Sometimes a creator will come up with a
brilliant idea for a sitcom. Not having any idea at all what to do with
that idea. What we end up with is the same joke, over and over, which
quickly causes the audience to be bored and leave. Here are some example
of quickly canceled series which should have been thought out more.
Jennifer Slept here/Nearly Departed/Teen Angel
These
shows were on in the 80's and 90's respectively and all had the same
basic theme. The main focus of the series was dead. In the first two
cases they were ghosts, in the latter he was an angel. Um yeah, focusing
a series on dead people just doesn't work. There is a reason The Addams
Family are living, if you had those charatcers as zombies the show
would be less funny. Imagine if The Walking Dead was meant for laughs!
Joanie Loves Chachi
Yeah,
not sure who thought this would work. This was more of a one premise
show than a one joke show. I have mentioned this before but basically
they took Joanie and Chachi off Happy Days and have them their own show.
Yeah, watching just them stare into each others eyes for six weeks
would have turned me off too. Though Fonz did appear in one episode.
They were soon back on Happy Days.
The Brady Brides
Another
stupid idea. Marcia and Jan Brady are married and have to live in the
same house with their husbands, who are nothing alike. I sense whimsy!
Yeah it was one thing when the girls were kids but as adults it just
didn't work.
The Ropers
Here
was an idea I am amazed anyone thought would fly. Though it did last a
seaon and a half. The Ropers were taken off Three's Company and put in
their own show. The problem is they were good supporting characters, not
leads. Watching them argue every episode got old. Speaking of stupid
Three's Company spin-off's, have I ever mentioned Three's A Crowd?
The People Next Door
I
did a whole article on this one so real quick, the show is about a man
whose imagination is so active the things he imagines comes to life.
That might have been ok but the characters were all so bland. The
amazing thing? This was created by Wes Craven!
Bette
This
little gem came around 2002, and basically it was Bette Midler doing a
parody of herself. And that was it, really. Yeah the first few episodes
were kind of funny but after awhile the gag just fell flat.
Cursed
I
really don't know what happened here. It seemed like such a good idea!
In the pilot, the main character played by Steve Weber is cursed after
jilting a woman. This was supposed to be the theme of the series, but I
guess creators realized that having him have bad luck in ever episode
would get boring. The show was retooled as The Steve Weber show but it
still sucked.
Inside Schwartz
Back
in the 90's NBC would put anything on opposite Friends and think it was
a hit. This was a show about a guy who has sports related fantasties as
he goes about his day. This premise went nowhere FAST as does most
sitcoms based on strange fantasties. I think Scrubs was one of the few
shows to pull this off. Why? Because the characters were all memorable
and fleshed out.
Conrad Bloom
Yeah
tell me if you've heard this one before. A guy in New York struggles
with the women in his life which include his mother and co-worker. Sound
boring? It was!
The Mike O'Malley Show
Not
all bad ideas have to be in the show. This was an average sitcom
starring comedian Mike O'Malley which i kind of like. But the ads for
the show, for me, sent me away. The ads had Mike talking about how he
was happy to be working on the same network as Jennifer Aniston and how
he wanted to meet her and stuff. Yeah, unless the show is about a creepy
stalker these ads didn't have the desired effect. From what I read the
show sucked anyway.
The Martin Short Show
Oh
man, who thought this was a good idea? This was a combination sitcom
and sketch comedy. You may be thining those two things could never work
together. And you'd be right. I watched the pilot and that was enough
for me.Martin Short is talented but this was just a stupid idea.
Baby Bob/The Geico Cavemen
Yes,
this happened. Both of them. Baby Bob was based on a series of ads with
a talking baby. The ads were ok, but someone had the brilliant idea of
spinning that off to a sitcom. Man was it weak! Not to mention creey.
Maybe a kid show, but a real sitcom? The Cavemen were even more insipid.
Based on the Geico ads which I hated by the way, this show was moronic.
The joke was that they were cavemen. Yay, that sounds like a great
idea. Check out Rowdy's TV Trash episode if you want to know about this
abomination.
Coupling
Hey,
here's an idea! Let's take that British TV show which is just a blatant
copy of Friends, and make it US show! But wait, we'll make it different
by adding much more sexual innuendo and no interesting characters.
Awesome! Cancelled!!!
Emeril
This
show was just dumb. Emeril Lagass is a popular chef and even I know him
despite having no interest in cooking shows. So why not give him a
sitcom! Well he can't act for one thing.
The Trouble with Larry
Oh
good freaking god! How bad do you have to be to be cancelled before the
TV season has even begun?? Have I talked about this yet? No? Take a
listen to this. This show starred Bronson Pinchot plays a man who
returns home a decade after he was dragged off by baboon's on his
honeymoon. No, I wrote that correctly. He returns home to his wife who
is now re-married, and hijinks ensue! The sad part? Courtney Cox was the
wife. Poor thing.
I am sure there are
dozesn more, but those were the only one's I could come up. If I missed
one you think belongs on here, let me know. Till next time my friends.
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