I was inspired to do this by the UO thread for TV shows at TWOP.

Like here, there is a separate one at TWOP for soaps as well, but I had no idea if there was one on this board for the rest of TV (game shows, sitcoms, reality shows, news, etc.), so I thought I'd start one here. Granted, TWOP is a site completely dedicated to all types of television, so I don't know if picking out UOs here would be as easy, but I think it's worth a shot.

Everything's on the table. Past or present, channels or shows of every genre (except the daytime soaps, obviously).

The UO thread on soaps has only a little bit on primetime soaps, so I guess you can include them here, too. Your call.

Edited April 15, 201213 yr by MissLlanviewPA

I guess I have the most unpopular opinion of all on this site, if the number of replies in a given topic is a barometer of popularity: all reality TV sucks, each time a person watches it he probably loses a fraction of an IQ point. This doesn't apply to contest reality like The Voice or American Idol. There the only thing in danger is your taste if you listen to their judges when they lie and try to tell you the people singing on the show are actually any good. American Idol hasn't had a truly worthwhile winner probably since Carrie Underwood.

Chat shows are a waste of time. Once there was Phil Donahue and he would bring on a variety of guests from the entertainment and political worlds. Oprah one upped him and removed the intellect and instead made it about empathy and emotion. Ok, still good. Today 4 billion talk shows air all covering the same ground. There is nothing Katie Couric has to say that I need to know and that Anderson Cooper probably didn't say yesterday when he covered the same topic. The ladies of the View and that gaggle of gabbers on the CBS imitation are not qualified to offer their opinions on anything. When a host of a TV show says straight up she does not know if the world is round, then that is someone who has no business hosting a TV show. What she says can infect impressionable children. Passing gas on camera as you claim torturing dogs is a cultural thing should get you fired, not an extension of your contract.

I mostly agree. However, I believe the contest reality shows are just as crap and ever more agonizing to sit through since at least with fake reality you can laugh at people being ridiculous. Second, I hate 99% of chat shows, but I will always love and watch every new episode of Graham Norton. He's a genius.

Edited May 26, 201213 yr by Bright Eyes

Something I've discovered thanks to Me-TV: The Bob Newhart Show >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Mary Tyler Moore. At least the later seasons of MTM.

I'm addicted to the Bob Newhart Show thanks to ME TV. It's better than just about any show of the 60's and 70's second only to the Dick Van Dyke show

Mad Men UO (specific to last night's episode):

I was not at all surprised to see Joan prostitute herself for the firm to snag the Jaguar account. If anything, this is completely in character for her - a woman who has always relied on her between the sheets prowess to get what she wants.

I love Let's Make a Deal and am a Wayne Brady fan. I think people are too harsh on shows that replace soap operas. While I liked GL, I felt that the show needed to end when Weston/Conboy were on the show maybe before that.

I love Family Guy. I know certain episodes are not as good as pervious seasons (the hurricane episode and the domestic abuse episode were the worst I have ever seen) but I think it's still a good solid show. Though I like American Dad slightly better.

I don't get what the big deal is about the following shows: MadMen, Glee, True Blood, Dexter (after season 4). I think Glee is overrated. I did watch a few episodes of it from season 1 and find it ok but don't see why it's such a big hit. MadMen is overrated to me and think Breaking Bad is better. True Blood to me is only popular because of the Twilight craze. Why is Dexter still on the air? They should have ended it at the end of season 4.

Also in watching the episodes on The 90's Are All That. I find that Lila on Hey Arnold was the worst character ever!!! Also Arnold's voice in the later seasons was very uneven (I know he was recast twice since the beginning.) I still loved the show even despite those faults and think the second movie should have been made.

Moesha UO:

I wish Kim hadn't been written off after the gang graduated from high school. Granted Countess Vaughn got to star in a show and it jump-started Mo'Nique's career, but I thought that Kim was far better utilized as a part of/had far better chemistry with the original gang (Moesha, Hakeem, Niecy) over the duds that

The Parkers

put together. It also didn't help matters that they dumbed Kim's character all the way down on the spinoff - something that I can help but think that they wouldn't have done if Kim had stuck around for Moesha's college years.

Another unpopular opinion of mine is that the show jumped the shark when Countess left. I call this a UO because folks always blame Ray J for killing the show, even though the lack of Kim, IMO, left a hole in what was a decent cast that had great chemistry.

Ray J did not even bug me that much when he joined, but it is when they made him Frank's son that I turned it off. Not only did it ruin Frank (who was my 2nd fave character after Kim), it created a bunch of drama that was painful to watch. Ray J trying to act ghetto was so pitiful and he was carjacking and running with gangs and rappers. Ugh I just can't with the last two seasons of Moesha.

I heard it was Brandy's overbearing ass mother that made them make Dorian, Moesha's brother. She chased the woman who created the series off the show. Season 4 was my fave season.

Edited June 8, 201213 yr by Eric83

I never understood what was so terrible about Mackenzie Astin or Pippa on the Facts of Life.

I never understood what was so terrible about Mackenzie Astin or Pippa on the Facts of Life.

Astin didn't bother me. Pippa was shoehorned in. Actually liked Pamela Seagall's (sp?) character when they first left Eastland and moved into Edna's Edibles.

I really think it would be interesting for TV to have a teenage and/or college age girl/guy who have never had a boyfriend/girlfriend before, just to show that not everyone winds up dating at that age, as there are people who have this experience in real life (I, um, fall into this category myself). I know it might seem boring for some or like it limits the character, but there are people who don't start dating until college, or even their mid 20s, especially if they're shy or reserved (and it would only give them a higher rooting factor if they keep having unrequited crushes, making the first relationship even more special).

This can also include even going on a first date, as sometimes it takes that long to get to that stage, too.

Ray J did not even bug me that much when he joined, but it is when they made him Frank's son that I turned it off. Not only did it ruin Frank (who was my 2nd fave character after Kim), it created a bunch of drama that was painful to watch. Ray J trying to act ghetto was so pitiful and he was carjacking and running with gangs and rappers. Ugh I just can't with the last two seasons of Moesha.

I heard it was Brandy's overbearing ass mother that made them make Dorian, Moesha's brother. She chased the woman who created the series off the show. Season 4 was my fave season.

I didn't even find out about Sonja's pushy ass being responsible for the scourge that was Ray J until well after that show left the air, but it sure explained a lot about why Dee was barely on, how Moesha ended up getting a pregnancy scare, or how Ray J ended up ruining the family dynamic that they worked so hard to establish over the first three seasons.

Edited June 26, 201213 yr by VirginiaHamilton

Do not like Pretty Litte Liars. Maybe because I read some of the books before the show was ever on air. Those books were some of the most shallow, uninteresting crap I've read. I also don't like glorifying innapropriate relationships between adults and teens as if it's something that 's okay. We used to make fun of girl's who who flirt with teachers when I was in hs. We also used to make fun of those 20 soemthing year old men who were dating teens instead of women their own age. Now it's suddenly romantic?

I don't watch a lot of television since I've outrgown it and am always so busy, but I love Pretty Little Liars and Gossip Girl. I'm pretty shallow myself so there you go.

Never got the appeal of Full House, Step by Step, Family Matters, or Buffy.

And speaking of Buffy, I could never stand Alyson Hannigan or Charisma Carpenter. Especially not Alyson. How I Met Your Mother is a good concept, but she, Neil Patrick Harris, and other actors ruin that show. I liked SMG's early years on Buffy, but I haven't liked her at all since then either.

I loved Libby on Sabrina the Teenage Witch. And Josh because he was hot. I was just like Libby in high school, and I'm still kinda like her sometimes! I'm surprised people here thought Clarissa was good. I hated it even when I was a kid.

The only thing I ever liked Josie Bissett in was "Dare to Love", which was a tv movie from 1995. I think she was so dull in Melrose Place and everything else I've seen her in.

I have no idea why so many people like Dawson's Creek. Everything about that show was so awful, especially James van der Beck and Katie Holmes, ugh!

I actually kinda love American Dreams. I like some Lifetime movies, but not most of them.

Edited July 7, 201213 yr by Mathewson

I didn't even find out about Sonja's pushy ass being responsible for the scourge that was Ray J until well after that show left the air, but it sure explained a lot about why Dee was barely on, how Moesha ended up getting a pregnancy scare, or how Ray J ended up ruining the family dynamic that they worked so hard to establish over the first three seasons.

Yeah Sheryl Lee Ralph left the show bc she didn't like the direction the show was going and I'm betting Yvette Wilson (RIP) begged to go over to The Parkers. Thank god they didn't get another season like they were expecting.

Yeah Sheryl Lee Ralph left the show bc she didn't like the direction the show was going and I'm betting Yvette Wilson (RIP) begged to go over to The Parkers. Thank god they didn't get another season like they were expecting.

I shudder to think of how worse Ray J's showkilling would've gotten if they'd had gotten that extra season.

Bumping thread up to share a couple more UOs:

As much as Heather Locklear is heralded in being the television equivalent of a life raft, I think that her arrival on Spin City marked the decline of that show (and not the eventual departure of Michael J. Fox, though that certainly didn't help matters). Not because she didn't fit on a sitcom (I thought she did quite well, considering that she'd never been on one in a starring role before), but because the chemistry of the cast had finally gelled together perfectly in the previous season. IMO, the arrival of TV Superstar Heather Locklear (on the heels of Jennifer Esposito - who I really enjoyed - leaving) messed up what had taken at least two seasons to accomplish.

While I'm on the subject of Spin City, it's the only show that I've enjoyed Connie Britton on. This isn't to say that I think that she isn't a good actress (I honestly have no opinion on that), but I've never been interested in keeping up with her subsequent projects past the first episode (that goes for Friday Night Lights, Nashville, and American Horror Story).