Shows so bad they didn't make it past the first episode.

Okay so this could be fun. I love bad movies and TV shows. There's just something entertaining about them. So, I'd like to discuss the shows that were written, given the green light, filmed, and promptly executed on the spot by the studio. There are two that I can think of off the top of my head:

First one I'd like to show is Heil Honey, I'm Home! tl;dr is that it is a sitcom that's centered around Hitler and aired on the BBC on September 30th, 1990.


Second is Heat Vision and Jack. While I don't think the pilot ever aired, it wasn't picked up by any studio and promptly died.

 

This shit right here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_My_Babies'_Mamas

 

I never really got into The I.T. Crowd but even I can see this is a travesty:

 

Possibly even worse than the Red Dwarf US pilot...

 

I loved The IT Crowd. Am I right in saying Graham Linehan had no involvement in the US Pilot whatsoever?

There was also a German pilot of The IT Crowd made that was apparently terrible but I have never been able to find it anywhere.

 

He didn't, but I wouldn't care if he did. Guy's a twat.

 

Australia's Naughtiest Home Videos is legendary in its sheer crapulence. one episode? pfft, this piece of garbage didn't even get to air its full first episode. you know you're bad when the owner of the tv station personally asks to get you off the air. then they aired a rerun of cheers, and all was alright with the world again.

what did it contain? well, watch it in all of its kangaroo-handjobbing, elephant humping glory, nsfw here.

 

Melba was a show that premiered the night of the challenger disaster. Canceled and sent to the summer doldrums to burn out.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melba_(TV_series)

Oh! A guy from the eagles had a show that was canceled the first episode too, south of sunset:

http://saleintothe90s.tumblr.com/post/137591795419/248-south-of-sunset-10271993

 

Not that it's a bad show, but wasn't the original Star Trek almost cancelled after that pilot episode with the Talosians because it was regarded as "bad?"

 

You know Bubsy, the failed video game mascot? Well, he had a cartoon that was never picked up. Here's the pilot for that matter:

 

There was that show a couple years back, 'Do No Harm' about a surgeon with DID. It was pretty terirble, and after they aired the first episode on Sky the rest of the season got bumped back to some shit-end slot in the middle of the night. Iirc they didn't even manage to finish the season, it just ends on a really obnoxious cliffhanger.

 

Goddamnit, OP already took Heil Honey I'm Home

 

It always surprised me that the BBC (although I thought it was some other short-lived British channel) picked up Heil Honey. Come to think about it, most works that take Hitler lightly (The Producers, Inglorius Basterds) tend to be American. Makes sense, as Hitler was literally on their doorstep across the pond. Especially in 1990, when WWII was still in the memory of a pretty large portion of the audience.

 

Apparently, somebody thought it was a good idea to make a spinoff of the 50s Superman show, but with the cast being midgets in fursuits and bad puns such as Bark Bent.

 

What the fuck did I just watch? That's not the I.T crowd. That's not even close.

 

i imagine the process went like this:
"we got a licence to remake the it crowd for american audiences! also, the big bang theory seems to be making mad bank. why not make it like it?"
"but the it crowd is nothing like the big bang theory"
"shut up and use your brain chad"

 

A couple more highlights:

Turn On (2/5/69) - Think Laugh-In, except pretty much every creative decision was terrible. Just look at Wikipedia's description of the premise. It's only 4 lines long and every decision on it was a bad idea. While of course there's nothing wrong with risqué or crude humor, having every single sketch be about sex seems a little repetitive. Even with morals being a lot looser now, I still think something like this wouldn't get very far even today.

The Melting Pot (6/11/75) - Even Spike Mulligan couldn't save a bad premise like this. Even the Wikipedia page calls it an "ill fated" TV show.

Co-Ed Fever (2/4/79) - Ah, the magnificent mockbuster (or in this case, mock TV show.) Among the many awful frat-based shows that tried to gnaw at the ankles of Animal House.

Dot Comedy (12/8/00) - Why bring the humor of the internet to TV when you could, you know, just use the internet?

Emily's Reasons Why Not (1/9/06) - I agree with whoever on TV Tropes said this would've worked better as a movie. It's easily the least inherently flawed concept on this list. This could've easily been a dumb, forgettable, disposable romcom. But no, ABC needed to make it a show.

Osbournes Reloaded (3/31/09) - I never thought I'd say this to anyone, but stick with Reality TV, Ozzy!

 

Apparently they tried to make a Battletoads cartoon.

Thank god it didn't get picked up, would have just been another mediocre Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles knock off.