The Worst TV Show Ever!

[Drtooth]

Funny thing is, I was all set to not even bother with that show, but I was out all night so I missed the entire line up anyway. Even if the show is actually good, I just don't like Minnie Driver. I give nothing but credit for the subject matter.

That said, I really should put this in the "worst cartoons" thread, but I don't feel like looking for it. While I can't for sure say it's the worst cartoon or even the worst adult cartoon I've seen in recent years, I'm very disappointed in "Legends of Chamberlain Heights." The animation reminds me of, well...

And that I can completely overlook. Though the only major laughs I had with this show are at how unintentionally hilariously bad the animation and character design was. Other than that, I think it had some potential, but it devolved into the darn same cheap laughs that bad adult animation falls into. Certainly not as bad as Mr. Pickles. But just enough that it falls into the mediocre adult swim wanna be level. Though I genuinely liked the fact they attend Michael Clark Duncan high School.

 

[Censored]

You'd think the public would have gotten sick of sick humor by now.

 

[D'Snowth]

Much of the public kind of is, however, networks evidently think the public wants more of this kind of thing, which is why they keep cranking it out, when in all reality, networks don't have a clue what the public wants.

 

[Drtooth]

Any kind of humor can work if done right. There's a difference between gratuitous, repetitive shock humor (that most cartoon viewers over the age of 18 have gotten dull to anyway), and actual adult humor. To make an adult cartoon it takes more than sex and drug jokes. It has to be tempered with smart writing and commentary. That's why Rick and Morty has become a smash hit, and why absolutely no one likes Mr. Pickles. Or at the very least you have to be the right kind of absurdist. Like Space Ghost Coast to Coast and Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

Now I see what they're getting at with Chamberlain Heights. Seems they want to talk about issues in the black community. That's fine. Everyone deserves representation. But they botch the crap out of it. I didn't think it would be as deep or as heavy handed as Boondocks was. Instead of making commentary, they drop everything for the same cheap humor done without any sense of irony or cleverness. Any message is sloppily tossed in and never dealt with again. They could have had a commentary about drug use, but instead threw in a cheap Breaking Bad parody with all the genius and subtlety of a Seltzer/Frieberg flick. And polished it off with diarrhea and wang falling off jokes.

Can't believe this is the same animation studio that did Bob's Burgers. Still, unlike Mr. Pickles or Stone Quackers (the wrong kind of absurdist), the cartoon didn't make me want to violently throw something at the screen 5 minutes in. I mean, I also really don't like Brad Neely's Hardscrabbling Wuga Wugga Wacky Words either, but at least it's humor isn't cheap and lazy. It's smug and self centered and sometimes doing bad impersonations of Justin Roiland and Don Hertzfelt, but at least it isn't dumb.

 

[Drtooth]

This one really doesn't apply here, but I though ABC's newest sitcom Speechless wasn't as bad as the promos made it out to be. Granted, there are problems like the mother's derivative characterization, but I really like JJ, who has cerebral palsy (like his actor) and can't speak (unlike his actor), but is just as capable of being a smart-mouth and talking back like any other teen, most often when he calls out those who want to give him special treatment. It also lacks a narrator like most of the other sitcoms in ABC's lineup, setting itself apart.

I've seen the second episode, and while I can't say it's nearly as bad as I thought it was, I really think the main problem is the casting of Minnie Driver. Yes, I don't like her or see the appeal of her in any aspect, but this show... she's not very good in it. She seems to be acting in a permanently ticked off, condescending monotone. And I get the character's supposed to be an unlikable person who's been through all the patronizing and idiocy faced by others stumbling all over themselves trying clumsily to facilitate a handicapped child. But I don't get that. I get they're not trying to make her as over the top as Adam Goldberg's mother, but there's a middle ground between cartoonishly over the top and deadpan. By contrast, I greatly liked the kid's new aide and the chemistry he has with the actor. That had more heartwarming moments than anything with the mother. I also give credit for them giving the kid a personality that wasn't saccharine and romanticized because he's handicapped, but rather made him just a little bit of a jerk, giving him a real believable personality. It's deep down a good show with a poorly stunt cast mother.

 

[mr3urious]

I've seen the second episode, and while I can't say it's nearly as bad as I thought it was, I really think the main problem is the casting of Minnie Driver. Yes, I don't like her or see the appeal of her in any aspect, but this show... she's not very good in it. She seems to be acting in a permanently ticked off, condescending monotone. And I get the character's supposed to be an unlikable person who's been through all the patronizing and idiocy faced by others stumbling all over themselves trying clumsily to facilitate a handicapped child. But I don't get that. I get they're not trying to make her as over the top as Adam Goldberg's mother, but there's a middle ground between cartoonishly over the top and deadpan. By contrast, I greatly liked the kid's new aide and the chemistry he has with the actor. That had more heartwarming moments than anything with the mother. I also give credit for them giving the kid a personality that wasn't saccharine and romanticized because he's handicapped, but rather made him just a little bit of a jerk, giving him a real believable personality. It's deep down a good show with a poorly stunt cast mother.

I agree. He and JJ are the most likeable characters in this show, mainly for their genuine father/son chemistry with each other.

 

[D'Snowth]

So Melissa McCarthy is already unnecessarily in two new shows this season (really?), one of which she plays a sarcastic, sharp-tongued housewife who's like really belittling to her kids and husband, played by Dietrich Bader, who's actually starting to look a lot more like Vince Vaughn now. Toilet humor abounds: there's a scene where she sends their daughter to barge in on him while he's taking a dump.

 

[Oscarfan]

So Melissa McCarthy is already unnecessarily in two new shows this season (really?), one of which she plays a sarcastic, sharp-tongued housewife who's like really belittling to her kids and husband, played by Dietrich Bader, who's actually starting to look a lot more like Vince Vaughn now. Toilet humor abounds: there's a scene where she sends their daughter to barge in on him while he's taking a dump.

That's not Melissa McCarthy, that's Katy Mixton.

 

[Drtooth]

Funny thing is, Katy Mixon looks like she's putting on weight just as McCarthy's losing hers. Something that I wouldn't actually point out otherwise, but she was the supposed thin pretty sister in Mike and Molly. And they did kinda look like they could be sisters only one was bigger than the other.

Either that or they just dressed her up so frumpy in this new show.

Honestly, I wasn't really willing to give Speechless a shot, but since I did I really can't hate on it beyond the casting of the mother. That and the fact it feels like they only needed one kid besides the handicapped one. But American Housewife? I don't care if Dietrich Bader is in there. I mean, I am a fan of his. I loved his version of Batman in Brave and the Bold among other things. But all I said about Speechless being the generic family of jerks who are jerks because the world is set up against them, I take back because at least the show seems to be doing something with it. As close to O'Neals as it is (but O'Neals had a mother that fit with the show). But this show is the generic jerk family show that looks unremarkable in every way.

As for the other new sitcom this year, I get why they'd give Kevin James a new sitcom and all. Those 'Member Berries probably. But they seem to forget why King of Queens wasn't awful. Mainly Patton Oswalt and Jerry Stiller.

 

[Collgoff]

Family guy and worst Malcolm in the middle are the worst T.V. Shows ever.