https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-lists/worst-tv-network-decisions-1234796350/

THE HISTORY OF television is a vast wasteland of terrible decisions. For every groundbreaking show like Breaking Bad, Star Trek, and All in the Family that got on the air, there are 50 duds (https://nypost.com/2002/07/13/tops-in-tele-trash-springer-worst-stinker-on-tv-guide-list/) like Capitol Critters, Homeboys in Outer Space, and Joanie Loves Chachi. For every brilliant network idea, like NBC allowing Jerry Seinfeld to make a “show about nothing,” there are 100 insane ones, like ABC allowing Jim Belushi to create 182 episodes of According to Jim across eight seasons.

It wasn’t easy, but we combed through six decades and picked out the 50 worst decisions (https://officialfan.proboards.com/thread/629507/another-rolling-stone-worst-decisions) in the history of television. The goal wasn’t to center this on “Jumping the Shark” moments, which is why you won’t see entries about Felicity getting a haircut or Cousin Oliver moving in with the Brady Bunch. We instead focused on choices made at the network level by clueless suits. That said, a few dumb writing decisions — like the infamous Armin Tamzarian episode of The Simpsons — were hard to avoid.

This list (https://www.reddit.com/r/glee/comments/15tpthi/rolling_stones_list_of_the_50_worst_decisions_in/) could have easily been six times longer, since buffoons have been running networks since the earliest days of television, so feel free to add your own ideas on X (formerly Twitter) using the hashtag #BadTVDecisions. (If you’re interested in how a similar level of weapons-grade stupidity can play out in the world of music, here’s our list of the 50 Worst Decisions in Music History from last year (https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/worst-decisions-in-music-history-1234626744/).)

Warning: Some of these are agonizing to relive, especially when you consider that we could all exist in a world where Lost ended in a satisfying way, MTV never aired an episode of Ridiculousness, and NBC didn’t pave the way for Donald Trump’s presidency.

Not cool trashing one of the best game shows ever Greed as a Who Wants to be a Millionaire? knockoff. Only mistake FOX made there was cancelling Greed too soon. The Sopranos never would have worked on FOX with its profanity and explicit sexual material. :rolleyes:

Regarding Saturday Night Live (https://www.nytimes.com/1981/01/11/arts/whatever-happened-to-tv-s-saturday-night-live.html), having (https://www.looper.com/83835/untold-truth-snls-forgotten-season/) Jean Doumanian (https://www.filmboards.com/board/t/Only-claim-to-fame%3F%3F%3F-2279715/) take over (https://www.grunge.com/1179809/jean-doumanians-brief-and-tumultuous-takeover-of-saturday-night-live-in-1980/) from Lorne Michaels as the executive producer in the sixth season (1980-81 (https://www.avclub.com/how-bad-can-it-be-case-file-23-saturday-night-live-s-1798233191)) has to be a bigger blunder than what Rolling Stone listed on there. I mean, to this day, Season 6 (https://ultimateclassicrock.com/saturday-night-live-season-six/) is generally considered to be the worst season in SNL history. Ironically, that was the season that first gave us Eddie Murphy (https://www.cracked.com/article_36683_a-19-year-old-eddie-murphy-hounded-snl-producers-from-a-pay-phone-for-an-audition.html) and even Doumanian initially, wasn't completely tuned in on how talented Murphy (https://www.thewrap.com/eddie-murphy-saved-snl-canceled/) truly was.

Here's the full list in case you're wondering:

>50. 'Jeopardy' allows Mike Richards to anoint himself host (2020)
>49. 'America's Next Top Model' asks contestants to swap ethnicities (2005)
>48. The Geico Cavemen get their own sitcom (2007)
>47. Disney+ refuses to let Lizzie McGuire grow up (2019)
>46. 'Saturday Night Live' fires Adam Sandler and Chris Farley (1995)
>45. HBO tries to make a 'Sex and the City' for men (2001)
>44. Two words: 'Cop Rock' (1990)
>43. The ungodly horror that is 'The Swan' makes women hate themselves (2004)
>42. Fox News tries to make their own daily show (2007)
>41. Geraldo takes viewers inside Al Capone's vault (1986)
>40. Ren and Stimpy's '"Adult Party Cartoon"' is allowed to happen (2003)
>39. MTV gives up and becomes the 'Ridiculousness' channel (2011)
>38. 'Family Matters' disappears Judy Winslow (1993)
>37. 'Star Trek' and 'Gilligan's Island' are both cancelled after just three seasons (1969 and 1967)
>36. ABC gives us way too much 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' (1999-)
>35. 'Mad About You' reboots on Spectrum (2019)
>34. HBO Max dumps the 'HBO' (2023)
>33. Fox News and CNN create streaming platforms (2018 and 2023)
>32. Dan Rather fails to vet supposed George W. Bush documents (2004)
>31. 'Quantum Leap' reboots without Scott Bakula (2022)
>30. The Academy Awards asks James Franco to co-host (2010)
>29. 'Laverne and Shirley' dumps Shirley (1982)
>28. 'The Simpsons' reveals that Principal Skinner is an imposter (1997)
>27. Joey Tribbiani gets his own show (2004)
>26. NBC poaches Megyn Kelly from Fox (2017)
>25. 'Glee' brings in a new Glee class (2012)
>24. ESPN decides that Rush Limbaugh would make a good football commentator (2003)
>23. CNN moves Don Lemon to mornings (2023)
>22. 'Arrested Development' breaks the format with convoluted Netflix season (2013)
>21. 'The State' leaved MTV for CBS (1995)
>20. UPN greenlights 'The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer' (1998)
>19. 'Seinfeld' kills off Susan in heartless fashion (1996)
>18. 'Lost' blows its ending (2010)
>17. 'The Brady Bunch Hour' becomes a thing (1976)
>16. The Ropers quit 'Three's Company' for an ill-fated spinoff (1979)
>15. 'Star Trek: TNG' fires Gates McFadden before season two (1988)
>14. 'Westworld' confuses the **** out of everyone (2018)
>13. 'The Office' keeps going without Steve Carell (2011)
>12. NBC cancels 'Baywatch' after one season (1989)
>11. Quibi burns $1.75 billion in eight months (2020)
>10. David Caruso leaves 'NYPD Blue' after one season (1994)
>9. The networks call Florida for George W. Bush in 2000 (2000)
>8. HBO, TNT, Showtime and FX all turn down 'Breaking Bad' (2007)
>7. Fox gives Chevy Chase his own talk show (1993)
>6. NBC royally ****s up the Leno/Conan situation (2009)
>5. Roseanne torches her career with a racist tweet (2018)
>4. Norm MacDonald is fired from 'SNL' over (Hilarious) OJ Simpson jokes (1998)
>3. Fox passes on 'The Sopranos' (1999)
>2. NBC turns Donald Trump into a television titan (2004)
>1. NBC cancels 'Freaks and Geeks' (2000)

I will not tolerate Capitol Critters slander! :lol:

I hate listicles like this, because it's always written by a millennial or GenZ who knows nothing about pop culture and just does research from second-hand sources and has huge gaps of knowledge about stuff before their time.

For instance, it wasn't a bad decision to cancel Gilligan's Island or Star Trek, because the writing had either become repetitive or was beginning to slide towards the end. So, the networks actually did these shows a favor by canceling them when they did.

Cop Rock should've been number one, because it was already a critical failure before it aired but ABC insisted on running it, still hoping it would do well.

Smothers Brothers cancellation isn't on the list.

Rural purge should've been way up on the list.

A lot of talk shows could've been on this list, like Chevy Chase Show, Magic Johnson and Jerry Lewis.

There were a number of damaging show format changes and network schedule switches that could've been on the list, like Hazel dumping the Baxters.

The cancellation of Almost Human, Firefly and Dark Angel should've been on the list. Firefly and Dark Angel because they were huge cult hits, and Almost Human because it was critically acclaimed. FOX was so filled with regret that it canceled AH that it replaced it with another high concept TV show based on the movie, Minority Report.

What about the Quiz show rigging of the 1950s? It almost destroyed game shows.

Lastly, the point of a reboot is to have a new storyline with characters. That's why Scott Bakula wasn't invited back for Quantum Leap. On top of all that, how did the author know that Bakula was interested in returning? He's become a Star Trek actor now and that has more prestige than QL.

I hate listicles like this, because it's always written by a millennial or GenZ who knows nothing about pop culture and just does research from second-hand sources and has huge gaps of knowledge about stuff before their time.

For instance, it wasn't a bad decision to cancel Gilligan's Island or Star Trek, because the writing had either become repetitive or was beginning to slide towards the end. So, the networks actually did these shows a favor by canceling them when they did.

Cop Rock should've been number one, because it was already a critical failure before it aired but ABC insisted on running it, still hoping it would do well.

Smothers Brothers cancellation isn't on the list.

Rural purge should've been way up on the list.

A lot of talk shows could've been on this list, like Chevy Chase Show, Magic Johnson and Jerry Lewis.

There were a number of damaging show format changes and network schedule switches that could've been on the list, like Hazel dumping the Baxters.

The cancellation of Almost Human, Firefly and Dark Angel should've been on the list. Firefly and Dark Angel because they were huge cult hits, and Almost Human because it was critically acclaimed. FOX was so filled with regret that it canceled AH that it replaced it with another high concept TV show based on the movie, Minority Report.

What about the Quiz show rigging of the 1950s? It almost destroyed game shows.

Lastly, the point of a reboot is to have a new storyline with characters. That's why Scott Bakula wasn't invited back for Quantum Leap. On top of all that, how did the author know that Bakula was interested in returning? He's become a Star Trek actor now and that has more prestige than QL.

I was just thinking, how can Anne Hathaway and James Franco hosting the Oscars be on that list but not the notorious 1989 Academy Awards (https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/feb/18/how-snow-white-and-some-coconuts-killed-1989s-oscars) ceremony that was produced by Allan Carr? That is typically ranked up there as one of the worst Academy Award ceremonies of all time. The event was "highlighted" by an up and coming actress named Eileen Bowman cosplaying as Snow White and singing "Proud Mary" with Rob Lowe.

Also among sports related moments, how can you leave the Heidi Game (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidi_Game) off the list? I would even take Dennis Miller (https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/5mrsu5/for_those_who_watched_dennis_miller_on_mnf_in_the/) as a color commentator (https://www.reddit.com/r/NFLNoobs/comments/y4cru6/what_was_the_big_controversy_with_dennis_miller/) on Monday Night Football (https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/3a1zm6/why_was_dennis_miller_on_monday_night_football_at/).

I was just thinking, how can Anne Hathaway and James Franco hosting the Oscars be on that list but not the notorious 1989 Academy Awards (https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/feb/18/how-snow-white-and-some-coconuts-killed-1989s-oscars) ceremony that was produced by Allan Carr. That is typically ranked up there as one of the worst Academy Award ceremonies of all time. The event was "highlighted" by an up and coming actress named Eileen Bowman cosplaying as Snow White and singing "Proud Mary" with Rob Lowe.

Also among sports related moments, how can you leave the Heidi Game (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidi_Game) off the list? I would even take Dennis Miller (https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/5mrsu5/for_those_who_watched_dennis_miller_on_mnf_in_the/) as a color commentator (https://www.reddit.com/r/NFLNoobs/comments/y4cru6/what_was_the_big_controversy_with_dennis_miller/) on Monday Night Football (https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/3a1zm6/why_was_dennis_miller_on_monday_night_football_at/).

OMG, yes! Especially Monday Night Football. Nothing says "football" like an Ivy League snob dropping obscure literary references and ancient history as in, "I haven't seen a fumble this bad since The Battle of Actium." :crazy:

I think that pretty much ruined Dennis Miller's career, too. That was the last time I remember him being in the spotlight. Now it's like he doesn't exist.

And yes, that Oscars is noted as the worst ceremony of all time, and it's what most likely led to Billy Crystal getting hired.

It's junk like that RS article that make me want to start a site of my own to correct all the mistakes.

OMG, yes! Especially Monday Night Football. Nothing says "football" like an Ivy League snob dropping obscure literary references and ancient history as in, "I haven't seen a fumble this bad since The Battle of Actium." :crazy:

I think that pretty much ruined Dennis Miller's career, too. That was the last time I remember him being in the spotlight. Now it's like he doesn't exist.

And yes, that Oscars is noted as the worst ceremony of all time, and it's what most likely led to Billy Crystal getting hired.

It's junk like that RS article that make me want to start a site of my own to correct all the mistakes.

Don Ohlmeyer orchestrated Dennis Miller's hiring on Monday Night Football just like he orchestrated Norm MacDonald's ouster from Weekend Update on SNL. Ohlmeyer while as the West Coast President of NBC said in 1997, that he hoped that the World Series between the Florida (now Miami) Marlins and the Cleveland Indians (now Guardians) ended in a four game sweep so that it wouldn't preempt NBC's "Must See TV" block. The 1997 World Series by the way, went the full seven games.

Here's the full list in case you're wondering:

>50. 'Jeopardy' allows Mike Richards to anoint himself host (2020)
>49. 'America's Next Top Model' asks contestants to swap ethnicities (2005)
>48. The Geico Cavemen get their own sitcom (2007)
>47. Disney+ refuses to let Lizzie McGuire grow up (2019)
>46. 'Saturday Night Live' fires Adam Sandler and Chris Farley (1995)
>45. HBO tries to make a 'Sex and the City' for men (2001)
>44. Two words: 'Cop Rock' (1990)
>43. The ungodly horror that is 'The Swan' makes women hate themselves (2004)
>42. Fox News tries to make their own daily show (2007)
>41. Geraldo takes viewers inside Al Capone's vault (1986)
>40. Ren and Stimpy's '"Adult Party Cartoon"' is allowed to happen (2003)
>39. MTV gives up and becomes the 'Ridiculousness' channel (2011)
>38. 'Family Matters' disappears Judy Winslow (1993)
>37. 'Star Trek' and 'Gilligan's Island' are both cancelled after just three seasons (1969 and 1967)
>36. ABC gives us way too much 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' (1999-)
>35. 'Mad About You' reboots on Spectrum (2019)
>34. HBO Max dumps the 'HBO' (2023)
>33. Fox News and CNN create streaming platforms (2018 and 2023)
>32. Dan Rather fails to vet supposed George W. Bush documents (2004)
>31. 'Quantum Leap' reboots without Scott Bakula (2022)
>30. The Academy Awards asks James Franco to co-host (2010)
>29. 'Laverne and Shirley' dumps Shirley (1982)
>28. 'The Simpsons' reveals that Principal Skinner is an imposter (1997)
>27. Joey Tribbiani gets his own show (2004)
>26. NBC poaches Megyn Kelly from Fox (2017)
>25. 'Glee' brings in a new Glee class (2012)
>24. ESPN decides that Rush Limbaugh would make a good football commentator (2003)
>23. CNN moves Don Lemon to mornings (2023)
>22. 'Arrested Development' breaks the format with convoluted Netflix season (2013)
>21. 'The State' leaved MTV for CBS (1995)
>20. UPN greenlights 'The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer' (1998)
>19. 'Seinfeld' kills off Susan in heartless fashion (1996)
>18. 'Lost' blows its ending (2010)
>17. 'The Brady Bunch Hour' becomes a thing (1976)
>16. The Ropers quit 'Three's Company' for an ill-fated spinoff (1979)
>15. 'Star Trek: TNG' fires Gates McFadden before season two (1988)
>14. 'Westworld' confuses the **** out of everyone (2018)
>13. 'The Office' keeps going without Steve Carell (2011)
>12. NBC cancels 'Baywatch' after one season (1989)
>11. Quibi burns $1.75 billion in eight months (2020)
>10. David Caruso leaves 'NYPD Blue' after one season (1994)
>9. The networks call Florida for George W. Bush in 2000 (2000)
>8. HBO, TNT, Showtime and FX all turn down 'Breaking Bad' (2007)
>7. Fox gives Chevy Chase his own talk show (1993)
>6. NBC royally ****s up the Leno/Conan situation (2009)
>5. Roseanne torches her career with a racist tweet (2018)
>4. Norm MacDonald is fired from 'SNL' over (Hilarious) OJ Simpson jokes (1998)
>3. Fox passes on 'The Sopranos' (1999)
>2. NBC turns Donald Trump into a television titan (2004)
>1. NBC cancels 'Freaks and Geeks' (2000)

I would've put The Bradys on that list ahead of The Brady Bunch Variety Hour. At least, the variety show you could argue had kitschy, it's so bad it's good, morbid curiosity to its vibe. And it didn't out and out "kill" the overall goodwill of the franchise. The Brady Bunch in itself, was already you could say, kind of a cheesy or corny show to begin with.

With The Bradys, which was a short-lived continuation of The Brady Bunch that aired on CBS in early 1990, it made the ill-suited or advised attempt at being a one hour long dramedy in the vein of Thirtysomething. So the show ostensibly "tragedy/trauma porn" before that was such a thing. It also didn't help that the most popular Brady kid, Maureen McCormick wanted nothing to do with it and Robert Reed once again clashed with the producers.

I mean, going back to The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, how can you make a list about awful variety shows and not have Pink Lady and Jeff on it? It was among a litany of stupid ideas that Fred Silverman came up with while at NBC. Maybe the show could've had a reasonably good shot had the two women in Pink Lady been able to actually speak English. It may have also had a better chance at lasting had it not come at the tail end of the variety show genre's life cycle.

182 episodes of According to Jim are better than 259 episodes of Married ... with Children. Heck, 182 episodes are better than ONE episode of Married ... with Children!

Why isn't FOX ignoring those protesters from Michigan against the content of MWC one of the 50 choices? The other networks would have done the nation a favor by inviting them on their news talk shows like Good Morning America!

182 episodes of According to Jim are better than 259 episodes of Married ... with Children. Heck, 182 episodes are better than ONE episode of Married ... with Children!

Why isn't FOX ignoring those protesters from Michigan against the content of MWC one of the 50 choices? The other networks would have done the nation a favor by inviting them on their news talk shows like Good Morning America!

lol, how about just not watching.

That whole protest backfired as more viewers tuned into MWC to see what it was all about. Terry Rakolta was even referenced on MWC as a "nod".

182 episodes of According to Jim are better than 259 episodes of Married ... with Children. Heck, 182 episodes are better than ONE episode of Married ... with Children!

Why isn't FOX ignoring those protesters from Michigan against the content of MWC one of the 50 choices? The other networks would have done the nation a favor by inviting them on their news talk shows like Good Morning America!

Married with Children was the show that put FOX on the map as a network. Without it and The Simpsons, it would've never gotten as big as it did. How would that have been a great decision to cancel it?

That whole protest backfired as more viewers tuned into MWC to see what it was all about. Terry Rakolta was even referenced on MWC as a "nod".

The commie media spun the story wrong and should have taken the point of view of the protesters.

Married with Children was the show that put FOX on the map as a network. Without it and The Simpsons, it would've never gotten as big as it did. How would that have been a great decision to cancel it?

First, because there would be no protests. Do you think God would have prevented any (if not all) of the tragedies and disasters that have happened since then to happen had FOX canceled MWC? FOX should have gotten on the map thanks to their news channel.

Second, because it would lessen the probability of The Wonder Years being canceled in 1993.

Second, because it would lessen the probability of The Wonder Years being canceled in 1993.The Wonder Years and Married with Children were on two separate networks and not timeslot rivals either. The fate of one show did not depend at all on the other show's fate.

Don Ohlmeyer orchestrated Dennis Miller's hiring on Monday Night Football just like he orchestrated Norm MacDonald's ouster from Weekend Update on SNL. Ohlmeyer while as the West Coast President of NBC said in 1997, that he hoped that the World Series between the Florida (now Miami) Marlins and the Cleveland Indians (now Guardians) ended in a four game sweep so that it wouldn't preempt NBC's "Must See TV" block. The 1997 World Series by the way, went the full seven games.

That suit was a real genius. :lol: Because of him, Norm MacDonald delivered the most epic monologues and roasts of all time when he was invited back to guest host SNL. He said something like, "They fired me from SNL because they said I wasn't funny, but then they invited me back as guest host. I asked myself why and then I realized... the show isn't funny." :D

I would've put The Bradys on that list ahead of The Brady Bunch Variety Hour. At least, the variety show you could argue had kitschy, it's so bad it's good, morbid curiosity to its vibe. And it didn't out and out "kill" the overall goodwill of the franchise. The Brady Bunch in itself, was already you could say, kind of a cheesy or corny show to begin with.

With The Bradys, which was a short-lived continuation of The Brady Bunch that aired on CBS in early 1990, it made the ill-suited or advised attempt at being a one hour long dramedy in the vein of Thirtysomething. So the show ostensibly "tragedy/trauma porn" before that was such a thing. It also didn't help that the most popular Brady kid, Maureen McCormick wanted nothing to do with it and Robert Reed once again clashed with the producers.

I mean, going back to The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, how can you make a list about awful variety shows and not have Pink Lady and Jeff on it? It was among a litany of stupid ideas that Fred Silverman came up with while at NBC. Maybe the show could've had a reasonably good shot had the the two women in Pink Lady could actually speak English. It may have also had a better chance at lasting had it not come at the tail end of the variety show genre's life cycle.

I would put The Star Wars Holiday Special (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Holiday_Special) up there before I would put The Brady Bunch Variety Hour. The Star Wars Holiday Special (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqL0uCzfGhM) is really one of those "you have to actually see it to believe it" type of deals. Let's here, take a global phenomenon in Star Wars and turn it into a super kitschy (https://www.flickeringmyth.com/2019/12/the-star-wars-holiday-special-continues-to-be-a-baffling-fascinating-cultural-relic/), surreal (https://lithub.com/the-epically-terrible-star-wars-holiday-special-an-oral-history/), tacky (https://www.looper.com/178615/the-most-disturbing-moments-of-the-star-wars-holiday-special/), 1970s-style variety show.

I hate listicles like this, because it's always written by a millennial or GenZ who knows nothing about pop culture and just does research from second-hand sources and has huge gaps of knowledge about stuff before their time.

For instance, it wasn't a bad decision to cancel Gilligan's Island or Star Trek, because the writing had either become repetitive or was beginning to slide towards the end. So, the networks actually did these shows a favor by canceling them when they did.

Cop Rock should've been number one, because it was already a critical failure before it aired but ABC insisted on running it, still hoping it would do well.

Smothers Brothers cancellation isn't on the list.

Rural purge should've been way up on the list.

A lot of talk shows could've been on this list, like Chevy Chase Show, Magic Johnson and Jerry Lewis.

There were a number of damaging show format changes and network schedule switches that could've been on the list, like Hazel dumping the Baxters.

The cancellation of Almost Human, Firefly and Dark Angel should've been on the list. Firefly and Dark Angel because they were huge cult hits, and Almost Human because it was critically acclaimed. FOX was so filled with regret that it canceled AH that it replaced it with another high concept TV show based on the movie, Minority Report.

What about the Quiz show rigging of the 1950s? It almost destroyed game shows.

Lastly, the point of a reboot is to have a new storyline with characters. That's why Scott Bakula wasn't invited back for Quantum Leap. On top of all that, how did the author know that Bakula was interested in returning? He's become a Star Trek actor now and that has more prestige than QL.

I'm not trying to justify Star Trek's early cancelation, but we need to keep in mind that the ratings system was also different at the time (https://startrekfactcheck.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-truth-about-star-trek-and-ratings.html). I believe that at the time, the Nielsen's only took into account the total amount of viewers watching at any given time instead of the 18-49 demographic. And Star Trek to the best of my knowledge, was never a top 30 show. And this was mind you, before-cable TV or the existence of the Fox network.

I will not tolerate Capitol Critters slander! :lol:I just saw the description for Capitol Critters in my primetime directory. It sounds bloody awful. :doublefacepalm:

as a long time snl fan i have to say that dispite the massave success that sandler esp sandler had in movies it was time for both of them to leave snl when th ax fell on them there anyay the reason being imho was that while their type of loud frat boy humour made a fun contrast to phil hartman dana carvey jan hooks et all after they left a steady diet of sadndler farley and the other bad boys at the forefront was just too much 10 or 15 minutes of it in a 90 minute show is one thing sketch after sketch of it and nothing else for 2 seasons in a row was something else

Pink Lady and Jeff made the BB variety hour look like Your Show of Shows.

lol, how about just not watching.

That whole protest backfired as more viewers tuned into MWC to see what it was all about. Terry Rakolta was even referenced on MWC as a "nod".

It's the classic example of what TV Tropes likes to call "The Streisand Effect" (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StreisandEffect).

Married with Children was the show that put FOX on the map as a network. Without it and The Simpsons, it would've never gotten as big as it did. How would that have been a great decision to cancel it?

I think that the NFL deal in 1994 is what officially solidified Fox as a major network, on pair with CBS, ABC, and NBC. And that ties into another awful decision that could've been on this list. CBS being outbid by Fox (https://variety.com/1993/tv/news/nbc-nfl-shut-out-cbs-116661/) for their longtime NFL rights in no small part (https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/triad/ap-online/2019/08/23/a-look-at-the-seminal-broadcasting-moves-that-define-the-nfl) because (https://greensboro.com/tisch-era-marks-fall-of-cbs-fortunes/article_928cae00-4548-505d-90cb-a3a7c5a36ac3.html) their CEO at the time (https://vault.si.com/vault/1990/06/25/the-cleanup-hitters-by-sweeping-up-the-tv-sports-market-neal-pilson-left-and-his-boss-laurence-tisch-could-make-cbs-a-very-big-winner-or-a-very-big-loser), Laurence Tisch (https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2018/12/13/18137938/nfl-fox-deal-rupert-murdoch-1993-john-madden-terry-bradshaw-howie-long-jimmy-johnson-cbs-nbc) was a cheapskate (https://vault.si.com/vault/1993/12/27/out-foxed-rupert-murdochs-upstart-network-snatched-the-nfl-from-cbs-in-a-coup-that-will-change-the-face-of-televised-sports).

as a long time snl fan i have to say that dispite the massave success that sandler esp sandler had in movies it was time for both of them to leave snl when th ax fell on them there anyay the reason being imho was that while their type of loud frat boy humour made a fun contrast to phil hartman dana carvey jan hooks et all after they left a steady diet of sadndler farley and the other bad boys at the forefront was just too much 10 or 15 minutes of it in a 90 minute show is one thing sketch after sketch of it and nothing else for 2 seasons in a row was something else

There’s no question that Saturday Night Live needed to make some changes at the end of the 1994-95 season. Ratings were in free fall, the reviews were brutal, and the NBC brass were flirting with the possibility of canceling it. When faced with this situation in the past, the show cleaned house and brought in a new generation of comedians in the hopes that some of them would catch fire. But they always held on to the more talented cast members, most notably Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo, who were kept on after the 1981 season when nearly everyone else was fired. In 1995, however, Adam Sandler and Chris Farley were both given their walking papers alongside more obvious cuts like Ellen Cleghorne, Chris Elliott, and Jay Mohr. This was partially due to the relatively high salaries Sandler and Farley commanded compared with the newbies, but many NBC executives felt they simply weren’t funny anymore. Farley came back to host in 1997, just two months before his death, but Sandler was bitter about the whole situation and didn’t return until 2019. He gently roasted NBC in his musical monologue. “I was fired, I was fired,” he sang. “NBC said that I was done/Then I made over 4 billion dollars at the box office/So I guess you could say I won.”

I too don't entirely understand Rolling Stone's argument that SNL firing Adam Sandler and Chris Farley was necessarily, an overall bad decision. If you actually go and ask anybody (https://www.onesnladay.com/reviews/season-20-1994-95/) that's truly "in the know" (https://www.avclub.com/everything-old-is-new-again-case-file-65-the-1994-95-1798249821), they'll tell you (https://www.reddit.com/r/LiveFromNewYork/comments/4mc7yy/does_anyone_know_why_adam_sandler_got_fired_from/) that Sandler and Farley were dragging (https://www.reddit.com/r/LiveFromNewYork/comments/ymic0w/other_than_a_large_cast_what_exactly_was_so_bad/) SNL down during the infamous (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr3m6UxJLr0) 1994-95 season (https://www.reddit.com/r/LiveFromNewYork/comments/8r60vo/offseason_read_how_snl_9495_season_became_a_grim/) (Season 20 (https://www.onesnladay.com/reviews/season-20-1994-95/)), with their juvenile, frat-boy sense of humor. And SNL at this point in time (https://snltranscripts.jt.org/94/1994.phtml), didn't have (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/AudienceAlienatingEra/LiveActionTV) say, more versatile performers like Phil Hartman and Dana Carvey or Will Farrell afterwards as anchors to balance it out.

Replacing Dick York

I hate listicles like this, because it's always written by a millennial or GenZ who knows nothing about pop culture and just does research from second-hand sources and has huge gaps of knowledge about stuff before their time.

For instance, it wasn't a bad decision to cancel Gilligan's Island or Star Trek, because the writing had either become repetitive or was beginning to slide towards the end. So, the networks actually did these shows a favor by canceling them when they did.

Cop Rock should've been number one, because it was already a critical failure before it aired but ABC insisted on running it, still hoping it would do well.

Smothers Brothers cancellation isn't on the list.

Rural purge should've been way up on the list.

A lot of talk shows could've been on this list, like Chevy Chase Show, Magic Johnson and Jerry Lewis.

There were a number of damaging show format changes and network schedule switches that could've been on the list, like Hazel dumping the Baxters.

The cancellation of Almost Human, Firefly and Dark Angel should've been on the list. Firefly and Dark Angel because they were huge cult hits, and Almost Human because it was critically acclaimed. FOX was so filled with regret that it canceled AH that it replaced it with another high concept TV show based on the movie, Minority Report.

What about the Quiz show rigging of the 1950s? It almost destroyed game shows.

Lastly, the point of a reboot is to have a new storyline with characters. That's why Scott Bakula wasn't invited back for Quantum Leap. On top of all that, how did the author know that Bakula was interested in returning? He's become a Star Trek actor now and that has more prestige than QL.

TV’s Worst Decisions (According to Rolling Stone and Me) (http://comforttv.blogspot.com/2023/08/tvs-worst-decisions-according-to.html)

The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vault (#41)

When Geraldo Rivera learned of a sealed vault underneath Chicago’s Lexington Hotel, then scheduled for demolition, he saw an opportunity to speculate whether the city’s most famous mob boss may have left some historical artifacts (or a few dead bodies) inside. The channels that picked up this special in syndication did not think this was a poor decision – the special pulled an enormous 57 rating.

Sure, the show itself was horrible – two hours of filler before the vault finally opened, and all that was inside was one 60 year-old whiskey bottle. But Geraldo’s career survived – such as it was – and if viewers felt suckered I’m sure they are over it by now.

Family Matters Disappears Judy Winslow (#38)

I was not a fan of this series, but according to Rolling Stone it was about the Winslow family, whose youngest daughter, Judy, was played by Jaimee Foxworth. When the show introduced Steve Urkel, viewers responded so favorably that it pulled storylines from other characters, and Judy fared the worst. After four seasons, she just vanished and was never referred to again.

Sure, that’s cold, but hardly unprecedented. The same thing happened to Chuck Cunningham on Happy Days, and when Michael J. Fox became the top draw of Family Ties, it meant fewer episodes devoted to Tina Yothers. Family Matters lasted another five seasons, so it was not a harmful decision to ABC. Whether Foxworth’s subsequent series of poor life choices can also be attributed to her dismissal is open for debate.

Canceling Star Trek and Gilligan’s Island After Just Three Seasons (#37)

This one surprised me, first because you rarely see Star Trek and Gilligan’s Island mentioned in the same sentence, and second because both shows not only survived but flourished in non-stop syndication for decades after they were canceled. “By comparison, According to Jim produced 182 episodes across eight seasons,” Rolling Stone observed. “We’d be in a better world if there had been a lot more Star Trek and a lot less According to Jim.” Well, when you put it that way…

Laverne and Shirley Dumps Shirley (#29)

I interviewed David L. Lander (Squiggy) about Laverne & Shirley’s final season, for my book What Were They Thinking? The 100 Dumbest Events in Television History (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/WhatWereTheyThinkingThe100DumbestEventsInTelevisionHistory). He put the blame for Shirley’s disappearance on Cindy Williams’ husband, Bill Hudson (of Hudson Brothers fame), who became such a pain in everyone’s backside that the network just let her go. I agree with Rolling Stone here – the decision to move forward without Williams was a terrible one.

The Brady Bunch Variety Hour Becomes a Thing (#17)

This show is in my above-mentioned book as well. Even Barry Williams described it as “perhaps the single worst television show in the history of the medium.” Sure, I made fun of it like everyone else –but over the years my perspective has softened.

Give the success of The Brady Bunch in syndication, and the popularity of musical variety shows in the late 1970s, the decision to take a chance on this series was hardly outlandish. It only lasted nine episodes and deservedly so, but I can’t stay mad at the Bradys, even when they’re turning Donna Summer's seductive "Love to Love You Baby" into a wholesome family singalong.

The Ropers (#16)

Clearly a failed spinoff. But why was this singled out over Enos or Tabitha or AfterMASH? It didn’t kill Three’s Company, which survived even the loss of Suzanne Somers.

Star Trek: TNG Fires Gates McFadden Before Season Two (#15)

Was the show better with Dr. Crusher than with Diana Muldaur as Dr. Pulaski? Sure. Did that decision destroy the season? Absolutely not.

“Elementary, Dear Data,” “The Measure of a Man,” “”Time Squared,” “Pen Pals,” and “Q Who” were just some of that season’s excellent entries. Even the episode that focused on Pulaski, “Unnatural Selection,” has its moments. There were misfires as well, but you can’t blame “Shades of Gray” on her.

NBC Cancels Baywatch After One Season (#12)

Yes, terrible decision from a financial standpoint – Baywatch generated countless millions in its 11-season run. Maybe if Pamela Anderson had been there from the beginning, its fate would have been different.

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Larry Potash shares a list of some of the worst decisions in TV history, including a few from WGN.

I hate listicles like this, because it's always written by a millennial or GenZ who knows nothing about pop culture and just does research from second-hand sources and has huge gaps of knowledge about stuff before their time.

For instance, it wasn't a bad decision to cancel Gilligan's Island or Star Trek, because the writing had either become repetitive or was beginning to slide towards the end. So, the networks actually did these shows a favor by canceling them when they did.

Cop Rock should've been number one, because it was already a critical failure before it aired but ABC insisted on running it, still hoping it would do well.

Smothers Brothers cancellation isn't on the list.

Rural purge should've been way up on the list.

A lot of talk shows could've been on this list, like Chevy Chase Show, Magic Johnson and Jerry Lewis.

There were a number of damaging show format changes and network schedule switches that could've been on the list, like Hazel dumping the Baxters.

The cancellation of Almost Human, Firefly and Dark Angel should've been on the list. Firefly and Dark Angel because they were huge cult hits, and Almost Human because it was critically acclaimed. FOX was so filled with regret that it canceled AH that it replaced it with another high concept TV show based on the movie, Minority Report.

What about the Quiz show rigging of the 1950s? It almost destroyed game shows.

Lastly, the point of a reboot is to have a new storyline with characters. That's why Scott Bakula wasn't invited back for Quantum Leap. On top of all that, how did the author know that Bakula was interested in returning? He's become a Star Trek actor now and that has more prestige than QL.

The manner of which (https://collider.com/worst-tv-series-finale/) the original Quantum Leap series ended over 30 years ago, should be on that list ahead of Scott Bakula not coming back for the reboot.

The series finale for the original Quantum Leap gets a bit of pass, given NBC didn't choose to cancel the show until the Season 5 finale and ending had already been shot. But not that much of a pass. The series itself followed the adventures of Dr. Sam Beckett (https://collider.com/quantum-leap-reboot-scott-bakula-showrunner-martin-gero-comments/) (Scott Bakula with his second entry on this list) as he would "leap" into the bodies of different people throughout history to correct historical mistakes. The end goal from the beginning was to see Sam find his way back to his own time to be reunited with his wife. Instead, the episode wraps up the series with... okay, remember the classic The Simpsons episode "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show", when Poochie is killed off-screen and a title card reads "Poochie died on the way back to his home planet"? Quantum Leap ended exactly the same way, with a tacked-on title card revealing that Sam never returned home. With Beckett's name misspelled as "Becket".

I can give my opinion on a few of these for what it’s worth…. Some things from the article and the number from last to first (not all).


46. Yeah, why did SNL fire Chris Farley and Adam Sandler? Those were two of the biggest stars the show ever had (of many). Sandler made out fantastically in his career (although I don’t care for his comedy). Farley also hit it big but the man was a human train wreck who killed himself because of his lifestyle (drink and excessive drug use, not to mention probably weighing 400 pounds).

41. Geraldo really looked like an idiot with the Al Capone vault thing. I don’t understand why he set himself up like that when things could have happened, exactly the way it happened. I actually like Geraldo but can see why many didn’t. The people who hate Geraldo reveled in his failure. Man still had a very successful career.

39. MTV basically became obsolete since now we have the internet and anyone can just look up videos and performances on YouTube. I am the first generation of teenagers who watched MTV in the early 1980’s and it was a phenomenon. I guess it still makes money somehow since it is still on, with cheaply made, forgettable programming. Beavis and Butthead is still a classic!!

37. Gilligan’s Island was one of the worst shows ever made. Concerning Star Trek, science fiction is very expensive to make for the return it gets and the show wasn’t pulling in the ratings for the cost. It was only after the show was in reruns and became more popular with the public (and the smash hit Star Wars) that Trek became movies which spawned the Next Generation and the rest is history.

36. The Millionaire show on ABC was obnoxious, from Regis Philbin, the set up to that ABC seemingly had nothing else to put on their schedule and this was on about four nights a week! We got burned out by it (I didn’t like it because the pace was slow. And the ridiculous “Is that your final answer?” bit.

24. Actually Rush Limbaugh as a football commentator didn’t sound bad on paper. Most of his audience, who were undoubtably male and from middle America, watched football. It should have worked, it just didn’t for whatever reason. Rush was still better than Dennis Miller. But so is a lobotomy with no gas.

22. For me, Arrested Development was hilarious it’s first season. Was Ok the second season and was dreck the third season. Why? Dunno. Maybe different writers? Maybe we the viewer got tired of the format? The fourth season was just like the third was, stupid and dreck.

19. Seinfeld was a “show about nothing” and really while there were four friends, they were actually fairly shallow with one another. Jerry had a new girlfriend every week, literally. For whatever reason, the show got rid of the actress who played Susan. Why not kill her off with cheap poisoned envelopes? I think the bigger question should be, why weren’t their parents given their own show?

13. I like Steve Carell a lot and maybe I am of a minority opinion but liked the two season of The Office after he left, the show was an ensemble and Ed Helms did fine playing the idiot manager and we still had the Jim and Dwight dynamic. In real life, people come and go from jobs. Personally I think it would have been cool to just replace actors with other actors and make new characters and kept the show going.

8. It is hard to get a new show to air and really a show about dealing drugs has been done numerous times. Breaking Bad was just an incredible show, but this was just the pilot. HBO already had a show (I never saw) about a lady selling weed (Weeds?).a

7. I think that giving Chevy Chase a talk show didn’t sound like a bad idea on paper. Chevy has been around a long time, knew a lot of celebrities, seemed a natural fit. I am sure some people rightfully went that Chevy was an insufferable a-hole and this isn’t going to work. And he was and is. But I am not sure if this was all Chevy’s fault either. The format sucked and the writers weren’t good either.

6. Conan wasn’t pulling in the ratings and wanted Leno back and Leno wanted to come back. NBC did it a weird way, Leno had a prime time show (for some reason) and then Conan’s show was going to be shaved down to a half hour or something, and then Conan was shown the door and Leno was back. I like Leno, seems to be a good guy in many respects. But many comedians in the industry loath him for being corporate and not that funny and was just extremely lucky, which had some merit.

5. Roseanne deserved to be fired. Called a black woman an ape. ABC couldn’t let that slide. The Conners has been on what, six years now? Show is doing fine without her loony self.

3. Fox passes on The Sopranos. Good. The show would not have been near as good under the restraints of network television. It could not have been violent or the language as course. The Sopranos would not have worked on network television, and most would say that Fox passing on it was a blessing, especially since Fox cancels stuff really quick of it doesn’t make good ratings from the jump.a

2. Can’t talk politics on this message board.

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Recently, Rolling Stone Magazine released The 50 Worst Decisions in TV History. Noah and Laura went in blind, made some predictions and reacted to the first half of the list.

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Recently, Rolling Stone Magazine released The 50 Worst Decisions in TV History. Noah and Laura went in blind, made some predictions and reacted to (https://www.resetera.com/threads/rolling-stone-the-50-worst-decisions-in-tv-history.757255/) the second half of the list.