Prestige television is flooding the airwaves. There’s been no better time for the medium, which used to be considered a realm of B-listers and small-scale stories. These days, though, there’s plenty of series out there that can compete with any Oscar winner: Succession, Barry, House of the Dragon – it’s the golden age of the silver screen.
But there is a reason that television used to be known as the ‘boob tube’. Everyone’s come across a baffling program as they switch through the channels – and, except for a spare second when they wonder, “Who is this even made for?”, they’ll never see it again. And yet, some of these shows are simply so bad, so offensive, so baffling, that they tend to stick around as footnotes in the annals of TV history.
1. Sex Box (2013 – 2016)
In the United States, there’s a stereotype about British television: viewers tend to see a British production on television and think the series will be a sophisticated affair – or at least an award contender. Sex Box is none of that. The premise is simple: a couple is invited on stage, where they have sex inside of a private box as hosts discuss their relationship. When the couple conclude their session, they come out of the box and answer questions about their relationship. Ostensibly a series meant to draw “sex away from porn”, but it’s doubtful many viewers were lost in thought after watching it.
Sex Box aired for two seasons, the first airing in 2013 and consisting of 7 episodes, the second airing in 2016 and consisting of 4 episodes. No word on a revival just yet.
2. Confederate
This one’s a bit of a cheat, because it never made it on the air. What makes it a terrifying prospect is that it seemingly came very close to entering production. Confederate was to follow an alternate universe history in which the Confederacy won the Civil War and slavery was still an institution in the modern day. The series’ premise was lambasted when it was unveiled, but what truly killed the series is that it was the brainchild of David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, showrunners for Game of Thrones. Following season 8’s poor reception, this series was dropped from HBO’s production schedule, thankfully.
3. Who’s Your Daddy? (2005)
Who’s Your Daddy? almost seems like a Saturday Night Live skit. Its premise involved an adult who had been adopted as a child being put into a room with 25 older men, and, well, it might be easy to see where this is going. If the contestant chose their correct, biological father, they won $100,000. Should they have picked the wrong candidate, the candidate would receive the prize money instead. For what it’s worth, the one and only contestant, T.J. Myers, did win her episode.
Originally, the special was intended as the pilot for a six episode season, but modest ratings made Fox shelve any future plans for the burgeoning franchise. The full episode actually appears to be lost media now – not that Disney would be in a rush to release it.
4. Heil Honey, I’m Home! (1990)
In what is likely the nadir of gimmick sitcoms, and possibly television in general, this British series focused on Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun living next-door to a Jewish couple. Apparently, the show was intended to be a parody of American sitcoms circa the 1950s to 1970s, during which time shows would premiere “that would embrace any idea, no matter how stupid”. The series missed the mark, with many pointing out how insensitive it was. Because the show was extremely committed to being in poor taste, it even had an animated intro.
The series lasted one episode, though eight were apparently produced.
5. Boy Meets Boy (2003)
It sounds like a progressive idea: a dating show about gay men. The series was even slated to air on Bravo – noted for its LGBTQ-friendly programming. Unfortunately, the year was 2003, and Bravo opted to add a little twist to the program: that’s right, contestant James Getzlaff was to pick a partner out of 15 contestants, some of whom were straight. If Getzlaff chose a gay man as his final partner, he’d win $25,000 and a trip to New Zealand. If he chose a straight man, they would win the cash instead. Other shows in this vein (bafflingly) exist, like Playing It Straight, in which a woman was challenged to choose a suitor among a mixed group of gay and straight men.
The series lasted for only one season of six episodes. A second season was reportedly rejected because the twist would have only worked once, and Bravo apparently did not feel comfortable having such a show in their line up just yet.
6. Turn-On (1969)
It was a sketch comedy series before Saturday Night Live, and it aired less than one episode in total. The series, intended to be a sketch show focusing on sex comedy, was pulled from the air after its first commercial – by some accounts, it aired only fifteen minutes of the premiere before the plug was pulled, with a technical difficulties sign replacing the airing. Part of the issue was also that Turn-On simply wasn’t very funny, apparently.
Its one and only episode aired in February of 1969 and has only partially been recovered for viewing.
7. Australia’s Naughtiest Home Videos (1992)
Australia’s Naughtiest Home Videos, a spin-off of America’s Funniest Home Videos, somehow managed to get on air, at least for a few minutes. Kerry Packer, who owned the Nine Network on which the special aired, reportedly picked up his phone, called the station, and shouted, “Get that s— off the air!”. The series contains content that is intended to be humorous, but was incredibly explicit.
Australia’s Naughtiest Home Videos aired for a few fateful moments on September 3, 1992.
8. Megan Wants a Millionaire (2009)
Megan Wants a Millionaire is fairly innocuous as far as bad reality television goes. The premise followed Rock of Love contestant Megan Hauserman as she searched for a millionaire to be her husband. The series lasted only three episodes before its cancellation. Unfortunately, as the series was airing, one of the contestants on the series was involved in the investigation into the murder of a young woman named Jasmine Fiore. VH1 quietly cancelled the show and did not air the remaining episodes (Hauserman was luckily safe, and the contestant was not among the finalists).
Megan Wants a Millionaire aired on VH1 in 2009.
9. Black. White. (2006)
Black. White. can only really be seen to be believed. The series supposedly documented three families. Two of the families were Caucasian, while one family was Black. The families swapped lives using prosthetics and professional grade make-up – which transformed them into another race. The series was controversial, to say the least, and heavily criticized for promoting blackface and stereotypes. Every episode did manage to make it on the air, however.
Six episodes of the series aired on FX from March to April of 2006.
10. Man vs. Beast (2003)
There’s a reason that productions include disclaimers about no animals being harmed in the making of their program. Man vs. Beast attracted the ire of many animal rights groups, as it pitted humans against animals in some truly odd challenges, like a sumo wrestler playing tug-of-war with an orangutan, or a bear engaging in an eating contest against a professional eater.
Man vs. Beast aired in 2003 on Fox, and a second series, Man vs. Beast 2, came out in 2004.
11. Mermaids: The Body Found (2012)
The late 2000s and early 2010s were a rough time for the Discovery Channel. Plenty of pseudo-scientific programs were being aired on the channel, prompting fans to complain about the decline of the educational channel. Mermaids: The Body Found encapsulates everything about the era: the program was proclaimed a documentary, convincing viewers that mermaids were real, and that actual, archaeological evidence of their remains had been found.
Mermaids: The Body found aired on Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel in 2012, while Mermaids: The New Evidence aired in 2013.
12. Kid Nation (2007)
Kid Nation aimed to be a reality show version of Lord of the Flies: a group of children were dropped off in the middle of the New Mexican desert, where they were tasked with creating a functioning society. Criticisms towards the show were immediate: many called it child abuse. The ages of the contestants were also discussed – because legally, the series reportedly skirted the line on child labor laws.
Kid Nation aired for one season of 13 episodes, on CBS, in 2007.
13. Eaten Alive (2014)
Eaten Alive was another bad prospect for the Discovery Channel. The premise of the special was that wildlife author and entertainer Paul Rosolie being eaten by an anaconda, a supremely dangerous act on multiple levels – especially for the anaconda. When the time came, Rosolie attempted to be swallowed by the anaconda, which understandably attacked him, and the stunt was called off for safety concerns.
Eaten Alive aired on the Discovery Channel back in 2014.
14. There’s Something About Miriam (2004)
There’s Something About Miriam is simply an exercise in cruelty – no bones about it. 21-year-old model Miriam Rivera was a contestant on the lookout for love. Rivera happened to be transgender, and the big ‘twist’ of the show was based solely on that fact: the candidates were never told Rivera was trans until the series finale. Lawsuits followed in the wake of the series.
There’s Something About Miriam aired for six episodes back in 2004.
15. The Moment of Truth (2008-2009)
The Moment of Truth was a game show hosted by Mark Wahlberg. Contestants had to answer terribly personal questions in order to win a grand prize; one of these episodes went a bit too far, and Wahlberg had to film a disclaimer at the beginning of the episode. In episode 5 of the series, a female contestant was accompanied by her husband and mother to the show, where she revealed that she had slept with another man, still had feelings for an ex-boyfriend, and had stolen money from her employers. Various other episodes operated on similar extreme questions.
The Moment of Truth aired on Fox from 2008 to 2009. Though three seasons were produced, only two aired, while fifteen of the show’s 38 episodes have never been seen.
Television can truly be a mixed bag. For every Succession, there’s a Sex Box waiting in the wings. Sometimes, a series is just the perfect combination of bizarre and ill-advised, and it makes it into the history books.