What's The Biggest Bomb/Blunder In TV History?

[Hanshotfirst1138]

Didn't NBC go from 1 to 3rd or 4th of the broadcast networks after Friends and Frasier ended?

I'd say The CW as a network, Fox's mistreatment of Firefly, the cancellation of Angel, Arrested Development and Veronica Mars

In fairness, Veronica Mars got a perfectly adequate chance. It just didn't catch on.

 

[Hobbes829]

In fairness, Veronica Mars got a perfectly adequate chance. It just didn't catch on.

How much worse was it doing than the other stuff on the network? you'd figure that Dawn loves the female demographic and Veronica mars was great for that. It's just such a shame when great shows get canned. At least it was given a chance.

 

[BackLash]

1. LENO AT TEN

Agreed, the thing that gets me is because it didn't work, Conan and his crew lost their jobs in this mess. The Tonight Show may never be the same again.

2. Fox cancels Family Guy

I agree with the act, but I not a fan of the show anymore. Brian being a Mary Sue and the Meg bashing is bad enough, but when they killed the vaudeville guys, that's where I draw the line.

3. giving the Geico Cavemen a sitcom

This show was really never given a proper chance. I think it was the premise of the show that turned people off. I reality I thought that it (and Carpoolers) were funny shows that got overlooked.

8. ABC over-saturates Who Wants To Be A Millionaire

True dat, but with syndication and a new, more affordable host, it made a minor comeback.

10. The XFL

Vince has no one to blame but himself on this one. I liked the XFL and I rooted for Tommy Maddox when he joined the Steelers. But what Vince did is he pushed the WWE and the team's cheerleaders down people's throats instead of making football the absolute star. Also, Rodney Dangerfield, really? I mean why? To be fair, he could of had another season, but giving up Smackdown in exchange was too much to ask for.

12. Having Jeff Probst, Tom Bergeron, Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum, and Ryan Seacrest host the Primetime Emmys in 2008

How many reality/game show hosts does it take to screw up the Emmys? Five apparently.

14. Cousin Oliver joins The Brady Bunch

But now, Cousin Oliver voices Choji in the English dub of Naruto Shippuden, and the rest of the living Brady Bunch cast, not working right now.

19. NBC cancels both Baywatch and JAG

If they didn't let go of the latter, NBC, may have had NCIS.

26. The Writers' Strike in 2007 and 2008

Gave us American Gladiators, but canceled way too many deserving shows.

33. Three words. My. Network. TV.

WWE Smackdown is all I need to see.

47. My Mother The Car

Although the sequel The Lovematic Grampa was good.

48. Networks give up on Saturday nights

A big disappointing truth.

 

[DisneyBoy]

Actually, I thought the writer's strike made for some seriously improved television in some cases. The late night shows got creative, and some of the dramas and comedies got the break they needed to refocus. Pushing Daisies, however, got the shaft.

mumbo, I don't think cancelling Smallville would be such a crime. I know it's an important series for the network, but the writers have just mutilated it beyond repair at this point. NONE of the characters have gone unscathed over the course of the series. All are unlikely hypocrites and true parodies of the characters they were based on. It's just nuts if you stop and critically look at the way the show has been written. Totally bonkers. As much as I'd like to see a tenth season in which the writing is back up to par, it wouldn't matter. Chloe is leaving, Clark will still be wearing that stupid black coat, Lex will still stay dead until a lame-o ressurection, and really what's the flipping point?

 

[Rick Jones]

I liked The Lone Gunmen. Feels like I watched a lot of these shows on a regular basis ( the ones that weren't canceled after one or two episodes).

Being that it's Super Bowl season and all, I was reminded of a certain blunder.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidi_(1968_film)

Airing controversy

The film acquired notoriety since its airing in the United States cut off the final minutes of a 1968 American Football League regular-season game between the Oakland Raiders and the New York Jets, which became known as "The Heidi Game." During these last few minutes, the trailing team suddenly scored two touchdowns and won the game, causing a tremendous upset that television viewers were denied seeing.

 

[mumbo]

mumbo, I don't think cancelling Smallville would be such a crime. I know it's an important series for the network, but the writers have just mutilated it beyond repair at this point. NONE of the characters have gone unscathed over the course of the series. All are unlikely hypocrites and true parodies of the characters they were based on. It's just nuts if you stop and critically look at the way the show has been written. Totally bonkers. As much as I'd like to see a tenth season in which the writing is back up to par, it wouldn't matter. Chloe is leaving, Clark will still be wearing that stupid black coat, Lex will still stay dead until a lame-o ressurection, and really what's the flipping point?

Oh, critically and creatively speaking it wouldn't be a big crime, but strictly from a ratings perspective, it would be a really stupid move. A second instance (after Smackdown) of The CW seemingly trying to prevent itself from doing well on Friday nights.

 

[Knightmare]

The recent NBC Knightrider remake....if they put in Bionic Woman, might as well add that one too.

Sad thing is the Knightrider pilot-movie was pretty decent, but the series made too many mis-steps that it never was quite able to fix, which to me were in order

1) Re-naming Mike Tracer "Micheal Knight" at least they didn't name him Micheal Knight Jr., but seriously if they wanted him to be Micheal Knight then it should have been a completely new "reality" instead of continuing the old one. I would have been happy if they had named him David Knight sort an tounge in cheek nod to David Hasseloff. Also one of the things that made Hasseloff so successful as the original Micheal was that he had a certain charm to him that amde it seem like he was having a blast his son on the other hand was way to moody in my opinion.

2) The "sexing up" supermodel makerover of Sarah, in the pilot movie she is an attractive young scientist but once the series hit it didn't make any sense for her to be wearing that much eye-liner or wearing a lot of the outfits she had on. Really what kind of scientist would wear that stuff.

3) The death of Bruce Davidson's character Dr. Charles Graiman, this character was the Devon Miles of the new series and was perfect in his role he was a loving and supportive father to Sarah as well as father like figure to Micheal.

4) The whole goverment conspericy thing really wasn't nessacery and it's wrap up was way too rushed espeically the fight between Micheal and KITT vs KARR.

 

[TenPoundHammer]

Okay. Just how exactly did Howie, Ryan, et al. screw up the Emmys?

 

[Jeff Harris]

Okay. Just how exactly did Howie, Ryan, et al. screw up the Emmys?

Imagine a bunch of reality show hosts. No script. No cohesiveness. Just standing there saying a bunch of nothing.

That was the Emmys.

Also, The Odd Couple takes exception of the 37th ranking (turning hit movies into sitcoms), though one could argue that the show came after the film, which came after the play. But Alice (another sitcom based on a movie) also takes exception of that ranking.

Also, in spite of the pseudo-success of The CW, I think the merger of The WB and UPN was a huge blunder in television history. However, since the network's part-owner, Time Warner, also publishes Entertainment Weekly, it's almost a deliberate oversight.

Another deliberate oversight is the decision of Cartoon Network to become a third-rate Nickelodeon knock-off with its live-action agenda that has caused a major drop in viewership in the last calendar year with its higher-profile live-action programs failing to deliver. That's a big-time blunder that they're still not admitting to at Time Warner.

Another blunder is Warner Communications selling MTV, VH1, and Nickelodeon to a small syndication company known as Viacom. It's the television equivalent of the Portland Trail Blazers drafting Sam Bowie ahead of Michael Jordan. In this case, Portland represents Warner and Nickelodeon represents Jordan.

The reality version of Fame deserves to be on this list too. It wasn't Fame by any stretch, just another American Idol knock-off with a familiar name affixed to it.

 

[DisneyBoy]

I don't really think anything that happens on the Emmy in terms of the what the hosts do or don't do can be considered a bomb or blunder...especially if their worst offense is being boring. How many Emmy telecasts have you walked away from actually thinking "Wow - I was really entertained!"

I don't think that's the point of the show. People tune in because of hype, because there's information that will be revealed, and because they want to see the outfits, hear the speeches. I would never waste 5 hours of my life just because John Stewart is hosting if I didn't have some interest in the rest.

 

[defunctzombie]

I'm relieved that Enterprise was not on that list. It was a good show that suffered from a bad network.

 

[Ackar]

They forgot After MASH, The Brady Brides, and other lame attempts at spin-offs.

 

[Shawn Hopkins]

I don't really think anything that happens on the Emmy in terms of the what the hosts do or don't do can be considered a bomb or blunder...especially if their worst offense is being boring. How many Emmy telecasts have you walked away from actually thinking "Wow - I was really entertained!"

Just the one NPH did recently, and then only at his segments and songs. Just another example of how awesome he is and why I started an NPH appreciation thread.

 

[BartWinkle]

They forgot After MASH, The Brady Brides, and other lame attempts at spin-offs.

My late mom coerced me into watching the debut AfterMASH episode. Should have walked out. And I wasn't much of a fan of the original series.

 

[DarthGonzo]

I agree with the act, but I not a fan of the show anymore. Brian being a Mary Sue and the Meg bashing is bad enough, but when they killed the vaudeville guys, that's where I draw the line.

You mean you liked the vaudeville guys? They were killed off mainly because most people HATED them.

 

[creativerealms]

I agree with the act, but I not a fan of the show anymore. Brian being a Mary Sue and the Meg bashing is bad enough, but when they killed the vaudeville guys, that's where I draw the line.

Only they had been over used to the point where they were just annoying and it was a mercy killing.

 

[Michael24]

I'm relieved that Enterprise was not on that list. It was a good show that suffered from a bad network.

Agreed. I really enjoyed it, though the budget cut in Season 4 often showed in the special effects.

 

[defunctzombie]

Only they had been over used to the point where they were just annoying and it was a mercy killing.

Except that they came back...

 

[Lord Dalek]

For those who can stomach it...

 

[Shawn Hopkins]

For those who can stomach it...

So this actually exists somewhere. And they made a second episode. Wow. I swear I would buy this on DVD if it was cheap enough, just to be able to have it.