This one copped one of the simplest and most devastating reviews we’ve ever seen. USA Today wasted only a single word in describing the premiere of Luis back in 2003: “Horrific.” Wow. Apparently it was so bad they couldn’t even be bothered explaining why. Well, let us pick up where USA Today left off. While the show’s star, Luis Guzmán is a successful and much-loved comedic actor, somehow his charm just failed to carry across in the show. Headed up by a Puerto Rican actor, the Fox comedy was supposed to play with ethnic stereotypes in a way that was still relatable and heartwarming. However, critics complained that it just made everyone feel awkward, flogging the corpses of failed jokes and rehashing tired stereotypes that just didn’t have any humor in them.
For all its hype, the show was canceled after only managing to squeeze out five episodes. According to New York Daily News, “the pilot script manages to poke fun at more ethnic groups than the average episode of All in the Family, but without any of the wit. Most of the jokes, like most of the characters, just sit there.”
2001: XFL
Okay, here’s the premise (let’s see if you think it’s as awesome as the network execs from UPN, NBC and TNN were all convinced it was): a brand new sport that combines wrestling with American football. Yep. As you might have guessed by now, this new sport was a dismal failure. XFL seemed to be more about barely-dressed cheerleaders and weird camera angles than actual athletic skill. It wasn’t all bad news though. Some players were able to use XFL as a springboard to get into the NFL. Players who were stoked to have made this transition include Corey Ivy, Kevin Kaesviharn and Mike Furrey.
Only realizing how dismal their weird creation was after seeing how much sports fans despised it, NBC bailed on its contract before the first season was even up. Vince McMahon, the owner of the WWF, ended up feeling nothing but shame for his part-ownership of the XFL. In fact, he went so far as to call it a “colossal failure.” Somehow, after the “sport” was canceled, that shame faded. McMahon is now planning to give the league a makeover and take another shot at impressing fans in 2020.
2002: Hidden Hills
This TV series came from the popular book, Surviving Suburbia. While the day-to-day angst of suburban life was relatable for fans of the book, the TV show failed to carry it off. This was thanks, in large part, to the fact that the producers were too focused on the idea that “sex sells.” They forced sexiness onto all the characters and into all the storylines, in a way that just felt weird against a backdrop of bake sales and softball games. Viewers felt alienated and just didn’t vibe with the show’s attempts at comedy.
With no one buying what Surviving Suburbia was offering, the show ended up on the official fail pile after just a single season. The sitcom started with low ratings and it only went downhill from there, causing NBC to pull out before they’d even aired all the episodes. There are five still stowed away somewhere that no one ever got to see.
2004: Come to Papa
Come to Papa is another one to add to our growing pile of shows that never made it past the first month. Viewers hated the NBC show right from the start, and the ratings reflected it. While the name alone is cringe-worthy enough, Come to Papa only gets worse from there. It centers around newspaper employee, Tom Papa, who doesn’t seem to be able to make any friends. In a strange casting decision, NBA star, John Salley, appeared as the mailman; a role in which he proved that all his talent definitely lies in sports. The acting was awkward and uncomfortable to watch, not just from Salley, but from the so-called professionals, too.
Here’s the real kicker: Steve Carell was one of the stars of the failed 2004 show. By now, we bet he’s glad the woeful attempt at comedy was pulled from the air so quickly. At least it means most people won’t remember this embarrassing episode in his career! Come to Papa didn’t even see out a full month, airing from June 3rd to June 24th, 2004.
2005: Love, Inc.
Here’s one that had viewers and critics divided. Love Inc. was a 2005 sitcom that centered around matchmakers in charge of a dating service who was having no luck in finding love themselves. It’s the kind of ironic premise that’s perfect for a successful comedy show and, with an ensemble cast that included the talented Busy Philipps, Love Inc. seemed to have all the right stuff. With a multi-ethnic cast, the show was designed to have broad appeal, with all demographics having at least one character they could relate to.
While the sitcom did enjoy a strong fan-base of young Latina women, these Love Inc. lovers weren’t strong enough to hold up the ratings. After just one season, the show was canceled. Critics claimed the stereotypical way in which some ethnicities were presented was at the heart of this failure. The African American characters were reduced to a cliched representation of their culture, and this alienated many viewers.