Watching TV shows requires a certain level of commitment. For many viewers, starting a series means that they have to stick with it till the end, no matter how rough it gets. But in all honesty, not every show deserves that kind of loyalty.
From lazy writing to over-the-top performances and questionable plots, some shows earn a spot in pop culture history because of how bad they are. To spare you from the torture, though, here are the top 10 most unwatchable shows of all time.
10
‘CSI: Miami’ (2002-2012)
Emily Procter as Calleigh Duquesne Interviewing a suspect in CSI: MiamiImage via CBS Studios
CSI: Miami was meant to be the flashy new counterpart to CBS’s hit series, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. The spinoff took the formula of the procedural drama, which takes place in Las Vegas, and applies it to the backdrop of South Florida. CSI: Miami starred David Caruso as Lieutenant Horatio Caine, with Emily Procter, Adam Rodriguez, and Khandi Alexander among others in prominent roles. In theory, the show really had everything going for it. The CSI brand was already successful, and Florida’s neon lights, glass condos, and gorgeous coastline definitely made for a visual treat. That was exactly the problem, though, because it felt like the creators thought that would be enough. The spinoff was full of flat, one-dimensional characters, and the horrible acting combined with the bland dialogue made everything ten times worse.
Caruso’s character has actually gone down in history for his never-ending one-liners, and not in a good way. The actor took Caine’s smugness to a level where the entire show felt like a parody of the CSI franchise. Not to mention that it completely let go of everything that made the original show so genuinely compelling. The storylines in CSI: Miami often started off strong, but wandered off into dangerously clichéd territory with abrupt resolution and outlandish twists. The pacing completely missed the mark, and that automatically brought the stakes down to a point where it was difficult to sit through an entire episode. Despite that, though, the show was a hit with the audiences in the mainstream and managed to span 10 seasons. However, longevity and popularity don’t always equal quality.
9
‘Cop Rock’ (1990)
The cast of Cop Rock stand outside a building on steps and look at the camera.Image via ABC
Cop Rock is best defined as a Disney-esque take on the police procedural genre, because the idea of combining something so gritty with Broadway-style song and dance doesn’t feel like something an adult would want to watch. The short-lived ABC series, created by Steven Bochco and William M. Finkelstein, followed the Los Angeles Police Department as they tackled murder cases, drug busts, and other big crimes, only to break out in musical numbers in between all of that. The cast featured Anne Bobby, Ronny Cox, and James McDaniel, but they couldn’t even salvage the absolute mess that Cop Rock was.
You have to wonder who thought that a bunch of cops belting out ballads about justice and harmony was a good idea. However, the most bizarre part of the show was when the bad guys stopped mid-crime and started singing about it all. There’s no denying that some of the songs in the show were catchy, but it was extremely hard to get invested in the story, given the tonal clash of the overall narrative and the music. Even if one treats the show as a musical first, the acting is way too hammy, and the pacing is just too abrupt. All in all, Cop Rock was a disastrous concept that just didn’t work. It’s no surprise that the show was pulled after just 11 episodes.
8
‘My Mother the Car’ (1965-1966)
Dave standing in front of a red car holding flowers next to it in My Mother the Car.Image via NBC
My Mother the Car is one of the strangest sitcoms to have ever premiered on NBC. The show follows attorney Dave Crabtree (Jerry Van Dyke), who discovers that his deceased mother has been reincarnated as a 1928 Porter touring car. As if that premise wasn’t whacky enough, the show decided to bring in Captain Manzini (Avery Schreiber), an unintentionally cartoonish villain who wants to steal the car. Now, one might say that the show was meant to be ridiculous and satirical. However, it felt more like a gimmick sitcom than anything else.
You have to remember that the TV in the ‘60s was already oversaturated with talking animals, witches, Martians, and genies. However, where those shows really leaned into their surreal stories with clever writing and memorable characters, My Mother the Car felt like it was trying to stretch out the same joke over 30 episodes. By the final episode, it felt like the show barely had any plot left to work with. Overall, My Mother the Car really suffered from the lack of good writing and fleshed-out character arcs, which could have elevated the story beyond its initial absurdity, which definitely helped grab eyeballs in the beginning.
7
‘Batwoman’ (2019-2022)
Ruby Rose as Kate Kane aka Batwoman in CW’s BatwomanImage via The CW
Batwoman really had the potential to be a major success for The CW. The show was part of the network’s Arrowverse, and promised to bring a new kind of diversity to the world of superheroes. Ruby Rose starred as Kate Kane, Bruce Wayne’s cousin, who steps in to protect Gotham after Batman disappears. The premise was engaging right off the bat, but the show struggled to retain momentum and started leaning more toward melodrama than a superhero series. Instead of diving deeper into Gotham’s criminal underbelly, Batwoman was all about repetitive family drama and focused more on Kate’s complicated relationship with her twin sister Alice (Rachel Skarsten).
Not to mention all the time the show spent on Kate’s romantic entanglements, which were great for character development, but often came at the expense of eating into the actual story that people were tuning in for. The worst point of the show came when Rose suddenly exited the show after the first season. The writers then decided not to recast Kate Kane and introduced Ryan Wilder (Javicia Leslie), a brand-new character who just became the new Batwoman. There’s no denying that Leslie delivered an incredible performance, but the way Kate’s ongoing storylines were just abandoned felt a little too abrupt. Safe to say the show could never really find its footing after that, and is now remembered as one of the Arrowverse’s biggest missed opportunities.
6
‘That ‘80s Show’ (2002)
That ’80s Show Cast Image via FOX
After the massive success of That ‘70s Show, Fox decided it would be a good idea to replicate the format and create a show set in the ‘80s. That ‘80s Show came from many of the same writers and producers of the original show, but it was never meant to be a direct spin-off. The series started fresh with brand-new characters against the backdrop of San Diego in 1984. The show followed struggling musician Corey (Glenn Howerton), along with his friends and family, in the Reagan era.
The premise was actually interesting and held a lot of potential. However, the cast of That ‘80s Show just didn’t share the same effortless chemistry as the That ’70s Show ensemble did. The writing can be held responsible for the show’s failure since the jokes leaned almost entirely on ’80s references, to the point where it felt like the show was just trying to make fun of the decade that it was set in, rather than actually focusing on the characters. The whole thing was a clichéd mess, and Fox actually canceled the series after only 13 episodes since it completely failed to find an audience.
5
‘Walker, Texas Ranger’ (1993-2001)
Chuck Norris as Cordell Walker stands beside a building on ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’Image via CBS
Walker, Texas Ranger, starred the iconic Chuck Norris as Cordell Walker, a Texas Ranger who did not play by the rules. The show was almost completely episodic, where Walker and his partner, James “Jimmy” Trivette (Clarence Gilyard), would face off against a new villain every week. At the same time, though, the show also had larger character and plot arcs that would unfold over the course of entire seasons. In theory, Walker, Texas Ranger was supposed to be a show that portrayed Western values and old-fashioned morality. The show did run for nine seasons, so it definitely found its audience, but that doesn’t mean it was good, too.
The biggest problem with Walker, Texas Ranger was how formulaic everything felt. Every episode followed the same structure, with one-dimensional villains committing crimes and Walker saving the day. That’s not even the worst part, though, because the show also reduced Texans to borderline-offensive stereotypes who wore cowboy hats round the clock and spent their days at the rodeo. Not to mention the characters were either impossibly good or cartoonishly evil, with no grey areas at all. This lack of real conflict, along with the show’s bland dialogue, makes it absolutely unwatchable after the first couple of episodes.
4
‘Cavemen’ (2007)
Two cavemen in tennis apparel sit at a bar in CavemenImage via ABC
In 2007, ABC executives thought it would be a good idea to turn a 30-second GEICO commercial into a full-blown sitcom, and that’s how Cavemen was born. The show was built around the popular GEICO Cavemen ad campaign and followed three caveman roommates, Joel (Bill English), Andy (Sam Huntington), and Nick (Nick Kroll), as they tried to navigate modern life. The idea of cavemen trying to coexist with non-cavemen, also known as Smoothies, was a pretty fun concept. This way, Cavemen meant to poke fun at the idea of prejudice and address the marginalization of minorities.
Sadly, though, the show was lazy in its execution, and that cheapened the whole idea. The cavemen themselves were nothing more than punchlines and went through absolutely no kind of evolution or development. This meant that every episode followed a similar pattern of the cavemen being discriminated against and then complaining about it. If you think about it, nothing actually ever happens in terms of the plot, and its half-baked social commentary just wasn’t enough to keep anyone engaged.
3
‘Heil Honey I’m Home!’ (1990)
Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun in their living room in ‘Heil Honey I’m Home!’Image via BSB
Whoever greenlit this show must have been out of their mind, because why would anyone want to watch a sitcom about Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun of all people? Not to mention the fictionalized historical figures lived right next door to a Jewish couple, the Goldsteins, and that served as the primary conflict of the show. The British show looked and functioned like a classic American family sitcom, but making Hitler the star of it all was plain tasteless.
Heil Honey I’m Home was full of uncomfortable gags that never landed or provided the kind of satire the show hoped to deliver. It constantly felt like the show was trivializing the Holocaust, rather than addressing it with some sense of tact. The way Hitler treated his Jewish neighbours was extremely hard to stomach, and no amount of laughter tracks could ever change that. Overall, the show was just mean-spirited and unfunny. Thankfully, the much-deserved outrage against Heil Honey I’m Home led to its cancellation after just one episode.
2
‘The Idol’ (2023)
The Idol finaleImage via HBO
Sam Levinson doesn’t receive nearly as much criticism as he should for oversexualizing stories that actually have the potential to be meaningful. HBO’s The Idol was supposed to be a show that explored the ups and downs of fame through the career of Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp), a troubled pop star attempting to get back into the limelight after a public breakdown, and her toxic relationship with Tedros (Abel Tesfaye), a sleazy nightclub owner and cult leader. The Idol could have been an excellent representation of the predatory side of the music industry, but it was reduced to what one can only describe as a hot mess. The show was filled with nudity and endless sex scenes, while focusing way more on Tedros’s storyline than on diving deeper into Jocelyn’s inner and outer turmoil.
What’s really sad is that Depp still managed to deliver a great performance, even with the show’s shallow and offensive exploration of her character. However, Tesfaye completely dropped the ball with his wooden acting that only got progressively worse. The show only has five episodes, but by the second one, it started to feel like the writers had run out of ideas. Instead of any actual tension, the story relies on shock value and softcore porn for ratings. As great as The Idol was in terms of music and visuals, it was so one-dimensional that getting through an episode felt like a task and a half. Thankfully, HBO had the good sense to cancel it a month after Season 1 came to an end.
1
‘Riverdale’ (2017-2023)
Camila Mendes’ Veronica and Lili Reinhart’s Betty smiling together on Riverdale Image via The CW
Riverdale is definitely going down in history as one of the weirdest shows to have ever existed. The Archie Comics deserved a way better adaptation than what The CW ended up producing, because after the first season, the show kept taking turns that no one was ready for. Riverdale started as a dark take on the iconic comics with a murder mystery at the center of the story. Season 1 was actually enjoyable and believable enough for the audience to want more. However, things started going downhill from there, and the show started incorporating every teen drama trope the writers could think of.
From serial killers to cults, musical numbers, alternate dimensions, and time travel, Riverdale just completely spun out of control. It almost felt like the creators were trying to outdo the last absurd storyline because it’s hard to imagine that anyone would come up with the idea of Archie (KJ Apa) fighting a bear, or Edgar Evernever (Chad Michael Murray) leading an organ-harvesting cult. To make everything worse, though, the show ended with all the characters being transported to the 1950s and losing their memories of everything that took place in the past seasons. The final nail in the coffin was the revelation that Archie, Betty (Lili Reinhart), Jughead (Cole Sprouse), and Veronica (Camila Mendes) were in a polygamous relationship with each other in this new timeline. It’s safe to say that Riverdale is a great example of everything a teen show can be, but really shouldn’t.