From failed sitcoms to misguided dramas, we're diving into television's biggest blunders. These shows prove that not every idea deserves airtime, whether it's ill-conceived premises, poor execution, or just plain bad timing. From offensive concepts to bizarre adaptations, these series represent the bottom of the TV barrel.
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00:00Pioneer living is tough, and the amazing part is these pioneers are children.
00:08Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the lowest of the lows
00:13when it comes to scripted television.
00:16As much as we'd love to include reality TV and game shows, there's enough of those
00:20for their own list.
00:29Number 20, The Idol Following a nervous breakdown, superstar
00:41Jocelyn sets out to reclaim her fame.
00:44Sadly, she ends up saddled with one of the most unwatchable misfires in HBO history.
00:48It's surprising to see it all go wrong, especially since it's co-created by the
00:52same mind behind Euphoria.
00:54The production appears to have been troubled all the way through, with Sam Levinson taking
00:59over directing responsibilities part way through.
01:09The final product indulges every sleazy stereotype while feigning moral superiority at the same
01:15time.
01:16So much like its main character, The Idol is needlessly edgy, hopelessly misguided,
01:22and altogether not worth the price of admission.
01:31Number 19, Knight Rider Meet Knight Rider, the hero no one asked
01:44for, but that we got anyway.
01:47His superpower?
01:48Driving the Knight Industries 3000, a fancy name for a decked out sports car.
01:52It's the kind of silly concept you could only get away with using a lot of 80s camp
01:57or humor.
01:58That's what the original series did in 1982.
02:01So it's even more baffling that despite David Hasselhoff reprising his role in the
02:05pilot movie, this reboot commits to playing it straight.
02:19Let's just say it's hard to buy into any high stakes action when it all revolves around
02:24a knockoff transformer.
02:25Pair that with thin characters and boring plots, and you have a vehicle destined for
02:29the scrap heap.
02:35Number 18, Cop Rock There's a reason there's so many police
02:50procedurals out there.
02:51The formula works, but Cop Rock wasn't content being ordinary.
02:56It wanted its own spotlight in television history.
02:58To that end, the creators took the best elements of greedy crime dramas and put them all into
03:03a musical.
03:04We wish we were kidding.
03:10The show still tried to go through the motions of your typical cop show, but whether it was
03:14in a courtroom or a morgue, there was a toe tapping pop song there to sap away any bit
03:19of realism.
03:20While Cop Rock is now remembered more for its oddball premise than its quality, you've
03:24got to give it one thing.
03:26It certainly had ambition.
03:36Number 17, Dads Two fathers moving back in with their adult
03:44sons sounds innocent enough, right?
03:47With that set up, Dads could have easily faded into obscurity as a solid yet forgettable
03:52sitcom.
03:53Unfortunately, it missed out on the calm part of its pitch.
03:56Unfunny at best and downright offensive at worst, Dads' highly questionable sense of
04:00humor failed to impress much of anyone.
04:13It's particularly noticeable since the show doesn't have anything else going for it.
04:17The characters are walking cliches and the storylines are tired before they begin, leaving
04:21Dads with nothing but a fake laugh track.
04:23Let this be a warning.
04:25If your dad asks to move in with you, just say no.
04:39Number 16, Super Train
04:47There's a lot of reasons why this show failed.
04:50However, budget was not one of them.
04:52At the time, Super Train was the most expensive television program ever broadcast in the United
04:57States.
04:58But NBC learned the hard way that lavish sets and cutting-edge special effects are no substitute
05:03for storytelling.
05:12Envisioned as a drama about the lives of Super Train's passengers, the plot threads never
05:17came together into a compelling whole.
05:20Instead, it felt like the characters were tacked on after the fact as a way to justify
05:23the show existing, rather than the other way around.
05:26Without a reason to be, Super Train ran out of track after just nine disappointing episodes.
05:41Number 15, Marvel's Inhumans
05:51At a time when the MCU seemed too big to fail, Marvel took one of its most diverse, unique,
05:57and gripping comic book groups and turned it into a painfully generic superhero show.
06:02Although, to be quite honest, calling Inhumans generic is a slap in the face to all the truly
06:07generic superhero shows out there.
06:09No, Inhumans is just bad, plain and simple.
06:22Everything from the writing to the pacing to the characters just doesn't work to say
06:26nothing of the visual effects.
06:28Inhumans is clearly bursting at the seams of its network TV budget, which begs the question,
06:33Why did they think they could adapt this space opera in the first place?
06:45Number 14, Joey
06:55The secret ingredient to Friends is that, at the end of the day, they are just that,
07:00with an S as in plural.
07:02At a fundamental level, isolating Joey and shipping him to Hollywood for his own show
07:07is the exact opposite route a spinoff like this should have taken.
07:11Unfortunately, that's the least of Joey's problems.
07:14Despite Matt LeBlanc's committed work in the role, the series reduces its title character
07:18to a cringeworthy hodgepodge of its most annoying traits.
07:30Even for a sitcom, it's no laughing matter.
07:32Really, the entirety of Joey just feels like a cash grab from start to finish.
07:37Which isn't just disappointing, it's outright disrespectful to Friends' legacy.
07:52Number 13, Work It
08:01It's 2012, times are tough, and Leigh and Angel need to get a job to support their families.
08:07So like any self-respecting adult, they go back to school, network, and walk into the
08:12sunset better for it.
08:14PSYCH!
08:15They have the supremely awful idea to cross-dress as women, assuming their new-presenting gender
08:20will save them from layoffs.
08:31It's hard to even begin to break down Work It's horrible, ill-advised premise.
08:35It manages to offend women, the trans experience, and the economy all in one fell swoop.
08:40Honestly, it's kind of impressive, more so since Work It is the rare program that
08:45grows more problematic with age.
08:53Number 12, Galactica 1980
09:02Ten episodes of disappointment and missed opportunities, as it were.
09:06Galactica 1980 was the result of a largely unprecedented write-in campaign after the
09:111978 science fiction show Battlestar Galactica was canceled by ABC.
09:16Reconsidering their decision, ABC ordered a pilot for a sequel series, one that would
09:20pick up 30 years after the original show's final episode.
09:27Unfortunately, what came to small screens was less than stellar.
09:33Galactica 1980 was largely set on Earth in the 1980s.
09:37Much of the original cast was absent, and a plan focused on time travel was scrapped
09:41after the pilot.
09:42Truly a shame.
09:43Dwight Schrute would be livid.
09:55Number 11, Bleep My Dad Says
09:57Don't let the star-billing fool you.
10:06William Shatner didn't take viewers where no man has gone before.
10:10He took them right to sleep.
10:11The first sign of trouble appears in this sitcom's first episode.
10:15Henry, in a desperate ploy to find work as a writer, mines material from his father's
10:19politically incorrect tirades.
10:21Immediately.
10:22The show feels like a fantasy, since it's impossible to find any amusement from Ed's
10:27incomprehensible rants.
10:28But the worst part is, that's the show's one and only joke.
10:39Every episode is just another excuse for Shatner's character to blow off steam with
10:44childish tantrums, rinse and repeat.
10:47It's no wonder Bleep My Dad Says only lasted one season.
10:58Number 10, The Amazing Spider-Man
11:00There are a lot of things Spider-Man can do, but this was not one of them.
11:13Spanning 13 episodes, The Amazing Spider-Man began simply as a TV movie establishing university
11:19student Peter Parker as the titular super-powered crime fighter.
11:23It then got picked up for a limited five-episode order, and was drastically changed in season
11:28two.
11:29Introducing more stories grounded in reality, and toning down Peter Parker's powers to
11:41appeal to an adult audience.
11:43We can't honestly say it worked, however, especially given that the show was cancelled
11:47soon after the second season ended.
11:56Number 9, Mulaney
12:05John Mulaney is undeniably a gifted stand-up comedian, but an actor he is not.
12:10The fact becomes abundantly clear in Mulaney, a trope-ridden half-hour comedy built around
12:15its titular leading man.
12:17Then again, it's possible the writing is to blame.
12:20After all, the stories are all half-baked rip-offs of things you've seen elsewhere,
12:24usually with a few extra eye-rolling jokes on top.
12:34If Martin Short couldn't sell those punchlines, John Mulaney had no chance.
12:38It's a shame the comedian isn't as magnetic on screen as he is on stage, but at the very
12:44least, Mulaney's quick cancellation gave him an express ticket back to the stand-up
12:48mic.
12:49Number 8, Homeboys in Outer Space
13:06Somewhere down the line, poor execution got in the way of interesting themes.
13:10Comedians Flex and Daryl Bell starred in this sitcom about a pair of 23rd century astronauts
13:15traveling the universe in their winged car.
13:24Seemingly intended as a parody or homage to earlier science fiction shows, Homeboys in
13:29Outer Space was hit with low ratings and criticism of its quality, even being protested by the
13:34NAACP.
13:36Roles performed by the likes of James Doohan and cameos by George Takei couldn't help
13:40the short-lived program.
13:47Number 7, Manimal
13:59He may be a master of the secrets that divide man from animal, but he's not so much a
14:04master of television.
14:06Manimal, which aired on NBC, briefly chronicled the adventures of Dr. Jonathan Chase, a wealthy
14:11young man with the power to shapeshift into any animal.
14:14Chase used this power to fight crime, working with Detective Brooke McKenzie to solve a
14:19number of cases.
14:30Though it certainly had a unique premise and special effects work by Stan Winston, the
14:34show struggled in its viewership and came to a close by its 8th episode.
14:47Number 6, Baywatch Nights
14:57When something becomes popular, naturally there must be a spinoff for it.
15:02At least, we imagine that's the thinking behind Baywatch Nights, an offshoot of the
15:06show Baywatch.
15:07David Hasselhoff and Gregory Allen Williams reprised their roles as Mitch Buchanan and
15:11Garner Ellerby, respectively, with the duo operating as private detectives.
15:24All well and good, except the show suddenly shifted from detective stories to science
15:29fiction for season 2.
15:30A change intended to boost struggling ratings.
15:33Lacking the staying power of the original show, Baywatch Nights soon met its end.
15:46Number 5, Cavemen
15:57For some asinine reason, this television series was based on a commercial.
16:01And boy can you tell.
16:03Cavemen's schnick was too annoying and one note to last a whole season.
16:07But that sure didn't stop ABC from trying.
16:10For their trouble, they aired one of the absolute biggest train wrecks in television history.
16:24Not only was it a boring mess of overused gags, Cavemen also tried to tackle discrimination.
16:30Except, exploring racial tensions doesn't work when you're standing for minority groups
16:34or literal Neanderthals.
16:37Those who didn't watch were outraged and those that did were left bored out of their
16:41minds.
16:42No matter how you cut it, no one likes Cavemen.
16:52Number 4, The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange
17:03It might be telling that the lead character has the word annoying in his name.
17:07Based on a popular YouTube series, The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange follows
17:12the titular orange and his sentient fruit friends in their everyday lives at a supermarket.
17:17While it managed to average 2.5 million viewers in its first two weeks, the show was critically
17:21panned for its crude humor and obnoxious nature.
17:31After two seasons and 60 episodes, the Cartoon Network elected to cancel it, a decision we
17:36imagine was widely accepted.
17:47Number 3, Fred the Show
17:58Again, what works on YouTube doesn't always translate well to television.
18:03Case in point, Fred the Show.
18:05Based on a web series by Lucas Cruikshank, follows hyperactive teenager Fred Figglehorn
18:10in his daily life and adventures with friends.
18:20What makes the show unique, while also working to its detriment, is Fred himself, with his
18:25obnoxious and unreal behavior.
18:27Critics were quick to deride the show and Fred's part in it, with viewership dropping
18:31as the first season continued.
18:33Eventually, the end had to come for Fred.
18:43Number 2, My Mother the Car
18:50Equal parts bizarre and poorly constructed, nothing feels quite as unsuccessful as this
18:55fantasy sitcom.
18:56The premise is simple enough, attorney David Crabtree buys a used 1928 Porter touring car,
19:02only to discover it is the reincarnation of his dead mother Gladys.
19:06From there, it's a series of misadventures where Crabtree guards his mother car from
19:10the persistent collector Captain Manzini.
19:20Critics and viewers alike pan the show, and we understand.
19:24The show's entire concept comes across as alienating and more than a little illogical.
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19:53Number 1, Heil Honey I'm Home
20:06This show is exactly what you think.
20:08It's a classic home-style comedy starring history's own Adolf Hitler.
20:12There's been a lot, and we mean a lot, of bad ideas tossed around in television history.
20:18But this one has to be the worst.
20:20Who in their right mind thought a spoof of Nazi home life made for a good primetime TV?
20:35To really rub it in, this Hitler lives next to a Jewish couple, and as you can imagine,
20:40he has a lot of feelings about that.
20:43Crude, tasteless, and distinctly lacking in laughs, it's a mercy Heil Honey I'm Home
20:48only ever broadcast a single episode.
20:50Although even that feels like too much.
21:01Which of these television misfires deserve a second chance?
21:04Let us know why it's homeboys in outer space.