Those episodes of any tv show that you just can't watch for whatever reason. Was there an episode that just didn't work because the star was absent for any reason? Was there an episode where a guest star appeared and just ruined the show? Was there an episode that just flat out sucked? Was there an episode that just seemed not to fit the show?

ANY episode where the story includes a political "sermon" (Usually left-wing) in it. :angryfire

home improvement were he writes a book it just him thinking it was boring

family ties were Alex adopt a kid to be his brother for a day

home improvement were he writes a book it just him thinking it was boring

family ties were Alex adopt a kid to be his brother for a day
I didn't like that episode of "Family Ties" either. Also, pretty much any episode of "The Andy Griffith Show" with Warren.

I also can't stand the Jesse James episode of "The Brady Bunch". I know there's more but can't think right now.

Any episode of any show that has a plot that revolves around a character being told that they bear a resemblance to the actor/actress that they're played by (e.g. The Doris Day Show, Sanford & Son).

Clip show episodes.

Any episodes that are desperately being done as "backdoor pilots", I hate these the most because the main cast of actors are relegated to small cameos on their own show. Off the top of my head I can only remember it happening to these shows.

Diff'rent Strokes
Too Close For Comfort
Who's The Boss?
The Facts Of Life
CHiPs
Knight Rider

Any episodes that are desperately being done as "backdoor pilots", I hate these the most because the main cast of actors are relegated to small cameos on their own show. Off the top of my head I can only remember it happening to these shows.

Diff'rent Strokes
Too Close For Comfort
Who's The Boss?
The Facts Of Life
CHiPs
Knight Rider

It also happened on these shows too

The Brady Bunch - Kelley's Kids

Gimme a Break! - The Purse Snatcher, Nell and the Kid, and The Center

GREEN ACRES also had 2

all those "A VERY SPECIAL EPISODE OF...."

I think anything that had a perverted storylines. The one that I remember is on Different Strokes where Arnold and Dudley are in the home of a pedophile. Just Gross.

any episode that has a scene in a strip club- that junk doesn't belong on TV.
episodes that have crude sexual humor- unfortunately that's most current sitcoms. The only family friendly ones are on ABC, and NBC had Growing Up Fisher last year which they canned despite higher ratings than renewed Parks and Recreation.

I think anything that had a perverted storylines. The one that I remember is on Different Strokes where Arnold and Dudley are in the home of a pedophile. Just Gross.
Well I think episodes like those were a good outlet for most kids that by watching them might make it easier to talk to parents about.

Then again the "special episode" can get tedious very quick, the show Blossom springs to mind (teen girl dating, girlfriend who was boy crazy, recovering alcoholic brother, divorced musician dad, instrusive grandfather)

What about those "flashback" episodes where the characters reminisce about past moments:Remember the time...cue to flashback. I know Charlie's Angels did it twice.
I suppose back in the day before VCRs, it was nice to relive past episodes, but now I'd rather watch the entire episodes and not just a bunch of clips.

Another one: episodes dealing with the mafia and mobsters. I've never understood their appeal.

*Good Times (Season 4, Episode 12): The filler episode in which JJ was the manager for this white woman that played a clown.

*Martin (Season 4, Episode 24): Similar filler as the Good Times episode, in which Martin was the manager of Pam's cousin (played by a member of the R&B group Brownstone) who could sing and tries to launch a music career for her.

What about those "flashback" episodes where the characters reminisce about past moments:Remember the time...cue to flashback. I know Charlie's Angels did it twice.
I suppose back in the day before VCRs, it was nice to relive past episodes, but now I'd rather watch the entire episodes and not just a bunch of clips.
Yeah I always thought of flashback episodes as cheap ways to crank out an episode. And am curious as to how the flashback episodes were taped in front of a live audience for sitcoms, what are they supposed to be reacting to?

Not being funny but....The Rape off Edith Bunker episode. What was the point of that? How did that get past the censors? Uh no, Norman Lear, no attempted rape of a 60 year old lady on Prime Time, but I think Lear was such a valued commodity, so he got away with it.

What about those "flashback" episodes where the characters reminisce about past moments:Remember the time...cue to flashback. I know Charlie's Angels did it twice.
I suppose back in the day before VCRs, it was nice to relive past episodes, but now I'd rather watch the entire episodes and not just a bunch of clips.

I'm ok with the "flashback" episodes that don't simply consist of scenes from past episodes.

For example, see the Martin episode in which the gang reminisced about how Gina and Martin met. They actually played themselves in the flashbacks specifically for the episode.

hzyX_E015vU

Any episodes with dream sequences.I've always found when they do that it's always boring and sometimes even ruins the episode. The only exception that I know of a show that managed to pull them off in an entertaining way is Gilligans Island.

It also happened on these shows too

The Brady Bunch - Kelley's Kids

Gimme a Break! - The Purse Snatcher, Nell and the Kid, and The Center
There were also the final episode of One Day at a Time (Schnider was the only regular featured), the episode of the Cosby Show where Tony Orlando plays a doctor, and the late episode of Green Acres where Don Porter plays a hotel owner.
Back to the topic:
The awful "dreams" episode of MASH. Hey let's throw low grade symbolism on the screen and try to pass it off as something deep!
The Christmas episodes of All in the Family. Those episodes were so dark that it seemed like a vendetta against the holiday.
The "gay patrons" and final episode of Cheers. Gave a mean spirited twist to the characters that was totally against the nature of the series.

The episode of Married With Children that was supposed to be a pilot for a new show. Can't think of the name of the episode. Al was the only MWC character in it.

Howard living on a tropical island on The Andy Griffith Show. Also the one where he's a swinging bachelor and decides to throw a party. And don't get me started with Warren's annoying way of talking.

I also don't like the episode of The Brady Bunch when the grandparents (Robert Reed and Florence Henderson) visit and then get together.

The episode of Married With Children that was supposed to be a pilot for a new show. Can't think of the name of the episode. Al was the only MWC character in it.

I think you're referring to "Top of the Heap" with Matt LeBlanc...

Gilligans Island. The Hunter episode. Gilligan being hunted like an animal was way too vicious and cold for this show. At one point you can see terror in Giligans face, This just was NOT funny at all. And the way the Hunter (Kincaid) carelessly insults and threatens the other castaways knowing there is nothing they can do to stop him, because he holds a rifle.

I can't think of any others right now.

All of the Roseanne episodes in the final season.

On Diff'rent Strokes I never cared for the episodes with Arnold's wheelchair bound friend Kathy.

The Facts Of Life also had the same situation with Blair's cousin Geri who had cerebral palsy.

I agree with the backdoor pilot comment, i.e. the original "Empty Nest" episode from "The Golden Girls" with Rita Moreno and Paul Dooley. Thankfully they retooled it with Richard Mulligan because the first one was duller than watching paint dry.

Also, the flashback episodes of "Charlie's Angels" are ones I tend to skip over now the show is on DVD, but back in the '70s I enjoyed seeing clips from the earlier episodes because the series wasn't even in syndication yet!

Of more recent shows, the "Two and a Half Men" episode from S10 where the characters are in New York and break into a crude song Broadway-style complete with backup dancers (the lyrics compare Ashton's character to a feminine hygiene product) is positively cringe-worthy and unwatchable. Even worse than the similar "Roseanne" episode from S2 where the cast perform a musical tribute to the title character.

All those filler episodes which are a collage of scenes from past episodes.

I can think of a couple of episodes from Home Improvement that I didn't care for. One was a first season episode called Birds of a Feather Flock to Tim. It had Ernest Borgnine in it and I thought it was just incredibly boring. The entire episode was nothing but Tim and the two guys, one of them being Ernest Borgnine.
The other episode was one that had Dave Chappelle in it. I can't remember the name of it, but it was a backdoor pilot that never came to be. I did like the episode but the premise of the pilot was stupid.

The other episode was one that had Dave Chappelle in it. I can't remember the name of it, but it was a backdoor pilot that never came to be. I did like the episode but the premise of the pilot was stupid.

The Buddies series lasted a few episodes. It looks like it's even on DVD.

http://splitsider.com/2013/05/buddies-dave-chappelles-home-improvement-spin-off-that-actually-got-made/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115120/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddies_%28TV_series%29

Happy days fonzie spots I didn't care for this episode at all total went against fonzie character espically wearing that bunny suit.

and dule role episodes don't care for them much either.

I can think of a couple of episodes from Home Improvement that I didn't care for.

Wow! I'm surprised that anybody can remember Home Improvement. Home Improvement, to me, was the type of show you waited to be over, so something more interesting would be on, but nothing ever did. :( Home Improvement is the reason, reality shows became such a phenomenon! :lol:

Wow! I'm surprised that anybody can remember Home Improvement. Home Improvement, to me, was the type of show you waited to be over, so something more interesting would be on, but nothing ever did. :( Home Improvement is the reason, reality shows became such a phenomenon! :lol:Home Improvement was a classic that lasted 8 seasons and was TV's #1 show in its prime (a lot higher ratings than any reality show today). And after its 1st season HI always anchored an hour so it would help out the show airing at 8:30 or 9:30. Reality shows didn't become popular until a few years after Home Improvement ended when Survivor hit big.

the same ol same ol wonderful life story went on way to much anyone else agree

All those filler episodes which are a collage of scenes from past episodes.
I think the series ALF was the worst culprit of this when they had a flashback episode in only it's 1st season, I mean how do you come with a clip show with only a handful of episodes aired?

I think the series ALF was the worst culprit of this when they had a flashback episode in only it's 1st season, I mean how do you come with a clip show with only a handful of episodes aired?Different Strokes had a Christmas clip show that was a 2-parter after just 7 episodes. WKRP had a clip show after 8 episodes.

Home Improvement was a classic that lasted 8 seasons and was TV's #1 show in its prime (a lot higher ratings than any reality show today).

I was a Fraiser man, myself. And before that, Seinfeld of course.:happyface

It seems to me that sitcoms don't do flashback or clip episodes anymore, and I am a fan of a lot of sitcoms. Or am I mistaken?

This is for all sitcoms in general. So many sitcoms have done Christmas episodes that have either been a ripoff of It's A Wonderful Life or Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol. Enough already, they've both been done to death let's move on please!

Ed.

Any episodes that are desperately being done as "backdoor pilots", I hate these the most because the main cast of actors are relegated to small cameos on their own show. Off the top of my head I can only remember it happening to these shows.

Diff'rent Strokes
Too Close For Comfort
Who's The Boss?
The Facts Of Life
CHiPs
Knight Rider


The Golden Girls had one too, it was AWFUL. It was a backdoor pilot for "Empty Nest", but did not feature Richard Mulligan at all. It was truly an awful episode.

Actually, TGG as brilliant as it was had a few terrible episodes; one of the worst, IMHO was "Mister Terrific". Never liked it EVER.

It seems to me that sitcoms don't do flashback or clip episodes anymore, and I am a fan of a lot of sitcoms. Or am I mistaken?


You're probably right, if only because we don't have as many multi-camera sitcoms anymore; the kind that used to do these.

Yeah I always thought of flashback episodes as cheap ways to crank out an episode. And am curious as to how the flashback episodes were taped in front of a live audience for sitcoms, what are they supposed to be reacting to?


The audience likely was either instructed to laugh on cue; or was played a clip on a monitor; or the episode featured "canned laughter" which was laughter that was from a previous taping. It's not uncommon for series to use a laugh track from another program; there are rumors some shows used laugh tracks from as far back as the 60's or 70's.

Easily the worst episode I've ever seen was "The Godsister" of Little House on the Prairie, made even worse by the fact it was a friggin' 90 minute episode. I did a review of this awhile back on another site.

It's a rare Carrie-tastic episode, in which she (ironically) feels left out and goes off into the woods and has images of this non-existent godsister named Alyssa. It's complete with dream sequences, repetitive dialogue, HORRIBLE acting, lots and lots of shouting and oversized pieces of fruit. I'm not making this stuff up. Watch it once and you will learn why they never had another Carrie-themed episode, ever. Or why they rarely used Carrie at all after that. It's painful, excruciating to watch and the B-plot was infinitely more entertaining since it had the late, great Dolph Sweet in it. Yes, watching Jonathan Garvey try to get some potatoes to go with his meat was alot more exciting that hearing Carrie shout "ALYSSA.....ALYSSA." for the 80 millionth time.

I thought Michael Landon's last series before he died, Highway To Heaven was terrific. But there's one episode I remember seeing that's just awful. It was meant to be funny but I don't think it is. It incorporates footage of Michael Landon's first acting role, the movie I Was A Teenage Werewolf from back in the 50s, I'm not making this up! Michael Landon's first big acting role was a B horror movie and he played a teenager who was a werewolf. Seriously. Anyways, the Highway To Heaven episode (which most of I've forgotten thankfully) was a Halloween episode. All I remember is that Victor French's character Mark is watching I Was A Teenage Werewolf on TV and falls asleep. He's then having nightmares that Jonathan (Michael Landon) is a werewolf and attacking him, jumping out at him from closets and so on. And of course Michael Landon is in full werewolf makeup. The thing is, as the episode goes along they kind of make it so you don't know when Mark is having a dream or he's experiencing things as he's awake. It gets a bit confused, I think they were trying to make it suspenseful. It didn't work for me and I've only ever seen it once and that's enough for me. I'm sure they were trying to be funny and also poke fun at the fact playing a werewolf in a low budget horror movie was Landon's first acting job. I just hated it. Since pretty much all the other episodes of Highway To Heaven were more or less serious I think this one is really stupid and embarrassing for the series. There's even a scene where Jonathan as the werewolf jumps out of a refrigerator at Mark as he goes to open it. Whatever. It ends with Jonathan as the werewolf attacking Mark again and then he stops suddenly and looks right in the camera and says Happy Halloween! Really lame stuff.

Ed.

Episodes We Could Have Done Without (http://forums.previously.tv/topic/2565-episodes-we-could-have-done-without/)

It seems to me that sitcoms don't do flashback or clip episodes anymore, and I am a fan of a lot of sitcoms. Or am I mistaken?
Before VCR's became more easily available watching a clip episode was sort of cool revisiting favorite moments. Now in the internet age episodes are available for streaming the next day that flashback episodes become a thing of the past.

Easily the worst episode I've ever seen was "The Godsister" of Little House on the Prairie, made even worse by the fact it was a friggin' 90 minute episode. I did a review of this awhile back on another site.

It's a rare Carrie-tastic episode, in which she (ironically) feels left out and goes off into the woods and has images of this non-existent godsister named Alyssa. It's complete with dream sequences, repetitive dialogue, HORRIBLE acting, lots and lots of shouting and oversized pieces of fruit. I'm not making this stuff up. Watch it once and you will learn why they never had another Carrie-themed episode, ever. Or why they rarely used Carrie at all after that. It's painful, excruciating to watch and the B-plot was infinitely more entertaining since it had the late, great Dolph Sweet in it. Yes, watching Jonathan Garvey try to get some potatoes to go with his meat was alot more exciting that hearing Carrie shout "ALYSSA.....ALYSSA." for the 80 millionth time.the giant strawberries in that ep were as big as my cat sidney

The episode of Frasier where Frasier is having a mid-life crisis and gets counseling from an old professor of his (I think) who's also a psychiatrist played by Rene Auberjonois. I'm fine that Frasier sometimes got into more serious topics. But that episode is such a downer. I quit watching it when it gets rerun because it always makes me feel really depressed.

Ed.

Episodes of any show that feature pimps and prostitutes, tonight's NCIS was subpar because of that junk.

ncis is getting dull about same thing every week

missing dolly on dif rent strokes Arnold whinning like a 5 year old,yelling I want my doll I want my doll god was that annoying one episode I refuse to watch.

The M*A*S*H episode in which Col. Henry Blake gets to go home -- the final scene with Radar revealing his plane was shot down (with "no survivors") still bothers me somewhat. In fact reportedly, this scene has been deleted at times when the series has been in syndication. Otherwise great episode, especially when Henry plants a big kiss on Margaret...!

the episode from season 1 of THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW called "The Twizzle". And I read somewhere that Dick also doesn't like that one.
Also the other season 1 episode "The Bad Old Days".

the episode from season 1 of THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW called "The Twizzle". And I read somewhere that Dick also doesn't like that one.
Also the other season 1 episode "The Bad Old Days".I read somewhere that dick cant stand the uncle George ep with Denver pyle ether

The episode of Frasier where Frasier is having a mid-life crisis and gets counseling from an old professor of his (I think) who's also a psychiatrist played by Rene Auberjonois.
Your mention of Rene reminded me of that awful episode of "Benson" where the staff does a nuclear attack drill. One of the most dreary, depressing things I have ever seen.

The episode of Frasier where Frasier is having a mid-life crisis and gets counseling from an old professor of his (I think) who's also a psychiatrist played by Rene Auberjonois. I'm fine that Frasier sometimes got into more serious topics. But that episode is such a downer. I quit watching it when it gets rerun because it always makes me feel really depressed.

Ed.

The last few seasons of Frasier after Niles and Daphne got married were definitely a lot more mediocre than the earlier episodes. I definitely prefer Seasons 1-7 of Frasier.

instaIILSC, I thought Rene Auberjonois was good in the Frasier episode. I just think it's really dark and depressing.

Ed.

I didn't like the dream ep of Mash either, least favorite episode of the series

I didn't like the dream ep of Mash either, least favorite episode of the series
:yeahthat

The last few seasons of Frasier after Niles and Daphne got married were definitely a lot more mediocre than the earlier episodes. I definitely prefer Seasons 1-7 of Frasier.
:yeahthat especially the ones where the entire show or most of it was about them.

The Frasier episode Freudian Sleep was kinda dumb. It was the strangest episode, they all went to this remote mountain cabin and they all had strange dreams. It just made no sense.
I was one of the ones that loved when Niles and Daphne got together and I enjoyed most of the episodes but that one was just weird!

This is for all sitcoms in general. So many sitcoms have done Christmas episodes that have either been a ripoff of It's A Wonderful Life or Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol. Enough already, they've both been done to death let's move on please!

Ed.

I AGREE! Also the "It was all just a dream" plot.

the black and white episode of M*A*S*H where Clete Roberts interviews everyone separately- one of M*A*S*H's most boring episodes

Albeit Hart to Hart through the four seasons' worth of it has been a very entertaining show, there is one episode late in the fourth season that was very much excruciating to get through: "Hartstruck" from April 12, 1983. I don't know exactly how to better explain why I disliked it, but I saw it once and will never see it again.

I agree with everyone who nominated "flashback" episodes that used clips of previous episodes. The Wonder Years and Perfect Strangers were two offenders whose lame episodes stand out.

Some others:

Laverne and Shirley - "The Playboy Show". Did we REALLY need to use a classic show to promote Hugh Hefner's sad legacy? That really overshadowed the lack of Shirley (it was in the final season).

Step By Step - where JT and his dad in order to win a prize had to get in a wrestling wring, wearing cheerleading outfits at that. BLECCH!

The Waltons - any episode that centered around Olivia's relatives the Burtons. CBS should have spun them off into their own series; they didn't have the same feel as the original show.

The Middle - where the Hecks meet with the new church pastor, and they all start confessing their sins. It was like he took over the show and it was about the pastor instead of Mike, Frances (Frankie), Axl, Sue, and Brick.

The Wonder Years - "Hulk Arnold", where Kevin was on the wrestling team. Did Vince McMahon have anything to do with that piece of crap? And it was during the final season, whose episodes' level of horribility is much more noticeable than the "low energy" counterparts from the last year of The Brady Bunch!

The Wonder Years - the two-part finale that failed to wrap things up after ABC suddenly canceled the show in 1993 after the cast thought they were going on for another season. No wonder the Internet really became popular the following year, with people so fed up with television!

Full House - "My Left and My Right Foot", seriously....an episode about Michelle's feet, and the subplot was just as bad with Becky being a terrible singer (even though she could sing perfectly in the telethon episode). Awful episode, that displayed that the series ran out of ideas at that point.

Some episodes had parts to it that I could have done without, but the rest of the show was good and even brilliant.

I think anything that had a perverted storylines. The one that I remember is on Different Strokes where Arnold and Dudley are in the home of a pedophile. Just Gross.

In a way I can agree, but also, I think it was important to address the fact that young boys need to be protected from predators too.

In most TV shows, young girls are depicted as so fragile and helpless.
I think that Tracy ( of the Partridge Family) was way too "precious" and was treated too much like a little girl, even though she was one.
I mean, when the show first began, Danny was about 10 , Tracy was about 8, when he became about 13 Tracy was about 10 but she was still presented like a very little girl who still bangs a triangle while everyone else has a more important role in the band.

"The Hunter" episode of Gilligan's Island was just plain weird. It was like an episode of Criminal Minds.

Do you get that it's fiction, and that most little girls of 10 aren't banging triangles in front of paying audiences, let alone 8-year olds?


Um, yes. The point is that this entire site is filled with criticisms of portrayals of characters for different reasons, unrealistic portraya!s, overly-done portrayals , etc. That is what the site is partially for, discussions.
Many of us may like a certain TV show but may still find faults with storylines, casting, individual episodes, individual scenes etc. Many of us are just offering our views as to what may have made a TV show more believable, or more likeable or more like what would happen in real life even though TV is known for unrealistic scenarios

episodes of any show that have a seance

ANY episode where the story includes a political "sermon" (Usually left-wing) in it. :angryfire


It seems that you might consider one episode of Archie's Place fitting that category .
The episode addressed the issue of whether sex education should be taught in schools. Archie was being told by his conservative friends that teaching sex ed to kids would lead to promiscuity. Archie first thought that letting his niece Stephanie learn sex ed in school was a bad idea until one of Stephanie's friends got pregnant.

I thought that the episode was so poorly constructed and though I personally believe that sex ed should be taught ( though carefully) in schools, the episode seemed so absurdly mellow-dramatic and one sided

Not being funny but....The Rape off Edith Bunker episode. What was the point of that? How did that get past the censors? Uh no, Norman Lear, no attempted rape of a 60 year old lady on Prime Time, but I think Lear was such a valued commodity, so he got away with it.

All In The Family was considered such ground-breaking TV back then and is still believed to be today. I guess there had never been an episode on a sitcom in which an attempted rape was depicted. But it think it was a an outright act of sensationalizing the sitcom and a cheap trick to make it achieve TV history.
Normal Lear reached a new low with that in my opinion.
Furthermore the scenario was so unrealistic. A young white, seemingly educated guy tries to sexually assault a woman old enough to be his mother. The guy seemed to be a "gentleman rapist" since up until Edith threw a hot pan in his face and escapes out of the house, the guy did not do anything really brutal to Edith and she was able to even talk to him keeping him from ultimately doing the act.
Sure, it could be said that in real life it could happen of course, and probably has but it still was so unreal and "politically correct" for a show that valued itself on being so in-your-face with political incorrectness (and this was before those terms were widely used).

Yeah I always thought of flashback episodes as cheap ways to crank out an episode. And am curious as to how the flashback episodes were taped in front of a live audience for sitcoms, what are they supposed to be reacting to?

Good question. I have always wondered about laughter in TV sitcoms in which there are scenes with transitions or flashbacks and other such imagery that you can see on TV but which a live audience cannot possibly see in the same way.

Furthermore the scenario was so unrealistic. A young white, seemingly educated guy tries to sexually assault a woman old enough to be his mother. The guy seemed to be a "gentleman rapist" since up until Edith threw a hot pan in his face and escapes out of the house, the guy did not do anything really brutal to Edith and she was able to even talk to him keeping him from ultimately doing the act.
I've read that the script was originally written for "One Day at a Time" and Ann Romano, but that Bonnie Franklin refused to do the episode. They rewrote it hurredly for "All in the Family" and that's the big reason it seemed so forced.

Any show where the cast "puts on a show" , which is just an excuse to showcase their rather dubious musical talents.

Also, shows that become guest-star happy. Any series Lucille Ball starred in post-I Love Lucy always involved accidentally running into some celebrity,which got really old really fast.

All In The Family was considered such ground-breaking TV back then and is still believed to be today. I guess there had never been an episode on a sitcom in which an attempted rape was depicted. But it think it was a an outright act of sensationalizing the sitcom and a cheap trick to make it achieve TV history.
Normal Lear reached a new low with that in my opinion.
Furthermore the scenario was so unrealistic. A young white, seemingly educated guy tries to sexually assault a woman old enough to be his mother. The guy seemed to be a "gentleman rapist" since up until Edith threw a hot pan in his face and escapes out of the house, the guy did not do anything really brutal to Edith and she was able to even talk to him keeping him from ultimately doing the act.
Sure, it could be said that in real life it could happen of course, and probably has but it still was so unreal and "politically correct" for a show that valued itself on being so in-your-face with political incorrectness (and this was before those terms were widely used).

I don't know why Norman Lear didn't have the rapist go after Gloria instead. It would have seemed much more realistic that way.

I don't know why Norman Lear didn't have the rapist go after Gloria instead. It would have seemed much more realistic that way.



Maybe they should have done an episode in which Mike got raped.

I've read that the script was originally written for "One Day at a Time" and Ann Romano, but that Bonnie Franklin refused to do the episode. They rewrote it hurredly for "All in the Family" and that's the big reason it seemed so forced.


Interesting. Where did you read that?
I think that by the time "One Day At A Time" came on the air, "All In The Family" must have been several years on the air and was hungry for very different and extreme situations for the characters so as the the show does not grow old and stale.

The "rape episode " for One Day At A Time would really have been
particularly extreme and out-of-place. It was not as controversial as All In The Family.

"One Heckuva Note" Laverne & Shirley season 5.

There are just some things in life that cause that 'oh F**k No!' reaction, and for me, Laverne & Carmine as a pairing is one of those things.

I don't know why Norman Lear didn't have the rapist go after Gloria instead. It would have seemed much more realistic that way.


Knowing Norman Lear he probably wanted to depict that men are so evil that they'd even rape ugly Edith.

And there actually was an episode early on in the show when someone tried to rape Gloria off screen. She was walking home through a dark alley, some guy jumped her, tore her clothes off but panicked and ran off when she fainted. Charles Durning played a detective in that episode and convinced Gloria not to press charges.

Knowing Norman Lear he probably wanted to depict that men are so evil that they'd even rape ugly Edith.

And there actually was an episode early on in the show when someone tried to rape Gloria off screen. She was walking home through a dark alley, some guy jumped her, tore her clothes off but panicked and ran off when she fainted. Charles Durning played a detective in that episode and convinced Gloria not to press charges.


Edith wasn't ugly. That is a matter of (your) opinion . But I guess certain people cannot be enlightened.

But now that you bring up the fact that All In The Family did have a previous episode regarding rape (attempted at least) , one has to wonder why Lear went on to address the issue again in a more extreme way.
It does go to show that All In The Family, though in a sense a history -making sitcom, was overrated as "original" and "uniquely funny"

I would like to add that though Joan Of Arcadia was not a sitcom, there was one episode that I thought was unnecessary and useless.

First, I think years back there was once an article in TV Guide magazine called "Brilliant but Cancelled" and listed TV shows that had a very short run but which TV Guide described as intelligent or well-written, or in some other way a good TV show. (I think it mentioned "Ten Speed and Brown Shoe" as one of those Brilliant but Cancelled shows). The article was before Joan of Arcadia ever aired, but Joan of Arcadia had a certain run and then was cancelled. It seems that the show was purposely designed to be on the air a certain amount of seasons and then end. I thought that if the TV Guide article were updated Joan of Arcadia should be considered as one of those shows that was Brilliant but Cancelled.

But there was one episode of Joan of Arcadia that I thought did not serve a purpose . It was when Joan met a young black girl from the ghetto who at first was nasty and did not want Joan's friendship but God encouraged Joan to try to make friends with the girl but after Joan did get the girl to be friends with her God then suddenly cut off the friendship and the young black girl just somehow disappeared from Joan's life and God did not let Joan find out where the girl went and Just told Joan to forget about being friends with the girl and Joan was just left having to wonder why God does such things as set up a person to expect something and then it leads nowhere.
It was sad and confusing and did not seem to have a moral .

I've thought of one. There's an episode of Golden Girls that deals with Rose having a (prescription) drug addiction. And then of course after that episode it's never mentioned again. But I just didn't think it was believable that Rose would be the one to have a drug addiction. I think it would've been more believable if it had been Blanche or Dorothy. Just my opinion.

The episode of Frasier where Frasier is experiencing a mid-life crisis. It's very depressing and not funny and I just won't watch it if I see it's on TV.

An episode of The Facts Of Life where some photographer comes to Eastland boarding school and takes a liking to Tootie and talks Mrs. Garrett into letting her be his "model". And then it starts getting into him trying to make Tootie "sexy" and grown up. Mrs. Garrett finds out what he's trying to do and says it's basically child pornography and Tootie won't be "modeling" for him anymore. Very creepy and disturbing.

Ed.

Tool Time After Dark Parts 1 & 2 (Home Improvement) - Not one but a two part episode clip show of tool time? What a waste of two whole episodes.

There was that episode of Nanny and The Professor in which Hal and Butch Built a "Ship" and sailed it with their dad on a small lake but the ship started to fall apart and their dad fell in the water but it turned out that the lake was not deep and The Professor just pulled the ship back to shore. The Professor had been telling Hal and Butch about how he himself constructed a boat when he was a boy and he wanted to sail a long way with his dad as an adventure but they never got to sail far for some reason ( the weather or the boat was not build good enough to sail far) and The Professor felt disappointed he never got such a moment with his dad and wanted to have such a moment with sons but it seemed that the point of the episode is that Hal and Butch and The Professor all tried and had a good time.

It seems that this episode was so plain and boring. Why write such a plot?
(There was a similar episode of Please Don't Eat The Daises in which the 4 boys built a boat to sail around the world but found out that they did not use the right nails and wood; and such a boat would fall apart after a while, but a neighbor with a swimming pool allowed the boys to pretend to set sail in the pool this seemed like a dead plot too).

Knowing Norman Lear he probably wanted to depict that men are so evil that they'd even rape ugly Edith.

And there actually was an episode early on in the show when someone tried to rape Gloria off screen. She was walking home through a dark alley, some guy jumped her, tore her clothes off but panicked and ran off when she fainted. Charles Durning played a detective in that episode and convinced Gloria not to press charges.
she was walking past a construction site not through a dark alley.

98% of the MASH finale.

Interesting. Where did you read that?
The "rape episode " for One Day At A Time would really have been
particularly extreme and out-of-place. It was not as controversial as All In The Family.
In a TV Guide profile of "One Day" in 1980.
Going back to AITF, I believe the rape episode was the same season as the Klan-type group episode. It seems like that, as Archie mellowed in the later seasons, that they were trying "shock" episodes to give the show back its edge. It didn't work.

Not to be funny but.....

The Rape of Edith Bunker episode. I really do not understand how television is ran, but if I were an executive, I would have told Norman Lear no way. Uh uh, you are not going to show a beloved older woman being sexually assaulted on prime time television with 50 million viewers. Norman, it is a SITCOM, a situation comedy, see?

One of my favorite current shows is "Mom". Why not have an episode where Christie and Bonnie were raped at the same time by a home invader. Sounds like 18 minutes of laughter?

And no, I don't miss the point, because there was no point.

Yea I hate the Flashback episodes too.

Edith's near rape episode was very uncomfortable to watch and it was just so bizarre. In real life there are younger men who do deliberately rape women old enough to be their mothers and grandmothers, but this was pretty much played for laughs (when the rapist tells Edith she smells nice and she tells him it's Lemon Pledge or something similar).

Punky Brewster had a couple of very disturbing episodes. One was where Punky and her friends were in a cave and Punky saw scary images of her friends and had to fight a monster. The other was "Fear", where a serial killer was loose in Chicago and Punky was afraid Henry would be a victim. The episode ends with Henry leaving for work and reassuring Punky he was going to be OK. Very frightening stuff for this 8 year-old watching it for the first time back in 1984.

The Andy Griffith episode, The Return of Barney Fife, basically he comes back reunites with Thelma Lou only to find out she is married. I read even the actress who plays Thelma Lou thought that episode was bad

I have to disagree. When Thelma Lou told Barney she was married, it wasn't pleasant, but it was powerful TV for such a gentle sitcom. Don Knotts proved he could do more than slapstick in the few dramatic moments he got.

The Home Improvement episode where they think Randy might have cancer. It's probably (in my opinion) the darkest episode Home Improvement ever did. It was so, out of character for the show (that's a good way to describe it). They never touched on serious subjects like that so I don't understand what the point was. Especially because at the end of the episode the medical tests come back showing Randy does NOT have cancer. I mean it was well acted but man it was so sad and depressing.

Ed.

The Facts Of Life. There's an episode from either season 1 or 2 where one of the other girl students commits suicide. I don't know why they think these kinds of stories are good for sitcoms or who thought that was a good idea. Another sad and upsetting TV episode I'd never watch again.

Ed.

Any episode of any show that has a plot that revolves around a character being told that they bear a resemblance to the actor/actress that they're played by (e.g. The Doris Day Show, Sanford & Son).

Clip show episodes.

I think it was done on "The Lucy Show " or "Lucielle Ball show" or "Here's Lucy."

In this episode, Lucy Carter (or Lucy Carmichael) got to meet Lucielle Ball essentially because she resembles her.
It might have been done more than once. I think I read somewhere on this website that in another episode, Vincent Price guest starred and he believed that Lucy Carter (or Lucy Carmichael) looked like a famous actress.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuQ3svXzBp4

Them wonderful life episodes kind of get dull since it been done on almost every tv show well on a few anyway

In Gilmore Girls. The episode I hate and still can't watch is when Lorelai and Christopher were married in Paris. Everyone knows Lorleai and Luke should be the ones married!!

'Sonny Boy', the only episode of One Day at a Time without Valerie Bertinelli. I mean, really, why bother?

'Sonny Boy', the only episode of One Day at a Time without Valerie Bertinelli. I mean, really, why bother?

I wasn't fond of that episode either.

'Sonny Boy', the only episode of One Day at a Time without Valerie Bertinelli. I mean, really, why bother?

That's a very good point. You didn't have Barbara you don't have a show!! Just my personal opinion.

The Home Improvement episode where they think Randy might have cancer. It's probably (in my opinion) the darkest episode Home Improvement ever did. It was so, out of character for the show (that's a good way to describe it). They never touched on serious subjects like that so I don't understand what the point was. Especially because at the end of the episode the medical tests come back showing Randy does NOT have cancer. I mean it was well acted but man it was so sad and depressing.

Ed.


That episode was done as "Emmy-Bait"; it was purposefully done to try and win some Emmy's for the show. At the time Home Improvement was a fairly significantly sized hit and had some strong reviews for a network comedy; but had never truly broken through to win any major Emmy Awards for acting, writing, direction or series. This episode focusing on the most popular character on the show (Randy) in a serious storyline was constructed most likely to garner attention from Emmy voters.

It didn't work, the show never did ever win any major Emmy's for acting, writing, directing or series.

The Full House episode where Michelle buys a Donkey with her lemonade stand money. So stupid and the writers were running out of ideas.

That's a very good point. You didn't have Barbara you don't have a show!! Just my personal opinion.

But you might be a little biased.:D

The Home Improvement episode where they think Randy might have cancer. It's probably (in my opinion) the darkest episode Home Improvement ever did. It was so, out of character for the show (that's a good way to describe it). They never touched on serious subjects like that so I don't understand what the point was. Especially because at the end of the episode the medical tests come back showing Randy does NOT have cancer. I mean it was well acted but man it was so sad and depressing.

Ed.

All in The Family was supposed to be a unique ground-breaking sitcom but there were times when it touched on morbid, sad, serious topics. Tings like death, cancer, being a sexual assault victim (there was an episode in which Gloria went through it before Edith ever did ) etc. This was supposedly what made All in the Family so unique, taking on tough issues.
But what you said goes to show that other sitcoms also delved into sad realistic situations before AITF did.

I think it was "Archie's Place" rather than "All In The Family" but there was an episode in which Archie was against having his niece, Stephanie learn sex education in school. Then towards the end of the episode Archie is in his living room talking with a man who is the father of a child in the school and who is trying to get Archie to protest or sign a petition against sex ed in the school but then Stephanie is in the kitchen with one of her female friends and Archie overhears Stephanie's friend ( a girl who appears to be in her very early teens) saying that she just found out that she is pregnant and she does not know what to do and that she did not know it can happen just by "Doing it once." Then Archie realizes that he should not be against sex education and tells the other man that he does not want to join the protest against sex ed in the school.

I mean it was soooooo absurd. Just as soon as Archie is about ready to join a protest against sex education it is then that he hears about one of Stephanie's friends getting pregnant and he suddenly changes his mind and sees that the man who is trying to organize a protest is wrong by saying "That kind of education leads to that kind of behavior."
I am all for the proper teaching of sex ed in schools, at least as an option, but this episode was so one sided and was unimaginative and I think that it could have presented the issue as more complex than black and white. After all, there are people who could put up good arguments against sex ed. The episode presented the father against sex ed as such an ignorant stubborn person, but there are people who would say that parents have rights too and if they allow sex ed in schools what's to stop schools from teaching communism?
But then again, sometimes an episode cannot just present all complicated sides of an argument.

This is true for the episode"Maude's Dilemma" in which Maude got pregnant at a late age in life and ultimately decided to have an abortion. It definitely was "ground breaking" and I think no other sitcom in history ever tackled that issue.
I DON'T think it is an episode that we could have done without and I think it was generally presented fairly well, but in retrospect I think it could have been done in a better way, but those were the 1970s.

All in the Family, "Edith Writes a Song." Two armed burglars invade the Bunker home, but it turns out they're sensitive, happy-go-lucky fellows and it's Archie who's the bad guy..

I remember that one. Typical Norman Lear. Archie is not only a buffoon (due to his politics) but was the bad guy even when robbers broke into his own home. Looking back at it that show really is a direct link to the atmosphere we see on TV today.

Home Improvement- the episode where Tim ogles breast enlargement literature. Today that episode was on at 3:00, I watched 2:00 and 2:30 and will be coming back for 3:30 but turned this episode off. Not appropriate for what is usually a family show.

Home Improvement- the episode where Tim ogles breast enlargement literature. Today that episode was on at 3:00, I watched 2:00 and 2:30 and will be coming back for 3:30 but turned this episode off. Not appropriate for what is usually a family show.


I don't think I ever watched Home Improvement, but if ever there was an episode that we could do without that is it

Season 8 on Barney Miller, currently running on Family Net. One of the funnier episodes early on in the series was a man who thought he was a werewolf. In season 8 he appears again, now convinced he is possessed by an evil spirit and a priest is brought in for an exorcism. Not even remotely funny IMHO. Many shows, even good ones, seem to die slow and painful deaths in their final seasons. Those that can maintain excellence throughout are pretty rare. For the most part Barney Miller was a great show throughout its run. But the episodes that rankle always seem to be those towards the end when they're either trying too hard or have just given up and are going through the motions. :(

Bumping this up: after seeing that controversial Miami Vice outing called "Too Much, Too Late" (OAD Jan. 25, 1990 on USA; saw it from Mill Creek DVD lot release), I'm of the opinion that NBC made the right decision to bail on that one. Granted, the crime that is the basis of the main plot happens offscreen, but there was all the more graphic content in the domestic abuse scenes as well. Still, I gave it a fair hearing to see what it was all about, and as such, that's one I won't come back to again.

Easily the worst episode I've ever seen was "The Godsister" of Little House on the Prairie, made even worse by the fact it was a friggin' 90 minute episode. I did a review of this awhile back on another site.

It's a rare Carrie-tastic episode, in which she (ironically) feels left out and goes off into the woods and has images of this non-existent godsister named Alyssa. It's complete with dream sequences, repetitive dialogue, HORRIBLE acting, lots and lots of shouting and oversized pieces of fruit. I'm not making this stuff up. Watch it once and you will learn why they never had another Carrie-themed episode, ever. Or why they rarely used Carrie at all after that. It's painful, excruciating to watch and the B-plot was infinitely more entertaining since it had the late, great Dolph Sweet in it. Yes, watching Jonathan Garvey try to get some potatoes to go with his meat was alot more exciting that hearing Carrie shout "ALYSSA.....ALYSSA." for the 80 millionth time.


I never saw this episode.
It makes me realize that an "under-used" character in a certain TV show is always in danger of being put in a "special" episode that focuses on her or him (usually it is a "her" it seems. A bit more on that as I go along and maybe I will make a separate thread for that) but the episode is so poorly thought out for the long run, and it makes it seem as if it would be better if the under-used character would have been left as a completely obscure person than have that character remembered for being in an awful plot.
I know that "Carrie" in Little House On The Prairie was very much like "Tracy" in the Partridge Family, a character who was hardly noticed except for being hardly noticed.
I guess "Carrie" did not have it totally as bad as "Tracy."
However one episode that I think might-as-well not have been made( speaking of "Tracy") is "Home Is Where The Heart Was" in which Chris and Tracy Partridge decided to run away from home.
Sure it was sort-of a much needed episode that focused on the two youngest members of the family who otherwise were almost never used in other episodes. And even at that, the two youngest Partridge kids' adventure in this episode was more of a vehicle for what happens to the adults around them when they run away from home.

I would not say that the episode was really really bad. It was just an idea that was not presented in the best possible way and seemed to be useless to
have made. Otherwise it would have been good for Chris and Tracy to get some broadcast time.
In the PF episode, Chris and Tracy are reprimanded by their mother and decide to run away from home. It seemed absurd that Chris and Tracy announced to their family that they were running away. Sure, it is supposed to be funny that the kids don't know enough to run away without telling anyone.
Other TV shows have used the scenario of kids letting their parents know that they are going to run away, but that seems to make the act of running away from home, poorly-executed and it is more predictable that the parents or family will find a way to keep an eye on the run-aways. You can sense that the kids will probably come back on their own, and nothing really significant will come of it all.
in reality , probably kids more-often run away without telling anyone.
In movies and TV the scenario often used is that the kids leave when their parents or family don't suspect it. The kids might leave a message.

Chris was given a teensy bit more lines and attention in certain episodes than Tracy. He was very much part of the plot in "I Can Get It For You Retail" in which Danny talked Chris into stealing Keith's possessions to sell.

It seems if Tracy was given an episode all to herself she would have been given an episode like "The Godsister" of LHOTP and it would have gone down as the overall worst episode ever.

I think you're referring to "Top of the Heap" with Matt LeBlanc...

Top of the Heap actually went to series and spun off its own continuation series, featuring LeBlanc and eliminating Joe Bologna as his dad. The follow-up series died soon after.

The episode of Family Ties where the whole show was Michael J. Fox doing a monologue about his dead best friend (who we never saw nor heard about before or after this episode). It might have worked better if we actually knew who this guy was, but as it was it seemed like the "Michael J. Fox is trying to win an Emmy" episode. I remember it was shot like a one-man stage play. It was weird.

There are a lot of posts on this discussion and I don't know if anyone else mentioned this already, or maybe I might have mentioned it already here or somewhere else on this site, but I don't recall, but one really useless episode IMO was in All In The Family. The episode essentially begins with Gloria just sulking and being in a bad mood and Archie and Mike are going on a fishing trip, and I think Gloria gets into an argument with Mike and by the end of the show Edith and Gloria sit for a mother-daughter talk and Edith tells Gloria a story to the effect that there was once a time when she herself was much younger and got into a bad mood because she just felt that the people who she loved were "strangers" and it was as if she did not know them and it felt as if her life was not going anywhere happy, but after a while she came to realize that everyone has bad days and just feels blue out of nowhere but it will go away with time and then you realize that you do have people around you that you love. Then very much like magic Gloria's mood lifts and she feels happier and it is then when Mike comes in saying that he decided not to go with Archie on the fishing trip so he turned around to come back home because he was worried about Gloria not feeling happy. Then Mike suddenly asks for something to eat and Gloria and Edith laugh because they had just been talking about how people they love sometimes seem like strangers but with Mike asking for food, he seems like he is the lovable guy with a strong appetite like always. So Mike seems to realize that Gloria is no longer in a sad mood though he does not completely understand why Edith and Gloria are laughing. It is then that Mike says something to the effect that he is in trouble because he is holding Archie's fishing pole and Archie is going to find out that he is without it when he gets to the fishing hole. Nothing that funny for AITF.

It seems that this episode had nothing to proclaim except a big cliche and
it was as if it was leading you to believe that something really funny or significant was in store, but it climaxed to an anti climax. There is nothing special about a sitcom episode that has the characters just sitting around talking about what does not need explaining, that sometimes people get in bad moods without apparent reason.

The episode of Family Ties where the whole show was Michael J. Fox doing a monologue about his dead best friend (who we never saw nor heard about before or after this episode). It might have worked better if we actually knew who this guy was, but as it was it seemed like the "Michael J. Fox is trying to win an Emmy" episode. I remember it was shot like a one-man stage play. It was weird.


I never saw that episode and I am not sure I would like it or not, but it sounds like what was done in "Maude" once when an entire episode consisted of Maude as the only person talking because she was telling a psychiatrist her problems and some of her sad memories of her childhood and past life. The psychiatrist may have said a few words at times. I only recall his back was to the camera and he sometimes just said "umm hmm" only to indicate that he was listening.

BTW, when I saw that episode it seemed to be a parody of a "Soap-opera like" TV show that used to be broadcast along with other soap operas in the noon hours back in the very late 1960s to approximately the early 1970s and it consisted of a bearded, mid to late 50ish male psychiatrist who always had female clients telling their problems and the show might have lasted half an hour or maybe an hour but it was acted out (not like Dr Phil) . Anyone recall that show and the name of it? I think it had the name of the psychiatrist, "Dr" something.
Maybe I ought to create a thread about identifying long-forgotten TV shows.

all those "A VERY SPECIAL EPISODE OF...."


I think that has to mean the episode of Little House On The Prairie called "The Lord Is My Shepherd" ( or that is what I best recall) in which Laura got lost in the woods.

Also that "special episode" of "Love Sidney" in which Tony Randall's character's daughter gets sick or something like that and the whole episode deals with waiting and hoping and praying. I actually don't know because I never saw the episode but I remember hearing a TV promotion for the episode and it did say "A very special episode of Love Sidney."
I was in my 20s when that show was on the air, but I might not exactly recall the details.