ITV's Worst Sitcoms

What was the one with Davina McCall in? That's gotta be both the worst sitcom ITV ever broadcast and the worst thing Davina has ever done (and that's saying something!).

Davina McCall's s(h)itcom was called Sam's Game (as mentioned above) & Ed Byrne co starred IIRC.

Babes In The Wood was atrocious, Karl Howman, Denise Van Outen, Sam Janus & Natalie Walter. I believe Sam Janus left & was replaced by someone else who I can't even remember. Denise Van Outen, Sam Janus & Natalie Walter got work after the show but Karl Howman got stuck with those Flash ads.

Metal Mickey was supposed to be crap as well apparently.

As for On The Buses, bloody hell is that painfully dated these days.

Yes, but then again that doesn't make it a bad sitcom!

I struggle to look at that man's teeth.

They're like a row of storm-battered gravestones.

So that's one thing that makes an old show difficult to watch.

Bottle Boys starring Robin Askwith was so bad that most ITV execs hated it and I think it was dropped by some stations during series 2.

Plaza Patrol, was one of Cannon and Ball's vehicles when they left LWT and went to Yorkshire (the other being Cannon and Ball's Casino). It was pretty bad but not as bad as their feature film: 'Boys in Blue'

No true, it was popular although I believe that the press hated it. However my Dad (who's 61) watched it recently on ITV 3 & commented on how poor it seemed now.

As for Bob Grant, who played Jack (the man whose teeth you mention Gavin), I'm sure I read somewhere that he suffered from bad depression because of the comments he used to get thrown his way regarding his teeth, apparently.

Well, I'd feel bad, but he's long deid, so no harm done.

Actually, looking at him, the actress playing his sister, not to mention Blakey - they were all rather "grotesque". Its not something we'd stomach easily these days - but then Love Thy Neighbour was just more of the same.

Why it wasn't found offensive, even then, to point and laugh at the differences in people is beyond me.

Thank god we live in these times.

The irony is though, whilst half of these sitcoms were dire at the time, some of the repeats have worked better during daytime on ITV3.

(that is of course my opinion, Sams Game excluded.)

On The Buses has to be one of the best things ITV did in the 70's - I can't help quoting it half the time - what about awful 80s and 90s rubbish like Shelley, Surgical Spirit and Is It Legal!

Some sitcoms have aged terribly. I found On The Buses hilarious 40 years ago. The odd time I watch it now, on ITV 3, I wonder what all the fuss was about. Ditto Nearest and Dearest. Copper's End, with Richard Wattis and Bill Owen was diabolically bad in about 1970 or 71. Metal Mickey I always despised, but it used to get huge audiences in its Saturday teatime slot. There was a programme called MInd Your Language, starring Barry Evans, in which all the characters were stereotypical Spaniards, Italians, Chinese etc. It was dire. As was a show which was so awful I can't even remember the name of it. But it involved an ancient fire engine. To be honest, the bulk of sitcoms are forgettable, and that's the best thing. ITV probably had a greater failure rate than the BBC, but there were always far more sitcoms misses than real hits on any channel. And only a few, like Steptoe, Dad's Army, Rising Damp and Fawlty Towers are timeless.

What this thread shows more than anything is that sitcoms either appeal to an individual or they don't. Comedy is particularly polar when it comes to personal preferences. I think The Office is hilarious; my wife doesn't get it at all. There's nothing wrong in that, it's just the way it is. That said, a lot of ITVs sitcoms haven't been hits. It's amazing to think how many sitcoms ITV made and how many lasted for only one or two series. On The Busses was a huge hit and led to films (a common route in the 70s: The Likely Lads, Porridge to name only two all had film versions made). Mind Your Language clearly found an audience then but doesn't work now. Some sitcoms were vehicles for ageing variety and comic stage actors, some developed from the now almost forgotten stage genre of farce which was a large part of British theatre then.

Personally I think The Brighton Belles was a particularly low point in recent years!

Shelley is quite a classic, Surgical Spirit was quite good too. I think both would stand up quite well if repeated today. Neither are bad shows either in terms of writing, acting or humour. Shelley for example was quite clever and whimsical

ITV sit-coms in the 80's tended to range from the bland to the passable, there weren't very many really bad ones*, at the time they were quite watchable and most would pass muster on ITV3 now.
*Up the Elephant and Round The Castle, Slingers/Trippers Day, Bottle Boys being probably the 3 worst

You're right On The Buses was a good sitcom, ITV seemed to go through a good sitcom patch in the early/mid 70's with On The Buses, Please Sir, Bless This House and Rising Damp amongst all the long forgotten ones