History StylisticSuck / LiveActionTV

* On ''QueerAsFolk'' there was a ShowWithinAShow called "Gay as Blazes" which was shown to be extremely politically correct, and thus dull and overall ''very'' bad, although all the characters except Brian loved it. It was a very unsubtle TakeThat to the critics who complained that Queer as Folk itself wasn't PC enough, and eventually Brian mentions that it was cancelled.

* In ''Series/TheSarahConnorChronicles'', Terminator Cromartie imitates an actor. After some of Cromartie's crimes become public, a few clips from one of his movies are shown. They're about a barbarian and include a lovely blond wig, poorly spliced-in footage of a tiger, and utterly legendary acting. It's an obvious ShoutOut to Arnold Schwarzenegger's role as {{Conan|TheBarbarian}}, though it seems a bit more ''[[Film/TheBeastMaster Beast Master]]''

-->'''Saul:''' Anything you care to share with me?
-->'''Hank:''' Sure, your commercials, they suck ass. See better acting in an epileptic whore-house.

* ''Series/{{Community}}'' has the recurring ''JustForFun/InspectorSpacetime'' TV programme and ''Kickpuncher'' movies. We only glimpse a few scenes, and although they do look really, really bad, [[SoBadItsGood Abed and Troy love them both]].

* ''Series/MythBusters'' sometimes has the crew members reenact movie scenes (or do their own) that illustrate a myth that they're testing. Often, they don't really [[RuleofFunny make an effort]] to make the [[BadBadActing acting]] (or, in some cases, [[SpecialEffectsFailure special effects]]) believable. Generally, the "worse" ones will be [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by [[TheReveal revealing how they were shot]]--the ChromaKey fades to green, the camera pulls back enough to show some details of the set, etc. Most noticeable for the bus jump from ''Film/{{Speed}}'', and the ''PointBreak'' "trilogy" of myths based off the plane jump.

* The show-within-a-show in ''{{Series/Extras}}'', "When The Whistle Blows". Subverted in that Andy Millman, the main actor and creator of the show, actually wanted to make a television show [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything that sounded very similar to ''Extras'' creator Ricky Gervais's previous series]], ''TheOffice'', but it was the BBC that turned it into a catchphrase-spewing, wig-and-glasses-wearing, badly-written, lowest-common-denominator sitcom that turns off critics everywhere, but makes Millman a minor star with the aforementioned lowest-common-denominator.
* ''Series/{{House}}'' enjoys watching a hospital-based soap opera called ''Prescription Passion'' while he's supposed to be working. In one episode where he kidnaps the star to treat a condition he's diagnosed by watching the show, it turns out even the male lead thinks the show is terrible.
** WordOfGod has it that they originally intended to use clips from ''Series/GeneralHospital'' but were denied, so instead made up their own version of the show that was as ridiculous as possible (see a [[ChristmasEpisode Christmas-themed episode]] where all the doctors are wearing Santa Claus hats in the OR). However, in one episode, House tells his 'ducklings' that his file is under the codename "Luke and Laura."

* ''{{Spaced}}'' character Brian Topp is an artist whose work embodies all the cliches of a tortured, pretentious, self-absorbed, angst-fueled performance-artist stereotype, pushed to their limits. Though the writers created it as if seriously trying to come up with a piece of performance art, according to the commentary, knowing that it would be funnier than if they tried to parody the style.

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' features three comparatively rare music video examples from Robin's days as a [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff Canadian pop star]]. The first one, at least, is SoBadItsGood.

** There was also the game show "Heads or Tails", in which contestants can win fabulous prizes if they call a coin flip correctly. Granted, the only thing really wrong with it was the premise, but that premise was bad enough to count.

* ''Series/{{Lost}}'''s Nikki was a guest star on a show called ''Exposé'', which is about strippers who fight crime. The show features melodramatic music, bad acting, and the odious CatchPhrase "Razzle dazzle!" yelled by the strippers as they fight. Notable for having Billy Dee Williams as the BigGood [[spoiler:except he's [[TheReveal secretly]] the Cobra, the BigBad!]]
* In ''Series/TheSarahConnorChronicles'', Terminator Cromartie imitates an actor. After some of Cromartie's crimes become public, a few clips from one of his movies are shown. They're about a barbarian and include a lovely blond wig, poorly spliced-in footage of a tiger, and utterly legendary acting.
** An obvious ShoutOut to Arnold Schwarzenegger's role as {{Conan|TheBarbarian}}, though it seems a bit more ''[[Film/TheBeastMaster Beast Master]]''

* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' has con artist Sophie Devereaux, who is a [[LargeHam terrible actress]]... unless she's conning someone, in which case she's incredible. The show's so far included a hamtastic rendition of Lady Theatre/{{Macbeth}}, an audition for a soap commercial where she "view[s] the dirt as a metaphor for sin," and an [[TakeOurWordForIt unseen]] performance of ''Theatre/DeathOfASalesman'' where [[GenderFlip she played Willy Loman]].

* In a ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' episode where we hear George sing an answering machine message to the tune of the ''Greatest American Hero'' theme song, Broadway star Jason Alexander had to tone down his singing talent to sound more like George would sing.

* ''Music/FlightOfTheConchords'' has some of this when we see the band actually play a gig. They also appear to only know 2 songs (Robots and Rock the Party). The music videos in the show that presumably take place in the characters' minds are very good in comparison.

* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' had its running series in the 1970s episodes hosted by Leonard Pinth-Garnell (Creator/DanAykroyd) featuring "Bad Theater", "Bad Cinema", "Bad Musicals", "Bad Children's Cabaret", etc.

** Todd's attempt to become a pop star by releasing a song called "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzjT_m7PH80 One Track Lover]]". It's a ClicheStorm of the worst parts of the late 80s, with the absurdly wet Dean Learner as AWildRapperAppears.

* ''Ijon Tichy : Raumpilot'', a German sitcom adaptation of Creator/StanislawLem's comedic [[Literature/TheStarDiaries Ijon Tichy short stories and novels]], upped its already {{surreal humour}} by having the majority of the special effects, alien costumes, etc. deliberately invoke this. They look like something made for a high school theater play at best (though with surprising attention to details). In turn, [[GeniusSlob Ijon]]'s own spaceship looks like an old coffee press with a rocket exhaust. However, this is also subverted heavily by the series inserting plenty of good quality CGI into the otherwise tongue-firmly-in-cheek sets, props and costuming.

* ''Ijon Tichy : Raumpilot'', a German sitcom adaptation of Stanislaw Lem's comedic [[Literature/TheStarDiaries Ijon Tichy short stories and novels]], upped its already {{surreal humour}} by having the majority of the special effects, alien costumes, etc. deliberately invoke this. They look like something made for a high school theater play at best (though with surprising attention to details). In turn, [[GeniusSlob Ijon]]'s own spaceship looks like an old coffee press with a rocket exhaust. However, this is also subverted heavily by the series inserting plenty of good quality CGI into the otherwise tongue-firmly-in-cheek sets, props and costuming.

* On some episodes of ''TheRedGreenShow'', Ranger Gord did [[SpoofAesop "educational"]] forest-themed cartoons, with animal versions of the Possum Lodge members and a ParodySue version of Gord. Gord's actor (Peter Keleghan) did [[TalkingToHimself all the voices]] in a deliberately bad style, and the animation was intentionally jerky.

* ''Series/FlightOfTheConcords'' has some of this when we see the band actually play a gig. They also appear to only know 2 songs (Robots and Rock the Party). The music videos in the show that presumably take place in the characters' minds are very good in comparison.

* ''TheMuppetShow'' pretty much runs on this trope. Fozzie Bear's terrible comedy act is the most obvious example; but it's also a good description of many other major and minor characters, particularly Miss Piggy, and the hapless duo Wayne and Wanda.
* ''Flight of the Concords'' has some of this when we see the band actually play a gig. They also appear to only know 2 songs (Robots and Rock the Party). The music videos in the show that presumably take place in the characters' minds are very good in comparison.
* ''{{Flash Forward|2009}}'' has a recurring kids' cartoon called "Tim Tim and Squirrelio" which looks more like a bad flash cartoon than an actual animated show.
* ''SaturdayNightLive'' had its running series in the 1970s episodes hosted by Leonard Pinth-Garnell (Creator/DanAykroyd) featuring "Bad Theater", "Bad Cinema", "Bad Musicals", "Bad Children's Cabaret", etc.

* ''TwoAndAHalfMen'' does this with the jingles Charlie writes. Granted jingles are rarely good in the first place, but one glaring example is when TheRival is set to win his eighth award in a row, which Charlie was only nominated for. The rival goes on stage to perform his song, and it of course is cheesy and hammy. [[ShaggyDogStory Yet the rival wins again.]]

* This is the entire premise behind Victoria Wood's ''Acorn Antiques'', a spoof of 1980s British soap operas which formed a recurring sketch on ''Series/Victoria WoodAsSeenOnTV''. The sketches exaggerated all the problems resulting from the unfeasibly tight schedules and low budgets of soaps, including wobbly sets (with which the actors often collided), underrehearsed actors flubbing lines and missing cues while obviously reading cue cards, visible technical equipment (with which the actors also often collided), crew members audibly hissing directions from off screen, ill-fitting costumes, obvious continuity errors, and stories rife with absurd twists, implausible dialogue, unresolved subplots, and wildly inconsistent characterisation. Even the credits were not immune to technical problems and corner-cutting; the theme tune went from a tinny synthesiser recording to a piano version clearly recorded in someone's living room, while the cast credits were often carelessly slid on and off the screen.

* This is the entire premise behind Victoria Wood's ''Acorn Antiques'', a spoof of 1980s British soap operas which formed a recurring sketch on ''Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV''. The sketches exaggerated all the problems resulting from the unfeasibly tight schedules and low budgets of soaps, including wobbly sets (with which the actors often collided), underrehearsed actors flubbing lines and missing cues while obviously reading cue cards, visible technical equipment (with which the actors also often collided), crew members audibly hissing directions from off screen, ill-fitting costumes, obvious continuity errors, and stories rife with absurd twists, implausible dialogue, unresolved subplots, and wildly inconsistent characterisation. Even the credits were not immune to technical problems and corner-cutting; the theme tune went from a tinny synthesiser recording to a piano version clearly recorded in someone's living room, while the cast credits were often carelessly slid on and off the screen.

* The "Captain Proton!" holonovels from ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''. A deliberate send-up of the old sci-fi film serials that, to today's jaded viewers, really did suck. The Holodoc ticks off the crew by incorporating them into one of his own holonovels, which are ''already'' bad. Tom Paris takes revenge by rewriting the novel, meaning that now it depicts the Doc in a horrible light (as opposed to his crewmates). The best (or worst, depending on your point of view) part of the joke was that once he sees things from the crew's perspective in Tom's rewrite, he finishes it (presumably in a form they're okay with), and publishes it, and it's implied that it may well start a rebellion of some kind among Holodocs being used as miners in a capacity not unlike slaves.

* In one episode of ''MalcolmInTheMiddle'', Lois tries to get a confession out of her sons by [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment torturing them with an obnoxiously repetitive and didactic children's song]] called "Nice Is Good, Mean Is Bad". The deliberately bad song was provided by {{Pop Star Composer}}s Music/TheyMightBeGiants, who also happened to be working on their first children's album, ''No!'', around the same time.

* The musical "Gay" that the characters attend in episode 2.1 of ''TheITCrowd'' qualifies as this.

* ''Series/{{Community}}'' has the recurring ''InspectorSpacetime'' TV programme and ''Kickpuncher'' movies. We only glimpse a few scenes, and although they do look really, really bad, [[SoBadItsGood Abed and Troy love them both]].

* Rachel's Run Joey Run video in ''{{Glee}}''. And let's not forget "My Headband" and "My Cup," two awful attempts at songwriting.

* Although we never actually see her dance, Diane Chambers from ''{{Cheers}}'' is said to be very, very bad at ballet.
* In ''BlackAdder Goes Forth'', Baldrick recites several poems:
** "The German Guns":
--> '''Baldrick:''' Boom, boom, boom, boom, / Boom, boom, boom, / Boom, boom, boom, boom...
--> '''Blackadder:''' Boom, boom, boom?
--> '''Baldrick:''' How did you guess?

-->Hear the words I sing,\\

* The ''{{Blackadder}} the Third'' episode "Sense and Senility" featured the play ''The Bloody Murder of the Foul Prince Romero and His Enormous-Bosomed Wife'' of which its writers, Enoch Mossop and David Keanrick, were inordinately proud. The extracts we hear make it sound like the most ponderous examples of restoration drama possible.
** To give just one example, one of the lines is "To torture him I lust! Let's singe his hair, and up his nostrils hot bananas thrust!"
* An episode of ''Series/RedDwarf'' features a BMovie, ''Attack of the Giant Savage Completely Invisible Aliens'', the trailer of which is little more than people pointing at things that aren't there and a flying saucer on a fishing line.
** There's also the ''{{Neighbours}}'' parody ''Androids'', which features (literally) robotic acting and deliberate 'mistakes'.

** WordOfGod has it that they originally intended to use clips from ''GeneralHospital'' but were denied, so instead made up their own version of the show that was as ridiculous as possible (see a [[ChristmasEpisode Christmas-themed episode]] where all the doctors are wearing Santa Claus hats in the OR). However, in one episode, House tells his 'ducklings' that his file is under the codename "Luke and Laura."

* ''FatherTed'' opens one episode with a clip from a show called "Father Ben", displaying exactly the same title sequence as its parent show, and hilariously similar yet exaggerated characters.

* A recurring sketch on ''ThatMitchellAndWebbLook'' features two scriptwriters who don't do their research. ''Any'' reserch. Their sports drama is filled with GretzkyHasTheBall; their hospital show was written without knowing any medical terms, and so on. Faced with their Bad Bad Scripts, it's apparent that everyone else involved [[TheyJustDidntCare ceases to care]], so we get BadBadActing as well.