In the world of television, there have always been shows that somehow gather cult followings and massive ratings that leave many scratching their heads. Some of these classic television sitcoms are seen as the best shows of all time but for those who do not enjoy them, their constant praise can be truly confusing.
Watching Friends without a laugh track is the simplest exercise in seeing just how bad a successful TV show can be. Over the last 5 years several shows have come and gone truly achieved mainstream success despite them feeling rather niche and not appealing to everyone. Some of the shows on this list started out making incredible TV then burned out as the years went on. While others were off base from the beginning.
The Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory was really good at several things. One of them was cashing in on people who wanted to ride the popularity wave that being nerdy has recently enjoyed. Nerd culture had just moved into the mainstream when the show first appeared and the show was brilliant at exploiting that rise in popularity. However, many episodes just felt like the writers were compiling a list of fandoms to reference.
Sheldon’s jokes were simple at best, childish at worst. Penny was painfully dulled down from the start. The majority of the audience felt they were getting an inside look into what nerdom is all about but in reality, the show just made fun of the very people it claimed to celebrate. After a while the formulaic writing and predictable character responses simply become boring. The characters weren’t given real depth or room to grow beyond the narrow boxes they were painted into.
The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Tina Fey is a comedic genius, no one can deny that. That’s part of what makes The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt so confusing. How could someone so sophisticated and funny create something so flat and bland? From the very beginning, the show makes some pretty uncomfortable decisions. Kimmy’s roommate is a walking outdated stereotype who seems to exist solely to screw up and make Kimmy look great by comparison.
Titus is selfish, irresponsible and somehow less prepared to handle life in New York City than a farm girl who’s been kept in a bomb shelter. Using non-white characters as props doesn’t end there. Kimmy’s wealthy boss Jacqueline was born to Native American parents in South Dakota. She runs from her culture to become what she admires most: white. Over the course of the show, Jacqueline slowly morphs into a painful stereotype just like her parents. The show really misses some golden opportunities by taking some jokes too far while not taking others far enough.
Community
Community making its way onto this list is a television tragedy. The show started out as a witty and self-deprecating powerhouse. Donald Glover knocked it out of the park both behind and in front of the camera. The show’s star-studded cast added to the magic of the first three seasons but would ultimately be its downfall.
Working with some of the biggest personalities in Hollywood isn’t always a cake walk. Behind the scenes tensions were rising and the show suffered for it. Chevy Chase has long been known as a prickly comedian who can be difficult to work with. His massive personality had a lot to do with the downfall of this once great series.
Two And A Half Men
Two And A Half Men exists in some kind of strange ratings sanctuary. Somehow the show remained popular and successful for many seasons despite most people finding it distasteful. 12 seasons is an incredible run for a show that really only appealed to the adolescent male fantasy. Critics decried the show as sexist and homophobic, which was an easy observation to make.
Millions of viewers tuned in every week to watch this parade of problematic and tired jokes. It wasn’t just the crude humor that critics of the show disliked. It was also overly simple and lacked any character development. Everyone on the show had stagnated and they seemed fine with it.
Family Guy
Family Guy started out strong but like many long-running shows, it simply jumped the shark. Seth McFarland is an incredible writer and comedic magician. Everything he touches seems to turn to gold, except for Family Guy. What began as a refreshing and edgy addition to the world of mature animation soon became a tired and repetitive bore.
The show is the television equivalent of a party guest retelling the same joke over and over until it either lands or someone calls security. Call back humor is a staple of many good comedies, Family Guy included. The call backs on the show have become it’s primary content which is a sure sign it’s time to put it to bed.
New Girl
New Girl was the show that proved you can only rely on a gimmick for so long. When the show first began, quirky and “adorkable” humour and characters were all the rage and the show was able to squeeze seven entire seasons out of Deschanel’s character simply reacting to the things and people that revolved around her. The other characters matured and grew around her, while she stayed a childish and stereotypical bore of a character.
Many fans feel as though the best episodes of the show were the ones where Deschanel was absent from the show in order to have adequate time off to have her child.
Orange Is The New Black
Orange Is The New Black feels like it was designed to give white, middle class audiences a view into prison life from a safe distance and with plenty of filters. There is one area in which the show has done a fantastic job and that’s representation.
The cast is a diverse group of women who represent marginalized groups. Some have criticized its representation of men as it took every male character and turned them into a problematic stereotype. As popular as the series is with fans it began to feel edgy for the sake of edginess.
Last Man Standing
This show feels a lot like someone swapped out all of the power tools from Home Improvement for sporting goods then recast Mark, Randy and Brad as women. It’s a show about an ignorant man who tries to force his outdated views on the rest of his family while grunting a lot.
It’s not funny, it promotes some problematic viewpoints, and it’s a poor example of how a father should treat his children.
2 Broke Girls
One of the most vexing things about modern television is the fact that 2 Broke Girls was able to squeeze more than one season out of offensive, unfunny, and outright racist humour.
The show relies entirely on truly racist stereotypes, jokes that make light of serious topics such as trauma, abuse, self-harm, and sexual assault, and middle-school level jokes about sexual intimacy and self-love. Before the title sequence even plays in the pilot episode, a side-character performs loud and awkward intercourse just off-screen and an odd joke is made about the climax of said event. Being edgy for the sake of being edgy made the show feel simply awkward and uncomfortable.
Rick And Morty
One of the biggest problems with Rick And Morty is that the audience has missed the point of the show entirely. They have taken the baton of toxic nerd fandom and run with it. Rick was originally intended to be a disgusting vivisection of all that is wrong with toxic masculinity but instead, some members of the fandom have revered his actions.
That’s not where the problems end. The show tried to shine a light on child abuse, family dysfunction, and the dangers of ignoring your own mental health. Instead, it ends up glorifying wallowing in misery to an audience that hero-worships the bad guy. To viewers who see the intentions of the creators, this show is bold and edgy if not a little formulaic. To those who miss the mark, it’s enabling in a dangerous way.
