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