Badmovies.org Forum

Results from the Fame or Shame: TV Shows game located here (http://www.badmovies.org/forum/index.php/topic,128575.0.html).

FAME

SHAME

01. Little House on the Prairie (1974)

An American classic was put to shame  :wink:

Little House on the Prairie (1974)

Little House wasn't such a bad show really. It's just not the type of show that will appeal to most who post on this board I suspect.

Bumping this up to add additions to Fame or Shame: TV Shows

Hall of Fame

01. The Twilight Zone (1959-1964)
02. The A-Team
03. Beavis and Butt-Head
04. The Golden Girls
05. Tales From the Crypt
06. Cheers
07. Roots
08. Mystery Science Theater 3000
09. Hill Street Blues (1981-1987)
10. Murder She Wrote
11. The Dick Van Dyke Show
12. Roseanne
13. Bonanza
14. Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
15. Whose Line Is It Anyway? (UK Version)
16. The X-Files
17. Cold Case
18. Mythbusters
19. Boris Karloff's Thriller
20. Saturday Night Live
21. Monk
22. Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974-1975)

Hall of Shame

01. Little House on the Prairie
02. Law and Order
03. Tales From the Darkside
04. V: The Series
05. The Cosby Show
06. Small Wonder
07. Masters of Horror
08. M*A*S*H
09. Hogan's Heroes
10. Happy Days
11. Home Improvement
12. The Daily Show
13. Knight Rider (1982-1986)
14. Cops
15. Baywatch
16. MXC (Most Extreme Elimination Challenge)
17. Forensic Files
18. The Sopranos
19. The Price is Right (1972-Present)
20. 24 (2001-2010)
21. War of the Worlds (1988-1990)

To me, every show listed here is actually pretty good, solid entertainment. The one I least agree with is Tales From the Darkside entering Shame. To me, A-Team is mainly popular from a nostalgia, not quality, framepoint and I think Beavis and Butthead belongs more in the Cartoon Hall of Fame, although the making fun of music videos was its best element IMO. Law and Order to me started off good but soon became too much about topping the shock factor week after week after a while.

I really disliked Tales from the Darkside.  They made it out to be some sort of scary something-or-other, "The dark side is always there, waiting for us to enter, waiting to enter us."  And then they give us Mookie and Pookie or Basher Malone  :lookingup:  There were a tiny handful of good episodes, but they were really the exception rather than the rule.

V in the HOS and Golden Girls in the HOF.  I grew up with the Golden Girls, fun show.  I think Estelle Getty made that show happen for me. 

The Golden Girls is a fun show and deserves its status as a classic IMO. V: The Series wasn't all bad, it was just a bit of a disappointing follow-up to a great Mini-Series.

And Tales From the Crypt creeps its way into the Hall of Fame. Honestly I think with stiffer competition, it wouldn't have got there so easily.

The Cosby Show very slowly enters Shame. It really wasn't such a bad show, just a little too idealized (almost like a black version of a 1950s series) for my liking. I did find the little kids on there to be often funny especially when working with Cosby.

Cheers slowly but surely enters the Hall of Fame. Personally I always thought it overrated and was pretty much felt indifferent about the show.

Small Wonder slowly enters Shame.

I nominated Small Wonder kind of knowing it would be ripped to shreds. 

Masters of Horror enters the Hall of Shame with little opposition. I felt the concept was good but the execution was poor as most episodes despite having supposed masters at the helm tended to still disappoint.

Roots joins the Hall of Fame.

M*A*S*H enters the Hall of Shame. Was surprised to not see this get more supporters (although Rev. tried his best to save it). Personally I always thought it was one of the most overrated shows ever on television. I never ever really cared for it at all. Guess I wasn't as all alone in that as I used to once think.

This thread needs to be moved. There'll be some updating to do here shortly.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 joins the Hall of Fame. I have mixed feelings about MST3K myself. I hated when they made fun of really good movies such as The Crawling Eye, Revenge of the Creature and This Island Earth showing poorly edited versions in some cases but I have to admit I did laugh when they made fun of stuff like Prince of Space and Invasion of the Neptune Men. Hence I didn't vote for or against the series here.

MST3K was and still is a brilliant show IMHO.  It was one of the seeds planted in my mind that eventually made me want to start reviewing films.

THIS ISLAND EARTH is the only one of those I would describe as "good," much less "really good."  Still, I never got offended when they made fun of a movie I liked, as long as they made it funny.  The editing of THIS ISLAND EARTH was obnoxious because of studio interference, but I thought they still did a good job all things considering.   

Personally I think of all 3 as classics, flawed but still classics. I always liked quite a number of other films they showed on there. It always kind of bugged me it was usually an easy target they went with - low budget B-movies. I'm sure someone could just as easily make fun of most of today's blockbusters, and many of them probably deserve it far more, not to mention some that even have won Oscars. Still I have to admit they were sometimes very funny and I did like the little segments they did in between during the series..actually I think I liked those better than the making jokes, sometimes they were also very lame or poorly done IMO, at a movie's expense. The Crawling Eye they aired is also the edited shorter American version of the film.

Jase, you may be pleased to know (if you don't already) that Mike Nelson's post-MST3K project RIfftrax does just that (makes fun of Hollywood blockbusters).  They've even done CASABLANCA, which doesn't offend me in the slightest. 

Hill Street Blues joins the Hall of Fame. It was truly an high quality police show with gritty, more realistic stories.

Hogan's Heroes joins the Hall of Shame. I caught of few episodes of it here and there. It didn't make me laugh once. The situations seemed so forced and contrived as is the whole premise really.

Happy Days enters the Hall of Shame. There were things I liked about the show...I loved the theme music opening the show. I thought the Fonz was an iconic character but once the show got underway, I found it usually disappointed me more often than not and just wasn't terribly funny or really even all that great at holding my attention. A show I wanted to like but just could never really get into.

Murder She Wrote joins the Hall of Fame. This show starring Angela Lansbury was one of my mother's favourite shows as I was growing up so inevitably I had to watch it too. I ended up usually enjoying it far more than I expected.

Home Improvement joins the Hall of Shame. Tim Allen starred in this series as a somewhat sexist inadequate tool man/handyman who liked to grunt a lot. I enjoy Allen's movies a lot more as really the only truly likable characters on the show were Al and the unseen next door neighbor.

The Dick Van Dyke Show joins the Hall of Fame. This was one of the earliest sitcoms and was truly a groundbreaking show in its era. Not only did it give us Van Dyke as Rob Petrie but also Mary Tyler Moore as his not always quite perfect wife Laura. The couple sometimes had realistic fights and the Petries actually seemed to come across as a real couple, at least real in terms of  1960s era TV, but mostly it was good, fun escapism at its best.

If anything deserves to be in the TV Hall of Fame the Dick Van Dyke show does. 

Roseanne joins the Hall of Fame. Certainly a groundbreaking show in many ways as it features one of the arguably most realistic everyday working class families ever portrayed in a comedy sitcom. The cast was very good and each played their parts particularly well. This was far from your perfect happy family but the family and the issues/troubles they face were realistic and it was just about time to see less than perfect characters get some TV time for a change.

The Daily Show was put to shame. Never really cared much for it personally to be honest...

Bonanza joins the Hall of Fame. I quite like the show. Likable lead characters and character driven western stories.

Knight Rider, the original cheese classic of the 1980s was actually put to shame. Now I personally don't agree with that given all that show had (David Hasselhoff, a cool looking-fast moving-talking car, some nice looking lady guest stars) to offer and I certainly don't feel it deserves shame as much as the more recent series does. Anyways the BMO Fame-Shame community has spoken.

Cops joins the TV Hall of Shame. One reality TV show in, sure there's many more to come.

I actually liked Cops when it first came out.  I can't think of an earlier reality program; it was original at the time.  It quickly grew old, though.  I certainly didn't like it enough to try to SAVE it. 

Fresh Prince of Bel-Air joins the Hall of Fame. Hey, I thought it was a funny show especially the Carlton character but it took a while for it to get into the Hall of Fame here.

I tried my best to keep the Fresh Prince out, but to no avail.  I thought it was a very average sit com at best, not HOF material by any stretch.  I honestly don't get it's popularity, but that's why we vote.

Whose Line is Anyway? (UK Version) joins the Hall of Fame.

Baywatch joins the Hall of Shame. Aside from watching women bounce and jiggle in bikinis, there was very little of substance to this series. Plus I never liked Pamela Anderson or her politics.

She has politics?   :question: :buggedout: Who would have guessed?

The X-Files, certainly one of the best, most popular and most enduring shows of the 1990s, joins the Hall of Fame while MXC (Most Extreme Elimination Challenge) joins the Hall of Shame. MXC was a re-edit comedy take on a Japanese game show called Takeshi's Castle that aired on SpikeTV. I found it watchable enough for an episode or so but after that, well it was just more of the same old, same old.

Cold Case which ran from 2003 to 2010 joins the TV Hall of Fame. While there are undoubtablely similarities to a previous similar Canadian series entitled Cold Squad which predates Cold Case by five years, I'd argue Cold Case is actually the better show. Cold Case is actually centered around a fictional Philadelphia homicide squad that specializes in cold cases. What makes the show actually appealing to me personally is the story that is unveiled as our lead detectives, practically all of which are fine character actors in their own right, explore this cases given us a wealth of great character performance pieces as the individual stories behind each of these deaths is explained. While there's often a sense of dark and foreboding with many of the stories, especially those involving child murder and serial killers. There's a sense of coldness in many episodes and the color schemes and choice of music often seem to whisk us away to different eras and times depending on the setting involved.

Forensic Files join the TV Hall of Shame. It really isn't such a bad show in its way, a documentary style show that examines how forsenic science is used to solve crimes, mysterious accidents and even illness outbreaks.. it was just up against too stiff competition lately.

The Sopranos was put to Shame as it joins that Hall. It wasn't that I thought it was such a bad show really, just that I liked every other show on the list far more. I know a lot of people were disappointed with the ending of this series.

I was disappointed with the existance of the series in general.

Mythbusters joins the TV Hall of Fame. I think it's the first reality TV series to gain entry into the Hall if I'm not mistaken. The show, which airs on Discovery, featuring two hosts conducting scientific experiments to prove whether things claimed as factual are in fact factual or are in fact nothing but myths. Personally I watched it a time or two but it wasn't really something I'm enticed to revisit but I can see its appeal and why it has proven popular.

Boris Karloff's Thriller series joins the TV Hall of Fame. This anthology series, hosted by Boris Karloff, was from the early 1960s (1960-1962). The show adapted many terrific macabre Horror tales but also some crime stories more in the style of and more akin to  "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour", some of better quality than others. With the crime stories, there were a couple of disturbing ones featuring serial killers. It's mainly the stylistic Gothic and Southern Style Horror stories that fans remember as being amongst the best and most frightening ever aired on Television. I'd say in the case of certain episodes ("Pigeons From Hell", "The Incredible Dr. Markesan", "The Hungry Glass", "The Grim Reaper", "La Strega") this certainly rings true. Stephen King once referred to the series as the greatest of its kind in American TV history his Danse Macabre. The show also had quite a few episodes that could certainly qualify as dark humor. Quality writers such as Robert Bloch, Richard Matheson,  Robert E. Howard and Cornell Woolrich all contributed stories. Actors such as Karloff, William Shatner, Henry Daniel, Torin Thatcher, Richard Kiel, Ursula Andress, Jeanette Nolan, Robert Middleton, Bruce Dern, Mary Astor, Natalie Trundy, Elizabeth Montgomery, Leslie Nielsen, John Carradine, Tom Poston, Edward Andrews and even more quality performers appeared on the series. The show usually featured some thrilling aspect or another leading to our host Karloff proclaiming that "And as sure as my name is Boris Karloff, this is going to be a thriller."

Saturday Night Live joins the TV Hall of Fame. This live TV skit/sketch format and variety show with a different host (usually an actor but not always) and different performing band every week has had a long, long run on TV (35 seasons). It's provided some great entertainment over the years and was likely a major proving and learning ground for many future comedians turned actors/actresses. The show has had a rotating cast of skit players over the years and has featured some talent that went on to have memorable movie and TV careers including Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Jane Curtain, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Billy Crystal, Martin Short, Joan Cusack, Robert Downey Jr., Dana Carvey, Mike Myers, Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz, Dennis Miller and more. Some of the continuing skits would prove so popular as to spawn movie versions, most of which were unsuccessful but a few were hits.

Had a few horrible seasons but definitely Hall of Fame material.  It's the major training ground for upcoming comics, many of whom became legendary (John Belushi, Eddie Murphy, even Will Ferrell...).

I've only seen highlights from the 70s and 80s which looked enjoyable but it was pretty much must watch TV for me in the 1990s. David Spade, Chris Farley and Molly Shannon just a couple of more names worth mentioning...

That's when I watched it.  I was a younger kid, and they had Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Adam Sandler, Farley, Spade, Miller, Norm MacDonald, Jim Breuer, Will Ferrell, etc.

A lot of people go crazy over the 'original' cast.  I like them as much: Murray, Belushi, Dan Aykroyd. 

Even the horrible seasons had tolerable PERFORMERS, despite the efforts of the writing staff.

The Price is Right (1972-Present) joins the Hall of Shame. Now personally I have to admit to quite enjoying this show when it was hosted by Bob Barker. He had a likable, friendly, amiable quality about him that just made the show surprising fun to watch. The games like Plinko and Golf I got a kick out of but that said, I never liked this game show in any version as much as the other TV shows that were on the list with it although it was almost required family viewing growing up as my parents and grandparents loved it. The current version with Drew Carey is sadly unappealing as the show is just not the same at all without Bob Barker.

24 joins the TV Hall of Shame. It had an interesting premise featuring 24 hours in the life of its lead character federal agent Jack Bauer (Keifer Sutherland) each season over 24 episodes. It just never really caught on with me personally and I like it far less than every other show it was on the game list with...

I never liked 24.  I admit it had an interesting concept in a way, where each episode was one hour in a day, one season was one day, etc.  And Kiefer's a decent enough actor, but overall the show didn't appeal to me.  To each their own, though. :wink:

Monk joins the TV Hall of Fame. This mystery-comedy police procedural series starring the talented and likable Tony Shaloub quickly went into the Hall of Fame. Seems to have been a very popular modern era series.

Big fan of Monk.  Liked Shaloub since his days on Wings.  Probably could've gone on one more year, but best to go out sorta on top instead of over staying it's welcome, like some other shows.

And yet, I've never seen it.

 :lookingup:

Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974-1975) joins the TV Hall of Fame. This surprisingly short-lived 1970s series starring Darren McGavin as the irascible Carl Kolchak trying to forever prove monsters exist and are real yet constantly falling just short of proof yet left to deal with said monsters himself, was arguably well ahead of its time. Following two successful television movies The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler, a TV series followed. The series never quite lived up to the movies in terms of overall goodness but definitely had its terrifically frightening and scary moments ("The Zombie", "The Ripper", "The Vampire", "Firefall", "The Devil's Platform", "Bad Medicine", "The Spanish Moss Murders", "Horror in the Heights" do deliver some great scares in particular) along with its fun moments of humor, both dark and light, and sardonic wit. Sadly its ratings at the time were mediocre perhaps because the show stuck a little to much to its monster of the week formula. To fans, McGavin's Kolchak was a likable old curmudgeon even as he annoyed the hell out of most other characters in the show except for Miss Emily who always had a soft spot for him. You couldn't help but admire Kolchak's determination and his strong will given the courage to take on many of the harsh and terrifying tasks he finds himself forced to perform in the series.

War of the Worlds (1988-1990) joins the TV Hall of Shame. This series lasted two seasons, with the second being so different from the first one could mistake it for another series entirely. In fact, it was given the name change "War of the World: The Second Invasion" in Season Two. Despite high season one ratings, the show's creative force was changed to Frank Mancuso Jr. who was busy with the also quite popular "Friday the 13th: The Series".

The show continues on from where the 1953 film ended and often incorporates footage from the film, the classic radio play and elements of the original novel into its continuing storyline. According to the series, the Martians weren't wiped out at the end of the film. In fact, they were simply placed into a state of suspended animation and the bodies were placed in toxic waste disposal drums stored at various disposal sites in the United States. It's all part of a nationwide cover-up combined with selective amnesia to convince people the invasion never actually took place at all. 35 years later in 1988, a group of terrorists calling itself the People's Liberation Party accidentally irradiates the toxic waste drums containing the aliens at dumpsite Fort Jericho. The radiation destroys the bacteria keeping the aliens unconscious and the aliens assume the terrorists' bodies to carry on their plans on Earth in secret hoping to used crude Earth technology and human bodies as hosts while they find a way to ward off the threat of bacteria and find a means of conquering the planet before the expected arrival of their brethren from the planet Mor-Tax in five years. The government meanwhile forms a small group to oppose the alien threat. In the second season however the changes are as big and as affecting as Alien 3 likely was to fans of Aliens. The alien threat is suddenly changed to the Mothren. Actually almost every element of the popular first season was changed in Season Two which comes across more like a clinical nightmare brought to vivid life. The show was pretty confusing overall but I have to admit to enjoying it nevertheless and in fact, I rather preferred the dark edge of the less popular Season Two believe it or not.

I'd never even heard of it.  :question:

Well it was filmed in Canada and got a lot of airplay on Canadian networks over the years. I thought it was played on the Sci-Fi Channel in the U.S. to at one point. I recall when it was new back when I was a teenager and I used to look forward to seeing it every week. Sure it was bad but I enjoyed both it and Friday the 13th: the Series. A few years later it ran in reruns on Friday nights and I'd watch a block of sci-fi horror programming that included the X-Files, the new Outer Limits, Forever Knight, Friday the 13th and War of the Worlds - I recall it all coming on one show after the other friday nights in the early 90s on my local network.