2007: Painkiller Jane
Based on a comic book character of the same name, the series begins with a DEA agent who discovers that she has superhuman abilities when she is pushed through a window of a 40-story building, and instead of dying upon landing, she completely recovers and is able to walk away from the scene. Just to be sure she was imagining what happened, she a runs into the middle of a gunfight and even jabs herself with a corkscrew. While she posses supernormal regenerative powers, she still feels the pain caused by her injuries in the seconds before they heal, something like X-Men’s Wolverine.
Most of its viewership gave the show a thumbs down, and according to Los Angeles Times “The show is long on concept and short on execution which would actually be OK if the writing and acting were not so simply terrible.” Well, there weren’t enough comic con nerds to drive up the show’s ratings, actually comic fans gave it the worst reviews, so like most of the failed show on this list, Painkiller Jane was canceled after only one season.
2009: Hank
After the huge success of Cheers and Fraiser, the Hollywood acclaimed actor, Kelsey Grammer, was cast in yet another sitcom called Hank. This time he portrayed a high-powered business executive who lived the big city life with his wife and two children. That is until he gets let go from his lucrative CEO job. No longer able to afford their luxurious lifestyle, Hank and his family move from New York City to the much smaller and modest town of River Bend, Virginia.
This Country Mouse and City Mouse Adventure received generally negative reviews. One TV critic, Linda called Hank one of the worst new comedies on television. Grammer himself said that many times he found the script to be too "unfunny".
2014: Stalker
With Primetime television, sometimes it about who is willing to take a risk. And CBS took a huge risk when they decided to air Stalker. The story followed an LAPD Lt. who's an expert in cyber harassment, romantic fixation, and voyeurism. She, along with her team try to prevent and investigate such horrific crimes. What ended up on air were some of the most disturbing scenes ever seen on primetime television. The show was so creepy and dark that no one could bear to watch it, so CBS quickly snatched the show off the air after its first season.
Stalker received overwhelmingly negative reviews from viewers and critics alike. It was referred to as exploitative and misogynist. The Los Times wrote about the show "The violence, creepiness, and depravity appear to be the point because nothing of value is offered in balance... It's unforgivable." The question that remains is did anyone actually watch the pilot before the show was approved?
2014: I Want To Marry Harry
In 2014, Fox Jedi-mind-tricked 12 women into thinking they were actually competing for a chance to win the heart of nonother than, Prince Harry himself. That's the only way to explain it because no one in their right mind would think that young British royalty would go on American reality television to find true love. But in the place of Prince Harry was a poor look-alike named Matthew Hicks. I mean, Meghan Markle would be offended that Fox even compared Hicks to her man. I Want To Marry Harry was like The Bachelor and Joe Millionaire, but they managed to make the women appear even more foolish.
There's hope for humanity, due to low rating Fox pulled the show from the air in the US and canceled it after airing only four episodes.
2007: Cavemen
A show based on Based on the GEICO Cavemen commercials doesn't sound promising to most, but for some reason, ABC gave it a chance anyway. Cavemen focuses on life in San Diego, California, through the eyes of three cavemen: Nick, Andy, and Joe. The show started off on a poor foot with a racist pilot that would never be aired. But the problem was that the remaining five episodes were just as tasteless. The infamous 2007 Writer’s Strike Came and did the honors of driving the show to extinction for ABC.
The reviews for Cavemen were brutal, to say the least. The Chicago Tribune listed it as one of the 25 worst TV shows ever, and TV critic Ginia Bellafante of The New York Times wrote "I laughed. But I laughed through my pain. 'Cavemen,' set in some version of San Diego where people speak with Southern accents, doesn’t have moments as much as microseconds suspended from any attempt at narrative." The short-lived series was also honored with the 22nd spot on TV Guide Network's list of 25 Biggest TV Blunders. They agreed that basing a TV show on a commercial was a bad idea from the get-go.