The 50 worst TV shows in modern history, according to critics

John Lynch Oct. 1, 2018, 11:06 AM

Part 1 – First 12

cavemen
ABC’s “Cavemen.” ABC
Many of the worst television shows originate from some highly questionable concepts that make you wonder how they ever got approved.

ABC’s “Cavemen” series in 2007, for instance, was based on characters from a short-lived Geico commercial. And Fox’s 2014 reality show “I Wanna Marry Harry” saw 12 women compete for the chance to marry a Prince Harry look-alike who they thought was the real Prince of Wales.

Both shows were critical disasters, and each lasted only one season — as many of the worst reality shows, dramas, and sitcoms have.

To find out which programs critics have hated the most, we turned to the review aggregator Metacritic for its list of the worst TV shows, which goes back to 1995. The list ranks show seasons by their composite critical reception.

Check out the 50 worst TV shows from least to most objectionable, according to critics:

50. “Twenty Good Years” (NBC, Season 1)
50.
NBC
Critic score: 29/100

User score: 5.9/10

What critics said: “It is a male version of ‘The Golden Girls,’ but with weaker writing.” — The New York Times

49. “South Beach” (UPN, Season 1)
49.
UPN
Critic score: 29/100

User score: 8.6/10

What critics said: “A preposterous and pretentious drama series.” — The Washington Post

48. “Hidden Hills” (NBC, Season 1)
48.
NBC
Critic score: 29/100

User score: Unavailable

What critics said: “This series reflects the way wealthy, neurotic, overly busy and sex-obsessed TV executives and producers think America lives, in other words, the way they live. They’re wrong.” — The Detroit News

47. “American Inventor” (ABC, Season 1)
47.
ABC
Critic score: 29/100

User score: 5.1/10

What critics said: “A bloated disappointment that spends more time on the judges than the inventors and their inventions.” — Houston Chronicle

46. “Big Brother” (CBS, Season 1)
46.
CBS
Critic score: 29/100

User score: 5.2/10

What critics said: “Five days a week of people in a cramped house full of Ikea furniture is like a bad college flashback.” — Variety

45. “Rob” (CBS, Season 1)
45.
CBS
Critic score: 29/100

User score: 3.8/10

What critics said: “There’s hardly a moment or performance in ‘Rob’ that doesn’t reek of the leftover and the second-rate.” — USA Today

44. “Ghost Whisperer” (CBS, Season 1)
44.
CBS
Critic score: 29/100

User score: 8.3/10

What critics said: “At times during ‘Ghost Whisperer,’ the sentiment is so thick you might want to go away from the light — the light from the TV set, that is.” — Boston Globe

43. “The Return of Jezebel James” (Fox, Season 1)
43.
Fox
Critic score: 29/100

User score: 5.2/10

What critics said: “Miscast and only intermittently funny, ‘Jezebel James’ misfires on all cylinders.” — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

42. “Sex Box” (WE, Season 1)
42.
WE
Critic score: 28/100

User score: 3.0/10

What critics said: “Watching it is kind of like bad sex — the clock watching, the profound embarrassment, the desire to check your email.” — The New York Times

41. “Painkiller Jane” (Syfy, Season 1)
41.
Syfy
Critic score: 28/100

User score: 6.1/10

What critics said: “The show is long on concept and short on execution which would actually be OK if the writing and acting were not so simply terrible.” — Los Angeles Times

40. “The War at Home” (Fox, Season 1)
40.
FOX
Critic score: 28/100

User score: 3.9/10

What critics said: “If ‘The War at Home’ spent more time on good jokes instead of recycling every gimmick ever seen on TV, it might merely be mediocre, but it’s worse.” — San Francisco Chronicle

39. “Love Inc.” (UPN, Season 1)
39.
UPN
Critic score: 28/100

User score: 7.5/10

What critics said: “A grating comedy.” — Chicago Tribune

38. “Murphy’s Law” (ABC, Season 1)
38.
ABC
Critic score: 28/100

User score: Unavailable

What critics said: “A series so monumentally meaningless, so pathetically puerile, so irredeemably ridiculous that, within my limited professional context, it prompts the Biggest Question of them all: Why is there television?” — Newsday

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