The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with English-speaking countries and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(June 2023) |
This list includes a number of television shows which have received negative reception from both critics and audiences alike, some of which are considered the worst of all time.
Factors that can reflect poorly on a television series include inherently poor quality, the lack of a budget, rapid cancellation, very low viewership, offensive content, and negative impact on other series on the same channel. Multiple outlets have produced lists ranking the worst television series, including TV Guide , Entertainment Weekly and Mail Online . TV Guide published lists in 2002 and 2010, each of which had contemporary shows near the top of the list.
The following is a list of television series notable for negative reception—some of which are considered the worst of all time by critics, network executives, and viewers (with extremely low viewership despite high promotion). Situation comedy shows make up a large percentage, so they are listed in a separate page.
Unsolved Mysteries is an American mystery documentary television series, created by John Cosgrove and Terry Dunn Meurer. Documenting cold cases and paranormal phenomena, it began as a series of seven specials, presented by Raymond Burr, Karl Malden, and Robert Stack, beginning on NBC on January 20, 1987, becoming a full-fledged series on October 5, 1988, hosted by Stack. After nine seasons on NBC, the series moved to CBS for its 10th season on November 13, 1997. After adding Virginia Madsen as a co-host during season 11 failed to boost slipping ratings, CBS canceled the series after only a two-season, 12-episode run on June 11, 1999. The series was revived by Lifetime in 2000, with season 12 beginning on July 2, 2001. Unsolved Mysteries aired 103 episodes on Lifetime, before ending on September 20, 2002, an end that coincided with Stack's illness and eventual death.
A series finale is the final installment of an episodic entertainment series, most often a television series. It may also refer to a final theatrical sequel, the last part of a television miniseries, the last installment of a literary series, or any final episode.
Bravo is an American basic cable television network, launched on December 8, 1980. It is owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. The channel originally focused on programming related to fine arts and film. Since the 2000s, its brand has focused heavily on reality series targeted at 25-to-54-year-old women and the LGBTQIA+ community at large.
The Simple Life is an American reality television series starring Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. It depicts the two wealthy socialites, as they struggle to do menial, low-paying jobs such as cleaning rooms, farm work, serving meals in fast-food restaurants, and working as camp counselors. The series premiered on December 2, 2003, on Fox, and concluded on August 5, 2007, on E!. A falling out between Hilton and Richie in 2005 led the series to be cancelled by Fox following its third season. It was eventually picked up by E!, which aired its fourth and fifth seasons. The Simple Life helped catapult Hilton and Richie into international stardom, and maintained a consistently high viewership throughout its run on both networks. It also spawned a number of international remakes.
Fear Factor is an American stunt/dare game show that first aired on NBC from 2001 to 2006 and was initially hosted by comedian and UFC commentator Joe Rogan. The show was adapted by Endemol USA from the original Dutch series titled Now or Neverland.
Dateline NBC is a weekly American television news magazine reality legal show that is broadcast on NBC. It was previously the network's flagship general interest news magazine, but now focuses mainly on true crime stories with only occasional editions that focus on other topics. The program airs Fridays at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Special weekend encore editions also air at 9 or 10:00 p.m.. One or two-hour feature-length editions sometimes air on any given scheduled evening, often to fill vacancies in the primetime schedule on the program's respective nights due to program cancellations. In February 2021, the program aired its first ever docuseries, "The Widower", a five-hour true crime saga about a man who married six women, four of whom died.
General Hospital is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in Guinness World Records as the longest-running American soap opera in production, and the second in American history after Guiding Light. Concurrently, it is the world's third longest-running scripted drama series in production after British serials The Archers and Coronation Street, as well as the world's second-longest-running televised soap opera still in production. General Hospital premiered on the ABC television network on April 1, 1963. General Hospital is the longest-running serial produced in Hollywood, and the longest-running entertainment program in ABC television history. It holds the record for most Daytime Emmy Awards for Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, with 14 wins.
Must See TV was an American advertising slogan that was used by NBC to brand its primetime blocks during the 1990s, and most often applied to the network's Thursday night lineup, which featured some of its most popular sitcoms and drama series of the period, allowing the network to dominate prime time ratings on Thursday nights in the 1980s and 1990s. Ratings for NBC's lineup fell during the mid-to-late 2000s, and today the network ranks behind Fox, ABC, and CBS on Thursday nights. In 2015 and again in 2021, the network canceled comedy programming on Thursdays and switched entirely to dramas. However, the branding returned for the 2017–18 television season.
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is an American comedy-drama television series created and primarily written by Aaron Sorkin. The series was about the production of a live comedy series similar to Saturday Night Live. Produced by Warner Bros. Television, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip ran on NBC for 22 episodes, from September 18, 2006, to June 28, 2007.
30 Rock is an American satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live, takes place behind the scenes of a fictional live sketch comedy show depicted as airing on NBC. The series's name refers to 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, where the NBC Studios are located and where Saturday Night Live is written, produced, and performed. The series was produced by Lorne Michaels's Broadway Video and Fey's Little Stranger, in association with NBCUniversal.
In American broadcast programming, "burning off" is the custom of quickly airing the remaining episodes of a television program, usually one that has already been or is planned to be cancelled, without the intent to attract a large number of viewers. In addition to airing episodes two at a time, this process may also include rescheduling the show to a lower-rated time slot, or transferring the show to a less visible sister network. A low-rated show that premiered in the early portion of the regular television season may return during the summer, only to have the final episodes "burned off."
The 2007–08 network television schedule for the six major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States covers the prime time hours from September 2007 through August 2008. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series canceled after the 2006–07 season. The schedule was affected by the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike. After that, the next disruption to the networks' primetime schedules would not occur until the 2020–21 season, whose network schedules were affected by the suspension of film and television productions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The fourth season of Family Guy aired on Fox from May 1, 2005, to May 21, 2006, and consists of thirty episodes, making it the longest season to date. The first half of the season is included within the volume 3 DVD box set, which released on November 29, 2005, and the second half within the volume 4 DVD box set, which released on November 14, 2006. Volume 4 is split into seasons 4 and 5 in regions outside the United States, leading to confusion over season numbers between U.S., Australian, and UK consumers. The last three episodes of season 4 are the basis for the movie known as Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, and are edited for content; Fox does not include these episodes in the official episode count.
Shark Tank is an American business reality television series that premiered on August 9, 2009, on ABC. The show is the American franchise of the international format Dragons' Den, a Japanese TV series. It shows entrepreneurs making business presentations to a panel of five venture capitalists called "sharks" on the program, who decide whether to invest in their companies.
The 2011–12 network television schedule for the five major English-language commercial broadcast networks in the United States covers prime time hours from September 2011 through August 2012. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series canceled after the 2010–11 season.
In 1995, Viacom and Chris-Craft Industries' United Television launched United Paramount Network (UPN) with Star Trek: Voyager as its flagship series, fulfilling Barry Diller's plan for a Paramount network from 25 years earlier. In 1999, Viacom bought out United Television's interests, and handed responsibility for the start-up network to the newly acquired CBS unit, which Viacom bought in 1999 – an ironic confluence of events as Paramount had once invested in CBS, and Viacom had once been the syndication arm of CBS as well. During this period the studio acquired some 30 television stations to support the UPN network as well acquiring and merging in the assets of Republic Pictures, Spelling Television and Viacom Television, almost doubling the size of the studio's television library.
In addition to the Frito Bandito, other [Latino] caricatures such as Bucky & Pepito, an animated cartoon series that appeared in the late 1950s, came under fire.
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