The Olsens were underage, pawns in the emotional pornography ring of Full House. Bob Saget, however, must pay with his life.
I want to make a special call-out here for some of the worst popular programming in TV history, particularly the worst, insufferable situation comedies of all time. But worst probably isn't quite the right word. Lots of cheap, shoddy shows are made — but some of these I'm thinking of sometimes have some passing spark of wit. But any possible artistic merits are drowned out by egregious offenses against Geometry and Theology.…
Article comments
— go to most recent comments26 - Rodney Welch
Al, Comedy is subjective, I think; it either makes you laugh or it doesn't, and I don't think you can talk someone into laughing at a sitcom. In that regard, a persuasive article is out, and at any rate this isn't a subject about which I feel the requisite amount of passion. Suffice to say, I've laughed a lot at the shows you hate, and we may have to just leave it at that.
27 - Albar Suger
I have to disagree with you, Barger. I personally think Arrested Development was brilliant. I find it hilarious how you ask what the punch line of Bluth homes getting cut is, and yet, I don't really see the point of listing the ten worst sitcoms is. Maybe to bash AD some more or maybe to stroke your ego...?
28 - Al Barger
Rodney, this gets back to an ongoing theme with me, the objective vs the subjective in art.
You're certainly right that there is a subjective element to comedy. If it makes YOU laugh, then it's funny. Different people have different experiences that effect your response. Granny Clampett reminds me a lot of my beloved grandmother, so they start out way ahead of the game.
On the other hand, there are plenty of more objective considerations. I might get more out of the Clampetts than a city boy would, but there's actually something there to get. The show was pretty well executed within its parameters.
Whereas Full House just sucked. There really wasn't anything to that. Maybe some girls wanted to dote on the manchild uncles or something, but the writing and characters, etc, was objectively pretty crappy.
I don't know that I would expect to talk someone into finding something funny, but perhaps pointing out what I'm seeing will show someone something that they've missed. Then again, some Blogcritic might come back making a big case for why Cosby was the greatest sitcom Dad ever.
Also, I just noticed a small point in the editing of my original article which causes me to want to gently and lovingly mock whatever editor monkey was responsible. Specifically, the sentence "The idea's way dumber even than John Ritter's fag act on Three's Company" became "homosexual act." Weenie, weenie, weenie!
29 - Victor Plenty
Watch out, Al. Next thing you know, you'll be apologizing over an expensive dinner to some representatives from the Simian-American Defamatory Defense Legal Education Society for that "editor monkey" jibe.
30 - Al Barger
Thanks Victor. Now I'm having visions of myself cast in the Geico caveman commercial, addressing SADDLES reps over roast duck with mango salsa, "Seriously, I didn't realize you guys were even still around."
31 - TV Junkie
Very interesting list.
I agree with …
Friends.
Yes, Friends has to be one of the worst shows ever made. I tried to sit through an entire episode on multiple occasions to see what the fuss was about and just couldn't; the show sucked that bad. And everybody made such a big friggin deal about how gorgeous Jennifer Aniston was. Sure, she’s pretty, but I see prettier women every day; she’s just not all that. More importantly, she’s not a very good actress.
Sex and the City.
Awful show, completely unlikable unfunny characters. Is this a comedy? A drama? Cuz it’s neither funny nor dramatic nor erotic. Middle age sluts in the city deciding who to screw … oooh how scandalous … big whoop-dee-doo! Good call on this one.
Full House.
Disturbingly bad TV. Ok, it was supposed to be cute, whatever. But it was so horribly badly written and moronic, I fear I am just a little bit dumber for having watched a few minutes of it here and there. How did this crap get on the air and stay on the air!!??
I disagree with …
Everybody Loves Raymond …
I actually liked this show; I don’t know how someone could put this decent show in same league as Friends or Full House. The overbearing interfering mother-in-law Marie, the crude, jaded, mannerless Frank, jealous and awkward “Robbie”, Amy and her eccentric puritanical family, these were all humorous, likable, and memorable characters. The show worked for me (maybe because Frank and Marie remind me of my parents).
The Cosby Show.
The show was a bland moralistic show trying to paint a positive, classy, palatable image of a Black urban family. And it did this well. Ok, the show definitely wasn’t exactly poignant in any way or laugh-out-loud funny, but it had its moments. At worst it was an average family sitcom. It really sounds like the Cliff Huxtable character just really gets under Mr. Barger’s skin (understandable). Still, this show comes nowhere close to Full House in terms of horrible TV family sitcoms; Full House sets the standard.
Coach.
Another average sitcom. I kinda liked the old dopey assistant coach character. Ok, not great TV, but definitely not has horrible as Full House. But this show lasted nine seasons?? Didn’t seem like the show was on that long. Ok, there’s no way the show deserved nine seasons, so I’ll give Mr. Barger points for that :)
32 - Victor Plenty
Every day, you see women prettier than Jennifer Aniston? Out of purely idle curiosity, TV Junkie, what city do you live in?
And what sort of rent might one expect to pay on a studio apartment there?
Just asking.
33 - Al Barger
TV Junkie, thank you for your detailed commentary. This is just the kind of point by point response I like to see.
From other work, I'd rate Jennifer Aniston a decent actress, though I don't see why she would be considered so exceptionally beautiful. I have vague positive feelings about her as a person. It's just that she made her name in such an awful excuse for a show.
34 - TV Junkie
Well since you ask, I live in the Santa Monica/West LA area of Southern California. $1300 - $2200 a month for a 1 person studio apartment.
Mind you, I work on the same block as a Playboy office and in the summertime, scantily clad hotties are out in full force so maybe my experience is not representative of other U.S. locales.
My point is that if Jennifer Aniston were not famous and she was walking down the street, I'd think "Hey, that's a pretty lady" ... I'm not sure why some guys make her out to be some kind of amazing unearthly goddess (fame does strange things to peoples perceptions maybe). I just get tired of hearing about a person who's nothing more than just another pretty face with mediocre talent. She's definitely not worth sitting through a really bad sitcom to catch glimpses of (unless she's going to be naked or something :))
Errr .. well anyways, my point is that Mr. Al Barger is correct in stating that Friends sucks.
35 - Victor Plenty
Well, you won't have to worry about having me as a neighbor anytime soon, TV Junkie. In my town, studio apartments start under $300 a month. I'm paying a bit more for a 2-bedroom, but certainly won't be able to afford $1300+ in the foreseeable future.
As for Ms. Aniston, I'd recommend you see some of her other work to gain an appreciation for her comic timing.
36 - Douglas Mays
Well then, how about "My Mother the Car"? I guess I'm showing my age...
37 - Al Barger
I've heard of My Mother the Car for years, but I've never seen it. I'd LOVE to see what the hell that was all about. Heck, after all these years, I'd about pay money to see this, but it is not available on video best I can tell.
38 - Baronius
Al, you like point-by-point responses? Excellent. This looks like fun. But first, if I could address the objective/subjective question, how about this: humor is subjective, but wit is objective. A good sitcom like The Office (US) doesn't make me laugh with every line, but I can enjoy it anyway. I respect its smarts. On the other hand, even a funny bit on Raymond feels cheap.
Cosby - I agree, to the extent that I'm familiar with it. I don't think I ever made it through a full episode. It was just dull.
Will and Grace - Yes, this show belongs on a Worst list, but don't forget about some of NBC's other filler material, like Caroline in the City and Suddenly Susan.
Raymond - Awful, but not in the way you describe. It's the standard "Moron and Shrew" sitcom, which dates back to The Honeymooners. He's dumb and lazy! She's angry and won't let him have sex! That's not modern; that's older than dirt.
Arrested Development - I agree. There have been quite a few witty one-camera no-laugh-track sitcoms recently, but this wasn't one of them. Malcolm and Scrubs could bury this show.
Friends - This show was good in the first 17 of its 48 seasons. Don't write it off. As for Jennifer Aniston, back when she ate, she had that kind of off-beat beauty that Hollywood usually ignores. Oh, and Brad thinks he's so the bomb but I can't believe he hooked up with that Angelina skank.
Coach - He's clueless! She's angry! I've seen this before....
Petticoat Junction, Bosom Buddies, Sex and the City - Never saw it. As Peter Griffin has noted, Sarah Jessica Parker looks like a foot.
Family Ties - God, I hate what sitcom writers think Republicans are. Although, come to think of it, the parents were pathetic too. This thing made Spin City look like a political documentary.
Full House - The phrase "obvious choice" can be a way of accusing the listmaker of laziness, or it can be a recognition that the thing chosen is such a perfect example of bad that, if it weren't chosen, the list would have to be called something other than Ten Worst. Al isn't lazy.
39 - Al Barger
Thank you so much Baronious. I will have to say though that you're being unfair to the poor Honeymooners. Alice was no shrew.
But who was the first sitcom shrew wife? Mrs Drysdale?
40 - Rebecca
I have seen 'My Mother The Car' and take my word for it, the show was awful! I find it hard to describe--imagine KITT (from Knight Rider) as an old broken down '50 model car with a female voice barking commands at a middle age man, who refers to the car as his mother. I don't know how Jerry Van Dyke got involved in such dreck. Perhaps his brother Dick couldn't line up any work for him at the time.
41 - Nancy
*GROAN* Oh, My Mother The Car ... Kaye Ballard must cringe every time she recalls being in that thing. God, that's an oldie but baddie. Petticoat Junction was a Green Acres spinoff, wasn't it? Yeah, that was pretty bad. Sex & The City was bad, just because the whole selling point was sheer prurience. Mr. Ed IMO was also bad, as was Bewitched with the 2nd Darron. For some reason it went downhill pretty fast when the actor changed.
The ones I thought/still think were/are the best are the Honeymooners, the original I Love Lucy, Dick Van Dyke, and That Girl. I liked Leave It To Beaver, mainly because the kids were pretty funny: "rat-rat-rat" and the weaselliness of Eddie Haskell were very amusing. Laverne & Shirley was pretty good.
Mork & Mindy started off OK, but Robin Williams' frenetics got real old real fast as an extended gag. The Brady Bunch I always considered a stinker. Cosby was pretty blah, but I wouldn't put it in the top 10 as far as worst. The few episodes I saw of Seinfeld were annoying. I must be one of the few persons in the US who really disliked that show & saw little or nothing funny/amusing/witty about it.
42 - Al Barger
Howdy Nancy. You know, the more the few folks who have seen My Mother the Car carry on about how extravagantly bad it is, the more curioser I get about wanting to see it. This falls under "would that thou were hot or cold." It surely doesn't sound mediocre.
I didn't care much for Seinfeld at the time, but I find it rather more palatable in reruns when I'm not hearing about it all the damned time. The emotional coldness of the show appeals to me sometimes, being able to get some of the well-executed observational comic wit without having to get my heart warmed.
Mr Ed got old, in that it was a fairly limiting premise. But I'm inclined to give good credit for shows that have strong and unique premises besides just being about a nice family in the suburbs.
I particularly like Bewitched. That's going to be high on my best-of list sometime this month. I don't think the change in Darrens really made that much difference. That characte was not the star. For my money, that would be Endora.
43 - Nancy
Absolutely, Endora was the 'star' of Bewitched. Whenever she was on, she was "On", as they say. Al, you ain't missing a thing having never seen MMTC. You know the premise is that this idiot gets hold of a car that is his reincarnated (no pun intended) mother in law, who (which?) talks to him, but only he can hear, etc. a la Mr. Ed. That is, if I remember right. That one was kind of early days, even for me, and it never did go into reruns - thank God. Like Mr. Ed it was strictly a one-joke premise, and a lame one at that.
Another I dimly remember was "I'm Dickens, He's Fenster". I can't even remember what that one was about, nor do I care to.
Hmmm...My 3 Sons wasn't too bad, from what I recollect.
Oh - oh - I know: The one about the soldiers in the old west fort. I think Ken Berry played the Capt. Can't remember its name. Awful show.
44 - TV Junkie
You guys are unfair to Everybody Loves Raymond. I say it was a good show! But I think the Honeymooners was a good show also. Maybe I'm a "Moron and Shrew" kinda guy :) Hey, that's not even a bad name for a sitcom or variety show. "It's the Moron And Shrew Show!"
The Cosby Show maybe, possibly belongs on an overrated list. It doesn't belong on a worst list. It just doesn't even come close to the likes of Full House in the ways of awfullness and retardedness. Full House is a gold standard of moronic TV. Sex and the City and Friends are in the same league. But the Cosby Show? Nah ...
On a side note, I think it's kinda interesting that some people like The Honeymooners and dislike Seinfeld at the same time. (I personally like both) I did catch some reruns of The Honeymooners and thought it was "Seinfeldish". More correctly, I guess I should say Seinfeld is "Honeymoonerish" in its style of off-beat character and situational comedy.
45 - Al Barger
TV Junkie- Please elaborate on your Honeymooners/Seinfeld connection, which I'm not seeing yet. What's that all about?
46 - Douglas Mays
The Dick Dyke Show, with Mary Tyler More, MORE, MORE, oh oh more......
47 - Rodney Welch
I last saw "My Mother the Car" when I was six; I liked it and never thought it was strange. (I thought it was a lot stranger than no one on TV ever went to the bathrom.) I'd like seeing it again, but it seems kinda like a one-joke premise, doesn't it?
There were a lot of short-lived shows from back then that I'd like to see again: "It's About Time," in which cavemen are transported to 1960s Manhattan, "O.K. Crackerby!" with Burl Ives as an irascible old millionaire with a soft side, and "The Pruitts of Southhampton," a kind of Beverly Hillbillies-in-revese deal where Phyllis Diller is the matron of a nutty rich family which has gone belly up.
48 - Rodney Welch
Loofa -- Which show? The Honeymooners? Are you Mrs. Carney or Mrs. Gleason? You don't have to say, but they were both champs in my book.
49 - TV Junkie
"TV Junkie- Please elaborate on your Honeymooners/Seinfeld connection, which I'm not seeing yet. What's that all about?"
That Ed Norton character on the Honeymooners and his antics with Ralph remind me a bit of Kramer from Seinfeld. Or maybe I am just crazy. After all, I like Everybody Loves Raymond ;)
50 - Rebecca
Oh - oh - I know: The one about the soldiers in the old west fort. I think Ken Berry played the Capt. Can't remember its name. Awful show.
I think that one was called F-Troop. They used to run that on TBS all the time, and now it's available on DVD.
I always enjoy watching 'The Dick Van Dyke Show.' I also found it hard to believe they were sleeping in separate beds. You know they enjoyed each others company. I think they were the first TV couple to show signs of physical attraction.
51 - Baronius
I have fond memories of F-Troop. I think it's one of those cases where I was the right age for it. On the other hand, I was too young for The Honeymooners until I was too old for it, if that makes any sense. I guess it was a show for adults when I was a kid, then it seemed too dated when I grew up.
On a bit of a tangent, I saw Lady and The Tramp recently. There was a scene in which Lady's owner was having a baby shower, and all the women were talking about how beautiful she looked. "Radiant!" The scene cuts to the room across the hall, where all the men are laughing and talking about how awful the expectant father looks. It kind of surprised me to see well-done observational humor about the sexes in a fairly old movie. (There's a point somewhere in there about comedy and generations.)
Nancy, watching Seinfeld was like reading a Master's thesis on "Methods of Interweaving Plot Lines", except theses are usually funnier, and the average grad student has better comic timing than Michael Richards or Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
52 - reggie von woic
Goodness, Al!!!
Everybody loves Raymond, Will and Grace, sex and the city...FRIENDS?!?!
somebody has a messed up sense of humor.
damn!
53 - Al Barger
Howdy Reggie, glad you could join the party. Yeah, those are some pretty egregious shows. Again, that they're more mediocre than positively bad makes them worse. Friends was mostly more or less competently written, as such bland things go, but I'd rather watch the truly awful Small Wonder robot girl than another half-assed argument between Raymond and his shrew.
I'm still looking for ideas on the first shrew sitcom wives, by the way.
TV Junkie- I could maybe see a broad similarity between Norton and Kramer as two sitcom sidekicks who brought the physical comedy to their shows.
Miss Rebecca- The F-Troop was marginally tolerable at the time, as I was probably in the 5 year old range. What adult could sit through that thing now, I don't know.
Baronius, why would you think that they wouldn't have insight into male and female issues in a 30 or even a 100 year old movie? It's not like people only started thinking about that stuff when you were born.
54 - Rodney Welch
I was about to say the same thing. That's the general perception so many young filmgoers have; no understanding in anything before their day, no sense of history.
55 - Victor Lana
Love your selections, Al. Just a few that I hated most (and thought were bad too):
Hello, Larry!, The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, Primose Lane, Nr. Nice, Mayberry RFD, Here's Lucy, New Adventures of Old Christine, After M*A*S*H, and Charles in Charge.
56 - Nancy
I dunno, I was pretty young when F-Troop (thank you, Rebecca) was on; even younger when My Mother The Car etc. was out; VERY young when Honeymooners was on. I gotta say I still think, all things considered, that the original, old I Love Lucy & Dick Van Dyke were the two funniest & best written shows ever to have run on TV. Everything else just seems to be labored, by comparison; they seem to have to work too hard for a lot less wit & humor.
Maybe Cosby's show falls so far short, because everyone holds the show to the standard of humor of his stand-up shows, which were/are side-splittingly funny & really one of a kind that can't be duplicated on a set. I mean, consider his schtick about Noah; and then there's going to the horror movies with his little brother; and the classic "hey-Hey-HEY..." "... it's ... FAT ALBERT!" These all depended so much on the listeners' imaginations as much as they did on his facial expressions and sound effects into the mike. When you film something much more detailed, with far less imagination involved by the viewers, you necessarily lose a lot more. I don't think any Cosby show would stand a chance, actually, just because of what it's being judged against.
I was going to say there is an abrasiveness in Seinfeld that differentiated it from Honeymooners, but on mentally reviewing what I've seen of Honeymooners, I take that back. Honeymooners was pretty abrasive & downright hostile, actually. I don't know why I consider one funny and the other just mean-spirited & nasty. Maybe it was that Alice gave as good (or better) than she got...?
57 - Al Barger
Ralph Kramden was abrasive, but he was also very warm and relatable. He had a good heart. Add some political ranting, and you've got Archie Bunker.
Whereas all the Seinfeld characters were purposely drawn cold. By design, they were meant to be kept at arms length, which worked for their show. It was their famous maxim, "No hugging, no learning." That they kept that right to the end was one of the great distinctive points of the show, locked up in prison in the final scene because they never learned. Great symbolic denouement for those characters.
58 - Scott Butki
Good list, Al.
59 - Dynamo of Eternia
Well, everyone is entitled to their opinions, and if you don't like them, you don't like them. But some of these, like The Cosby Show and Friends, were extremely successful, so they must have done something right.
60 - Nancy
Hmmm, Al - I never thought of that. True: they never learned. An object lesson to the rest of us? ;)
61 - Douglas Mays
Rodney, comment #47. "It's About Time"!!!! I forgot about that one. It's about time, it's about space, it's about 2 men in the strangest place....I remember that stinker that was actually a guilty pleasure.
What was the name of that show in the early 60s, correct me if I have it wrong, starring Julie Newmar as Rhoda the robot who was sexier than hell? I think the actor who was the father in 'Courtship of Eddie's Father' (another stinker?) was Julie Newmar's owner....
As a 6 year old I loved it because Newmar was hot and a robot that could do amazing things....
best,
DM
62 - Al Barger
Nancy, "No hugging, no learning" is a quote. That was Seinfeld's explicit guidepost during the production. I found the Friends cloying and unpalatable, but they were intended to be your "friends." The Seinfeld characters, on the other hand, were absolutely designed to be self-absorbed fools. Whether you dig it or not, that was a purposeful artistic effect.
Dynamo, thanks for dropping by, but the producers of these shows didn't do much right by any artistic measure. Cosby and Friends were huge hits. They certainly did things right in terms of appealing to demographics or such. That is, they were commercially successful.
Thus, the marketplace overall clearly disagrees with me on this. Then again, the marketplace thinks that Garth Brooks is one of the couple of greatest singers ever to make a record.
The market is wrong on both counts. They have a fair vote, and the pro-Friends advocates definitely win the count. Nonetheless, on the merits of what's actually on the screen, these shows suck.
Brother Butki, thank you for your kind words.
Nancy- I dig on some I Love Lucy and Dick Van Dyke as well, but we're in a golden age of comedy right now, with South Park and the Simpsons, and the just concluded Malcolm in the Middle and Bernie Mac among other gems.
63 - Nancy
Is Simpsons considered a sitcom? If so, I'd definitely count it in as one of the very best. Din't know that.
64 - Al Barger
I don't know that there's anywhere on the official documents for the Simpsons that says they are a "sitcom." That's a subjective critical judgment that some might argue against. However, most people seem to regard it as such. It certainly is built on the most classic family sitcom premise.
But then where is the line on that? The Simpsons seem like a "sitcom," but South Park doesn't quite.
65 - Rodney Welch
Douglas, don't know that show, but I can kinda relate. Even before I knew the first thing about sex, I knew that Larry Hagman just was not taking proper advantage of Jeannie. She called him "Master," for heaven's sake! Where was the major's sex drive? In his arm pit?
66 - Jason
Hey Al, I'd like to know what your ten best sitcoms are.
Thanks,
Jason
67 - Al Barger
Jason, July is sitcom month for Blogcritics, and I will definitely be putting up a best sitcoms story before the end of the month- only I probably won't be able to restrict myself to just ten. I don't want to give away all the surprises, but it will certainly include a couple of obvious choices: All in the Family and the Simpsons. They pretty much set the gold standard for sitcoms, along with the Beverly Hillbillies, of course.
Rodney, in fairness to Major Nelson, he did eventually marry the girl. Presumably by that point he's taking proper advantage.
68 - Rodney Welch
Took him long enough.
69 - Douglas Mays
Rodney, oh my!!!! You know the writers planned it that way....
70 - Al Barger
"Took him long enough" was an inherent problem of the premise. That sexual tension was the prime thing emotionally driving the show. I don't know exactly how the production actually played out, but for practical purposes, their wedding was the end of the show. It resolved the central issue.
71 - Chris
Hey AL, sorry I got to your site, I was searching for the greatest show that ever was - "Everybody Loves Raymond." I have to strongly disagree with what you said. Oh and don't use George Carlin's words, he may not like the show but he's good friends with Ray.
72 - Al Barger
Chris, it's a damned shame if Everybody Loves Raymond represents the height of television.
I'm all in favor of Raymond being friends with George Carlin, and not surprised. Heck, he even seemed to get along peachy with Ann Coulter on the Tonight Show.
Ray Romano might be a heck of a nice fellow if he moved in next door. We'd probably get on fine bonding over a grill, and discussing the finer points of propane and propane accessories- just so long as he doesn't expect me to watch his crappy show.
73 - Rebecca
I actually can't stand Seinfeld. I just never understood what all the fuss was about. Since I'm in my mid-thirties, most of my friends loved the show, but every time I watched it, I just found it boring. I guess I just missed the boat on that one.
"Nanny and the Professor" that was a bad show. I believe the show starred Paris and Nicky Hilton's mom. She was an actress before she became a professional socialaite.
74 - Greg
worst. list. ever.
75 - Rodney Welch
"Nanny and the Professor" starred Juliet Mills and Richard Long.
As for the Hilton link, Wikipedia states: "Nicky Hilton is a niece of two popular child stars of the 1970s, Kim Richards and Kyle Richards, who appeared in the motion picture Escape to Witch Mountain and TV shows like Nanny and the Professor, Little House on the Prairie, and later, ER."