Try as they might, but it is truly impossible for all TV shows to end up a masterpiece. The following 45 shows have all been considered the worst of the worst! We just hope that your favorite TV show did not make it to the list… We apologize if this ever happens, but we are just out here to speak the facts. This was what the critics had to say, after all.
Critics Say These Are The Worst TV Shows To Have Ever Graced The Small Screen
The Jerry Springer Show
A TV reviewer called it “the worst show in the history of television,” but it enjoyed a surprisingly long run. It debuted in 1991 and enjoyed 27 seasons with 3,800 episodes. With episode titles like “Your Groom Is A Cheater,” “A Man Marries A Horse,” and “I’m Leaving My Baby Mama,” it’s no high-brow entertainment. Even Springer himself said, “I would never watch my show.” Do with that what you will.
The Jerry Springer Show
My Mother The Car
In case you are not familiar with this comedy series, it did not have much going for it that the title does not already say. An attorney and family man bought a vintage car that actually happens to be the reincarnation of his late mother. She talks to him through the radio, which brings in a lot of laughs. Well, this is the idea behind it. The showrunners skipped the laugh track and left the viewers very confused. It also had serious tones, so it was hard for people to figure out which were meant as jokes instead.
My Mother The Car
Cop Rock
Have you noticed just how many crime procedurals are on the air? It feels like there is a series for each area of interest. However, this genre does not really need a cop show with show tunes, which explains why this show got the ax. One of the weirdest performances on the show involved an addicted mother who sang about the baby she was selling for $200. Steven Bocho shared the wisdom he learned after working on the show: “Don’t put music in a cop show. Don’t have characters burst into song.”
Cop Rock
AfterMASH
The spinoff of M*A*S*H is nothing but an ill-advised sequel set in a veteran’s hospital. It brought three of the original cast members back to our TVs. It explored similar themes to its predecessor, so it was rather redundant. TIME Magazine included this show in its list of “100 Worst Ideas of The Century.” Yikes! This show is definitely a far cry from the highly-rated TV show.
AfterMASH
The Flying Nun
There is so much for us to unpack here that we are at a loss about where to start. This show stars the talented Sally Field and features a nun who, well, has the ability to fly. Sister Bertrille wore a habit that came with “wings,” which meant that a huge gust of wind would send her flying. Once you suspend your disbelief, it is still unlikely that its slapstick humor will entertain you. Even the Academy Award winner said that she is still embarrassed about having hopped aboard such an absurd project.
The Flying Nun
Hello, Larry
Just because a show was a huge hit does not mean that anything tangentially related would do well. Take a look at this, which starred McLean Stevenson AKA Lt. Col. Henry Blake in M*A*S*H. This show features a radio talk show host who skips LA to move to Portland with his two daughters. The actor failed to get along with his coworkers, which was why the show was canceled after only two seasons on the air. Rolling Stone even said it went from “the great white hope to the butt of jokes.”
Hello, Larry
The Secret Diary Of Desmond Pfeiffer
Do you think that network executives will ever learn that there are certain things that should not be the theme of a sitcom? Slavery during pre-Civil War times sounds like a good example. This show focused on a black English noble who left England to run from gambling debts and works as a butler to Abraham Lincoln. The premise is even more preposterous because Lincoln was portrayed with stereotypical gay behavior, while the White House staff members were shown to be inept drunks. The NAACP protested the pilot episode, so we are not surprised to hear that it was pulled from the air after only 3 weeks.
The Secret Diary Of Desmond Pfeiffer
The Chevy Chase Show
Even though it had the makings of a success, this show crashed and burned instead. One of the original Saturday Night Live members, there were a lot of expectations for Chevy Chase. Time Magazine explained, “Nervous and totally at sea, Chase tried everything, succeeded at nothing.” Ken Tucker, a TV critic, gave it an F score. It was a good thing that this did not ruin the funnyman!
The Chevy Chase Show
Homeboys In Outer Space
Hold on tight because we are heading off to space with Ty Walker and Morris Clay of “Homeboy.” They traveled around in “Space Hoopty,” a cross between a 19-wheeler and a low-rider piloted by a computer called Loquatia. No, we are not kidding you at all. A critic said it was stunning with its “ineptitude and tastelessness.” Another said, “The writing, acting, and production feel merely sloppily indifferent.”
Homeboys In Outer Space
Cavemen
This show about three cavemen navigating daily life in San Diego confounded the critics. We do not know why anyone thought turning the popular Geico commercial into a half-hour sitcom would be good. The reviews were merciless. A New York Post critic said, “It became clear to me that Cavemen is extinct on arrival.” Variety said it was an “utterly bland exercise.” For the Boston Globe, the show was “among the stalest pieces of bread in the loaf…and it’s certainly the most tasteless.” Clearly, it had few fans.
Cavemen
Killer Instinct
Now, not all shows can achieve the same success that Law & Order: SVU did. However, this one did not even try at all. The San Francisco-based show followed Jack Hale of the SFPD Deviant Crime Unit and has been called “a mess” by the Miami Herald. The New York Times said it was “pervasively disappointing.” The San Francisco Chronicle went as far as to say, “As it stands, you won’t see any worse acting across the broadcast spectrum…The writing is atrocious. The series is horrifically bad.”
Killer Instinct
Woops!
Two kids playing at a parade accidentally activated a nuclear missile that wiped all of humanity with the sole exception of six quirky characters. No lie, this is the premise of this short-lived comedy show. It flopped and got axed after only one season with 13 episodes. Newsday said, “It could have been the funniest show in the world, if there was a nuclear war, really, and this was the only one show left.”
Woops!
Co-Ed Fever
This show never made it on the air, so don’t worry if you have never heard of it. The show was written as a frat house comedy that followed in the footsteps of Animal House, although it was not quite as funny. The episode called “Pepperoni Passion” had been aired as a “special preview” before it was supposed to debut. However, CBS decided to preemptively cancel it after it aired. How sad is that?
Co-Ed Fever
Baywatch
Before you bring out the pitchforks, listen to what we have to say. Just because it is popular does not mean that it is good. In 1989, TV critics were not impressed when it made its debut. As a matter of fact, it garnered such low ratings that NBC canceled it after the first season. It was moved to syndication, where it went on to survive for 10 seasons. In the review that appeared in the Miami Herald, they said it should have been titled “Sullying Sand ‘n’ Surf with Silly Stories” instead. It’s not quite as catchy, huh?
Baywatch
The Powers of Matthew Star
It might be sci-fi, but there are still boundaries one must respect. The show would have benefitted if it had a less is more mentality. It focused on a high school student who was also an alien prince from a planet called Quadris. It began to feel overstuffed through the first and last season when they made the main character and his alien guardian work as secret agents for the US government. This plotline did not achieve much than to confuse viewers and ultimately led to its cancellation.
The Powers Of Matthew Star
Galactica 1980
Viewers who were devastated by the cancellation of Battlestar Galactica conducted a write-in campaign and asked ABC to revive it. Their pleas were answered with this show, but it simply was not the same. The less expensive format did not suit the plot, and it only featured a couple of the original cast members. In the end, cutting costs brought the downfall of the show. It was axed after 10 episodes.
Galactica 1980
Black Scorpion
Darcy should have just focused on her day job. She was a normal cop by day but somehow drives a white Corvette instead of the standard black Ford Crown Victoria. It is not a regular Corvette since she turns into the Black Scorpion and her car turns into the Scorpionmobile by night. The script simply lacks substance. The Boston Herald said, “This series looks like a sad refuge for actors down on their luck.”
Black Scorpion
Ghost Whisperer
Newlywed Melinda Gordon is the owner of a newlywed who has her own antique store. Oh, let us not forget that she can see and talk to dead people as well. Her mission is to help spirits on earth finish their business here and then pass on at last. Even though some fans wanted it to stay on, the critics were not shy about expressing their opinions. The Philadelphia Inquirer said it was “Dim-bulb junk.”
Ghost Whisperer
Flying High
We hope you are ready to take off with Lisa, Marcy, and Pam from this show! It followed the three stewardesses who worked for a fictional airline called Sun West Airlines. While it had a pretty interesting premise, it was not a good idea to hire women with no acting experience whatsoever. The show did not become a TV hit, and people were more concerned about chewing it out. The show was thought to be exploitative. People Magazine chimed in to say that it showed women to be “curiously old-fashioned, if not stereotypical.” It was canceled after a single season on the air.
Flying High
Hogan’s Heroes
According to a number of outlets, this show failed to age well. The show was in the 5th spot on the TV Guide Worst Shows of All Time list. This show even won two Emmys during its run. It was about… a POW camp during the Second World War. In fact, its tagline was even, “If you liked World War II, you’ll love Hogan’s Heroes!” Comedy can be found in the most surprising places, but we think this is too much.
Hogan’s Heroes
The Brady Bunch Variety Hour
ABC had never heard of too much of a good thing, that much is clear. They should have left Brady Bunch alone, but they just had to make spinoffs like this one here. The premise was a show within a show wherein the family was chosen to star in an ABC variety show. It did not matter if they could not sing or dance. The only member of the cast wise enough to say no was Eve Plumb, who portrayed Jan.
The Brady Bunch Variety Hour
Hee Haw Honeys
Here is another terrible spin-off on the list. This is what networks get when they milk a show too much. Like Hee Haw, this featured performances by big-name country stars. However, it failed to get the same enthusiasm that the original show did. The program took place at a truck stop, and the “Honeys” referred to roadside diner waitresses played by Kathie Lee Gifford and Misty Rowe. The show came with the hillbilly cornpone humor that the original did, although it was a lot less funny.
Hee Haw Honeys
Manimal
If you ask us, this show was doomed to fail right from the start. It had to deal with a lot of competition for viewership since it was up against Dallas. With its silly premise, this show did not really stand a chance. It followed British professor Dr. Jonathan Chase, who had the ability to shapeshift into any creature. The plot is not the best, but it is not the worst either. Despite this, the show was bashed by critics and received a cancelation after its run of eight episodes.
Manimal
Life With Lucy
It breaks our heart to say this, but even people like Lucille Ball make mistakes. The show was just too outdated when it comes to material. The Washington Post did not mince words and said, “Reruns of Life With Lucy may have a future as a torture device for use on captured KGB agents and drug smugglers.”
Life With Lucy
Murphy’s Law
Murphy’s Law goes like this: anything that can go wrong will go wrong. This was true for the show! Insurance fraud investigator Daedalus Patrick Murphy was the main character on the show, although he failed to win viewers over. Newsday was not kind to the show and said, “A series so monumentally meaningless, so pathetically puerile, so irredeemably ridiculous that, within my limited professional context, it prompts the Biggest Question of them all: Why is there television?” That’s got to hurt.
Murphy’s Law
Dirty Dancing
Please keep in mind that we are talking about the TV show and not the beloved movie. With that out of the way, let us say that this is one more example that goes to show that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The Los Angeles Times failed to see the appeal of this show and went on to say that this program “plays like an extended shampoo commercial.” Ouch! It was extended only for 11 episodes before it got the ax.
Dirty Dancing
Work It
There were far too many issues with this ABC show that we do not know where to begin. Let us start with its premise. Two men need to dress as women to keep working in a terrible job market. It was not only unrealistic but also offensive. The show was heavily criticized by the LCBTQ community and TV critics, but this is completely reasonable. Can you believe that it was cancelled after only two episodes?
Work It
Inhumans
It seems like the movie adaptations of Marvel Comics are guaranteed to be huge box office hits. Sadly, the TV show adaptations often fare worse. This show only has an 11 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. A critic said it was “a complete failure – one of the worst that the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise has ever seen.” Meanwhile, Variety said, “Its only superpower is its sheer ineptitude.” It only took eight episodes for this show to get a cancelation order.
Inhumans
Dads
The one thing worse than being in your thirties and having your father live with you would be to make a TV show about it. This was what happened with this Fox sitcom starring Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild. Critics panned it from the day it got released. Dare we say that the criticisms were even funnier than the actual show? The Miami Herald said its humor had “the intelligence of an elementary school flatulence contest.” One critic said it was “aggressively predictable.” It even has a 0% score on Rotten Tomatoes!
Dads
Happy Hour
We don’t care how many discounted drinks we get, but nothing will convince us to watch this sitcom. It had a lot of promise since it was written by the same duo behind That 70’s Show. The plot followed two men as one of them tried to rebuild his life. Sadly, the show got such bad ratings that Fox only ever aired 4 episodes of 13. The Washington Post said seeing it was a “sheer, excruciating pain.”
Happy Hour
Rob
Rob Schneider gave us a lot of hope since he did star in Deuce Bigalow and Hot Chick. Sadly, this failed to live up to expectations. It focused on Rob, who marries into a Mexican-American family. However, it failed to get good ratings and even got lots of backlash. The Daily Beast even dubbed it the “worst new show.” It got criticized for its stereotypical portrayal of Mexican-Americans. USA Today even went as far as to call this show “leftover and second rate.”
Rob
Knight Rider
The original TV series came out in 1982 and enjoyed a run of four seasons. Sadly, the 2008 rendition failed to be as big of a hit. The new remake was received so poorly that it was only on the air for half a year. There were many issues with the revival. For one thing, lead actor Justin Bruening failed to live up to the expectations that David Hasselhoff set when he played the same character. The Chicago Tribune said that it was an “almost hilariously cheesy remake of the David Hasselhoff original.”
Knight Rider
October Road
This nighttime soap opera held the time slot that came after Grey’s Anatomy. Where exactly did it go wrong? This show was about a man who returns home after penning a book about the place. The show was on the air for exactly one year before it got axed. The Chicago Tribune said that the dialogue was able to “be leaden, preposterous and pretentious all at once.”
October Road
Unan1mous
This was one of the shows that only had 22 minutes an episode but thought that it went on for a lifetime. For all the haters of this reality TV show, it must’ve been a godsend to hear it only lasted one season with 8 episodes. The show locked 9 strangers in a bunker without technology or the chance to leave. In order to get out, they must unanimously decide who gets to leave with the grand prize money. If any of them left prematurely, the prize money was going to get halved. The Miami Herald said that it “makes a solid bid to win the Most Unpleasant Reality Show of All Time award.”
Unan1mous
$#*! My Dad Says
It must be difficult to turn a William Shatner production into something hard, but this show did the trick. Based ff a hilarious Twitter thread by Justin Halpern, the show had lots of promise at the start. Sadly, it did not get great reviews. Slant Magazine said it was “dismal” and claimed that it “harbors the worst qualities of every lame, four-camera, laugh-tracked sitcom on television.” It was canceled a season later.
$#*! My Dad Says
The Pick-Up Artist
VH1 found a man called “Mystery” wearing steampunk goggles and a top hat before thinking to themselves, “This would be the perfect man to teach other men how to ‘pick up’ women!” We have no idea how this even happened, but it is easily one of the biggest television show fails that we have ever seen. The show lived on to see a second season before it was canceled at long last.
The Pick-Up Artist
For The Love Of Ray J
There is nothing new about having numerous women live in a house to compete for a man. Many shows have seen success with a premise like that, although this one was a flop. VH1 decided to give it a shot with Ray J. The downfall of the show lies in the fact that he was not a compelling front man whatsoever. It lasted two seasons. Joanna “Cocktail” Hernandez and Connie “Mz. Berry” Deveaux were the winners.
For The Love Of Ray J
The Phyllis Diller Show
Are you thinking about what could possibly go wrong when you have a famous actress and stand-up comedian? The Pruitts of Southampton show was meant to be similar to I Love Lucy, but it failed to get a lot of love when it was on the air. It got low ratings, so ABC tried changing its name to feature another more prominent talent. The ratings did not improve even after they rebranded it as The Phyllis Diller Show. The show was canceled after 30 episodes.
The Phyllis Diller Show
The Ugliest Girl In Town
We do not even know where to begin with this one. The plot sounds as good as any. This ABC sitcom was pitched as the story of a man called Timothy who was mistaken for a woman and then offered a modeling job. He decided to start calling himself “Timmie” and kept going with the deception to pay off his loan. However, ABC had a hard time keeping up with this show. It was not only canceled after a season, but it did not even get to the season finale. Three episodes went unaired instead.
The Ugliest Girl In Town
Baby Bob
There are times when the concept of talking babies can work for a TV show. Rugrats was able to pull it off, but you cannot say the same thing for this CBS show about a pair of parents who realize that their 6-month-old baby can speak! The most jarring part of this show was that the studio used real babies and used technology to move their mouths. They were also given adult voiceovers. Creepy, we know. The reviews asked stuff like, “Why?” “What happened?” and “Why not just poke my eyes out with a stick?”
Baby Bob
Modern Men
This show did not have such a terrible premise. Warner Brother Television thought of bringing together three fictional men seeking a life coach to help them navigate their lives. In the end, the critics went on to say that the show needed help as well. USA Today said it was “yet another terrible WB sitcom that should have never been made.” Meanwhile, the New York Daily News said it was “a waste of money and time.” It was only on the air for a season with only seven episodes.
Modern Men
Rules of Engagement
Here was yet another promising show that ended up blowing it. This CBS sitcom was produced by Happy Madison Productions and enjoyed a run of seven seasons. However, this does not necessarily mean that it was good television. While the show managed to garner a fan base, critics bashed it. USA Today said, “Rules is one of those sitcoms that makes people who hate sitcoms hate sitcoms.” The jokes were so predictable that Salon Magazine said, The story lines are every bit as insufferable as the punch lines.”
Rules Of Engagement
Painkiller Jane
The Sci Fi Channel soon learned that it is hard to get comic book TV shows right. Take a look at this show, which came out in 2007. It got cancelled after 22 episodes. It followed the story of Jane, a DEA Agent, who could survive extreme circumstances. Even though she will feel the pain from the injury, it will never be fatal. Unfortunately for the critics, they were the ones who felt the pain of watching it.
Painkiller Jane
Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders
We all know that Criminal Minds is the cream of the crop when it comes to crime shows. However, this spin-off series is not quite as impressive. It focused on American victims abroad. The spin-off was not received well by critics. The Los Angeles Times said, “Imagine the situation reversed – a show in which tourists to America were continually victimized in horrific ways – and you would see the problem.” It was also criticized for being not just “bland” but also “xenophobic.”
Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders
The War At Home
This Fox sitcom came out on September 11, 2005. It had always been deemed controversial. It followed a Long Island family and their family drama. The only entertaining part of the show was the reviews that came out after it debuted. The show had moments that broke the fourth wall, which were simply cringe-worthy. The Boston Globe said that it had “absolutely nothing going for it.” Meanwhile, the Orlando Sentinel said it was “a coarse, exceedingly obnoxious show.” The Chicago Sun-Times declared, “If this is America, I want out.”
The War At Home