Originally posted by Dagent913 And am I the only one on the planet who didn't hate Pearl-era MST3K? I don't understand why everyone hates her so much.
I hated her because she wasn't all that funny. Pearl-era host segments are damn excruciating in their unfunniness and I've seen KTMA episodes, for God's sake.
The Pearl-era MST3K's stick out because the show was just getting *tired*--the writing got less and less witty, the host segments were generally pointless (and why were all the host segments photographed in near total darkness?), and it looked for all the world like people trying to keep a train going long after it ran outta steam.
Precisely. It wasn't that the performers were inherently bad or didn't grasp the concept -- Pearl (Mary Jo Pehl) had been on the writing team for years, Kevin Murphy (Bobo) was there from the beginning (mostly as the voice of Servo), and Mike Nelson had been head writer from day one. The actual one-liners during the movies were still funny. But the new premise and related skits just... weren't... entertaining.
You know when there's a wrestler that's talented and typically enjoyable to watch, but the writing team drops him into one dopey storyline after another until you start changing the channel whenever he comes on? A similar principle applies here.
"You may be wondering why I have been making so many references lately to Fox News. The reason is that it is now my cable news network of choice -- because if I’m going to watch the news and be lied to, I want it to be ridiculously obvious that I am being lied to." -- Center for an Informed America, Newsletter #34
1. Kids in the Hall 2. Mighty Orbots 3. Police Squad 4. THE AGENCY, DAMMIT!!!! 5. Briscoe County Jr. 6. Almost Live - ("She's the worst girlfriend in the world!" and "I'm the 5th dentist that doesn't recommend sugarless gum!") 7. The State - I got into this right at the end. Damn. 8. The Tick - Animated series 9. Duckman 10. The Critic
Runners-up: Monday Nitro, Night Stand, Night Court, Due South, and many others I'm sure I'll remember as I think about it more.
And man, talk about a time warp of shows. I remember so many of the shows mentioned here, but I had forgotten about them over time.
(edited by whatever on 19.6.03 1545) I drove the Hummer. Sorry 'bout that.
Almost Live! Good times. I always liked those sketches where they'd pop something up on the screen like "A movie where the main character wakes up at the end and realizes it was all a dream," then they'd cut to the five guys in black and white screaming "LAAAAAAAAAAAAAME!!!!!!!!!!!"
Fun stuff.
I know what you're thinking--hey, that guy stole my shoes!
10)Night Court 9)Invader Zim 8)American Gothic 7)Clone High 6)The Pitts 5)Futurama 4)The Twilight Zone (new) 3)Family Guy 2)MST3K 1)Married With Children
1. MST3k 2. Titus 3. Family Guy 4. Futurama 5. Newsradio 6. Married with Children 7. The Critic 8. Clerks 9. Sports Night 10. ....oh I'm gonna get killed for this one.....
Sliders.
"People use freedom of speech to make up for freedom of thought, which they lack." - Kierkegaard
Originally posted by BoromirMark10. ....oh I'm gonna get killed for this one.....
Sliders.
I can't beleive I forgot Sliders. Sliders fucking rocked when it was still on FOX, before it got really weird with Jerry's borther, and losing the professor, etc. The episode where they slid home only to think they weren't home(OJ a murderer, Raiders in Oakland, etc). God that show ROCKED>!!
"I'm going to fill a dark awful basement with radioactive cockroaches. Yep. Big nasty ones like skateboards on legs, that go click-click-click when they walk. And maybe poisonous. I'm going to starve them for a week.
Then I'm going to catch all the coercive priss-spigots in the world, the ones that want to ban second-hand smoke and dwarf-tossing and beer. I'll smear the rascals with bacon fat, so the roaches won't know what they're eating, as otherwise they might not.
Then I'm going to toss all those greased busybodies into the basement. And whoop. And dance. Ha." - Fred Reed
Sliders was definitely awesome, though for me the Professor carried half of the show, with Sabrina Lloyd (yowow) carrying a fourth and the other two carrying equal parts, though Jerry O'Connol wasn't nearly as funny as the other one and man I'm shooting myself for being unable to remember his name. But one of the best episodes is where the Professor decides to go to a bar and he picks up this biker's chick and they nearly fight, while the last guy, and ARGH I wish I remembered his name, ran into some stalker fan of his only to be run off by the stalker's obsessive boyfriend. Good stuff. :D
"People use freedom of speech to make up for freedom of thought, which they lack." - Kierkegaard
Originally posted by SchippeWreckDamn! "Almost Live"!
I had forgotten about the sheer genius of "Speedwalker" and "High Fivin' White Guys".
Plus it gave birth to the career of Bill Nye.
"Hey, can I be a high-fiving white guy too???"
I am laughing just thinking about that show. I loved the dubbed over parody of the kung fu movies, with the guy doing a flying kick, and rounding corners in the air with his foot out chasing the guy with his kick. Hilarious.
"You know Monsoon, I am impressed, and I don't impress easy" -Jesse "The Body" Ventura
Much thanks to DJ Ran for mentioning one of my favorite shows, the all-too-often maligned Charles In Charge. Shame that Nick At Nite only shows part of the run, ignoring a couple of seasons' worth including the first, which was the best.
All the love for Sports Night and Sliders reminds me that Sabrina Lloyd~~!! could suffer old-school Kane burns and still be hotter than half the women on the Maxim list.
Sports Night, Beat The Geeks, and Police Squad! (in color) have all rightly been mentioned multiple times as shows that should have had much longer runs. But my all-time-favorite lost show is...
...Shannon's Deal
This was a show created by filmmaker John Sayles (Eight Men Out, Matewan, Lone Star). Basically it was about a Boston lawyer who had once been very successful, but lost his money, his job, and his wife due to a gambling habit. He was now starting over in a low-rent private practice, with a secretary who only started work because she couldn't afford to pay him, a sweet daughter, and a mob enforcer who came around periodically to make sure Shannon was paying his debts. A great lawyer show that never actually got into a working courtroom.
I'd love to see those shows again. It only lasted one season, during which its timeslot was changed approxiamately 5 trillion times.
This could be one of the greatest threads ever, simply because the mention of Night Stand with Dick Dietrich. I totally forgot about that show, it was fabulous.
I also have to mention the "Super Dave Osborne show". I was flipping through the channels and I saw him on Kimmels' show (he ain't looking too good) but he still had the sense of humor of his that I liked. He was also a regular on Politically Incorrect when I saw it on ABC. I'm getting off on a tangent there, but yeah I have to add Super Dave Osborne show to the pile.
Another one that wasn't mentioned that I enjoyed "The Dana Carvey show" in the mid 90s. I knew it wasn't going to last long, it was just way too over the top for ABC, hell any network primetime TV. The entire show looked like a personal project for Carvey to see how long he can last until they fired him... Answer: 7 episodes
Did anyone watch "The Rurun Show". It came out last year, I wouldn't necessarily call it great. But it was very original and I thought had some potential but NBC cut it off because it got some bad reviews (and ratings). It was a sketch show the recreated old sitcoms with a twist. It was pretty unique and even though it could have been a lot better I liked the concept.
Some that have been mentioned that I forgot and need to give props too. Get a Life and Parker Lewis Can't Lose are two FOX shows from the early 90s that I liked a lot.
cause there's limits to our liberties. 'Least I hope and pray that there are, cause those liberal freaks go too far.
I'll crush all opposition to me And I'll make Ted Kennedy pay If he fights back, I'll say that he's gay
Much thanks to DJ Ran for mentioning one of my favorite shows, the all-too-often maligned Charles In Charge. Shame that Nick At Nite only shows part of the run, ignoring a couple of seasons' worth including the first, which was the best.
Peter The Hegemon, I can't let you do this to yourself. The Pembrokes were TERRIBLE. I'm sorry, I just can't let that go. The one nerdy son was ok, though.
But how bad are things for the actors that played the Pembrokes when you're sitting down at a show meeting, on a program that stars Scott Baio, and you're told that YOU are the problem instead of HIM? Suicide is the only answer, of course.
CIC does stand the test of time though, even if only because you get to watch Bibleman get into all those crazy situations while he's just trying to get laid.
The Rerun Show had potential as a concept, but the execution was horrible.
Parker Lewis sunk in a little too deep with me, as I started making my own sound effects in 5th grade anytime I made a quick or sudden movement. Needless to say, I've been shunned in life since that moment.
Cactuspete had a few good ones. The Mole is a great show, as long as you keep "celebrities" off of it.
Dream On was ok, but when I saw an episode with Body By Jake fucking some girl, I knew it was time to run. Does anybody else remember when Fox started showing old episodes with all of the swearing (and everything else) cut out? THey also made the stupidest move in history by adding (I shit you not) a 2-person laugh track (1 man, 1 woman) who would do "polite" laughs after various lines in the show. It was fucking terrible.
Dream On reminded me of Tales From The Crypt, which I think is still running on Sci-Fi or in syndication, but is edited just as badly as Dream On when it left HBO... which did a similar, more science fiction based show later called Perversions Of Science which was really, really bad.
At least HBO seemed exciting and funny back then. I've given up on The Sopranos (after 2 seasons) and Six Feet Under (after 2 episodes) so maybe it's just me. Eh.
On a random note, that upcoming Dead Like Me on Showtime looks pretty good.
I've looked through the list pretty carefully, and I didn't see my top show (other than WCW) anywhere.
Babylon 5: Crusade
I watched the 13 episodes of that a couple times, and it looked to have just as much potential as the original did. But, after reading the reason as to why it was cancelled, I'm damned glad JMS didn't sell out and turn it into a show like, say, Enterprise.
One of my co-workers is seriously spooked out by that commercial. The old guy just freaks him out. Soooooo of course I took the ad from an Sports Illustrated, xeroxed it off, and papered his office space with it. ;)