History Literature / WhatWereTheyThinkingThe100DumbestEventsInTelevisionHistory

# [[UsefulNotes/NewsNetworks CNN]] tries to promote new journalist Paula Zahn as "sexy" [[note]](A 2002 promo for Zahn's series ''American Morning'' claimed her to be provocative, super smart, and "just a little sexy", followed by a sound effect of a zipper being unzipped. The spot created all kinds of controversy for CNN, who pulled the ad after only a handful of airings. Zahn left CNN in 2007.)[[/note]]

# ''Film/RevengeOfTheNerds III'' and ''IV'', and ''Film/ProblemChild III'' [[note]](Several cases of {{Sequelitis}} of forgettable films.)[[/note]]

# ''Series/TurnOn'' [[note]](Notoriously-awful HotterAndSexier [[DuelingShows counterpart]][[invoked]] to ''Series/RowanAndMartinsLaughIn'', from the same producers, that aired on most Creator/{{ABC}} affiliates in 1969, either in full or partially. It immediately earned backlash from affiliates such as Cleveland, who ripped the show from their airwaves in the middle and substituted it for other stuff such as an organ number (or just saying "the remainder of this broadcast will not be seen"), and a multitude of West Coast stations including Seattle refused to air it when word traveled to their side of the U.S. It was effectively canned before the first episode even finished airing. ABC made that cancellation official without comment the next day after Bristol-Myers withdrew their sponsorship and buried it as far as they could. This show subsequently [[CreatorKiller turned]] [[StarDerailingRole off]] the careers of almost everyone involved with it with the major exceptions of Tim Conway (who was the guest host of the only aired episode) and cast members Teresa Graves (who ended up on ''Laugh-In'' itself), Chuck [=McCann=] (who became a prolific animation voice actor) and Creator/HamiltonCamp, who had a long career as a character actor and voice actor, though he'd end up appearing in ''two more'' shows that got canceled after a single episode, the 1979 flops ''Co-ed Fever'' and ''[=McGurk=]: A Dog's Life'')[[/note]]

# ''Turn-On'' [[note]](Notoriously-awful HotterAndSexier [[DuelingShows counterpart]][[invoked]] to ''Series/RowanAndMartinsLaughIn'', from the same producers, that aired on most Creator/{{ABC}} affiliates in 1969, either in full or partially. It immediately earned backlash from affiliates such as Cleveland, who ripped the show from their airwaves in the middle and substituted it for other stuff such as an organ number (or just saying "the remainder of this broadcast will not be seen"), and a multitude of West Coast stations including Seattle refused to air it when word traveled to their side of the U.S. It was effectively canned before the first episode even finished airing. ABC made that cancellation official without comment the next day after Bristol-Myers withdrew their sponsorship and buried it as far as they could. This show subsequently [[CreatorKiller turned]] [[StarDerailingRole off]] the careers of almost everyone involved with it with the major exceptions of Tim Conway (who was the guest host of the only aired episode) and cast members Teresa Graves (who ended up on ''Laugh-In'' itself), Chuck [=McCann=] (who became a prolific animation voice actor) and Creator/HamiltonCamp, who had a long career as a character actor and voice actor, though he'd end up appearing in ''two more'' shows that got canceled after a single episode, the 1979 flops ''Co-ed Fever'' and ''[=McGurk=]: A Dog's Life'')[[/note]]

2004 book by David Hofstede celebrating the worst of television. Anything goes: individual plot points or elements, or even entire shows. It's an interesting reading to know what some people consider examples of "DarthWiki/SoBadItsHorrible" (or at the very least incredibly controversial).

# Creator/WilliamShatner's notorious take on Music/EltonJohn's "Rocket Man" at the 1977 Science Fiction Film Awards[[note]]Shatner ''recited'' the lyrics instead of singing them, an approach he'd first tried for pop music material on his 1968 album ''The Transformed Man'', which along with his patented LargeHam acting style and very cheesy video special effects to show ''three'' Shatners appearing at once made it the epitome of SoBadItsGood. The clip of this became a pre-Web meme in TheNineties, parodied by Creator/ChrisElliott on ''Series/LateNightWithDavidLetterman'', Music/{{Beck}} in his "Where It's At" video, and Stewie on ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''. This helped cement the stock parody trope of Shatner "singing" some popular song or another by speaking the lyrics.[[/note]]

* CreatorProvincialism: Because the book focuses on American television, it does leave out some of the most infamous television events in other parts of the world, including :
** ''Series/HeilHoneyImHome'', a British [[AdolfHitlarious sitcom]] about UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler that only lasted one episode.
** ''Australia's Naughtiest Home Videos'', a take on the ''Series/AmericasFunniestHomeVideos'' formula that aired on Creator/NineNetwork and primarily featured animals having sex. It was pulled off the network in the middle of its only airing at the demand of the network's owner Kerry Packer, leading to the people who made/helmed the show being very acrimoniously fired right away and trespassed from the network until Packer's death.
** The ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' episode "Electric Soldier Porygon", which was never exported beyond the show's native Japan and was outright banned by the Japanese government because it contained strobing visuals that caused an epidemic of [[UsefulNotes/{{Epilepsy}} epileptic seizures]] during its only airing and led to new Japanese television practices that are still in effect to this day.
** Much like the American counterpart, the countless erasure of multiple episodes from British TV shows, most notoriously episodes from ''MissingEpisode/DoctorWho''.
** And while we're on the subject of ''Franchise/DoctorWho'', its initial cancellation before its hiatus of nearly 15 years (during the time this book was published) deserves a dishonorable mention.
** ''The Trouble with Tracy'', a 1970s Canadian sitcom that was created solely to fulfill the then-financially struggling Creator/{{CTV}}'s quota on locally produced content, with the producers required to film ''130'' episodes in a single season. The time and economic pressures involved forced them to take shortcuts such as wholesale recycling of scripts from the old American radio sitcom ''Easy Aces'', shooting whole scenes in a single take, using canned laughter instead of a live studio audience, keeping flubbed lines in the completed episodes due to having insufficient time to shoot retakes, and shooting virtually the entire series inside a poorly-constructed set. The end result was regarded as one of the most poorly-produced sitcoms ever made.
** ''Hilfe, meine Familie spinnt''[[note]]"Help, My Family is Crazy"[[/note]], a German remake of ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' that attempted to [[ShotForShotRemake recreate the source material frame by frame]], down to the looks and gestures of the cast, with virtually no attempt made to [[CulturalTranslation adjust the humor or plots to their new cultural surroundings]]. Its poor audience reception was not helped by its occasional translation issues or the fact that the original had already been exported the year prior to great success and even aired on the same network.
** ''De oro puro''[[note]]"Of Pure Gold"[[/note]], a UsefulNotes/{{Venezuela}}n soap opera that, despite its high production values, was panned by critics for its [[RandomEventsPlot directionless and incoherent narrative]], an issue further exacerbated by being aired in the same time slot as the well-regarded ''Por estas calles''[[note]]"On These Streets"[[/note]]. Broadcaster RCTV attempted to resolve the issue by airing segments in which the cast members, alongside a respected character actress, recapped and explained the plot and backstory, which backfired as audiences [[ShowDontTell quickly realized they wouldn't get much from watching it if the creators had to explain the whole thing to them]].
** ''The Spike'', an Irish drama serial set in a high school in Dublin which was heavily criticized for its poor acting, writing, and handling of contemporary societal issues. Further controversy arose due to a scene showing a nude model in an art class, leading to the series being officially condemned by the Irish government and promptly cancelled.

** ''De oro puro'' ("Of Pure Gold"), a UsefulNotes/{{Venezuela}}n soap opera that, despite its high production values, was panned by critics for its [[RandomEventsPlot directionless and incoherent narrative]], an issue further exacerbated by being aired in the same time slot as the well-regarded ''Por estas calles'' ("On These Streets"). Broadcaster RCTV attempted to resolve the issue by airing segments in which the cast members, alongside a respected character actress, recapped and explained the plot and backstory, which backfired as audiences [[ShowDontTell quickly realized they wouldn't get much from watching it if the creators had to explain the whole thing to them]].

* ''The Spike'', an Irish drama serial set in a high school in Dublin which was heavily criticized for its poor acting, writing, and handling of contemporary societal issues. Further controversy arose due to a scene showing a nude model in an art class, leading to the series being officially condemned by the Irish government and promptly cancelled.

** ''De oro puro'' ("Of Pure Gold"), a UsefulNotes/{{Venezuela}}n ''telenovela'' that, despite its high production values, was panned by critics for its [[RandomEventsPlot directionless and incoherent narrative]], an issue further exacerbated by being aired in the same time slot as the well-regarded ''Por estas calles'' ("On These Streets"). Broadcaster RCTV attempted to resolve the issue by airing segments in which the cast members, alongside a respected character actress, recapped and explained the plot and backstory, which backfired as audiences [[ShowDontTell quickly realized they wouldn't get much from watching it if the creators had to explain the whole thing to them]].

** ''De oro puro'' ("Of Pure Gold"), a UsefulNotes/{{Venezuela}}n ''telenovela'' that, despite its high production values, was panned by critics for its [[RandomEventsPlot directionless and incoherent narrative]], an issue further exacerbated by being aired in the same time slot as the well-regarded ''Por estas calles'' ("On These Streets"). Broadcaster RCTV attempted to resolve the issue by airing segments in which the cast members, alongside a respected character actress, recapped and explained the plot and backstory, which backfired as audiences [[ShowDontTell quickly realized they wouldn't get much from watching it if the creators had to explain the story to them]].

** ''De oro puro'' ("Of Pure Gold"), a UsefulNotes/{{Venezuela}}n ''telenovela'' that, despite its high production values, was panned by critics for its [[RandomEventsPlot directionless and incoherent narrative]], an issue further exacerbated by being aired in the same time slot as the well-regarded ''Por estas calles'' ("On These Streets"). Broadcaster RCTV attempted to resolve the issue by airing segments in which the cast members, alongside a respected character actress, recapped and explained the plot and backstory, which backfired as audiences [[ShowDontTell quickly realized they wouldn't get much from watching it if the creators had to explain the story for them]].

** The ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' episode "Electric Soldier Porygon", which was never exported beyond the show's native Japan and was outright banned by the Japanese government because it contained strobing visuals that caused an epidemic of [[UsefulNotes/{{Epilepsy}} epilectic seizures]] during its only airing and led to new Japanese television practices that are still in effect to this day.

** ''Australia's Naughtiest Home Videos'', a take on the ''Series/AmericasFunniestHomeVideos'' formula that aired on Creator/NineNetwork and primarily featured animals having sex. It was pulled off the network in the middle of its only airing at the demand of the network's owner Kerry Packer, leading to the people who made/helmed the show being very acrimoniously fired right away and trespassed from the network.

# The epilogue of Music/MichaelJackson's 1991 [[Music/{{Dangerous}} "Black or White"]] music video [[note]](In which Jackson smashes up a car and engages in an absurd amount of crotch-grabbing even by his usual standards, to the shock of millions of viewers - including kids and their parents - who watched its simulcast on four American networks: Creator/{{FOX}}, Creator/{{MTV}}, Creator/VH1, and Creator/{{BET}}. This part of the video is really a BigLippedAlligatorMoment that doesn't have anything to do with the rest of the song, the song and video's narrative had already ended so what viewers saw was MJ trashing a car and "dancing" in silence, eventually followed by a ProsceniumReveal that the video was being watched by [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Bart Simpson]] just in time for Homer to walk in, yell at Bart, and shut off the TV. It was excluded from future showings and on iTunes. This was cited by the author as the point where Jackson's life and career went tragically downhill, ultimately ending with his death in 2009, five years after this book was published.)[[/note]]

# ''Series/{{Supertrain}}'' [[note]](1979 NBC series about a giant nuclear-powered train, meant to be their answer to ''Series/TheLoveBoat''. It was the most expensive pilot made up to that point, and when the series' concept did no good (no thanks to an allegedly butt-ugly set and costumes) it was removed from the schedule for a while and reworked into a thriller. This didn't help much, and NBC had to [[JustForPun derail]] it for good shortly afterwards. Its flopping made NBC's already-problematic run under Fred Silverman worse.)[[/note]]

** ''The Trouble with Tracy'', a 1970s Canadian sitcom that was created solely to fulfill the then-financially struggling Creator/{{CTV}}'s quota on locally produced content, with the producers required to film ''130'' episodes in a single season. The time and economic pressures involved forced them to take shortcuts such as recycling 25 year old radio scripts, shooting whole scenes in a single take, using canned laughter instead of a live studio audience, keeping flubbed lines in the completed episodes due to having insufficient time to shoot retakes, and shooting virtually the entire series inside a poorly-constructed set. The end result was regarded as one of the most poorly-produced sitcoms ever made.

# ''Film/BadRonald'' [[note]](1974 ABC TV-movie which features an extremely nerdy teen with NoSocialSkills hiding in his house after killing a peer by accident. After his mother dies, he remains hidden and a new family buys the house, resulting in Ronald becoming fixated on their youngest daughter. Was quoted as "processed cheese" by the author, reportedly had a murky color quality to it when it was aired, and also had reportedly not aged well.)[[/note]]

# ''Life with Lucy'' [[note]](1986 ABC sitcom starring Creator/LucilleBall as the owner of a hardware store which, when it wasn't interminably boring, was putting Ball's safety into question every time the now-75-year-old actress had to do a stunt. Its failure caused Lucy to leave television for good.)[[/note]]

# Music/{{Madonna}}'s "Like a Prayer" music video debut [[note]](The video, partly sponsored by Pepsi, was hugely hyped, but its provocative imagery condemning racism and religious hypocrisy, along with Madonna's usual sexual themes, with depictions of things like burning crosses and a fantasy sequence where Madonna makes out with a Black saint--sometimes mistakenly interpreted as a black Jesus Christ--was taken by MoralGuardians to be blasphemous and racist, and their protests cost her the endorsement deal, [[MagnificentBastard although she kept the money that Pepsi had paid for an ad that used a variant of "Like a Prayer"]]. Despite the controversy, [[StreisandEffect the song and its video became a big hit anyway, hitting number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.]] Pepsi would find themselves in a similar incident years later with rapper Ludacris, who was then replaced by Music/OzzyOsbourne, which didn't help the situation.)[[/note]]

# Music/{{Madonna}}'s "Like a Prayer" music video debut [[note]](The video, partly sponsored by Pepsi, was hugely hyped, but its provocative imagery condemning racism and religious hypocrisy, along with Madonna's usual sexual themes, with depictions of things like burning crosses and a fantasy sequence where Madonna makes out with a Black saint--sometimes mistakenly interpreted as a black Jesus Christ--was taken by MoralGuardians to be blasphemous and racist, and their protests cost her the endorsement deal, [[MagnificentBastard although she kept the money that Pepsi had paid for an ad that used a variant of "Like a Prayer"]]. Pepsi would find themselves in a similar incident years later with rapper Ludacris, who was then replaced by Music/OzzyOsbourne, which didn't help the situation.)[[/note]]

** ''The Trouble with Tracy'', a 1970s Canadian sitcom that was created solely to fulfill the then-financially struggling Creator/{{CTV}}'s quota on locally produced content, with the producers required to produce ''130'' episodes in a single season. The time and economic pressures involved forced them to take shortcuts such as recycling 25 year old radio scripts, shooting whole scenes in a single take, using canned laughter instead of a live studio audience, keeping flubbed lines in the completed episodes due to having insufficient time to shoot retakes, and shooting virtually the entire series inside a poorly-constructed set. The end result was regarded as one of the most poorly-produced sitcoms ever made.