Was Home Improvement the most inane sit-com of all time?

[pokerfan]

Nine seasons, huh?

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Aw... my kids like that show

[fizzgig]

2. no

that would be friends

[ghostsofgiants]

4. This is the right answer.

[pokerfan]

5. I never watched Friends

I considered it a blatant Seinfeld ripoff.

[Rabrrrrrr]

25. Absolutely. "Friends" makes every other TV show look like MacBeth in comparison.

[ghostsofgiants]

3. Nine seasons? Really?

I liked it as a kid, but yeah, it was mostly lame.

[SeattleGirl]

6. No, Seinfeld was.

:puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

[pokerfan]

8. Well, it was a show about nothing

Maybe inane was the wrong word. Was HI the most insipid sit-com of all time?

Yeah, that works.

[Skittles]

10. yes

it was extremely stupid and annoying - Miami Vice was too

[crimsonblue]

7. no.

[elshiva]

9. There was stuff that was worse than that....

But I can't think of it. Nine seasons, meh! Buffy only had 7!

[crimsonblue]

11. buffy=trash

I'd take Tim the Toolman Taylor any day over stupid vampires.

[grasswire]

12. how many seasons did Cheers have?

And what about All In The Family?

I don't know.

I always liked "Mad About You" and that show Cheryl whatshername had, and also the show that Jay Thomas was in (can't remember the name of that either, must be time to go to bed).

Oh, and Frasier? Golden Girls? MTM?

[Zavulon]

14. Eleven.

Wasn't worth a shit once Coach died and Diane left.

[CreekDog]

18. Rebecca was better than Diane

i mean maybe she was a lot less realistic because she was basically a freak, but i prefer the Rebecca episodes actually. the show got goofier and fun at that point. i mean, it is *fiction*.

[Zavulon]

41. I disagree.

Even if I liked Rebecca better than Diane on the show, there was never a lot of that killer banter between Rebecca and Carla. There was between Rebecca and Diane. Plus, at least the question of "will they or won't they" was decided quickly with Diane, whereas Sam chased Rebecca for years while she made an annoying ass out of herself chasing the nearest available millionaire.

In short, I believe Diane was better for the show as a whole - but of course, this is all a matter of taste.

[Mojambo]

13. It's right up there. Growing Pains would be some competition. n/t

[Zavulon]

15. Married with Children was.

That one lasted way longer than it should have, too.

[KurtNYC]

16. F-Troop, Different Strokes or Mr. Belvedre

would beat HI by a long shot IMHO

[briv1016]

17. I would have to go with Boy Meets World

The college years were painful.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

24. It was decent its first two years.

Nice little kids sitcom. Goofy classmates, uptight teacher, etc.

Then the Ben Savage character hit puberty, they tried making it more serious, and then they decided to have him get married when he was like 17, or some ridiculous age like that. It pretty much devolved as it progressed.

[terrya]

19. "Home Improvement" was almost painfully unfunny, but no.

"Gilligan's Island" was the most inane sitcom of all time.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

20. No, you're thinking of "According to Jim."

HI was basically just schtick with a minimal story wrapped around it. You either like Tim Allen's act or you don't.

[Iris]

23. I was going to say "What's Happenin'" but you nailed it with "According to Jim"!

[pokerfan]

27. Never saw According to Jim

but I seem to keep stumbling over HI on one of my cable channels. One hour blocks. Never watched it much when it was on but man, talk about cookie cutter writing:

Tim does something stupid. Wife gets pissed. Tim visits the oracle in the backyard. Tim fixes the problem and makes up with wife. Sidekick gets to say, 'I don't think so' several times. Pokerfan slams his head into a wall.

At least with Seinfeld, you had no idea where an episode was going to wind up only that somehow they would tie the two or three sub plots together in an often surprising fashion. HI was MWC without even the kitsch appeal.

Sure sign your sitcom is dying: they resort to airing outtakes at the end.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

21. It was just mediocre.

Not great, not horrible. Pretty blah. If you liked it, you liked it.

[Sanity Claws]

22. My Mother the Car wins that prize

Someone actually pitched that idea and some bigger idiots bought it.

[Initech]

26. Its ripoff, "The Bill Engvall Show" is pretty craptacular as well.

I used to like Home Improvement before they started preaching all that family values bullshit.

[LanternWaste]

28. I'd give that title to either

"most inane sit-com of all time?"

I'd give that title to either The Simpsons or The Golden Girls...

(Nine seasons? Really? Sheesh... it seemed more like twenty-seven)

[kmla]

29. Nope. Three's Company is the all time champion of inanity.

Can't be topped.

[huskerlaw]

30. No, I believe that was "Everybody Loves Raymond"

:puke:

[Initech]

39. ELR was a shitty show, I agree.

[MilesColtrane]

31. These two have to be in contention.

Alf.

Small Wonder.

[bif]

32. How about the Beverly Hillbillies?

Now that was a stupid show.

[LisaM]

33. When there was "Full House" on at about the same time?

No.

[Symarip]

34. This thread has reminded me a few things:

1. Television sucks. I don't watch it, or try not to. I've never seen a single episode of Sex and The City or Lost or Grey's Anatomy or ER. Most of the shows mentioned that I have seen are downright crap (especially Friends... Speaking of which, if I meet another girl at a bar who starts recounting some unfunny bullshit that Joey did to Chandler, I swear, I'm going to walk into freeway traffic with my eyes closed. Wait, what was I talking about again?). Are there exceptions to the rule? Sure, but it's not worth wading through hours of complete bullshit just to catch a few minutes of real entertainment... Plus, if it's really good you can usually grab a *.torrent or just buy the dvd set when it comes out and save yourself the headache.

2. Television shows I do like never last long to begin with, like Mr. Show. Or end up coming on in the middle of the night, like Tim and Eric or ATHF. Basically, this tells me that though I like to think that I'm right and everyone else is wrong, the truth is probably the exact opposite.

In some ways, I thank god we were raised so poor that we couldn't afford cable. I really do think that TV sedates us and turns our brains into passive mush. But sometimes, around the coffee pot in the morning, I wish I could relate to everyone talking about Dancing With The Stars or American Idol (which I actually did end up watching for a while because Sanjaya was such a strange hero).

[pokerfan]

36. I'm thinking about dropping cable

and replacing it with nothing.

I would definitely miss South Park but Comedy Central makes episodes available on their web site.

Then it hits me. Dammit. I would miss a shitload of college football games, my one sports weakness. The majority of Pac-10 games are on cable. They got me by the short ones.

Oh sure, it's easy to talk tough in July, especially if one isn't a baseball fan. But damn you, college football!

[fizzgig]

40. i've never seen any episodes of shows you mentioned in your first point

i've been without cable for three or four months now and really can't complain. sure, i miss watching a few of my favorite shows, but i just tivo them at my dad's and go there periodically to watch them.

for me, tv has long been just background noise, rather than something that got my full attention

[PVnRT]

35. I think "Two and a Half Men" trumps it

Horrible fucking show.

[Roon]

37. I hate all sitcoms

the only ones I watch now are Roseanne repeats late at night if I am still up...but sitcoms in general make me sick to my stomach.

[mitchum]

38. Yes, it was even worse than "Mama's Family" and "Growing Pains"

[Orrex]

42. I believe that "Small Wonder" must claim that honor

Very likely the worst show in the history of television. Possibly the worst "entertainment" in the history of civilization. And it just might be the absolute worst thing to happen to the universe in the last 15+ billion years.