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The Stinky TV Series

SOLVED!

[TV Line] Which new drama series is so bad its network tried to dump it?

That foul odor assaulting executives at an unnamed broadcast or cable network is the stank emanating from an upcoming drama series that is allegedly so bad it’s actually unwatchable.

How pungent are we talking? Well, according to sources, the network behind the ambitious project tried mightily to pawn off the entire first season on one of the big streamers at a steep discount (we’re talking pennies).

But the influential Powers That Be behind the series put a kibosh on the fire sale. So now the net in question is forced to sit back and watch the stink bomb smell up its airwaves (beginning at some point in the next seven months).

Making matters worse, this small-screen Ishtar was, by all accounts, a costly disaster, with most episodes coming in way, way, way, way, way over budget.

I’ve said too much, so I’ll stop now and hand this case over to you to solve: What once-buzzy series is destined to make Viva Laughlin look like Mad Men? Speculate away.

BG Notes: Ishtar was a 1987 comedy film that lost a huge amount of money and is considered one of the worst films ever made. Viva Laughlin was a 2007 murder musical TV series that was pulled after two episodes aired. The New York Times called it “…the worst show in the history of television.”

Similar: Your TV Show Is A Hamburger

TV Series:

Clues:

[Optional] What is the worst TV series you’ve seen in the past ten years? What made it so bad?

SOLVED!

TV Series: ABC’s Still Star-Crossed

Still Star-Crossed was mercifully pushed to the weekend graveyard after three episodes and then put down after seven episodes.

This terrible show is what happens when you let Shonda Rhimes run the network.

Hey, let’s do Romeo and Juliet… and make it all about race… and add a huge budget!

Right. Then sit back and watch it crash and burn.

From TV Line:

Still Star-Crossed Essentially Cancelled as ABC Banishes Drama to Saturdays

The sky is falling for Still Star-Crossed: ABC is shipping the Shondaland period drama off to Saturday nights… which means it’s as good as cancelled.

Star-Crossed will make the move to Saturdays starting July 8, according to our sister site Deadline, after airing just three episodes in the post-Bachelorette slot on Monday nights. A sequel to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Star-Crossed stars Lashana Lynch as Rosaline Capulet and Wade Briggs as Benvolio Montague, who are being forced to marry each other to defuse the raging feud between their families.

With Shonda Rhimes on board as executive producer, Star-Crossed debuted last month to 2.3 million total viewers and a 0.5 demo rating, and has eroded in consecutive weeks, most recently posting 1.6 mil and a 0.3.

The last episode that aired saw .88 million viewers and a 0.2 share.

Yikes.

Some of the actors were interesting, though!

Lashana Lynch moved on to Captain Marvel and the TV show Bulletproof.

Sterling Sulieman can be seen on Station 19.

Congratulations to Giggles for being first with the correct response!

Oh, and thanks to all of you who posted comments about the shows you think are stinkers. Your comments made for a fascinating read!

Related: Shonda Rhimes Fired Actor She Hated

Related: Don’t Mess With The Bull

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. hogfan1958 says

    The last Tycoon, major holder of nose …stinker, even tho Matthew Boomer is really pretty

  3. clippersisyphus says

    No idea about the upcoming stinker.

    I hate all reality television, in general. In particular, I am very disappointed in how The Real World devolved into just a bunch of kids getting it on with each other.

    Do we truly live in a post-racial world where we don’t have to discuss social issues with people from different backgrounds?

  5. Marvella says

    All the hints point to “The Deuce”. James Franco needs to just give up. How is he still a thing?

  6. aaaBee says

    Tv show: maybe the 24 remake?

    I never watched Viva Laughlin when it was on but Joel McHale did a skit on his show The Soup mocking it. You can find it on YouTube. I still watch it a few times a year and I believe it was from 2007 lol so funny

  7. spoofbyrd says

    American Idol wisely went off the air but the Voice uhhh ! too gimmicky and getting tired of everybody sounding the same. It is just homogenized dreck. Give me a Bob Dylan voice any day over the hokey Country accent or a Whitney range wannabe , or a Steve Perry imitator forced to regurgitate Bohemian Rhapsody. At least the judges chairs are turned around so we don’t always get to see them acting like Dorks like Howie and Howard did on AGT .

  13. insertnamehere says

    No idea, but for the optional, I’d have to go with ‘The Big Bang Theory.’
    The fact that people actually consider the lame, predictable, repetitive jokes to be funny and willingly make the talentless idiots on the show multi millionaires is disgusting. It concerns me that these people are allowed to breed.

    • itstarapagain says

      Thank you for that. This absolutely predictable attempt at comedy is an embarrassment to anyone with a brain. I watched the first episode and laughed my way through it.

      Such bad overacting. The writing was dumb. I saw a rerun the other day and it was only worse. Sheldon is on the spectrum? Comedy gold!!!

      Kaley is the luckiest person in the world. Marginal actress makes bank.

    • jerseygrl31 says

      I SECOND THAT! ? I checked out five seconds of it one day, wow still trying to get those five seconds back! ?
      And tired of the Bachelor shows, reality shows on housewives, basketball wives, whatever crap with “reality” in it! Ugh!!!

  18. cj2608 says

    American Gods

    That’s a shame. I like Neil Gaiman, and the preview looked interesting.

  20. amagod121 says

    IDK. How does anyone know so far in advance what TV series will show up half a year from now? Might be kind of fun to watch a few minutes of it to see how bad it is and if it’ll make the campy classic cult status or not.

    Worst series in past 10 years? Friends. I hated the blatant s*x references every few seconds, the comedy and the acting. I know I am the oddball out on this but there ya have it, I hate that show!

    • Catharsis says

      I have not watched more than a few minutes of a Friends episode. What mindless unfunny cliches. I just can’t. I know how you feel about being in the minority, everyone seem to adore it.

    • prinny says

      Exactly the way I feel about Two Broke Girls. I can’t make it through an episode. They use the same old tired sexual jokes constantly.

  21. sunshine702 says

    Bill Nye saves the world
    From Netflix.

    Sanctimonious Propaganda mixed with gender bending is not his old beloved science character. He just killed his career.

  22. WorkHardBeNice says

    Oh wow, ha ha!!
    No clue which stinker this might be but in response to the optional, “Fear the Walking Dead” blows. The acting and writing…seriously horrible.

  23. oneidea says

    Star Trek Discovery? The production pattern sounds right but how does the “stinky” clue fit?

  24. angelsouless says

    TV Series: The One Percent.
    This is a guess, i read somewhere that Starz had pulled from the series and the producers were shopping around networks.

  26. ThirdCoastGirl says

    HBO’s “The Deuce.”

    Stinky, dump, foul, smell… Police and NYC lingo…. Supposed to air this fall but started production in 2015. Powers include George Pelecanos and James Franco. Sounds execrable.

  27. giggles says

    Still Star-Crossed is a new Shondaland show for ABC that’s due out this year. Huge period drama, based on a book and some kind of followup to Romeo and Juliet. I can see a Shondaland show being one that the higher ups would veto moving because, well, it’s Shondaland and whatever the queen wants the queen gets. There have been other blinds speaking of the unhealthy Shondaland influence over the network so this wouldn’t shock me at all.

    • amagod121 says

      Your logic is good. Shonda plus a huge period drama would certainly = being “way, way, way, way, way over budget.” Plus, Shonda does have the pull with network execs to keep her show from being dumped to a budget streaming company. I am just not convinced that James Franco would have the same pull as Shonda, nor that he would be allowed to come in so far over budget. And I certainly HOPE that Star Trek Discovery isn’t the t*rd!

  29. apple martini says

    TV Series: “The Deuce”
    Clues: “Deuce” is a euphemism for doing a poo. All the odor/smell imagery going on in the blind made me think of that. Plus HBO is likelier to give a show like a chance; I think a network would just dump it. It has a good pedigree (David Simon, James Franco, Maggie Gyllenhaal), and that might explain why it’s over-budget. It’s also a crime drama so “case for you to solve” also works.

  30. aaabics says

    Girlboss? I actually liked it, but everyone hated it. I don’t know if it was costly but it had RuPaul as guest star, must not have been cheap

  32. LC1216 says

    Oh No!!! Poor JLo. Shades of Blue

    I’m trying to watch Supernatural. It’s going into it’s 12th season. Show has to be amazing right? My friend LOVES the show. I have to force myself to watch it. I’m in the middle of season one, and it’s awful and extremely boring. It’s a chore for me to watch. I’m hoping it picks up.

    • Ginger Kitty says

      Well, seasons 1-5 are the best, so if you’re having difficulty halfway through the first, you should probably stop now.

      It’s my favorite show, by the way. Not sure how anyone could say it’s boring, especially if you’re able to binge.

    • kimmukwest says

      You just have to get past season one and the family drama of he first few seasons. It gets souch better, I promise!

    • LC1216 says

      Really? My friend told me to watch Supernatural, cause she LOVES it. I’m 1/2 way through season 1. I’m bored out of my mind. It’s a chore to watch it, but I’m forcing myself. It’s just not as good as Ghost Whisperer or Medium (loved those shows). I don’t understand how it’s lasted 12 years on TV. Please tell me it gets better after season 1?

    • Jaimet says

      Like ginger said, seasons 1-5 are the best of the entire series. That said, I personally feel as if the first season is the weakest of the bunch. It really starts picking up toward the end though, and various storylines are introduced that play a pivotal role throughout the next 4 seasons early on.

      If I were you, I would push through the freshman slump. Heck, I would suggest you get through season 2 before giving up. If it doesn’t keep your attention by then, it isn’t for you.

    • jbj2016 says

      I think you should ask your friend to recommed her/his favorite episodes from the early seasons and watch those, because there a lot of entertaining episodes and a lot of cheesy ones in the bunch. I, personally, disliked most of the MotW unless they were funny, but I did get into the drama. If nothing catches, at least you can say you tried. I’m not always that generous myself.

  33. mermaidh2 says

    Hahahaha….nice one, Ace. This HAS to be “The Deuce” with James Franco set in the 70s and 80s about porn and prostitution in NYC. Still laughing…stinky deuce…lol ?

  34. 4sixx2 says

    No guess but “2 Broke Girls” is the absolute most horrible show ever broadcast. The two untalented actresses SCREAM each of their lowbrow lines at each other. It’s the basest thing I’ve ever encountered and I’ve no idea who would watch it or how it’s still on the air!!! Ace, I would seriously rather watch a Murder Musical TV Series!

    • PinkFlamingo says

      I feel the same about “Big Bang Theory.” It is the STUPIDEST television show that has ever been made, and I cannot, for the life of me, understand why people even watch it, much less, LOVE it.

    • Tequila Mama says

      Omg I thought I was the only person who didn’t like both shows. I tried watching both shows, 2BG and BBT and do not understand why both are still on the air. I also feel the same about Scorpion.

    • spaceship says

      It’s all they have to watch these days. Talent packed up and left Hollyweird a long time ago! These days talent is not required to become a celeb, anyone can become one.

    • Emily Dickinson Rocked says

      I concur re BBT. I simply DON’T GET IT. Also, adding insult to injury, they make SO MUCH MONEY…for what???

    • NoseyNana2008 says

      The 1st season was cute, but the deterioration of that show into nasty one-liners is sad. I blame the writers. And CBS for keeping it on the air. How it survived the time slot changes alone is amazing.

    • louisianalady says

      Off topic but I couldn’t agree with you more. I can only take about ten minutes of broke girls at a time but I’m mesmerized at how incredibly bad it is…..yet it continues to stay on the air!!

    • kellyinchains says

      I’m highly embarrassed to admit that I occasionally watch 2 Broke Girls, & I watch The Big Bang Theory regularly. My life is hugely stressful (my husband is dealing with a Traumatic Spinal Cord injury, we’re ALWAYS broke, & I’ve had some deaths in my family that are still extremely painful for me). I watch these shows because I need to get out of my own head most of the time, & they’re brainless entertainment to me. They don’t cause me more stress or make me anxious. I apologize! Plz…

    • Jester says

      I totally agree, 4sixx2. The acting is reminiscent of a middle school play. I can’t understand how this show is still on, yet better shows (imo anyways) have been dropped.

    • Goodgrief says

      I agree 100%. I use the 2 Broke Girls time to go brush my teeth and wash my face before Scorpion comes on. I watched it the first 2 years, but everything after that has been unwatchable. Both “girls” are annoying, but Max is the worst.

    • shellythomas says

      Omg I SO agree with you GoodGrief! They make jokes that even on their ads aren’t funny! Like jokes about Crack cocaine-yeah, really funny…lolol…huh? Just the WORST show in human History. How it keeps getting renewed is beyond belief. You’d have to be more brain dead than the two characters on the show, who have absolutely NO appeal. Zero, zilch, None. Outside of the typical T&A.

    • Bunnie says

      I agree. Ive actually forced myself to watch it a few times just to see what the heck is going on. It is NOT funny at all !!!

  36. RockyRaccoon says

    The “Powers” that be, big budgets… this sounds like a superhero show.

    My guess is the upcoming X-Men show.