The Light from the TV Shows: TGS: 30 Great Shows (That Don’t Actually Exist)

6. Jerry (“Seinfeld”)

As with most flop TV series, it took far longer to bring “Jerry” to fruition than the sitcom based on the lives of Jerry Seinfeld and his friends lasted on the NBC schedule. Really, though, what they were thinking giving it go-ahead in the first place? No one’s going to watch a show about nothing!

7. FYI (“Murphy Brown”)

Honestly, I was more tempted to put “LateLine” on the list than “FYI,” since – blasphemy or not – I actually preferred that show to “Murphy Brown” on the whole. But it’s late, and I didn’t think about it until I’d already finalized the list, so that’s the way the cookie crumbles. Sorry, Senator Franken.

8. Chuckles the Clown (“The Mary Tyler Moore Show”)

Chuckles the Clown’s career, like his death, took place entirely off-screen, but as it’s one of the most famous and fondly-remembered episodes in television history, we’re gonna go ahead and post the whole damned thing. If you’re still reading this rather than watching it, you’re making the wrong decision.

9. Psycho Dad (“Married…with Children”)

Given the low-brow comedic sensibilities of “Married…with Children,” Al Bundy’s favorite TV series lives up to viewer expectations across the board. The only shocker is that Fox didn’t actually produce it for real, because from the sound of it, it’d be perfect for their demo.

10. Million Dollar Heads or Tails (“How I Met Your Mother”)

No, it hasn’t been made into a real prime-time game show yet. But I understand the syndication deal is thisclose to being signed. Ask your local station to pick it up!

11. Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E (“Friends”)

There were several different Joey Tribiani endeavors to choose from, of course, both on “Friends” as well as on the decidedly shorter-lived spin-off, “Joey,” but in the end, the talking robot always wins out.

12. Pucks! (“Episodes”)

Wow, who would’ve thought a show could get worse reviews than “Joey”? Wait, was that an actual line in “Episodes”? If not, someone call the show’s writers and tell ’em that’s a freebie, but anything after that is gonna cost ’em.

13. Mock Trial with J. Reinhold (“Arrested Development”)

No word yet on whether Judge Reinhold is going to make it back for the “Arrested Development” reunion episodes or not, but if he’s absent, let’s hope it’s because he’s still trying to shop this around the networks as a real show, because I’d watch the hell out of it.

14. Questions for Kids (“The Brady Bunch”)

Stage fright happens to the best of us, but when it kicks in after you’ve mouthed off to your siblings about how you’re really going to kick some ass on a television academic competition, then you’re really screwed.

15. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (“Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip”)

You have to think that anyone from the “30 Rock” cast and crew who reads this piece – I’ll allow a moment for the snort of derisive laughter – would have to chuckle at the mere sight of this show’s name, given that there seemed to be a very reasonable likelihood that “Studio 60” rather than “30 Rock” would be the longer lasting of the two series. If the whole series had been as brilliant as these few minutes, it just might’ve been. But it wasn’t. So it wasn’t.

Pages: 1 2 3 4  (Previous Page Next Page)

You can follow us on Twitter and Facebook for content updates. Also, sign up for our email list for weekly updates and check us out on Google+ as well.