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April 3, 2024 6:18 am  #1


TV Guide's Worst 50 Shows Of All Time

Surprisingly, I've heard of - and I'm ashamed to admit even seen - most of them, although some of the picks seem pretty questionable.

The Jackie Gleason Show in the Top 10 of the worst of the worst? All I know is it was one of my late dad's favourite shows and if it made him happy every Saturday night, that was good enough for me. 

And while I agree Hogan's Heroes may have been one of the most horrible ideas in TV history, there's no denying it was a huge hit.

The interface is a bit clunky, but if you're curious what the one-time Bible of Television choose as being absolutely awful, you can find the long list here.

 

April 3, 2024 9:21 am  #2


Re: TV Guide's Worst 50 Shows Of All Time

This is fun to go through, and I admit I have seen a good chunk of them too. I wish they gave the air dates for all of them though. Thanks for sharing RA!

 

April 3, 2024 11:35 am  #3


Re: TV Guide's Worst 50 Shows Of All Time

I would not have said The Jackie Gleason show, Baywatch, The Flying Nun and Hogan's Heroes were among the top 50 worst shows.  Otherwise I agree with pretty well all the others.
Although as a little kid I remember liking Manimal.  It was only seeing it in reruns years later did I realize how awful it was.
If this was a Canadian list it would no doubt place The Trouble With Tracey high 

 

April 3, 2024 11:37 am  #4


Re: TV Guide's Worst 50 Shows Of All Time

This one wasn't on the list, but should have been. It only aired once in 1990 - and with good reason.  

But in the overall list of the worst ever, it has to be #1!

     Thread Starter
 

April 3, 2024 12:34 pm  #5


Re: TV Guide's Worst 50 Shows Of All Time

The Tom Green Show?! I know he had his time in the spotlight in the early 2000s, but I remember watching his Rogers Cable show in Ottawa in the mid-90s. It was hilarious - of course, I was of an age to appreciate silly humour and pranks at the time. One show, part way through the episode, he took out a chainsaw and cut his desk in half 😄

 

April 3, 2024 9:50 pm  #6


Re: TV Guide's Worst 50 Shows Of All Time

No, they were actually talking about The Jackie Gleason Show, the variety hour which aired from Miami every Saturday night. I'm not sure what their objection was to it, but it was definitely not "You're In The Picture," although that's historic for only airing twice - once with the game show and again for Jackie's follow-up apology for laying "the biggest bomb in the history of television."

If you've never seen it, it's a half hour of Gleason ad libbing and it's definitely worth watching a master at work in a very unusual one-time-only circumstance.

     Thread Starter
 

April 4, 2024 3:23 pm  #7


Re: TV Guide's Worst 50 Shows Of All Time

It's a bit of a strange list and like a lot of these lists there's no particular rationale - it's largely subjective. There are also some sloppy picture selections - for example 48. Bless This House - is about the 1995  Andrew Dice Clay series from CBS but the picture is from the British series from the 70s starring Sid James - who looks nothing like Dice Clay. I don't know whose picture is accompanying #45 AKA Pablo but it's definitely not the show's star Paul Rodriguez. 

I agree about the Jackie Gleason Show - I assumed they must have been talking about You're In The Picture but no, it's the Gleason's entire 20 year run. You can certainly argued the show became tired and old-fashioned by the late 60s but when Gleason was at the top of his game in the 50s it really was a classic - at least from the reruns that one of the cable stations was running a few years ago and the material you can find on YouTube. And why go after Gleason and ignore Bob Hope whose TV specials continued for decades after they ceased to be funny or interesting (if they were ever that - I watched a few of this 1950s shows on one of the streamers and they were pretty bad. The only thing I've ever found Hope mildly amusing in is some of his Road pictures. 

 

April 4, 2024 4:07 pm  #8


Re: TV Guide's Worst 50 Shows Of All Time

I'm glad that I'm not the only one who abhorred the abomination that was "Home Boyz in Outer Space".