Ep 157: My Own Worst Enemy, The Worst TV We’ve Ever Seen

This week we are the Bad News Boxcutters with the Christian Slater vehicle My Own Worst Enemy, there’s a discussion of some of the worst television we’ve ever seen and we’d like you to leave comments with your list, and to top it off there’s also a quick Crap TV.

This week’s Crumpler prize is sensational and the question is a toughy.

Also hear all the television news and pork of the week.

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9 Comments

  1. Kicking off the Brown Age of TV, on Senor Sock’s site you’ll find his response to TV Guide’s list of the 50 worst TV shows:
    1. The Jerry Springer Show (syndicated, 1991-present)
    2. My Mother The Car (NBC, 1965-66)
    3. XFL (NBC, UPN and TNN, 2001)
    4. The Brady Bunch Hour (ABC, 1977)
    5. Hogan’s Heroes (CBS, 1965-71)
    6. Celebrity Boxing (Fox, 2002-present)
    7. AfterMASH (CBS, 1983-84)
    8. Cop Rock (ABC, 1990)
    9. You’re in the Picture (CBS, 1961)
    10. Hee Haw Honeys (syndicated, 1978-79)
    11. The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer (UPN, 1998)
    12. Hello Larry (NBC, 1979-80)
    13. Twenty-One (NBC, 1956-58)
    14. Baby Bob (CBS, 2002-present)
    15. Manimal (NBC, 1983)
    16. The Chevy Chase Show (Fox, 1993)
    17. Casablanca (NBC, 1983)
    18. The Ugliest Girl in Town (ABC, 1968-69)
    19. The P.T.L. Club (syndicated, 1976-87)
    20. The Pruitts of Southampton (ABC, 1966-67)
    21. Baywatch (NBC and syndicated, 1989-2001)
    22. The Powers of Matthew Star (NBC, 1982-83)
    23. Sammy and Company (syndicated, 1975-77)
    24. One of the Boys (NBC, 1982)
    25. Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire? (Fox, 2000)
    26. Life with Lucy (ABC, 1986)
    27. Turn-On (ABC, 1969)
    28. Supertrain (NBC, 1979)
    29. Howard Stern (E!, 1994-present)
    30. Unhappily Ever After (WB, 1995-99)
    31. Homeboys in Outer Space (UPN, 1996-97)
    32. Co-Ed Fever (CBS, 1979)
    33. Holmes & Yoyo (ABC, 1976)
    34. Alexander the Great (ABC, 1968)
    35. Pink Lady…and Jeff (NBC, 1980)
    36. The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo (NBC, 1979-81)
    37. Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell (ABC, 1975-76)
    38. Hell Town (NBC, 1985)
    39. Still the Beaver (Disney Channel, 1985-86)
    40. Makin’ It (ABC, 1979)
    41. The Tom Green Show (MTV, 1999-2000)
    42. The Flying Nun (ABC, 1967-70)
    43. Woops! (Fox, 1992)
    44. She’s the Sheriff (syndicated, 1987-89)
    45. A.K.A. Pablo (ABC, 1984)
    46. Me and the Chimp (CBS, 1972)
    47. Rango (ABC, 1967)
    48. Bless this House (CBS, 1995-96)
    49. The Ropers (ABC, 1979-80)
    50. Barney & Friends (PBS, 1992-present)

    Food for thought… What’s on your list? Let us know – mail us through our contact form your thoughts

  2. I quite enjoyed forgetting completely about Still the Beaver. Picking up a turgid mess of a show that just happened to resonate with people in the ’60s and reviving it as a turgid mess of a show that would have resonated with people in the ’60s if it weren’t already the ’80s is bad enough an idea, but filling it with wall-to-wall mawkish plots and non-jokes served only to highlight the horrifically rubbish acting by the Beaver guy who – believe it or not – was actually upstaged by the guy who played his older brother so badly in the ’60s.

  3. I never know why people make up these ‘worst of’ lists, especially of TV shows when you can flick channels so easily. Do you mean TV shows that are so popular you wonder to yourself why you Just Don’t Like it?

    That said, I nominate The Office and Little Britain as the shows that I tried to like but just couldn’t.

  4. As long as I don’t have the stomach to attempt Stupid and NotVeryFunny Courier Company or whatever the fuck it’s called, Pizza will remain the worst TV show I’ve ever seen.

    Of course, if it’s a question of the Worst TV Show You’ve Ever Enjoyed, that’s an entirely different kettle of fish. I was, at one time, almost addicted to Silk Stalkings and to this day, I can’t quite fathom why.

    But at least we now have an answer to the perennial question, What do Barney and Friends, The Jerry Springer Show and My Mother the Car have in common? I’m not sure what the hell Hogan’s Heroes is doing on that list I have no idea, but then it has been many a long year, and quite possibly puberty, since I last saw it.

  5. Everyone and their absolutes…. To Senor Socks and John Richards (he of the definite article), THERE ARE NO ABSOLUTES… which, in itself, kind of sounds like an absolute, so what’s that all about?!
    Senor Socks’ list should be titled, 50 Shows I Hated And I Don’t Care Whether They Were Popular Or Not.

    and I agree with Josh – Cop Rock was an utter cack.

    @iann: I couldn’t watch The Office either, but I suspect I might enjoy it now. Gareth Keenan’s website always gave me a giggle.
    “Thanks for checking out Gareth Keenan’s website. I am he.”
    Little Britaiin got a bit tedious with the same characters doing the same gag week after week; however, there were moments of brilliance.

  6. Hey Josh – thanks for the shout-out and, yeah, MadTV does both suck and blow.
    You’ll also be pleased to know that since we had our disagreement re: SNL, I kinda don’t find SNL that funny any more. You have amazing powers of persuasion.
    As for worst TV, re: some of the offerings already put out there by other listeners, I agree with “Little Britain” – could never get into it, though I do recognise “The Office’s” genius (but to get a little sacrilicious, I’m more of a fan of The American “The Office”…) “Hogan’s Heroes” may be dumb, but it’s gold. Pizza et al bite the big one.
    Surprised there’s not more reality TV in that list – stuff like “The Bachelor” and their kind were/are the blight of the TV world (though I could potentially watch “MILF Island”…)
    And we’ve gotta put “Family Guy” in the worst TV box, don’t we? Let’s start that again!

  7. Well, I have foxtel, so there are waaaay too many crap reality and poor lifestyle shows…

    Also, I guess we can forgive Senor SockWa for not adding an Australian Wing to the Hall of Shame; allow me to rectify this –

    – “the Bob Morrison show” (still the gold-standard in crap Aussie sitcoms; by comparison, Hey Dad was formulaic but nonetheless Perfectly Acceptable Comedy(tm)
    – “Mother and Son” (my GOD, I hated that show)
    – “All Together Now”
    – Pretty much anything with Garry Who.
    – Or Franky J. Holden.
    – “Countdown: Revolution” (sorry, JimBob Young – but when ‘Chook’ was the breakout star, well…)
    – “Sports Tonight” (ie ‘how to suck the life out of human achievement by dragging everything back to the mediocre)
    – ‘Whatever that gameshow Greg Evans left “Perfect Match” to go do’ was
    – for that matter, the ‘Perfect Match’ remake with Cameron Daddo
    – John ‘Burgo’ Burgess’s “Catchprase”. Never did see ANYONE get a single answer right. Pedants of the world, unite!
    – “Funky Squad”(whilst ‘Frontline’ bored me to tears – I honestly believe that you, me, my dog Spot, ANYONE could have written the script for that show. But again, ‘Perfectly Acceptable Comedy(tm)’. Funky Squad, though – total misfire on all counts)
    – “Chances” pretty much deserves a nod just for hyping itself as “yay us – nudity’ before it aired, then taking about 8 episodes to get to the goodies. On behalf of all us (then) horny teenage boys who were waiting anxiously – you bastards.

    – “Hey Hey it’s Saturday” – but only the last 5 seasons, when they completely gave up even pretending to change up the formula.
    (No shame in being in a rut after twenty-five years, I guess – and I still defend Hey Hey as being the perfect show for it’s timeslot (long story short; no segment over ten minutes, no ongoing plot to lose track of if you turn up late after the footy/ go hit the shower before going out/ duck down the road for fish’n’chips). Perfect for a Saturday night.
    But those last few years… whew, what stinkers*
    (the first ten years are still gold, and well worth a youtube or two)

    * sorry, Wilbur

  8. elizabethdhill says:

    The $130-million film, which is playing on 3,000 screens earned less than the $6-million Fahrenheit 9/11, which disney acting auditions Disney rejected, earned in its opening on fewer than 900 screens. Indeed, on a per-theater basis Wednesday King Arthur and Fahrenheit took in about the same amount of money. Fahrenheit's gross now stands at $66.6 million.

  9. elizabethdhill says:

    The $130-million film, which is playing on 3,000 screens earned less than the $6-million Fahrenheit 9/11, which disney acting auditions Disney rejected, earned in its opening on fewer than 900 screens. Indeed, on a per-theater basis Wednesday King Arthur and Fahrenheit took in about the same amount of money. Fahrenheit's gross now stands at $66.6 million.

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