Worst series in sitcom?

[rue the polywhirl]

Inspired by the Red Dwarf rewatch thread, I was thinking of the worst sitcom series of all time and series VIII of RD would have to be my ultimate nominee. It takes the slightly more dramatic and filmic approach of series VII and does a rancid 180 on it, turning it into a weird, deformed, ultra-silly children's show with oodles of overacting and mindless whooping and hollering from the audience and yet it is filled with all sorts of badly written humour that ranges from the inappropriate to deeply disturbing and offensive. It also has the badly bungled 3-parter opener Back To The Red and the 2-parter Pete which disrupt the entire flow of the series. And it features a litany of moments that stick out as low ebbs for comedy in general - the Duane Dibley Reservoir Dogs sequence, the blue midget dance, the plots for Pete and Krytie TV in its entirety.

My next closest contender would be Arrested Development 4: The Remix. All the ingredients of the original show heightened mathematically to a point where all the joy feels sucked out. The narration dominates to the point of feeling asphyxiating and again like Red Dward VIII it is somehow loaded with far more troublesome and offensive attitudes and portrayals than the older series in its run. The cast largely have no chemistry, the lead character Michael is a 10th of the character he was before. There are funny moments and plot lines, mostly concerning GOB and Ben Stiller but for the most part the series feels like an excruciating chore. And the unremixed series seems like an even less enticing prospect.

There are probably worst shows in existence, but these particular series stick out as the worst especially in terms of shredding apart the standards and quality of the previous incarnations of their respective shows.

[JaDanketies]

Becker was about a moody doctor played by Ted Danson and his quirky friends in a diner and his colleagues, as well as a 'will they won't they' flirtation with Reggie, a moody woman who owned the diner. Then, on the last episode of season 4, Becker and Reggie kissed, and as season 5 opened, they got rid of Reggie without even her even making an appearance, replaced her with some nice bubbly woman called Chris who Becker immediately started a mushy and drama-laden romance with her. She took over the diner and half of Becker's friends immediately disappeared, to be replaced with a bunch of characters nobody gave a fuck about. By Season 6 the shittification was complete.

[BritishHobo]

My next closest contender would be Arrested Development 4: The Remix. All the ingredients of the original show heightened mathematically to a point where all the joy feels sucked out. The narration dominates to the point of feeling asphyxiating and again like Red Dward VIII it is somehow loaded with far more troublesome and offensive attitudes and portrayals than the older series in its run. The cast largely have no chemistry, the lead character Michael is a 10th of the character he was before. There are funny moments and plot lines, mostly concerning GOB and Ben Stiller but for the most part the series feels like an excruciating chore. And the unremixed series seems like an even less enticing prospect.

There are probably worst shows in existence, but these particular series stick out as the worst especially in terms of shredding apart the standards and quality of the previous incarnations of their respective shows.

They fucked it with the remix. The original season 4 was different, but it worked because of the unique structure, seeing this big story unfold from all these different perspectives. All these great jokes and plot points seeded or shown off before they were even properly introduced. It made for a really rewarding season that did something new.  Changing it back to a normal season structure lost all those jokes for no real gain.

I would nominate season 5 though. Season 4's faults you could kinda accept because it seemed they were filling in the gaps from the long gap after season 3, in order to set the show up for either a film or season 5, to follow shortly, with the family reunited and a dynamic plot. But then they weren't able to follow it up for ages again, and when they eventually came back, they had the same problems as season four, but less confidence in their workarounds. So on top of reediting season 4, they tried to play 5 as a normal structured season, meaning it was far more obvious that most of the actors weren't being filmed together. Also it seems like they'd lost interest in the plot threads set up by season 4 (the murder mystery, the film), so it felt like they were spending a lot of thd runtime trying to jettison those things.

[Stoneage Dinosaurs]

Obvious one but Peep Show series 8, where the plotting, humour and characterisation are so stale and off that it almost feels like the whole thing was written and made by entirely different people. Series 9 had it's problems but it did still at least feel like Peep Show.

Edit: SERIES not SEASON. Shit

[Pearly-Dewdrops Drops]

The last season of Broad City is the one I remember being most disappointed by.

(Obviously none of these are the "worst" as compared to uniformly awful sitcoms)

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Inspired by the Red Dwarf rewatch thread, I was thinking of the worst sitcom series of all time and series VIII of RD would have to be my ultimate nominee. It takes the slightly more dramatic and filmic approach of series VII and does a rancid 180 on it, turning it into a weird, deformed, ultra-silly children's show with oodles of overacting and mindless whooping and hollering from the audience and yet it is filled with all sorts of badly written humour that ranges from the inappropriate to deeply disturbing and offensive. It also has the badly bungled 3-parter opener Back To The Red and the 2-parter Pete which disrupt the entire flow of the series. And it features a litany of moments that stick out as low ebbs for comedy in general - the Duane Dibley Reservoir Dogs sequence, the blue midget dance, the plots for Pete and Krytie TV in its entirety.

My next closest contender would be Arrested Development 4: The Remix. All the ingredients of the original show heightened mathematically to a point where all the joy feels sucked out. The narration dominates to the point of feeling asphyxiating and again like Red Dward VIII it is somehow loaded with far more troublesome and offensive attitudes and portrayals than the older series in its run. The cast largely have no chemistry, the lead character Michael is a 10th of the character he was before. There are funny moments and plot lines, mostly concerning GOB and Ben Stiller but for the most part the series feels like an excruciating chore. And the unremixed series seems like an even less enticing prospect.

There are probably worst shows in existence, but these particular series stick out as the worst especially in terms of shredding apart the standards and quality of the previous incarnations of their respective shows.

It may have been the most disappointing but it's far more successful than what followed.

[Dusty Substance]

Season eight of Curb (aka: the New York season) is probably the worst least brilliant of the series.

[Twonty Gostelow]

Season eight of Curb (aka: the New York season) is probably the worst least brilliant of the series.

[willbo]

I'd have to say Little Britain USA. I'm not a very critical comedy viewer and don't slag things off that much, but the series seemed almost deliberately bizarrely unfunny - like they were deliberately getting the timing wrong on jokes and dragging them out too long to the point that it almost felt as surreal as Jam or something, but not funny. And I hated Little Britain anyway, but I can at least hear that the UK series has normal comic timing, the characters say their catchphrases at the right pace, raise their voice at the right time, etc.

I haven't seen LB USA since it was new though, so I may have exaggerated memories.

[lankyguy95]

The worst series of a previously good show might be season 9 of The Office US. A depressing amalgam of terrible storylines, cartoonish comedy, broad caricatures of most cast members and some awful half-baked attempts at pathos. Absolute crap.

[Ornlu]

The animated series of Trailer Park Boys is an atrocity. It's shameful what they do to those characters, you hate to see it.

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

The worst series of a previously good show might be season 9 of The Office US. A depressing amalgam of terrible storylines, cartoonish comedy, broad caricatures of most cast members and some awful half-baked attempts at pathos. Absolute crap.

Season 8 was also awful. It was the first one entirely without Michael Scott, and it had Robert California/James Spader, Catherine Tate, a totally weird and pointless arc in Florida. Pathos from season 9 came out of nowhere, but season 8 was totally damaged.

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

Series 5 of Absolutely Fabulous. Saffy's friend Sarah is now completely mentally ill and the arc with her stalking Emma Bunton is utter cringe. I fast-forward through her scenes and skip some episodes completely. The rest of the characters are starting to warp and bend in small ways, and I get that the writers are acknowledging that the actors have aged and are trying to treat the characters as if they've also aged, but still. "They're older now" only goes so far.

I like the three specials that make up "series 6" and the movie acts as a great finish to the series (the only right way to do a sitcom-based movie IMO) but series five? I'll watch individual scenes over full episodes.

[dead-ced-dead]

Season 7 of Parks and Rec that suddenly decided it was a sci-fi show for no reason (set in the futuristic world of 2017). Mostly awful except for one absolute bangers of an episode: Leslie and Ron.

It's a genuinely moving episode with a killer inclusion of a Willy Nelson song. Otherwise, the show properly ended in season 6.

[mr. logic]

Max and Paddy.

[Sexton Brackets Drugbust]

They fucked it with the remix. The original season 4 was different, but it worked because of the unique structure, seeing this big story unfold from all these different perspectives. All these great jokes and plot points seeded or shown off before they were even properly introduced. It made for a really rewarding season that did something new.  Changing it back to a normal season structure lost all those jokes for no real gain.

I would nominate season 5 though. Season 4's faults you could kinda accept because it seemed they were filling in the gaps from the long gap after season 3, in order to set the show up for either a film or season 5, to follow shortly, with the family reunited and a dynamic plot. But then they weren't able to follow it up for ages again, and when they eventually came back, they had the same problems as season four, but less confidence in their workarounds. So on top of reediting season 4, they tried to play 5 as a normal structured season, meaning it was far more obvious that most of the actors weren't being filmed together. Also it seems like they'd lost interest in the plot threads set up by season 4 (the murder mystery, the film), so it felt like they were spending a lot of thd runtime trying to jettison those things.

It was Season Five for me, too. Four was a very different prospect and asked a lot from its audience, but ultimately worked for me - though it absolutely should have been self-contained. Five was a poorly paced, ill judged mess that was left with too many plot threads they weren't really interested in.

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

Season 5 was just horrible. Season 4, in its initial and experimental form anyway, had a lot of character development regarding GOB or George Michael, and some jokes had a pay off that would work beautifully a few episodes later. Season 5 was a travesty. Each half-season was basically what the show would do in a single episode during its main run. And the second half was even worse than the first one. I remember some guy posting here or on another place that the Guilty Guys reveal would be a hoot. But when I reached that point, I was just angry that the thing that had been teased for so many episodes amounted to a throwaway gag, without any extra layer.

[Brundle-Fly]

Roseanne Season 9.

Close thread,

[evilcommiedictator]

Final season of Dexter which they're not going to try and fix with a lumberjack reboot

[DrGreggles]

Final season of Dexter which they're not going to try and fix with a lumberjack reboot

Surely, if the final season of Dexter was intended as a comedy, it was a success.
I laughed a lot anyway.

[Andy147]

Not sure if Coupling gets much love here, but I really liked the first 3 series; then the last series was rubbish.

Could also go in the "Characters added late to a sitcom" thread, in that one of the problems with series 4 was they brought in Oliver as a blatant (and annoying) replacement for Jeff. But he wasn't the only problem. with the other characters becoming stupidly over the top in the last series: I've seen it described as "going from '6 people who'd be fun to hang out with' to '6 people you'd back away from as fast as possible'."

[Lungpuddle]

I've seen it described as "going from '6 people who'd be fun to hang out with' to '6 people you'd back away from as fast as possible'."

I agree, it went from being kind of like Friends to being Friends.

[TheMonk]

The LWT series of The Goodies seems off, they all look old all of a sudden and every idea seems to be a retread but done worse. Basically it seemed to show the BBC were right to wind it up.

[lipsink]

I know it has its fans but I still think Father Ted Series 3 is just fucking rubbish. Just seems so tired, way too broad and has none of the magic of the early series.

Season 9 of Curb just seemed like they'd forgotten what made it work. I was worried that perhaps it had become dated and now Larry seemed like an annoying jerk rather than the guy you identified with. Series 10 was definitely an improvement.

[Botty Cello]

Series 5 of Absolutely Fabulous.

Bad Ab Fab is still better than a good Big Top (2009, BBC). It's Top of the Worst charts ever, since TV began. Dignitas use it.

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

Bad Ab Fab is still better than a good Big Top (2009, BBC). It's Top of the Worst charts ever, since TV began. Dignitas use it.

Oh I'll watch Ab Fab over and over. It's one of those shows that's funny even if you don't know anything about fashion or PR. Series 5 is where it comes off the rails for me.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Royle Family stuff after Nana died.

[Catalogue Trousers]

No mention of Derke?

Okay, in fairness, that was so blatantly shite that it became paradoxically entertaining, but it was still absolute shite.

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

All The series of " Still Game" after they revived it, apart from that one with Ronni Ancona what spoofed " One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest". Far too cartoony and silly. The one with Craig Ferguson as the retired stuntman was a definite low point.

[Jockice]

Royle Family stuff after Nana died.

When she died. I thought it was one of the worst episodes of anything I've ever seen. In fact I've refused to watch a single second, let alone episode of the show since.