Vacation Robo-Post: The 10 Worst TV Shows of 2009

[...] Adweek Blogs wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptAlready a thinly veiled fame- and free-product-delivery device for Jon and Kate Gosselin, in 2009 the extreme-parenting reality show turned into a multimedia marital breakdown. Hank. This sitcom starring Kelsey Grammer as a downsized … [...]

[...] http://tunedin.blogs.time.com/2009/12/21/vacation-robo-post-the-10-worst-tv-shows-of-2009/I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here. (1) No, you’re not, and (2) there’s the door. Jersey Shore. This celebration of thongs and ripped abs was an ode to the camera-readiness cheap flight Devonport to Adelaide of the American meathead, and to the willingness of … [...]

Let’s not forget Little Miss Perfect on WEtv — http://www.wetv.com/little-miss-perfect

It has the trifecta of 1. Awful subject matter, 2. Dreadful moms & daughters and 3. An unbearable host in Michael Galanes

truly truly painful

“Michael Jackson overkill” is not a TV show. You’re an idiot. If you want to bitch about something, at least complain about it in the proper forum or under the proper topic.

Er…I think the point was that Michael Jackson coverage overwhelmed far too many TV shows (“Larry King Live et al”). to even list. And I agree with you, James.

But no “Kath and Kim”?

You forgot the ironically titled Campbell Brown: No Bias. No Bull.

Not to mention Anderson Cooper 360, The Situation Room, whatever that show with DL Hughley was called, Larry King Dead…er…Live, Anything to do with Slick Rick Sanchez and The Don Lemon Variety Hour.

Jeff Dunham has been doing his ventriloquist act since the 90′s…He’s more than mediocre…and how can you like love Peanut or Walter, the originals…please point out a “Great” ventriloquist of current times if he isn’t it. His stand up act is great, but i’ll admit his show wasn’t that good.

…how can you *not* love Peanut or Walter, the originals

No you’re the idiot, peter0031. He clearly referenced The Larry King show!! That old lizard had dozens of shows regurgitating the same old %#@$. Utterly ridiculous.

Although Jeff Dunham’s show was awful, whoever wrote this obviously isn’t giving him credit for what he does best. He’s by far the best ventriloquist of our time.

so he’s the best among a group of marginally talented, unfunny hacks who perform an art form that is essentially dead?

what’s next? annointing someone as the best silent movie star of our era?

can anyone name another ventriloquist of our time?

Mr. Poniewozik, your list was on target until you got to HawthoRNe. I think that cable show, starring Jada Pinkett Smith, was actually pretty good. Although the hospital backdrop was nothing new to TV, the acting was excellent and the story lines kept my interest from week to week. Thank goodness TNT is bringing it back for a second season. (What’s more, it was refreshing to see an African American in a leading role in prime time, something ABC, CBS, and NBC can’t seem to grasp.)

And now for the the REAL list of the worst shows on television for 2009:

10. The Family Guy
9. Every celebrity reality show
8. Every game show on television
7. Every show on HSN
6. The girls next door
5. Extra!
4. 20/20
3. Jay Leno (NBC)
2. Glenn Beck (FOX)
1. Hannity (FOX)

“He’s by far the best ventriloquist of our time”.

Which is nearly as impressive as being the best downhill skier in Death Valley. Or the best 17th Century rapper. Or the best electric guitar player in your Amish village. Yeah, this could go on for a while.

I hope that the Ghost of Edgar Bergen brings three spirits to visit Jeff Dunham this Christmas Eve.

Great list.

[...] Time’s 10 Worst TV Shows of 2009. [...]

How could the list leave off the abjectly boring nothingness created by Rob Dyrdek? His show is unwatchable. I’ve tried. Dyrdek believes himself to be so interesesting and creative, but I literally cringe with embarrassment for him (and all 32 fans of his).

Ugghhhh.

How could the list leave off the abjectly boring nothingness created by Rob Dyrdek? His show is unwatchable. I’ve tried. Dyrdek believes himself to be so interesting and creative, but I literally cringe with embarrassment for him (and all 32 fans of his).

Ugghhhh.

[...] From "Jeff Dunham" to "Jersey Shore": The worst shows of 2009 [...]

I totally agree with this list.

But put the UFC and any other figh game.

Some of the worst of all times are still on TV.

Anything UFC and poker games.

These are shows for idiots.

Idiots guide to you suck.

covinaman,

Good suggestion on the UFC thing. And the poker games are at least an (dis)honorable mention.

As far as the Jeff Dunham program is concerned, I concur. I attempted to watch this show, but gave up early on- realizing it truly was the racist debacle I had remembered from the “Christmas Special” DVD I had received as a gift earlier in the year. Mr. Dunham, perhaps you haven’t realized that racial profiling is filthy work- even in a “comedic” setting. If you cannot find humor in the confines of decency- you might wish to take a recess from performing while you assess your material. It just is not right to inflict pain on ANY group of people just for a laugh. You remind of me of an arrogant school-yard bully.

I am curious to see what criteria was used to get these worse shows of 2009? was it one man’s criteria, viewership? I actually like the Jay Leno show. Its a live show, has comedy, interviews, etc. Compare that to what else is available to see, some reruns of episodes done years ago. Even new episodes are poorly done due budget restrictions. Sorry, but I dont trust critics, so I dont trust this review of the 2009 worse shows.

UFC worst show? That’s funny, they are literally going to make more than a billion dollars this year from the TUF shows and pay-per-views combined, along with the product lines, and marketing.

1. American Idol (worst crap ever!)
2. Biggest Loser (2nd worst crap!)
3. Dancing with the Idiots (probably worst ever, but I gave it a break for this list)
4. Skating with the Idiots (has that been run yet? thank me for the idea later!)
5. Glenn Beck (Seriously people, how can anyone stomach this moron? Complaining about the length of time it takes to build the Freedom Tower?? Put a hard on and grab a tool, you tool!!!

Seriously? Jeff Dunham has paid his dues. I saw in perform in a small improv-style nightclub in Cleveland Ohio in the mid 90′s, work his way up to the theaters by the early part of this decade, and then get his big break on comedy central. Now because he has an (i’ll admit bad) tv show hes become a hack? his Standup is still great, and light years better than most of the crap on comedy central (Carlos Mencia to start). and no it’s not like being an electric guitar player in an Amish community, that’s just redundant…its more like dedication to revive a lost art form because our culture is flooded with LCD stand up comedians that can’t be funny to save their lives. It’s people like you that listen to corporate radio because its “good music” and other forms of music like jazz, bluegrass, funk, electronic, punk ( and I could go on and on), etc. are dead, and therefore don’t matter. I’d bet you’ve never even seen a performance of his…particularly back when it was just Peanut, Walter, and Jalapeno…which it was for almost 10 years.

Right, but Carlos Mencia, Katt williams, Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, etc. are all good clean comedians…all comedians poke fun at racism, and if you can’t laugh at it you take yourself too seriously…its not a hate crime

Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his best-known sidekick, Charlie McCarthy / Terry Fator, the 2007 winner of the NBC reality show America’s Got Talent, is known for impersonating famous singers through his puppets. Fator now performs nightly at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas and soon will be moving his show to the Mirage Hotel and Casino also in Las Vegas; after signing a $100 million record, he has become the most successful ventriloquist in the world. / Jay Johnson co-starred on the sitcom Soap with his dummy Bob. / Wayland Flowers and Madame

Edgar Bergen is good…he deserved to win

meant Terry, not Edgar

its just “Family Guy” giggity giggity…and its funny, but going downhill

It’s funny that you make assumptions (incorrectly) about other’s tastes and defend Dunham as some kind of great artist. he’s not, and he can’t compare with today’s great stand-ups (Louis C.K., Patten Osawalt, etc). He is the very definition of lowest common denominator, and at his best he’s only mildly amusing.

By the way, it’s funny how you chastise us for not appreciating his brilliance, while simultaneously admitting his show sucks (which is what this blog is about).

Of course you don’t like Secret Girlfriend James! You have never had good looking females be interested in you like the main character….. I enjoy the show because I have been in such situations and its funny as well. Everything else is spot on except for Leno, replace that with Nancy Grace and your good.

My worst shows of 2009:

1. The episode of Discovery Health Channel’s Birth Day where the medical staff whipped one another with a baby’s umbilical cord. Tasteless–and very messy.

2. The episode of Chelsea Lately where they tried to raise the spirits of Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon and nearly set the soundstage afire with their ceremonial torches.

3. The Times Square smackdown between Bill O’Reilly and Keith Olberman. No bloody enough, and the match was stopped too soon–these self-promoting idiots should have been allowed to knock each other out.

4. The Glenn Beck Drinky Christian Party in DC in August.

And let’s not forget The History Channel’s endless Monsterquest and UFO chapters–isn’t it amazing how people can make focussed and steady videos of deadly crashes and crimes in progress, yet no one has yet been able to capture clear images of flying saucers and swamp creatures?

Also, the Girls Next Door and and plastic surgery shows on E! should stop electronically masking bare breasts and other naughty bits and instead present spin-offs that have EVERYTHING masked.

One more thing: CNN should cancel Afghanistan Live! because the women’s full-body burkhas muffle their voices so much you can’t understand what they’re saying during the audience-comments part of the show.

I like Jeff Dunham. He’s funny. We as a society take ourselves far too seriously. I’m not offended when people make jokes about rednecks with thick accents and big noses.

But surely what must be somewhere on this list is the nationally televised 27 October Univ. of Memphis/East Carolina game on ESPN2. A scant 4,117 fans (including a smattering of East Carolina folks, and Memphis attendees said it was fewer than that) watched Memphis get drubbed so badly that ESPN switched over to a repeat of “30 on 30″ with 10 minutes left in the 4th quarter.

come on – Secret Girlfriend is on this list? I mean yeah, it was lame – it was intended to be lame, but the girls were hot. The conversation was millenium hipster faux realist, the chubby guy was funny, and it was no more annoying than Seinfeld ever was.
Now, Jeff Dunham was horrible. To the morons who think that he’s just an innocent little man standing up to the PC police, i say this – go watch Carlos Mencia. If you’re gonna play with stereotypes, you need to do it with heart. Dunham is nothing more than a cheap xenophobe who gives middle class white bigots some comfort in their ignorance.

American Idol, your right about that.

BUT UFC .. remember how popular feeding people to the lions were in history, and drowning witches in Salom.

No way! Jay Leno is the best of all talkshows. You guys can’t rate it b-coz they’ve moved it to primetime.

Quit complaining and read a book.

I did not say he was brilliant, but he’s paid his dues as a stand up comedian and is entertaining…Louie CK is funny (and vulgar), Oswalt sucks IMO, Mitch Hedberg was great, and Jim Gaffigan, same with Carlin my favorite stand up, and I’m not comparing him to any of them. but you can’t say that hes not entertaining…he works the crowd, lays down the setup for jokes he delivers on later in the set, works three characters at once on stage, the guy is good at what he does…NOT a hack. his show did suck, but it wasn’t his stand up act. I’m only defending him as a ventriloquist comedian, a genre of comedy that any funny guy off the street cant perform successfully without training and years of perfection. As far as “lost” art forms go…Anyone who believes that following a “lost” art form has no purpose is just ignorant. Music is a great analogy for that, there are so many brilliant artists that go unrecognized or underappreciated because they do not follow the “popular” forms of music today which are engraved into everyone’s mind by Clearchannel. Are they supposed to just give up what they love? Why was it such a big surprise when Herbie Hancock won album of the year 2 years ago at the grammy’s? (at least with the media). a lot of folks think jazz is dead…at least modern jazz…So Hancock should have just stopped making records after the 70′s when it’s popularity started to fall? This is getting way off topic and I could write a book on this so I’ll stop here.

A lot of great criticism and suggestion here. I apologize if this has already been said as I couldn’t get through all of the comments, but for TBS to run under their “Very Funny” platform, yet give George Lopez his own show 4 nights a week is a bith of a contradiction. I’d like to add George Lopez Tonight and any Tyler Perry show for honorable mention.

How could anything with “Kardashian” not make the list? They are famous why? I want to watch them why?

Mr. Poniewonik,

You described Jeff Dunham’s talent as a ventriloquist as mediocre. It’s evident you have not taken the time to watch his comedy specials (not his show), and that you meant to apply the word mediocre to your review skills.

Gil Gonzalez,

Mr. Poniewozik was reviewing Jeff Dunham’s show, not his comedy specials. Mediocre might be better applied to reading skills.

can’t argue with that list. there was a lot of junk this year.

[...] Vacation Robo-Post: The 10 Worst TV Shows of 2009 This is the time of year when we celebrate the achievements of mankind that have ennobled the arts. Which is so totally [...] [...]

Agreed with “Secret Girlfriend”. Not only this program far and away is the worst show of the year, it is, hands down, the worst show in television history. This crap makes “My Mother The Car” and “Homeboys In Outer Space” look like television classics.

Anon76,

Mr. Poniewozik wrote, “Put together a mediocre ventriloquist….” He was being critical of Jeff Dunham’s skills as well as his show.

You’re obviously a moron AND a coward. Leave your name with your posts.

[...] The 10 worst TV shows of 2009. Glad to say I didn’t watch any of them. [...]

Help me out here: Jay Leno? This guy is actually funny, compared to Dave Letterman, who is not funny and a pervert to boot. He’s also gutsy–he nailed OJ back when it wasn’t “PC” to criticize a black guy, not to mention the “Pope Who Enables Perverts.”

[...] http://tunedin.blogs.time.com/2009/12/21/vacation-robo-post-the-10-worst-tv-shows-of-2009/ [...]

[...] Tuned In: James Poniewozik of Time runs this blog, where he writes with passion and intelligence about the major series of the day. Recommended posts: Stewart and O'Reilly: Taking on Fox News, on Fox News and Vacation Robo- Post: The 10 Worst TV Shows of 2009. [...]