The Worst Television Shows In History Are Unwatchable
From competition shows and reality TV to dramas and sitcoms, the history of television has seen numerous shows. Sadly, with bad acting and horrible plotlines, not all of those shows become massive hits.
Shows such as The I-Land and The Biggest Loser are just the beginning. Keep reading to learn about some of the worst television shows in history.
CSI: Cyber
The crime series CSI found a lot of success and a considerable following. The same can't be said about the spin-off series CSI: Cyber. With a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 35%, it's clear viewers were not impressed with the repetitive storylines and how it brought nothing new to the franchise.
Also, watching cybercrime means watching someone stare at a computer for a long period of time. It doesn't make for the most interesting television.
Top Gear USA
The History channel attempted to capitalize on the success of BBC's Top Gear, making Top Gear USA. It didn't work out how they planned, with many viewers saying it lacked the same charm and magic as its British counterpart.
The A.V. Club said the show felt like it was "imported from a 1980s beer commercial."
Big Brother
The reality series Big Brother is a great example of a series that should have quit when it was ahead.
While it started off as an interesting concept, people living in the same house without any contact with the outside world turned into nothing more than production picking good-looking influencers who were kind of boring and annoying to watch.
Baywatch
When it first aired, Baywatch didn't make it past a single season due to low viewership. David Hasselhoff eventually revived the series, but the same critics began popping up.
Viewers were unimpressed with the horrible acting, eye-roll-worthy storylines, and, most of all, the complete misogynistic nature of the entire script.
Bad Teacher
Based on the 2011 movie of the same name, Bad Teacher didn't get far on CBS. After a meager three episodes, the show was canceled, even though the network eventually aired all 13.
According to viewers, the main character was nothing like the one in the original film, and the jokes littered throughout the script were not landing. For his review on ShowBuzzDaily, Mitch Salem said, "change the channel."
The Biggest Loser
While The Biggest Loser started as a popular weight-loss competition show, people have come to see it for what it is -- a toxic culture revolving around excessive workouts and extreme dieting.
Dr. Charles Burant, director of the Michigan Metabolomics and Obesity Center, discusses the show, saying, "I think the show is so exploitative. They are taking poor people who have severe weight problems whose real focus is trying to win the quarter-million dollars."
The I-Land
Marketed as a similar story as Lost, the Netflix original miniseries The I-Land was anything but the critically acclaimed show.
With an 8% on Rotten Tomatoes, the critic consensus on the site was the mystery show was "Bafflingly bad, the only mystery is how The I-Land got made in the first place."
MacGyver
The mid-80s series MacGyver was a massive hit with a large viewership, stellar reviews, and captivating storylines that brought fans right into the action. The 2016 version is anything but.
The rebooted series is a bit too fast-paced, with the title character solving crimes way quicker and less intensely than the original. On top of that, the 38% rating on TV Guide is very telling of how well the show is mapped out.
The Girls Next Door
Revolving around the girls who lived in the Playboy Mansion alongside Hugh Hefner, The Girls Next Door was a love-hate relationship among reality TV show watchers.
While the drama was fun to watch at times, the entire show has a misogynistic tone and slimy feel that was hard to overlook.
The X Factor
When The X Factor adopted an American version, fans of the original British singing competition were excited. Sadly, their excitement was short-lived. There was no chemistry between the judges, none of whom stayed on the series long.
And the ever-rotating cast of co-hosts, including Khloe Kardashian and Mario Lopez, made it almost unbearable to watch. It's no surprise the competition show was canceled after three seasons.
Are You There, Chelsea?
Based on comedian Chelsea Handler's best-selling book Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea, the sitcom Are You There, Chelsea? was thought to be a funny sitcom. It wasn't.
The show held none of the charm and laughter as the book, and the chick flick tropes had NBC canceling the series after one season.
Days Of Our Lives
Once upon a time, the soap opera Days of Our Lives was very popular, with people tuning in to see what drama the character would stir up each episode.
After more than 50 years on the air, though, viewers began to become bored with the same characters and plotlines, earning it a place as one of the worst long-running shows.
Inhumans
Attempting to capitalize on the huge fanfare surrounding the superhero genre and the MCU, in 2017, ABC decided to create Inhumans. The show revolved around an inhuman royal family and was quickly dubbed a horrible show.
Kofi Outlaw of Comicbook even went as far as saying, "In the end, it's hard to avoid the conclusion that Inhumans is anything but a complete failure - one of the worst that the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise has ever seen..."
Laguna Beach
MTV should have taken a step back before making a reality series revolving around teenagers living in the affluent town of Laguna Beach, California. Laguna Beach is probably one of the network's worst shows, with characters who fought over nothing and threw parties that only included the "cool kids" in the high school.
It was a show about nothing more than a dramatized, privileged version of an actual high school.
Dance Moms
The series Dance Moms could not have been worse. It featured drama revolving around moms and dance instructor Abby Lee Miller in a very over-the-top and no-way-is-this-real-life fashion.
The show has been deeply criticized, namely for the exploitation of the young dancers and some of the costumes they wear while competing.
Charlie's Angels
In 2011, ABC decided to remake the classic action-adventure tale of Charlie's Angels. It was a mistake and is now considered one of the worst adaptations of the crime-fighting trio.
From the bad acting and unbelievable characters to the mediocre plotlines and lack of camp to make it a guilty pleasure, many critics called the show the worst of 2011. It was canceled after one season of eight episodes, with the eighth never airing in the United States.
Stargate Origins
The miniseries Stargate Origins was the prequel to the rest of the Stargate franchise. However, even diehard fans of the franchise couldn't get behind the awful show.
It looked very low-budget, had bad acting, and a storyline that goes way into left field of anything else the franchise has done.
Shirley
The comedy-drama Shirley ran for a solid 13 episodes before it was canceled in 1980.
After one season, it was prevalent that viewers were not interested in the storyline and there were more interesting shows to watch on NBC for a runtime of 60 minutes per episode.
Electra Woman & Dyna Girl
Two news reporters by day who fight crime in very vibrant spandex by night, Electra Woman & Dyna Girl, was beyond campy. It also only ran for 12 minutes per episode, so finding a slot in a "worst TV shows ever" list was in the making.
According to one reviewer, "This was all intentionally campy, but it failed to connect."
Bless This House
While Andrew Dice Clay had a comedic charm about him while playing the role of family man Burt Clayton, Bless this House suffered from questionable writing.
Also, for some reason, the sitcom didn't really know if it was a family-friendly show or something more adult. As a result, Bless this House only lasted for one season.
Woops!
The name of the sitcom was called Woops! and well.... the name matches the show's ratings. The show might have set the record for the shortest time spent on air on Fox. The series followed the six lone survivors after nuclear weapons destroyed the world.
TV Guide rated Woops! one of the worst shows of all time. Although thirteen episodes were filmed, Fox only allowed ten of them to air before pulling the plug.
7th Heaven
Airing from 1996 until 2007, viewers had to decide whether or not they wanted to deal with the holier-than-thou absurdity of the Camden Family whenever 7th Heaven was on The WB.
One critic called it arguably "one of the worst long-running shows on television," stating it was full of Christian propaganda, heavy moralizing, and a too-clean-to-be-real family.
Home And Away
The Australian soap opera Home and Away might have been a hit show in its home country, but in the United States, it was a bit of a flop and considered to be one of the worst shows on TV.
The series didn't do well in the states mainly because of the drama surrounding hard-hitting subjects it touched upon, including an addiction to cards, cyberbullying, cage fighting, and a whole lot more. It was 1988, so it kind of makes sense.
The Secret Life Of The American Teenager
Airing on ABC Family (now Freeform) in 2008, The Secret Life of the American Teenager did something other networks wouldn't dream of at the time -- tell a story revolving around a pregnant high school student.
Viewers weren't overly impressed with the premise, finding the show too preachy with underdeveloped characters. The New York Times even called it a "prime-time cautionary tale."
Dr. Phil
Dr. Phil made a killing off his talk show of the same name. Sadly, the gross amount of money he earned from the show was due to manipulating his guests and adding fuel to their already lit dramatic fires.
Needless to say, many people aren't a fan of the "mental health expert."
Toddlers & Tiaras
More than one critic has panned Toddlers & Tiaras, a show about the child pageantry circuit, for its exploitation of young girls. With heavy makeup, huge wigs, and revealing costumes, it is very difficult to watch the show.
Many viewers also couldn't stand to watch the mothers on the show throwing their children into absurd situations just to create drama and tension.
The Inbetweeners
Inauthentic and lacking a certain charm, viewers were not overly impressed by the United States remake of the beloved British series The Inbetweeners. In fact, people in the UK think the show is one of the top worst American remakes, a total flop!
The show was canceled after a single season.
Geordie Shore
With the same premise as MTV's Jersey Shore, the British spin-off series Geordie Shore is really no better and one of the worst shows on television. The people are over-the-top, thrive off drama, and are incredibly sloppy in their daily lives.
It's one of those shows that is actually difficult to watch.
Batwoman
Unlike the other DC shows set in the complex Arrowverse, Batwoman couldn't get its footing. A choppy plot, dialogue, and bad acting left a bad taste in viewers' mouths, especially when it was an overly-hyped show prior to the first episode.
While the second season seemed to go better than the first, it didn't stop Arrowverse fans from deeming it the worst show in the beloved universe.
Here Comes Honey Boo Boo
With the popularity of Toddlers & Tiaras beauty queen Honey Boo Boo, TLC decided to create a show around her, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. It is probably one of the worst shows to ever air on the network.
Critics were concerned about child exploitation, with The Hollywood Reporter saying, "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo is a car crash..."
Jonas
The Jonas Brothers, Kevin, Joe, and Nick, have since expressed their regret about ever starring in the Disney Channel show Jonas. If that doesn't say "this show is horrible," then nothing will.
Canceled after two seasons, the boy band showed that they really should have stuck to music since their acting was dreadful.
Troy: The Fallen City
Telling the ancient myth of the Battle of Troy, Netflix's Troy: The Fallen City was originally marketed as a pseudo Game of Thrones story. It wasn't anything like the critically acclaimed HBO series.
Viewers were not thrilled with the show's choppy dialogue and lack of innovation when it came to the story, something that has been told numerous times before.
My Super Sweet 16
One of MTV's biggest failures was doing a reality show that revolved around spoiled teenagers who wanted nothing more than to make their friends jealous on My Sweet 16.
The show was an unrealistic representation of what happened to a teenager on their 16th birthday. Their parents paid thousands of dollars for a luxury car and another few grand for a party, only to have their child throw a fit every other minute.
Keeping Up With the Kardashians
While Keeping up with the Kardashians is many people's guilty pleasure show, it doesn't mean the show is actually good. In fact, it is pretty awful.
The reality series does nothing more than showcase the family's wealth, relationships, and drama surrounding each of those things. While they try to look like "real people," it is obvious their issues aren't "real issues."
