The following is a list of situation comedy (sitcom) series that have been ranked among some of the worst series in television history. With the possible exception of reality television, the sitcom genre constitutes the largest category of poorly received television shows, with a long list of critically unsuccessful productions.
0–9
- 1600 Penn (2012, NBC) – About a dysfunctional family living in the White House. Canceled after one season. Named among the worst shows of the 2012–13 season by multiple publications. The A.V. Club wrote: "at least those shows were funny. 1600 Penn is not."
A
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AfterMASH (1983–1984, CBS) – Spin-off of MASH*. Finished 10th in its first season but ratings plummeted in season two. TV Guide (2002) listed it as the seventh-worst TV series ever.
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All That Glitters (1977, syndicated) – Norman Lear role-reversal sitcom. Time called it "embarrassingly amateurish." Canceled after 13 weeks.
B
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Babes in the Wood (1998–1999, ITV) – Digital Spy named it one of the five worst UK sitcoms.
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Baby Bob (2002, CBS) – Based on a talking baby from commercials. TV Guide ranked it #14 on its "50 Worst TV Shows of All Time" list.
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Baby Talk (1991–1992, ABC) – Another talking-baby sitcom. The Electronic Media Critics' Poll voted it the worst series on television in 1991.
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Baddiel's Syndrome (2001, Sky) – Widely panned; ran 13 episodes and was not renewed.
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Big Top (2009, BBC) – Named the worst new sitcom of 2009 by the British Comedy Guide. Daily Mirror described it as "mind-blowingly awful."
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Bottle Boys (ITV) – Radio Times Guide to Comedy picked it as the "worst ever" British sitcom. The Daily Telegraph ranked it #1 in its list of the 10 worst British sitcoms.
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The Brighton Belles (1993, ITV) – British adaptation of The Golden Girls. Lasted only six episodes.
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Buddies (1996, ABC) – Starred Dave Chappelle. Canceled after five episodes. Chappelle later said: "It was a bad show."
C
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Cavemen (2007, ABC) – Adapted from GEICO commercials. "Critically savaged" per media reports. Chicago Tribune listed it among the 25 worst TV shows ever.
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Co-Ed Fever (1979, CBS) – Canceled after one episode. Ranked #32 on TV Guide's "50 Worst Shows of All Time."
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Come Back Mrs. Noah (1977–1978, BBC) – The Telegraph ranked it #2 in its list of the ten worst British sitcoms.
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Coming of Age (BBC Three) – The Scotsman wrote: "Coming of Age may be the worst BBC sitcom yet."
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Coupling (US) (2003, NBC) – American adaptation of the British sitcom. Pulled from the schedule within two months. Ranked #7 on Entertainment Weekly's "TV's 50 Biggest Bombs and Blunders."
D
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Dads (2013, Fox) – Received a score of 15 out of 100 on Metacritic and 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. Canceled after one season.
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Don't Call Me Charlie! (1962, NBC) – Pulled from air partway through its lone season with eight episodes left unaired.
E
- Emily's Reasons Why Not (2006, ABC) – Pulled after the first episode. Production stopped after six episodes.
F
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Ferris Bueller (1990, NBC) – Based on the 1986 film. Received mostly negative reviews.
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Fred: The Show (2012, Nickelodeon) – Universally panned. As of 2025, one of the lowest-rated entries on IMDb with a 2.2 user score.
H
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Hank (2009, ABC) – Scored 36/100 on Metacritic. Canceled after five episodes.
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Hardwicke House (1987, ITV) – Canceled after only two episodes aired. The Daily Telegraph ranked it #9 on its list of the ten worst British sitcoms.
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The Hathaways (1961–1962) – Called "possibly the worst series ever to air on network TV" by television critics Castleman and Podrazik.
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Heil Honey I'm Home! (1990, UK) – Canceled after a single episode. Described as "perhaps the world's most tasteless situation comedy."
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Hello, Larry (NBC) – Ranked #12 on TV Guide's "50 Worst Shows of All Time" (2002).
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Homeboys in Outer Space (UPN) – Included on TV Guide's "50 Worst TV Shows of All Time."
J
- Joanie Loves Chachi (1982–1983, ABC) – Spin-off of Happy Days. Ranked #17 on TV Guide's "Biggest TV Blunders."
K
- Kath & Kim (US) (2008) – American remake of the Australian series. San Francisco Chronicle called it "a contender for worst remake ever."
M
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Mad About Alice (2004, BBC) – Lasted only one series. Digital Spy named it one of the five worst UK sitcoms.
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Marvin Marvin (2012, Nickelodeon) – Canceled after 19 episodes due to low viewership.
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Melody Rules (TV3, New Zealand) – Frequently labeled "cringeworthy" and "atrocious." Radio New Zealand produced an eight-episode podcast titled The Worst Sitcom Ever Made about the series.
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Mrs. Brown's Boys (BBC/RTÉ) – Despite high ratings and multiple awards, received almost entirely negative reviews from critics. Dubbed "The Worst Comedy Ever Made" by some outlets.
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Mulaney (2014, Fox) – 17% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. Entertainment Weekly labeled it the 4th worst show of 2014.
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My Mother the Car (1965–1966, NBC) – TV Guide (2002) proclaimed it the second-worst show of all time.
N
- New Monkees (1987) – Pulled from air after 13 weeks.
O
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Odd Man Out (1977, ITV) – The Daily Telegraph named it the third worst British sitcom ever.
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'Orrible (2001, BBC) – Starred Johnny Vaughan. Vaughan later said: "Ultimately, it was shit."
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Out of This World (syndicated) – Described by Television Without Pity as "quite possibly the worst sitcom ever made."
P
- The Paul Reiser Show (2011, NBC) – Canceled after two episodes. Had the lowest-rated in-season premiere for a comedy series in NBC's history.
R
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Real Rob (2015, Netflix) – 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 8 critic reviews.
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Rob (2012, CBS) – The Daily Beast described it as "TV's worst new show."
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The Ropers (1979–1980, ABC) – Spin-off of Three's Company. Ranked #2 on Time magazine's "Top 10 Worst TV Spin-Offs."
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The Royal Bodyguard (2011, BBC) – Heavily criticized by fans and critics alike.
S
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Saved by the Bell: The New Class (1993–2000, NBC) – Universally panned by critics and fans of the original series.
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She's the Sheriff (1987–1989, syndicated) – Ranked #44 on TV Guide's "50 Worst TV Shows of All Time."
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Small Wonder (1985–1989, syndicated) – Widely considered one of the worst low-budget sitcoms of all time.
T
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The Tammy Grimes Show (1966, ABC) – Ran for only four episodes.
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The Trouble with Larry (1993, CBS) – Canceled before the official TV season began.
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The Trouble with Tracy (1970, Canadian) – 130 episodes produced with extremely limited budget. Often considered one of the worst of all time.
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Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps (2001–2011, BBC) – Despite running for ten years and 80 episodes, always received strongly negative critical response.
W
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We Are Men (2013, CBS) – 4% on Rotten Tomatoes. Canceled after two episodes.
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Work It (2012, ABC) – Received a Metacritic rating of 19. Canceled after two episodes. IGN gave the pilot 0/10, its first zero rating since 2005.
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The Wright Way (2013, BBC) – Daily Mirror called it "the worst sitcom ever."
Y
- Yus, My Dear – Reputed as one of the worst ever sitcoms. The Guardian named it one of the worst ITV programmes ever made.
International Adaptations
Several foreign-language adaptations of American and British sitcoms have also been critically panned, including:
- Hilfe, meine Familie spinnt (German adaptation of Married... with Children)
- Ein Job fürs Leben (German adaptation of Who's the Boss?)
- Das iTeam – Die Jungs an der Maus (German adaptation of The IT Crowd)
- Теоретики (The Theorists) (Belarusian unlicensed copy of The Big Bang Theory)
- Tanken – mehr als Super (German adaptation of the Icelandic Næturvaktin)
References
The information above is drawn from the Wikipedia article "List of sitcoms notable for negative reception," which cites over 240 sources including reviews from The New York Times, The Guardian, Variety, Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, The A.V. Club, The Daily Telegraph, and other major publications.
