15 Worst TV Shows Ever (But You Can’t Stop Watching Them)

We’re so used to Marvel doing great things that is hard to imagine Marvel doing terrible. So it is with “Iron Fist.” The first season lacked that Marvel flare of awesomeness that we have come to expect. From lackluster acting to a complicated yet boring story, the first season of Iron Fist left many fans wanting. However, the second season seemed to have redeemed the series with an interesting story, great fighting scenes, and an overall drastically improved entertainment value. Nevertheless, the series was canceled by Netflix.

TV Guide voted “Jerry Springer” as the “Worst Show In The History Of Television,” but with roughly 27 seasons under its belt, it’s hard to see why…that is until you actually watch the show. Jerry Springer is a television program reveling in the worst of human nature. From encouraging fights amongst its guests, to boob flashings, and curse, words, Jerry Springer will not redeem your faith in humanity. “I can’t do serious subjects,” he told CNN. “I can’t do normal behavior. It doesn’t belong in our show.”

Where do I even begin with this show? Here “Comes Honey Boo Boo” revolves around the Thompson family and primarily focuses on seven-year-old Alana. Filled with crazy antics, “White-trash-stereotype,” and catchphrases such as “a dollar makes me holla,” the show was a major hit for The Learning Channel (TLC). That is, until June (Alana’s mother) was linked to a convicted sex offender. TLC immediately canceled the show.

Here’s another show that highlights the best of humanity (I kid). Jersey Shore was a reality show featuring eight 20-something Italian-Americans in a “Real World-type situation.” That is, of course, if you consider living in a posh house, on a beach, with a party lifestyle and overly sexualized hype “real world.” “Participants are depicted as energetic but essentially aimless, oblivious of their own deficits, and delusional about their attractiveness and their importance in the world, said the New Yorker. Despite this sad portrayal of life, the show was a huge success for MTV, and even after six years since their conclusion, Jersey Shore proved to be extremely popular. Their recent 2018 Jersey Shore Family Vacation show managed to bring in 2.4 million viewers for their first episode.

We’ve already talked about one of Marvel’s few superhero show duds with Iron Fist, but here’s another one. “Marvel’s Inhumans,” on paper, should have been a smashing success. Some say that Inhumans had the potential to be the MCU’s “Game of Thrones.” However, critics bemoaned the poor TV adaptation of the comics. Some critics went as far to say that the Inhumans had “costumes and makeup that resemble last-minute Inhumans cosplay” and “Inhumans is legitimately the worst Marvel adaptation of the year.”

Though this show may not suffer from a poor execution (such as bad acting, confusing plot, poor makeup, etc), the show may have one of the worst and most dangerous unintended consequences out of any shows on our list. The controversial Netflix series “13 Reason Why” told the story of Hannah Baker, a teenager who committed suicide and left behind cassette tapes explaining why. The series has been praised for its exploration of difficult issues that including rape, bullying, and suicide. However, it was also criticized for its detailed depiction of Hannah’s death which critics claim “glamorized suicide.” According to a study in the Journal of American Medicine, this glorification of suicide may have led to a rise in suicide rates. Despite the study, Netflix refused to take the series down and even came out with a second season, which was a total dud.

“Keeping Up With The Kardashians” has been a staple of our pop culture for over a decade. It first aired in 2007 and has remained relevant to many people out there. Though it’s difficult to pinpoint how TV stars making roughly $6 million in shows and endorsement are relevant to your regular everyday person. KUWTK revolves around the Kardashian family in a “behind-the-scenes” type of real-world environment. Much of the star’s lives are filmed for the public’s enjoyment, which is somewhat troubling, especially when a show places “emphasis on vanity, greed, promiscuity, vulgarity and over-the-top conspicuous consumption.”

Whether it’s the “Real Housewives of New Jersey,” “Beverley Hills,” “Atlanta”…pick your city, the premise is the same: a show that focuses on the personal and professional lives of several women residing in a specific city. The problem, however, lies in the portrayal of the women in the shows. We live in a society that unfortunately marginalizes and stereotype women. The Real Housewives Franchise doesn’t help this situation by painting women in a bad light and depicting them as narcissistic, catty, or even mentally unstable.

Continuing the trend of shows that portray women in a bad light, here’s “The Bachelor.” The show revolves around 25 gorgeous women who compete for a man’s attention by making complete fools of themselves. The goal is to be the last one standing and to eventually marry the guy. But, could you really marry a person after spending not even a week getting to know them through a bizarre series of planned dates and contests? According to the show, you can! Dismal portrayal of relationships and the value of women is just the beginning of its many flaws.

“Once Upon A Time” is a fairy tale-themed series that started out as an interesting, captivating, and fresh new take on classic favorites such as “Cinderella,” “Beauty and the Beast,” and “Snow White.” However, something happened somewhere along this show’s history where what used to be a well-written fantasy drama turned into a gimmicky and frankly laughable disappointment. In Season 7, the show tried to reboot the franchise by moving it from “Storybrook” to “Seattle,” but this coupled with a host of new characters and plots really made it difficult for fans to hook unto anything familiar to carry them through the new season. It’s sad because this show could have been great, and in the beginning it was.

The CBS sitcom “2 Broke Girls” is an attempt to provide audiences with roughly an hour of humor. It failed. At least, that’s what I would like to say, but the fact of the matter is that the show was relatively successful. 2 Broke Girls follows two young waitresses, Max Black (Kat Dennings) and Caroline Channing (Beth Behrs) as they work to fulfill their dream of opening a cupcake shop. The two characters share good chemistry wasted on the show’s excessive indulgence of crude, banal, and pointless jokes. The show’s humor is so poorly written that one reviewer likened it to “getting slapped across the cheeks repeatedly with a rubber ducky.”

“The Purge” movies were relatively successful. “The Purge” TV Series-not so much. Like the movies, The Purge TV Series follows a group of individuals trying to survive 12 hours of sanctioned crimes. It’s supposed to be a horror franchise, though there’s debate if it holds up to the genre. At the end of the day, the series ends up being a hum-drum of the same old thing albeit more confusing and nowhere near as entertaining as the first Purge movie. With that said, the series does have its merits by allowing viewers the chance to explore the mythology behind the movies.

This CBS sitcom has ranked for a number of season as TV’s most-watched comedy. However, that does not make it a good sitcom. “Two and A Half Men” is a misogynistic, vulgar, and at many times offensive sitcom that follows the story, depending which season you are watching, of two men and a kid. Charlie is a wealthy bachelor who shares his home with his brother, Alan and his nephew, Jake. The series lasted for 12 seasons which is surprising given all the controversy it found itself in. From jokes about bestiality and sex with vegetables to its myriad of casting drama, wholesome this show is not.

A prequel to the original movie, “Taken” follows former CIA agent Bryan Mills as he deals with a personal tragedy and fights to exact revenge all while being pulled into a career as a CIA operative. This series is supposed to be the story of what Bryan Mills did a decade or so before the events of the first movie. However, critics have taken issues with the execution of the series, calling it a pointless TV show that somehow strays away from the original movie without offering anything to the franchise. Nevertheless, the show ran for two seasons before NBC canceled it.

“Krypton” is an origin tale of the DC hero Supermam. Because everyone wants yet another origin story of the Man of Steel. The hero of the series is Kal-El’s grandfather, Seg-El who is played by Cameron Cuffe. Critics have had many issues with the show, including its purpose, why all the characters speak in British accents, and its lack of distinct aesthetics. Fans have been a bit more forgiving, but still groan that this is another origin story of Superman, even though, the Man of Steel himself doesn’t quite appear on the show.

Want more TV show lists? You need to check out 25 Worst TV Spin-Offs Of All Time