Commentary

I'll Drink To That: The Worst TV Shows Of 2016

In past years, my annual assessment of the TV reviews posted here during the year gone by usually yields this surprising result: Positive reviews far outpaced the negative ones.

Why “surprising”? Because given the way so many TV shows come and go these days, it surprises me at the end of a given year when I discover that I reviewed more of them favorably than otherwise. While the year is underway, it often feels as if the opposite is true.

In 2016, however, that is exactly what happened. The other day, I combed through the year's reviews and made lists of positive and negative reviews. Lo and behold, the list of pans was approximately four times longer than the picks.

I hardly know where to begin. Out of all of the shows that were reviewed negatively here, it is not entirely possible to declare any one of them as “the year’s worst show.” But “Kocktails With Khloe” (pictured) comes pretty close.

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This show on the cable network known as FYI had Khloe Kardashian playing “hostess” to “celebrity friends” (none of whom you’ve ever heard of), who would come to her home (which was actually a set) for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. Unfortunately, this made for some of the most excruciating parties ever held.

In the episode I reviewed last February, the cocktail conversation included such subjects as “sharting,” odiferous genitalia and -- sorry to be blunt here -- kicking men in the nuts. FYI sensibly cancelled this thing.

But if you’re thinking TV couldn't go any lower than “Kocktails With Khloe,” then you probably missed the debut of “The Real Housewives of Dallas” last April on Bravo. 

Basically, this show was like a bald-faced celebration of alcoholism and the antisocial behavior that results from it. Bravo would likely disagree, but look at the facts: On this show, two of the “Housewives” bragged repeatedly about getting together during the day to drink excessive quantities of wine and then urinate in bushes around their Dallas neighborhood. 

Although these two “worst” shows were both reality shows, an analysis of the year’s reviews also reveals that debuts of scripted TV shows far outnumbered reality shows this year. 

Among the scripted shows that fared worst here were “Of Kings and Prophets,” a ridiculous and ill-considered ABC drama set in the ancient world during the reign of King Saul; “Feed the Beast,” the AMC drama series starring David Schwimmer as a sad-sack restaurateur; and “BrainDead,” a brain-dead summer drama on CBS that was supposed to be a parody of Washington politics. Sorry, CBS, but we were already in the throes of one of those. It was called “the election.”

Other dramas were noted for how depressing they were -- a trait that has become all too common. One was the series called “The Family” on ABC, which was about a lost child who returned mysteriously after an absence of 10 years, during which he appeared to have been repeatedly sexually assaulted by a pedophile who kidnapped him. The only thing more depressing than this show was the experience of actually watching it.

The same went for “Game of Silence” on NBC -- a show about a group of young adults who were involved in a heinous crime when they were juveniles some years back and were similarly abused while serving sentences in a penal facility for boys. How anyone could consider this kind of thing to be entertaining is a concept beyond my ability to understand.

I will admit I gave negative reviews to a number of shows that ended up earning orders for additional episodes, and in some cases, renewals for a second season.

This list includes: “American Housewife” (which I labeled the worst of the new fall shows when it debuted on ABC), “Kevin Can Wait” (the Kevin James sitcom on CBS), “Bull” (also on CBS), the new “MacGyver,” “Westworld,” the FX comedies “Atlanta” and “Better Things,” and “Nightcap” (the comedy on the Pop network about a fictional late-night show).

What can I say? These shows all struck me as flawed in some way or another. But it’s like I always tell people: These reviews are really only one man’s opinion. They’re not meant to reflect how a great many other people might react to these shows, which is something I have never been able to predict anyway. 

Besides, an opinion, by its very nature, cannot really be wrong, can it?

6 comments about "I'll Drink To That: The Worst TV Shows Of 2016".
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  1. Chuck Lantz from 2007ac.com, 2017ac.com network, December 21, 2016 at 4:04 p.m.


    My opinions, on the other hand, are NEVER wrong.  Just ask me.

    The only two shows on your pan list that I would disagree with are Braindead and Westworld.  In both cases, it took more than one viewing of an episode to entice me to watch more. And in both cases, I became a fan.  

    The point of Braindead, as I see it, is that it was fully aware of the craziness of the actual election, plus - a big plus - it "explained" how we reached this point.  And it took shots at BOTH sides of the aisle, too, sort of. Yes, it was goofy,but fun, as well as being oddly informative about political process. 

  2. pj bednarski from Media business freelancer, December 21, 2016 at 4:23 p.m.

    I hope you keep up your negative attitude, Adam.

  3. Tom Siebert from BENEVOLENT PROPAGANDA, December 21, 2016 at 6:04 p.m.

    Pleased to note many of these horrible sounding shows I've never heard of and will certainly never experience. Only show I watched mentioned in that article was "Westworld," and I'd give that a big "meh" when all was said and done. 

  4. R MARK REASBECK from www.USAonly.US , December 21, 2016 at 7:01 p.m.

    this is why my collection of NYPD Blue, Matlock , Hitchcock and Rockford files keeps growing,
    most of current TV insults your intelligence.

  5. Jonathan McEwan from MediaPost, December 21, 2016 at 7:13 p.m.

    One man's opinion based usually on one or two episodes. There's no telling where a show like Westworld might go until it gets there (Samurai World!). And for the most part it was definitely not Michael Crichton's 1973 story retold. Enjoy your reviews. Fingers crossed for a better viewing and reviewing experience in 2017!!

  6. Tom Siebert from BENEVOLENT PROPAGANDA replied, December 23, 2016 at 4:27 p.m.

    I went along with Westworld and enjoyed it for what it was through about Episide 08, but those last two were insultingly bad, the finale especially so. I do not plan to return. 

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