The 13 Most Ridiculous TV Shows to Ever Get Green-Lit
This fall, ABC will air a new show featuring the cavemen from those GEICO commercials. For those of you that haven't seen those ads, their premise is basically this:
1) There's these cavemen, see.
2) But they live in the present day.
3) Instead of being primitive and stupid, they're actually quite intelligent and erudite.
4) They get upset and prissy when people think they're primitive and stupid.
If your first thought after reading that is: "That's the stupidest idea for a show I've heard all day," then you're 100 percent correct. (We'd also give full credit for "It can't be any worse than The King of Queens.") But if you read that and thought, "That's the stupidest idea for a show ever," you're actually wrong. There have been at least 13 shows stupider than that one-probably more if we were considering Mexican TV.
We're not, so here for your amusement are the 13 stupidest non-Mexican TV shows.
#13. Automan--ABC (1983-1984)
Automan was a show about a programmer who made a computer program to help him solve the many crimes that plagued his life. What made this computer program so special was that, when fed enough power, it would manifest itself in the real world. It would also be wearing a seatbelt and have immaculate blow-dried hair. Automan is chiefly remembered for being the only show in existence to make Knight Rider look plausible and well thought-out.
#12. Beauty and the Beast--CBS (1987-1990)
You'll probably remember Beauty and the Beast as that early '90s Disney cartoon about the dancing candlestick and the gay clock, and the adventures they had selling merchandise imprinted with images of themselves. But it turns out that wasn't the original Beauty and the Beast at all. The original was a 1987 live-action television show set in modern day New York. It featured a hideous man-beast in a relationship with a beautiful woman while they worked together solving crimes. Memorable story arcs include the time they got in the fight about who used up the last of the conditioner, and the time the Beast got upset after being left alone in the house all day and flung his feces all over the walls and ceiling.
#11. Bosom Buddies--ABC (1980-1982)
Also known as "That show where Tom Hanks dressed up as a woman so he could stay in an ladies-only apartment building." Between this show and Three's Company, it becomes readily apparent that if you were unfortunate enough to be a landlord in the '70s and '80s, your life must have been one neverending maze of deceit and betrayal.
#10. Cover Up--CBS (1984-1985)
Dani Reynolds is a fashion photographer whose life gets turned upside down when she finds out two things:
1) that her undercover CIA agent husband was killed on a secret mission, and
2) that her husband was an undercover CIA agent.
The CIA-evidently being short-staffed that day-decide to offer her husband's old job to her. So she hires Mac Harper, a former green beret (now male model) to travel around the world and help her while they fight international crime.
If you've noticed a common thread here of unusual teams fighting crime, congratulations. You have all the skills necessary to be a producer for a major television network, the most highly paid group of mouth-breathers imaginable.
Experienced Cougar Ladies seeking and dating younger Men & Toy Boys.(On my name =CougarFlirts. C-⊙-M- !!)
ReplyWhat? no mention of Cop Rock?
ReplyDamn, I always thought Greatest American Hero was an SNL skit. Wish I still thought that.
Reply"Quark" was cool. It's a parody, we need more of that. We need More Richard Benjamin too.
ReplyAnd "Bosom Buddies"? Sure it's ridiculous, but come on, Tom Hanks in a dress!
The Golden Age of ridiculous TV shows was some time in the mid-60's. Youze guys are obviously too young to remember "My Mother The Car". Thankfully, so am I. Seriously, a guy buys an old car that's possessed by the ghost of his dead mother? That takes a special kind of genius to a) come up with in the first place and b) get a network executive to green-light it.
What about "The Flying Nun"? The title alone says it all. And "My Favorite Martian". And "Bewitched" aka the inspiration for Harry Potter. Yes, it was a great show but the idea is kinda silly if you think about it too much. Or "It's About Time", where scientists go back in time and live with cave men. Who speak English, of course. And eat dinosaur stew. Or "I Dream Of Jeannie", mainly notable for Barbara Eden's revealing costume.
Excuse me while I go wallow in nostalgia.
Beauty and the Beast, Greatest American Hero and Misfits of Science were some of my favorite shows growing up. And how are their premises any worse than today's fodder? "Man discovers he has superpowers and must learn to use them if he is to become the hero he is destined to be" Smallville? Greatest American Hero? "A group of people with powers must deal with both the problems and responsabilities that come with those powers" Alphas? Heroes? Mutant X? Misfits of Science?
ReplyThe most ridiculous show I've ever seen is Hail Honey I'm Home! - Hitler and Braun live next door to a Jewish couple and Chamberlain is coming over...
ReplyI watched almost all of these shows....I was sad when the hot sexy actor from Cover Up died and he was replaced by another a lot less atractive actor.
Replyking of queens kicks ass
Reply^The benefits of internet anonymity at work.
"The Master" was repackaged as "Master Ninja" and is one of the best episodes of MST3K ("Hey, your ninja's draging!") Man from Atlantis was goofy, but it was better than Dallas! Plus it had Victor Bouno as a villian!
ReplyOut Of This World and Beauty and the Beast were two of my favorite shows!
ReplyGood article , I would really like to see the 13 stupidest mexican shows ... why would USA would look at a mexican show in the first place ??? not even I would watch them here in Mexico being a mexican reading a USA site
ReplyThere arent really good tv shows in Mexico other than soaps. I am also mexican.
I'm also Mexican, and I have to say, there are some good shows in Mexico.
Like, uhm...no, that one sucks.
Well, there's...no that's worse.
s**t, you're right.
Most of these shows are either shows I never watched, or shows I did watch and were totally awesome. Seriously, The Fall Guy is ridiculous, but not My Mother the Car?
ReplyIn terms of the Greatest American Hero, Ralph once again acquired the suit's manual at the start of season 3; additionally he got to meet the aliens that gave it to him and learn of the overarching mission they had for him. Sadly he loses the manual by episode's end, leaving it behind in miniature form in the California desert when he tries out the new shrinking power.
ReplyOut Of This World was one of my favourite shows. I kept trying to pause the world XD
ReplyThe Fallguy and Greatest American Hero were awesome. It may be nostalgia coloring the past for my memories, but I loved those shows, and they weren't -that- ridiculous, considering the shows on today.
ReplySeason 3 kind of jumped the shark (I have them all on DVD) when Ralph gets a better handle on his powers and just does missions for the government like any 'normal' superhero. The shows original premise was 'the problems of being a superhero' and Season 3 left that behind.
Its a minor point, I know, but the TV series Beauty and the Beast wasnt the original either. Its not even the first cinematic example. There was a 1946 production which the disney film took elements from, and that itself was based on a french fairytale some 250 years ago. It WAS however, the first example of Ron Pearlman without the makeup he wears to blend in with normal humans
ReplySo "The Misfits of Science" (an idea TOTALLY not related to any Marvel properties) has Cole McGrath on their team? Awesome!
ReplyI lived to watch Out of this World. Loved that show. Really wished touching my index fingers together would pause the world.
ReplyLoved most of these shows. Ridiculous? Maybe, but definitely entertaining!
ReplyDusty's Trail should have been on this list. It's Gilligan's Island but the Old West. Let that sink in. It didn't last a whole season.
Reply