibly nervous and uncomfortable.
04:29I remember the first thing you said to me, which was, uh, hello.
04:35You had a bag, uh, uh, uh, just a bag filled with things.
04:40It was a crocheted bag, yeah.
04:41He even admitted the talk show format was very constraining for him.
04:45Fox canceled the show in October of that year, and that was a good decision that cuts the chase.
04:49But, um, tsss.
04:50Thanks a lot for coming.
04:51All right, thanks, Jim.
04:52It's really great to have you.
04:54Look around, folks.
04:55News updates still to come.
04:56Beverly D'Angelo will be here, and I'm bound to do something to embarrass myself.
05:00Number 16.
05:01NBC royally screws up the Leno-Conan situation.
05:04The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.
05:05We had a lot of fun being here these last seven months, but like everything in life,
05:09the fun has to come to an end a decade too early.
05:12And I think...
05:14Jay Leno was the host of The Tonight Show,
05:16while Conan O'Brien was host of Late Night,
05:17an arrangement that perfectly suited them both.
05:20However, when O'Brien's contract was nearing its end,
05:23NBC agreed not only to extend it, but to make him the host of The Tonight Show.
05:27To placate Leno, NBC offered him his own prime time show.
05:31When both shows got low ratings, NBC decided to restore Leno to his original time,
05:35with O'Brien bumped to a half hour later.
05:38An outraged O'Brien walked away from the network entirely,
05:41and Leno returned as the host of The Tonight Show.
05:43It's never wise to mess with a good thing.
05:44When you make the movie about this whole NBC late night fiasco,
05:49I would like to be played by Academy Award winning actress Tilda Swinton.
05:53If that's...
05:53Number 15.
05:58ABC says no to CSI, CBS wins.
06:01CSI Crime Scene Investigation.
06:07It's always hard to guess which potential show will become a hit,
06:10and which will be a dud.
06:11This cop show's spec script was shown to many networks, including ABC.
06:16When ABC passed, the script was picked up by an eager CBS.
06:19Have you talked to the police?
06:21Police make me nervous.
06:23You guys aren't cops, are you?
06:25We're crime scene investigators.
06:26Co-producer Touchstone Television, also owned by Disney, pulled out as well,
06:31not wanting to spend money on a show picked up by another network.
06:33You have no idea what it's like to put your life on the line every day!
06:38What do you mean, dealing with punk-ass cops who hide behind their union reps?
06:42CSI went on to attract a worldwide audience of over 73.8 million viewers,
06:47inspiring multiple spin-offs.
06:49I guess it's a good thing I sealed off that crime scene.
06:52It became the seventh longest running scripted U.S. primetime TV series at the time of its cancellation.
06:56The show also won six Primetime Emmy Awards, and was nominated for six Golden Globe Awards.
07:02What a fumble on ABC's part.
07:04Number 14.
07:05Finding Your Biological Father for Money, Who's Your Daddy.
07:08One of them is her father.
07:10I'm your dad.
07:10I'm your dad.
07:11I'm your dad.
07:11I'm your dad.
07:12I'm your dad.
07:14To tell you the truth, I'm scared of death.
07:17Speaking of strange and disturbing premises, this reality TV special is one for the books.
07:21In this show, eight men have to convince actress T.J. Myers, an adoptee, that they were her biological father.
07:28The twist, of course, is that one of them was Myers' actual biological father.
07:32If Myers guessed correctly which one was her father, she would win the $100,000 reward.
07:37If not, the contestants would.
07:39Instinctually, do you feel that you're correct?
07:46I hope I am.
07:47Adoption organizations and adoptive parents alike protested the show, and the critics went to town on it.
07:55With the poor reception of the pilot, Fox decided not to release the other episodes until later, on Father's Day.
08:01What were they thinking, indeed?
08:02So confusing, because when I had to choose the men that I thought were my dad's, and then the men that weren't,
08:10everyone was the same, except one man.
08:12And he stood there, like this.
08:14It was perhaps inevitable that such an iconic Emmy Award-winning series as MASH would eventually have a sequel of some sort.
08:33Thus, a spin-off about the protagonist's post-war adventures after the Korean War was greenlit.
08:38Son, you've got every right to complain.
08:41But you're still gonna do it.
08:42It aired, alas, for only two years.
08:45While the first season did relatively well, after MASH suffered low ratings in its second season, and even worse critical reviews.
08:51In the end, TV Guide listed it as the seventh worst TV series ever.
08:55Well, is that all you can say for yourself?
08:57Gordon!
08:59You promised me you were going to get a hobby.
09:01Creator Kevin Levine admitted it was the worst thing he had written, and that the show's taking place in a veteran's hospital was perhaps not the best setting for a comedy.
09:09We've got to isolate the carrier or this whole place is going to be on its back.
09:13We'll find it.
09:13This is no time for people to be getting sick here in the hospital.
09:16Spin-offs really are tricky beasts.
09:19Number 12.
09:20Canceling Family Guy.
09:21Family Guy.
09:22We know what you're thinking.
09:23Who would ever cancel Family Guy?
09:25Now, not a word to your mom about me getting canned.
09:27What's that, Peter?
09:28Uh, uh, nothing.
09:29Oh, the loss of my job smells great.
09:31Indeed, this decades-long show was almost killed by its own network, Fox.
09:36The first pilot episode aired after the Super Bowl, debuting to 22 million viewers and immediate controversy.
09:42Whoa, suddenly I was public enemy number one.
09:45It was time to tell the truth.
09:47Ratings were high, but having to compete with the likes of Frasier and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire proved tough.
09:52Fox announced the show's cancellation in May 2000, then ordered 13 new episodes,
09:56then officially canceled it in 2002.
09:59The crowd is storming the field!
10:01This is pandemonium!
10:02Have you ever seen anything like this, Pat?
10:05Adult Swim bought the rights on the cheap, and Family Guy literally exploded in popularity,
10:09with the DVD set selling 2.2 million copies.
10:12Fox finally revived the show in 2004, and it's still running today.
10:16This guy really cannot die.
10:18No problem.
10:19We got the money to get that fixed.
10:20With enough left over for us to buy our way out of any trouble our kids might get into.
10:24Number 11.
10:25Laverne and Shirley dump Shirley.
10:27Laverne and Shirley.
10:28Now this is a blast from the past.
10:30This popular sitcom was in fact a Happy Days spinoff,
10:33following the titular friends and roommates in Wisconsin and then California.
10:37Hey twerk, where's my hash from?
10:39Where's my hash from?
10:41They're coming, they're coming.
10:44By his third season, it was the most watched TV show at the time,
10:47with even its fun theme song ranking on the 1976 charts.
10:50Give us any chance, we'll take it.
10:54Read us any rule, we'll break it.
10:56Reignings did falter when the show moved time slots,
10:59but then Shirley's actress, Cindy Williams,
11:01fell pregnant during the show's eighth season.
11:03The producers wanted her to keep working through her pregnancy,
11:05so Williams sued instead to let her go.
11:07Attention folks, please don't harass Betty, please.
11:12Laverne and Shirley without Shirley, alas, was not the same,
11:16and ABC canceled the series shortly after.
11:18Number 10, the holiday special George Lucas wants you to forget,
11:22the Star Wars holiday special.
11:23I thought you might like this.
11:25One of those, uh, it's a real, it's kind of hard to explain, it's a, uh,
11:30wow, you know what I mean.
11:33Star Wars fans know all about this one.
11:35This infamous special follows Chewbacca and Han Solo
11:37as they journey to the Wookiee's home planet to celebrate Life Day.
11:41Pursued by the Galactic Empire,
11:43Chewbacca and Han eventually reunite with Chewbacca's family.
11:45Where's Chewbacca?
11:52Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute, one at a time.
11:54This holiday trifle received universal negative reviews from audiences,
11:58critics, and Star Wars fans alike,
12:00with the only saving grace being the Boba Fett animated segment.
12:03Now that you've gotten their trust,
12:05they may take you to their new base.
12:08This time we'll get them all.
12:10I see why they call you the best bounty hunter in the galaxy.
12:16Strangely enough, Lucasfilm has confirmed the canonicity of the movie.
12:20The special has never been rebroadcast nor officially released on home video in its entirety,
12:24making this easily one of the worst executive decisions in TV history.
12:27Gentlemen, I guess you didn't hear what I said.
12:30The Empire has closed us down.
12:33Number 9. HBO, TNT, Showtime, and FX turned down Breaking Bad.
12:38Breaking Bad.
12:39Look, lady, whatever you're selling, I ain't buying, yo.
12:42Well, my name is Skylar White, yo.
12:45My husband is Walter White, yo.
12:47It's one thing to turn down the likes of CSI.
12:50Imagine turning down a prestige TV show like this one.
12:53Creator Vince Gilligan pitched Breaking Bad to Sony Pictures Television and Showtime.
12:57While Sony remained attached, Showtime passed.
13:00Ditto for HBO and TNT.
13:02So, what now?
13:06How do we proceed?
13:08FX almost took it up, but decided in favor of another show, Dirt.
13:12Eventually, AMC became interested, acquiring the rights from FX.
13:16Of course, the show eventually became a huge commercial and critical hit,
13:20and is now considered to be one of the greatest TV shows of all time.
13:24This is pure glass.
13:27You're a goddamn artist.
13:28These networks must be kicking themselves with their epic fumble.
13:31If you've gone crazy or depressed, I'm just saying.
13:36That's something I need to know about, okay?
13:40I mean, that affects me.
13:41Number 8.
13:42Unintentional Cultural Appropriation.
13:44Black-White.
13:45I really don't think that Bruno is getting the black experience yet,
13:48and I'm not sure if he's gonna ever open his mind to it.
13:51Reality TV shows make for some of the most controversial.
13:54This series followed two families, one white, one black.
13:58Literally switching skin colors with makeup and living as the other race.
14:02It was an insanely risky social experiment that garnered predictably mixed reviews from critics.
14:07I wanted to know how white people really felt.
14:10But race being more than just a matter of skin color,
14:13the premise was too flawed for the show to overcome,
14:15with some critics feeling it merely reinforced racial stereotypes.
14:18I always thought how nice it would be if they were able to jump,
14:21get off the ground, leap, and slam dunk like these guys can.
14:24Created and produced by Ice Cube and R.J. Cutler,
14:26the series only aired six episodes before it was canceled.
14:30Number 7.
14:31NBC Cancels Baywatch After One Season.
14:34Baywatch.
14:45Yes, this series about a team of lifeguards was not what one would call a critical darling.
14:50NBC canceled it after only one season due to low ratings.
14:53What do you mean the whole thing's off?
14:55You said it was written in stone.
14:57David Hasselhoff and other producers, still seeing great potential in it,
15:01renewed the show for syndication.
15:02Do you mind if I tag along?
15:04Why not?
15:05But let me get your sandwich first.
15:07This proved to be a good move, as the show became hugely popular,
15:10with a weekly audience of over 1.1 billion viewers.
15:13Baywatch's popularity was so great, it launched a spin-off series,
15:17Baywatch Nights, as well as three direct-to-video films.
15:20Sometimes, series do take on a life of their own.
15:23Number 6.
15:24That final season, How I Met Your Mother.
15:27I can't believe this.
15:28I kept this story short and to the point, and you guys still missed it.
15:33This is undoubtedly one of the most infamous series finales of TV ever.
15:37How I Met Your Mother was a beloved sitcom with a unique premise.
15:40A father, Ted, telling his children about how he met their mother.
15:44The identity of the mother was made into an intriguing mystery.
15:47Eventually, she was revealed as Tracy, who became a genuine fan-favorite.
15:52Even so, the finale had Ted, now a widower, end up with Robin instead.
15:56He and Robin already had a disastrous relationship, and Robin married Barney instead.
16:06Fans felt betrayed by this reversal of key character development for Ted, Robin, and even Barney.
16:11In the end, the mother was a cheap plot device to further the Ted-Robin endgame.
16:16What a disappointment.
16:17The point of the story is that...
16:19Is that you totally, totally, totally have the hots for Aunt Robin.
16:22Number 5.
16:23Roseanne torches career with racist tweet, Roseanne.
16:26I'm trying to talk about Iran!
16:28I'm trying to talk about Valerie Jarrett wrote the Iran deal!
16:31I know!
16:32Shows about working-class Americans were relatively few.
16:35This sitcom, however, was well-reviewed and consistently popular.
16:39With the revived 10th season being an instant hit, ABC quickly renewed it for an 11th.
16:44Unfortunately, lead actress Roseanne Barr stirred major controversy when she published a tweet
16:49taken to be racially insensitive about Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor to former President Barack Obama.
16:54And that means there's right and there's wrong.
16:57There's black and there's white.
16:59And no amount of money is going to get me to see Grey.
17:02Barr deleted her tweet and apologized, saying it was a joke and that she thought Jarrett had been white.
17:08In the midst of the controversy, ABC reversed its decision to renew the show.
17:12There's just no way we can do this.
17:14This totally sucks.
17:16That's alright.
17:17Hulu removed all the episodes and several cable channels dropped the series.
17:21Tweets are no joke.
17:23Number 4.
17:24Passing on The Sopranos.
17:25The Sopranos.
17:26When you're lying in the street in a pool of your own blood,
17:29Don't say your uncle didn't try to tell you.
17:31What are you talking about?
17:32Often credited for ushering in the second golden era of TV,
17:35this legendary drama followed Italian-American Tony Soprano
17:38as he struggles to balance his family life with his crime one.
17:42Initially conceived as a film, creator David Chase pitched the show to several networks.
17:46What's going on, Chrissy?
17:48Been working my ass off on this movie script.
17:51You know how many pages I got?
17:53Nineteen.
17:54Fox passed on the pilot script,
17:55and CBS didn't like the idea of a mobster going to therapy,
17:59so HBO picked it up,
18:00and The Sopranos became one of the most influential
18:02and critically acclaimed TV shows ever,
18:05achieving high ratings even in its first season.
18:07Fox just keeps on losing.
18:09Number 3.
18:10Canceling Star Trek after just three seasons.
18:13Star Trek.
18:13What you do not know and must now be told
18:15is that my command orders on this subject are precise and inviolable.
18:19It's not every day a TV show inspires a decades-long fandom
18:22and no less than 11 television series, including Star Trek The Next Generation.
18:27I hope our sudden appearance didn't startle you.
18:30No, not at all.
18:31However legendary Star Trek has become as a franchise,
18:34its beginnings were humbler.
18:36Creator Gene Roddenberry pitched the show to Desilu Productions,
18:39with Lucille Ball herself getting the pilot produced.
18:41NBC eventually picked it up.
18:43For the show's third season,
18:45NBC moved it to an inconvenient time slot
18:47and slashed the show's production budget.
18:49Despite a letter-writing campaign,
18:51NBC canceled the show.
18:52Captain?
18:53Are you alright, sir?
18:55Can I give you a hand, sir?
18:57Star Trek lived on through syndication,
18:59becoming a cult classic.
19:01NBC just wasn't bold enough to see the future.
19:03When I feel friendship for you,
19:05I'm ashamed.
19:06You've got to hear me!
19:09Number 2.
19:10Canceling Freaks and Geeks.
19:11Freaks and Geeks.
19:12So stupid.
19:14You know, Daniel,
19:15nobody asked you to pull the fire alarm.
19:18Speaking of cult classics and NBC dropping the ball,
19:21this teen comedy was clearly gone too soon.
19:24NBC's incompetence in not airing three episodes
19:26and scheduling the show certainly led to its early cancellation.
19:29Good work, genius.
19:30Way to use your brain.
19:32Creative differences were involved as well,
19:34with NBC wanting a flashier,
19:35cooler version of high school,
19:37rather than the more down-to-earth,
19:38realistic vision of Freaks and Geeks creatives.
19:40Yeah, you wouldn't like it anyways.
19:42Really boring.
19:43Despite only having 18 episodes,
19:44Freaks and Geeks was highly praised by critics
19:47and even received three Emmy Award nominations.
19:50It is considered one of the best TV shows ever by Time Magazine.
19:53The only one that deserves a failing grade is NBC.
19:56You know what?
19:57I'm sorry.
19:59Let's be friends.
20:17Number one.
20:19Hitler sitcom.
20:20Heil Honey, I'm Home.
20:22You may be big stuff in Germany,
20:24but I knew you when you were just a house painter.
20:28With these horrifically bad show decisions,
20:30there is no topping this one.
20:31This British sitcom was so bad
20:33that it was canceled after one episode.
20:35It's easy to see why.
20:36Are you kidding?
20:38They always know.
20:39When I finally get to invade Poland,
20:41who'll be the first to know?
20:42The Poles?
20:43No!
20:43Rosa Goldenstein!
20:45The show follows Adolf Hitler and Ava Braun
20:47and their Jewish neighbors,
20:48Arnie and Rosa Goldenstein.
20:50Granted, the show was conceived as a satire
20:53of the tastelessness of American sitcoms,
20:55with Heil Honey contextualized
20:56as an abandoned sitcom created by a fictional
20:59Branden Thalberg Jr.
21:00Oh, tonight you are making schnitzel.
21:03What a jerk!
21:04You must be real mad at me, honey.
21:06I'm a very, very bad Hitler.
21:09Even so, the show still garnered controversy,
21:11and critics felt the satire did not land at all.
21:14It was definitely a better premise
21:15for a skit than a TV series.
21:17Ah, okay Ava, gotta go.
21:18Gotta get to the rice tag.
21:20Go get him, tiger.
21:22I love you, Berlin!
21:23Which other TV decision
21:24had you scratching your head and wondering,
21:26what were they thinking?
21:27Let us know in the comments down below.
21:29There you go, Ben.
21:32Your show's being here.
21:33We see you next time.
21:34Bye.
21:34Bye.
21:35Bye.
21:36Bye.
21:39Bye.
21:40Bye.
21:46Bye.
21:46Bye.
21:55Bye.
21:56Bye.
21:56Bye.
21:57Bye.
21:57Bye.
Comments