Unwatchability (If you're credible you're wrong)

[steve(thelil)]

It's a trick title to hook you in. This is a thread where we list TV shows that we find unwatchable. I mean TOTALLY unwatchable.

Which means if you you really watched it enough to explain why it's unwatchable it couldn't have been THAT unwatchable to you. I mean stuff that makes you gag when you see 8 seconds of it as you're going up and down the channels.

Just Shoot Me
Fear Factor
Jerry Springer
Survivor
Any Judge show (a la People's Court)

[Brian Olewnick]

Arliss

[Sergio Zamora]

The WB

[clinthopson]

Fox news
Any Local news broadcast
Emeril
Martha
Anything on WB
The Farm Channel
ESPN fishing shows
Bowling
Hockey (I can't see the puck!)
The Best of (thelil)
SNL
The Best Damned Sports Show

[clinthopson]

Have you considered Smegmalicity Cunnilobulous?

[steve(thelil)]

Yes. THAT I find watchable.

[Brian Olewnick]

Larry King.

In fact, if I was forced to watch King interview Robert Wuhl, I might well implode.

[Nathaniel Catchpole]

I find the shopping channel, Springer, and court shows strangely fascinating (although not for long) when I'm in the states. I tend to find the faintly moralistic talk shows more unwatchable than Springer - all the same stuff but smoothed over with public service PC shite. At least Springer's honest (and there's an opera!!).

In the UK, Coronation Street. US shows: never made it through more than 5 minutes of Seinfeld, the Tonight Show and the one afterwards with that guy who looks like he's twelve. I've occasionally sat there semi-comatose, but it's always painful enough for me to change the channel.

[graypencil]

Anything on Fox news ( except Linda Vester ..who creates a geriatric woody por moi.. )

all reality programming ..including American Idol ..altho I do admit to watching one night of the final to see what all the hoopla was about ..

Gloria Allred anyplace ..

all right wing foaming rabid proto / fascist/ neo-christian /pundits ...

Anna Nicole Smith ..and Roseanne Barr ..

[Noj]

Everything is unwatchable to me except: uninterrupted unedited movies, live sporting events and ESPN Sportscenter (I also dig ESPNews, which keeps the scoreboard up during commercials), discovery wildlife programs(anyone catch "Mimic Octopus" yesterday?), Cartoon Network late night, very few other things. I usually laugh out loud at sitcoms but I don't get into watching them regularly like I did when I was a kid...

I usually have music playing and my tv on mute, while I'm on my computer, drawing, or painting. I'm also part Dutch. Isn't that weird?

[clinthopson]

I miss Korla Pandit.

[steve(thelil)]

I guess I agree about any/all reality TV. I once watched a few minutes of I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here to see stuttering john and melissa rivers interact.

I had to.

[graypencil]

I forgot Ann Coulter ..

altho , if she WAS on something like "Im a celebrity, get me outta here", I'd pay money to watch some savage cannibal tribe boil here and devour her carcass ...

[moneyp]

Originally posted by clinthopson
Hockey (I can't see the puck!)

It just takes practice, and it's worth it.



Anything involving talking heads (not the band).

It would be quicker and easier to list the things that AREN'T unwatchable.

But lets just say I find pretty much everything on tv these days unwatchable with the exception of The History Channel, The Weather Channel, Tech tv, auto racing(except that rigged hillbilly fest called NASCAR), motorcycle racing, hockey, HGTV, Nick @ Nite. Thats pretty much it for me. Oh, and those endless hours of Vegas shows on The Travel Channel, I gotta have those.

Worst shit on these days:

'reality' shows

any and all half hour sitcoms

CNN

MTV

That goddamn first and ten line when you're watching football. It is one of the reasons why I have sworn off the pro's. Well, that and the fact that pro football is now only a farce of it's previous self.


Clint, either see the Optometrist, or get a bigger screen, you're missing some great hockey!!

[stonemonkts]

Sex In The City, or even worse, those endless promotional commercials HBO runs before airing a show. "Always.....Sundays...Always...."

[Boris Badenov]

Just Shoot Me is a lot better than you think. The cast alone (George Segal, Laura San Giacomo, David Spade, Wendy Malick, etc) makes it worthwhile. Give it another try.

I assume you're right about the other shows you mentioned. I haven't seen a minute of any of them.

[Gentle Giant]

I also like Just Shoot Me, although I rarely have time for sitcoms anymore. West Wing is the only appointment viewing I do, usually (N.B., I don't have cable, so you Sopranos freaks can stop telling me how frickin' superior it is to the WW).

While walking to the office today, I saw a taxi with an ad for Dharma and Greg on top. That's a show that I never even considered watching and I can only assume it's unwatchable.

As for TV news personalities, I can't watch the following:
Baba Wawa
Gene Shalit
That smarmy pretty-boy Dateline guy
Cunnie Chong
Geraldo
Anyone on Today, Early Show, or Good Morning America

[GoodSpeak]

Fox News
Best Damn Sports Show Period
ANY Survivor spin-off or reality show
King of the Hill
Simpsons
Bowling
Soccer
Hockey
You Gotta See This
American Idol
Court TV
Jerry Springer/Montel Williams and their clones
Most of what's passed off as "family" entertainment on Disney or ABC Family
Pretty much anything the Cartoon Newtwork calls "cartooning"

[Noj]

Originally posted by GoodSpeak
Fox News
Best Damn Sports Show Period

Pretty much anything the Cartoon Newtwork calls "cartooning"

I agree about the BDSSP and the rest of your list, they suck.

However, I dig cartoon network, especially SAMURAI JACK.
Don't get me wrong, it isn't ROBOTECH or NINJA SCROLL.

[graypencil]

It really IS easier to list what I do watch regularly as wel:

CSI
CSI clone
NYPD Blue
West Wing
Oz
Sopranos

( new shows only ..bail out on reruns ..)

[Canuck Don]

Putting a few down that I really dislike.Will add to my list when I remember the rest.

Jerry Springer-What a sick piece of work that is.
The Osbournes- This is pathetic.
Will & Grace
Friends.
Any Judge shows.
Basketball.- I should have put this on top of my list .I think I could stomach the Springer show then watch this crap.
Bowling and Golf.--zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz


If anyone is interested...

.TV Guide’s 50 Worst TV Shows of All Time


1. The Jerry Springer Show (syndicated, 1991-present)
2. My Mother The Car (NBC, 1965-66)
3. XFL (NBC, UPN and TNN, 2001)
4. The Brady Bunch Hour (ABC, 1977)
5. Hogan's Heroes (CBS, 1965-71)
6. Celebrity Boxing (Fox, 2002-present)
7. AfterMASH (CBS, 1983-84)
8. Cop Rock (ABC, 1990)
9. You're in the Picture (CBS, 1961)
10. Hee Haw Honeys (syndicated, 1978-79)
11. The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer (UPN, 1998)
12. Hello Larry (NBC, 1979-80)
13. Twenty-One (NBC, 1956-58)
14. Baby Bob (CBS, 2002-present)
15. Manimal (NBC, 1983)
16. The Chevy Chase Show (Fox, 1993)
17. Casablanca (NBC, 1983)
18. The Ugliest Girl in Town (ABC, 1968-69)
19. The P.T.L. Club (syndicated, 1976-87)
20. The Pruitts of Southampton (ABC, 1966-67)
21. Baywatch (NBC and syndicated, 1989-2001)
22. The Powers of Matthew Star (NBC, 1982-83)
23. Sammy and Company (syndicated, 1975-77)
24. One of the Boys (NBC, 1982)
25. Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire? (Fox, 2000)
26. Life with Lucy (ABC, 1986)
27. Turn-On (ABC, 1969)
28. Supertrain (NBC, 1979)
29. Howard Stern (E!, 1994-present)
30. Unhappily Ever After (WB, 1995-99)
31. Homeboys in Outer Space (UPN, 1996-97)
32. Co-Ed Fever (CBS, 1979)
33. Holmes & Yoyo (ABC, 1976)
34. Alexander the Great (ABC, 1968)
35. Pink Lady...and Jeff (NBC, 1980)
36. The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo (NBC, 1979-81)
37. Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell (ABC, 1975-76)
38. Hell Town (NBC, 1985)
39. Still the Beaver (Disney Channel, 1985-86)
40. Makin' It (ABC, 1979)
41. The Tom Green Show (MTV, 1999-2000)
42. The Flying Nun (ABC, 1967-70)
43. Woops! (Fox, 1992)
44. She's the Sheriff (syndicated, 1987-89)
45. A.K.A. Pablo (ABC, 1984)
46. Me and the Chimp (CBS, 1972)
47. Rango (ABC, 1967)
48. Bless this House (CBS, 1995-96)
49. The Ropers (ABC, 1979-80)
50. Barney & Friends (PBS, 1992-present)

[Tanager]

Manimal and Holmes and Yoyo...wow, those bring back memories...gonna take hours of therapy to help me squelch them again, dammit.

I'll get shot for this, but I find Friends almost unwatchable, in particular David Schwimmer.

Most sitcoms I cannot abide as well...Just Shoot Me...that's how I'd feel if that were the only thing on.

There are only a few shows I find worth watching, including a few shows on Food TV (but I've been tired of Emeril's schtick for a long, long time) and Discovery (but only the nature shows for the most part). I find the Vegas Channel...sorry, maybe that's the Travel Channel...entertaining, but I can only watch so many hours of "How the Real Card Sharks Make Money" or "Glitziest Toilets of Vegas."

There are a couple shows I like on some of the international channels (we subscribe to a couple of the Indian channels).

In general, though, TV sucks bigass donkey nuts.

[Dr Dave]

I can watch basketball, and I can usually watch the News Hour with Jim Lehrer, and I can watch old reruns of Law & Order. The rest of it is either boring or embarrassing. Special mention for the jingoists at Fox News. I hope Rupert Murdoch is made to pay for his sins; they are legion.

[graypencil]

Originally posted by Dr Dave
Special mention for the jingoists at Fox News. I hope Rupert Murdoch is made to pay for his sins; they are legion.

Bill O' Reilly is the antichrist of cable ..he is equally unwatchable ( for different reasons ) than Springer..


I wonder what the late Newton ( vast wasteland ) Minnow would think of todays video septic tank ?

[john williams]

Originally posted by Dr Dave
I hope Rupert Murdoch is made to pay for his sins; they are legion.

May the dirty fuck rot in hell - he has almost completely monopolised the news in Australia.

[Tanager]

Originally posted by JBW
May the dirty fuck rot in hell - he has almost completely monopolised the news in Australia.

Tell us how you feel, JBW, you're among friends.

[Dr Dave]

Come to think of it, the most unwatchable TV series in recent memory was the New York Knicks Starring Patrick Ewing. They had decent writers up to 1995, and then it went downhill fast.

[patricia]

I cannot watch "Friends" without cringing and there is a special place in Hell for David Schwimmer. Who are these child-like people, pushing forty anyway??
The "Reality" shows really suck, bigtime.
Also, "Jerry Springer" and all his clone-shows give the impression that everyone in America lives in a trailer and is ugly, fat, really stupid, or totally lacking a moral compass. Where do they get these people?
I watch old "Law and Order" and it's clones.
I like CSI and CSI Miami [David Caruso is particularly yummy].
I also like "Crossing Jorden".
I mostly watch CBC Newsworld [fabulous docs] and Bravo [last night I saw a National Film Board doc about Lezra Martin, who befriended by a handful of Canadian law students, years before, in Brooklyn, freed Rubin"Hurricane" Carter.]
I have tried to avoid U.S. network news, for the last few months and read newspapers instead, for obvious reasons.

[steve(thelil)]

I actually enjoy Friends*. The charecters annoyed me at first, but I think the writing is excellent and it understands - and plays to - what's annoying about each of them.





*But then again, I too am an unrealistically beautiful person who acts alot younger than he or she lookds.