Worst TV show of all time...

[Archae]

Leaving out news or evangelists.

"My Mother, The Car."

I saw ONE and only one episode, it wasn't as bad as people said.
It was worse.

[mucifer]

1. That and the Start Wars Christmas. I couldn't watch either for more than a few mins

[Meadowoak]

2. The Apprentice was the worst for me.

[RockRaven]

3. I've hears of that show from multiple sources, but never seen it, and plan to keep it that way.

[DBoon]

4. I saw your post title ...

... and immediately guessed "My Mother the Car'

[Funtatlaguy]

5. HeeHaw...it made southerners look really bad.

[Zambero]

10. Great musicians though

Once past the cornball stuff. Roy Clark in particular was jaw-dropping good.

[Lochloosa]

16. Roy was a master.

[David__77]

6. I like "bad" shows sometimes.

Pink Lady and Jeff- variety show with two Japanese singers who didn’t understand the English lines they delivered along with an American male comic. I found it charming.

[Aristus]

43. I saw every episode of that when it aired for about fifteen minutes when I was a kid.

I thought the Japanese singers were cute. But even I, at about twelve years old, found the whole thing a little surreal. I found out later that, however weird it might have been for American viewers, shows like that are pretty common in Japan.

[griffi94]

7. An unsold pilot starring Jerry Hall and Diane Manoff called She's with Me.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13567236/

[FoxNewsSucks]

8. Anything with the Kardassians

Honey Booboo

teen pregnant mom - type shows

and any of the crap I see commercials for now, real housewives, bachelor etc.

I'd rather watch ANY old tv show than that kind of garbage, if just for the peek into the past.

[TreasonousBastard]

9. On one of the very minor cable channels I saw something called "Pants Off Dance Off" and it had...

no plot and less point.

[Ferrets are Cool]

11. Without looking at your post

We came to the same conclusion.

[Raven123]

12. Any and every "reality" show.

[Jade Fox]

27. Yes!! Reality TV has warped the brains of a whole generation

So many people think they are actually watching unscripted reality.

I really think it has helped to produce so many people (MAGAs) who can't tell the difference between good information and obvious nonsense.

[IA8IT]

13. Here Comes Honey Boo Boo

[Mister Ed]

14. I watched a couple of episodes when I was eight years old and thought it was okay.

I was only eight. But the residual effect is the that I can still sing the theme song in its entirety.

[no_hypocrisy]

15. MMTC was so bad that other sitcoms mocked it.

In the episode featuring "Zombo" in The Munsters, Zombo "comes out" and shouts that he was meant for better roles than the one he was portraying on television, (Hamlet, Macbeth, "My Mother The Car".)

At 8:09

[Delarage]

17. Galactica 1980

The original Battlestar Galactica was SO GOOD---but too expensive for TV; fan outcry led to a low-budget revival, with less returning characters, less space battles, and a ridiculous kiddie focus. It was such a letdown...........

[roamer65]

54. Yeah. It was bad.

[LessAspin]

18. Manimal

https://www.democraticunderground.com/103717563#post8

https://www.democraticunderground.com/103717920

[Midwestern Democrat]

56. A lot of network television really sucked in the early '80s

A lot of outright junk like "The A Team", "Knight Rider", "T.J. Hooker", etc. just proliferated the airwaves. Even the somewhat better shows were nothing to write home about: "Magnum PI" was just OK, IMO and "Simon & Simon" was really mediocre.

[multigraincracker]

19. All of the day time Soaps from the 60s & 70s.

Did I ever say I hate drama. Of coarse the night times ones too, like Dalles.

[Different Drummer]

20. Ever hear of a TV program being canceled in the middle of its first episode?

[PJMcK]

21. When I read the title of your post...

... my first thought was, "My Mother, The Car."

It was on when I was a kid

Hysterical and awful!!!

This is TV sit-com at its worst:

[Wednesdays]

22. I never saw MMTC

but one show that I remember seeing as a kid was "Turn-On," a clone of the then-popular Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, in 1969.

Trust me, that was one horrid show. There was no laugh track, and nothing was remotely funny. I don't remember my station cutting out early, but there were reports that stations across the country cutting to other programming before the first show was ever finished (one was said to have cut it during the first commercial break!). It was the one show to have not even lasted one complete episode, and well-deserved IMHO.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turn-On

[LudwigPastorius]

23. "Hello, Larry"

[Doc Sportello]

24. Friends

Flame away, I don't care. Don't care that it was popular or that people love it. I hate it. Ugggghhh. What a terrible show and what makes it worse is the smugness in thinking it is good. It's not.

[Totally Tunsie]

38. I'll "see" your Friends, and raise you

a Seinfeld. Can't stand either show...What horrible characters!

[Doc Sportello]

39. We'll have to disagree on Seinfeld my friend

Seinfeld hasn't aged well in some ways but still funny, despite the characters being horrible sometimes. I will say I have never taken to Curb Your Enthusiasm even though I believe people when they say it is good. I just can't watch a whole show of George.

[Totally Tunsie]

40. LOL - Someone wiser than me once said

"Flame away, I don't care. Don't care that it was popular or that people love it. I hate it. Ugggghhh. What a terrible show and what makes it worse is the smugness in thinking it is good. It's not."

so we'll have to agree to disagree on Seinfeld.

[wnylib]

25. Going way back, beyond the memory of

Some DUers - The Honeymooners, with Jackie Gleason. It portrayed a husband's verbal abuse and threats of physical violence to his wife as acceptable.

Also, from the 60s, The Dean Martin Show. Frequent portrayed older adult male sexual interest in teenage females as humor.

[underpants]

35. The basis for so many TV series

I agree. Even before I was really aware of it I cringed when he attacked her. The set always looked dusty to me too.

The Honeymooners is the template used for The Flinstones, The Simpsons, and other shows.

[Sneederbunk]

26. You're in the Picture with Jackie Gleason

[LW1977]

28. Joanie Loves Chachi, and Charles In Charge

Guess the common denominator.

[IngridsLittleAngel]

53. Bad theme songs?

I'm kidding.. You're speaking of Bott Scaio, of course.

[Trueblue1968]

29. for me it is the BACHELOR & Bachelorette crapola

[lees1975]

30. Married with Children

just bad. No other explanation.

[underpants]

34. There was a copycat show of that called "Unhappily Ever After"

and it was really horrible.

The only difference was that the hot daughter was Nikki Cox and the dad went down to the basement to talk with a stuffed animal voiced by Bobcat Goldthwait.

[First Speaker]

31. Space: 1999...

...I remember Spider Robinson reviewing it at the time. He said something like, "I can't bear to describe the premise of the show. Ask any science fiction fan about it, and wait until they finish laughing. Bring a lunch."

[Doc_Technical]

37. Space 1899

[edbermac]

32. Jerry Springer

Utter garbage.

[Celerity]

33. +10000000000000000

[Auggie]

41. Thread winner

[Boomerproud]

42. Watching 30 seconds of it makes you wonder what universe you're in.

I can't believe it's still on.

[lastlib]

36. "Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo" End of discussion.

[Aristus]

44. "Small Wonder".

What a horrible, unwatchable mess.

It aired on Armed Forces Television when I was stationed in Germany; and all I could think was, if any Germans are watching this shit, what can they possibly be thinking about American entertainment culture?

[MissMillie]

46. We have a winner!!!!

Absolutely the first thing that came into my head.

[Aristus]

47. There must be something really wrong with us...

[GReedDiamond]

45. The former bass player of one of my bands...

Last edited Tue Jul 26, 2022, 01:38 AM - Edit history (1)

...his father was 2nd unit director on My Mother The Car.

Which means he directed stuff like the opening title scene and other stuff that was not the scripted show content.

He was also the director of some first season (the black & white episodes) Gilligan's Island episodes.

ON EDIT:

The worst TV show ever may very well be "Cop Rock."

[GReedDiamond]

48. Cop Rock...

[Baggies]

49. Dr. Ken

[BluesRunTheGame]

50. I've never watched much TV but somehow ended up seeing " Impractical Jokers" a few times.

I can’t imagine anything worse than that.

[Shrek]

51. Grey's Anatomy n/t

[IngridsLittleAngel]

52. No question... The Apprentice.

The show itself is bad enough. Another ugly "reality" show that portrayed anything but reality. Another show where "winning" happens thanks to backstabbing, ruthlessness and cutthroat "competition" pumped up on steroids. More ugly TV for ugly Americans - millions of people would react with glee when the host would scowl and say "YOU'RE FIRED!"

So, just the show itself was ugly and a harsh example of what's wrong with "reality" TV and why I hate it.

But let's talk about the consequences of the show. The host was seen as a morally and financially bankrupt oaf before this show came along and convinced people he was a a smart businessman and a walking ball of money... and, of course, a STRONG MAN! His reputation got rehabbed thanks to this show. Thanks to NBC and Mark Burnett, he went from a pathetic joke that America laughed at in the 90's to a hero to millions of people.

Thanks to this show, the host ran for president.

We all know how that turned out...

None of it happens without this fucking show.

[roamer65]

55. Dr Phil.

Just because I can’t stand him.

[XanaDUer2]

57. Cops nt

[Mosby]

58. Mama's family.

Most Underrated sitcom, Soap.

Most overrated, Friends.

[Emile]

59. Tucker Carlson Tonight