What are the most indefensible TV decisions - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TMC · 12-18-2019, 06:43 PM

Do you know of anything in television that has ever done that was seriously detrimental to a show's (or a network's for that matter) credibility? For instance, the infamous "dream season" of Dallas.

RetroGuy2000 · 12-18-2019, 07:22 PM

Married with Children: The Seven debacle, Peg's pregnancy, and the "It was all a dream" explanation.

CBS: The Rural Purge. WTF?!

All in the Family: The rape episode. OMG!

Little House: The mime rape episode. OMG!

Angel: Season Four, when the writing was so bad that Cordy started having sex with Angel's son, Conner, who she had previously babysat. I had to bleach my eyeballs after watching that.

The Facts of Life: Firing more than half the cast due to "bad ratings" when network execs purposely scheduled the show against two established hits: Fantasy Island and The Incredible Hulk, during an era when there were only three television networks. And not bothering to promote the show until at least four episodes had already aired. Why would anyone DO this?!

TMC · 12-18-2019, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Married with Children: The Seven debacle, Peg's pregnancy, and the "It was all a dream" explanation.

CBS: The Rural Purge. WTF?!

All in the Family: The rape episode. OMG!

Little House: The mime rape episode. OMG!

Angel: Season Four, when the writing was so bad that Cordy started having sex with Angel's son, Conner, who she had previously babysat. I had to bleach my eyeballs after watching that.

The Facts of Life: Firing more than half the cast due to "bad ratings" when network execs purposely scheduled the show against two established hits: Fantasy Island and The Incredible Hulk, during an era when there were only three television networks. And not bothering to promote the show until at least four episodes had already aired. Why would anyone DO this?!

How about Fox not allowing Married with Children to have proper finale even though it was one of the shows (along with The Simpsons, Beverly Hills, 90210, and In Living Color) that carried the network (until they landed the NFL contract) and put it on the map.

cfr1970 · 12-18-2019, 11:10 PM

The firing of Delta Burke from Designing Women. When her character was gone, so was the soul of the show and it limped for 2 terrible seasons before it was put out of it's misery. They never should have fired her....and just because she gained weight!

And this was a women produced show. Talk about losing credibility when women were ousting women for being fat. Terrible and hypocritical.

Bloodsucking Bernie · 12-18-2019, 11:14 PM

Getting rid of John Schiender and Tom Wopat and replacing them with two no names on Dukes of Hazards. I cant imagine anything worse than that.

opus · 12-18-2019, 11:27 PM

The decision to put pop up ads and promos during the actual shows.

RetroGuy2000 · 12-19-2019, 02:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bloodsucking Bernie

Getting rid of John Schiender and Tom Wopat and replacing them with two no names on Dukes of Hazards. I cant imagine anything worse than that.

I remember that season. It was terrible. Yes, terrible, horrible idea. Even as a kid, I felt ripped off. The look-alikes couldn't hold a candle to the real Duke brothers.

RetroGuy2000 · 12-19-2019, 02:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cfr1970

The firing of Delta Burke from Designing Women. When her character was gone, so was the soul of the show and it limped for 2 terrible seasons before it was put out of it's misery. They never should have fired her....and just because she gained weight!

And this was a women produced show. Talk about losing credibility when women were ousting women for being fat. Terrible and hypocritical.

Gotta agree. What's even worse (if possible) is that TV Guide began using a donut icon to represent Delta Burke, as a parody of Prince changing his name to a glyph. When the media got in on the fat-shaming of Delta, it was just... horribly cruel.

Why couldn't they have done a show where they addressed Delta's weight gain in a respectful, dignified manner (because that character had been a beauty queen) and then moved on? No man would have been fired for weight gain. We know this because Kevin James keeps getting shows.

RetroGuy2000 · 12-19-2019, 02:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by opus

The decision to put pop up ads and promos during the actual shows.

Ugh! I try to never watch any channel with those horrible on-show promos. TBS and TNT became horrible about that.

RetroGuy2000 · 12-19-2019, 02:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMC

How about Fox not allow Married with Children to have proper finale even though it was one of the shows (along with The Simpsons, Beverly Hills, 90210, and In Living Color) that carried the network (until they landed the NFL contract) and put it on the map.

I wasn't even aware of that. I know they did a behind-the-scenes farewell thing; I didn't know they wanted to do a proper finale. MWC, along with The Simpsons, totally carried Fox during its first eight years.

DJM77 · 12-19-2019, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Why couldn't they have done a show where they addressed Delta's weight gain in a respectful, dignified manner (because that character had been a beauty queen) and then moved on?

Well, there was the "They Shoot Fat Women, Don't They?" episode.

Sal · 12-19-2019, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Why couldn't they have done a show where they addressed Delta's weight gain in a respectful, dignified manner (because that character had been a beauty queen) and then moved on? No man would have been fired for weight gain. We know this because Kevin James keeps getting shows.

Delta Burke was a beauty queen? Now that would have been a funny series!

Speaking of Kevin James, we shouldn't forget the "indefensible decision" he made after the first season of "Kevin Can Wait" when he fired the actress who played his wife (and was doing a good job at it), replaced her with Leah Remini, all for the sake of higher ratings and cashing in on the current reunion trend, and even worse, killing off the character and treating it as a mere footnote and cheap punch line at the start of the next season. I still consider this as the most awful, heartless decision ever made by any series in history.

LUNCH · 12-19-2019, 01:55 PM

Allowing TV channels to show as many commercials as they want.

cfr1970 · 12-19-2019, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJM77

Well, there was the "They Shoot Fat Women, Don't They?" episode.

Yes, and an excellent episode too. Which only made Burke's firing all the more hypocritical by her producers.

DJM77 · 12-19-2019, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cfr1970

Yes, and an excellent episode too. Which only made Burke's firing all the more hypocritical by her producers.

Right. I guess Delta Burke and the producers eventually made up because they gave her character her own spinoff several years after they fired her (Women Of The House).

12-18-2019, 06:43 PM	#1
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 126,548	What are the most indefensible TV decisions Do you know of anything in television that has ever done that was seriously detrimental to a show's (or a network's for that matter) credibility? For instance, the infamous "dream season" of Dallas.

12-18-2019, 07:22 PM	#2
RetroGuy2000 Julie,Julie Anne,&Felice 4Ever Forum Star Join Date: Dec 27, 2013 Posts: 16,914	Married with Children: The Seven debacle, Peg's pregnancy, and the "It was all a dream" explanation. CBS: The Rural Purge. WTF?! All in the Family: The rape episode. OMG! Little House: The mime rape episode. OMG! Angel: Season Four, when the writing was so bad that Cordy started having sex with Angel's son, Conner, who she had previously babysat. I had to bleach my eyeballs after watching that. The Facts of Life: Firing more than half the cast due to "bad ratings" when network execs purposely scheduled the show against two established hits: Fantasy Island and The Incredible Hulk, during an era when there were only three television networks. And not bothering to promote the show until at least four episodes had already aired. Why would anyone DO this?!
	__________________ The Facts of Life's "Lost Girls" Tribute to Julie Piekarski, Eastland Girl Join "The Group", Sitcoms Online's Facts of Life group!

12-18-2019, 11:10 PM	#4
cfr1970 Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 13, 2017 Location: Kissimmee, Florida Posts: 3,368	The firing of Delta Burke from Designing Women. When her character was gone, so was the soul of the show and it limped for 2 terrible seasons before it was put out of it's misery. They never should have fired her....and just because she gained weight! And this was a women produced show. Talk about losing credibility when women were ousting women for being fat. Terrible and hypocritical.

12-18-2019, 11:14 PM	#5
Bloodsucking Bernie Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Nov 30, 2019 Location: America Posts: 19	Getting rid of John Schiender and Tom Wopat and replacing them with two no names on Dukes of Hazards. I cant imagine anything worse than that.

12-18-2019, 11:27 PM	#6
opus VB Forum Superstar Join Date: May 16, 2015 Location: VB Galaxy Posts: 32,564	The decision to put pop up ads and promos during the actual shows.

12-19-2019, 01:55 PM	#13
LUNCH Member Senior Member Join Date: Oct 23, 2010 Location: New York State Posts: 1,304	Allowing TV channels to show as many commercials as they want.