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Just about every long-running or critically acclaimed show has at least one major stinker in its run. It's just inevitable when you have so many episodes, some of them are gonna be duds. Sometimes, these episodes can be just as well-known as the great episodes.

I'll start with Code of Honor from TNG. Everything, from the racist undertones thanks to the baffling decision to make the actors playing a primitive alien race who lust after strong women black to the terrible fight scene makes me wonder how anybody involved thought this episode was a good idea.

There's a decent amount of stuff in Community that hasn't aged great even though it's been less than a decade, but I rewatched the first few seasons recently and "Advanced Gay"... woof (there's obviously most of Community season 4 which is bad).

I'm a Lost defender but it has some REAL duds. "Stranger in a Strange Land" especially.

I don't remember that episode of TNG being racist. I do remember a weird episode where Riker got everyone hooked on some weird pleasure game, but it wasn't bad, just a little too weird and corny.

Anime, especially ones with entire filler arcs, tend to have lots of bad episodes. Bleach is especially guilty of this, I feel like the filler rivaled the number of actual episodes.

The Walking Dead has plenty of bad ones now but early on it was almost always good. But season 2 did have one that wasn't too great, "Chupacabra." It moved slow, had some boring delusion scenes with Daryl, and uninteresting horny Maggie & Glenn stuff. I think it even contained a flashback. Definitely the weakest early episode and the worst of its season.

Rick & Morty had an almost entirely unfunny episode which just felt off from beginning to end. I can't remember which one it was, but I think I remember looking online about it and what people thought to see if it was just me, and it may have been one written by some new female writers. I recall some rabid fans who take it too seriously s***ting on the writers and the guy who made the show defending them and virtue signaling while he was at it. Just a ridiculous situation all around.

Calamity Panfan wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 04, 2020 3:14 pm

There's a decent amount of stuff in Community that hasn't aged great even though it's been less than a decade, but I rewatched the first few seasons recently and "Advanced Gay"... woof (there's obviously most of Community season 4 which is bad).

I'm a Lost defender but it has some REAL duds. "Stranger in a Strange Land" especially.

Isn't S4 of Community when Harmon left?

I've never seen Community but that episode already sounds hilarious.

^^ yeah so it hardly counts anyway

Most people say "Guess Who's Coming to State Dinner" is the worst episode of 'Venture Bros', but I thought it was really funny, personally.

I hate the Uncle Grandpa episode of 'Steven Universe'. It's bad.

Pete & Pete: "Crisis in the Love Zone". It's way too cartoony & doesn't fit the tone of the show at all.
NewsRadio: "Airport", mostly because of how distractingly-inaccurate the depiction of Lambert Airport is.
Agents of SHIELD: "0-8-4" & "Repairs"....aka episodes 2 & 9 out of 136. This is why they had such a hard time retaining viewers through that 1st season.
Castle: "Dead from New York" for the painful Carly Rae Jepsen plug.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

^ any carly rae jepsen plug is actually very good

Recess: "Nobody Doesn't Like TJ"

This episode is just one big wall-banger. The premise of this is that TJ finds out some kid named Gordy (who is only around for this episode) doesn't like him, so he tries to find out why... and befriend him. It tries to give a moral of "You can't please everyone" and "You can't be everyone's friend". A good moral... but it's executed HORRIBLY. Why? well here's the thing:
-Gordy never explains why, TJ at the end says "Well I don't really like you either" and they don't have any reason why. Yeah, telling kids that it's okay to just not like anyone for NO REASON. THAT'S a good moral...NOT.
-TJ acted very obsequious to Gordy. Among this, TJ did several things to Gordy (getting him in trouble, poisoning him with Walnuts which tbf wasn't malicious) so Gordy has legitimate reasons to hate him.

What would I have done? Well, one way to give somewhat of a family-unfriendly moral that gets the point across? Have Gordy maybe list TJ's virtues as flaws. Yes I know, but that's how life works - someone who tries to take charge? Can easily be seen as bossy. Someone who is kind? Can be seen as patronising or like a doormat. Someone who is confident? Can be seen as showoffy. Someone with a strong sense of justice? Can be seen as making a mountain out of a molehill.

Alternatively, just have Gordy point out "Buddy, what you've done isn't good."



Arthur: Let's see....

That episode where they turn off the TV for a week. (I forget what it's called)

This episode is just about "Turn off the TV and enjoy things outside of TV", the characters discover what life is like without TV.
...and considering it's being told to the children via a TV SHOW.... god, how hypocritical can you get?

I know anti-escapism aesops are inherently hypocritical, but they at least are aware of this and intead make it more about MODERATION than escapism. Adventures from the Book of Virtue and Adventures in Wonderland handle this aesop WAY better, pointing out that yeah, there's nothing wrong with watching stuff on TV - just don't do it at the expense of your health, hobbies, friends, family, etc.


Arthur's Big Hit

I know most of these episodes are written by adults (Which is why kids are doing things no kid would do), but nothing screams "Written by adults who never had children before" more than THIS episode.

We're supposed to sympathize with D.W... except she repeatedly annoys Arthur and destroys his property. She threw a bloody model out the window and told ARthur he did it wrong. Then he's the one who did something wrong because he hit her... I'm sorry, what? She destroyed his bloody property and just gets away with it because "oh he overreacted". Then on top of it Arthur's friends are like "Wow that's a bad thing you did". Bull**** would they think that!

And when Arthur gets hit, his parents just say "Well now you know how D.W. felt."

Were all these writers only children or something? or have they never met a child since they were like 15 years old? Because almost everyone I know hwo saw this episode either says "Everyone sucks here" at best (admitting Arthur did wrong) but they certainly wouldn't take D.W's side... not just because she is a super de duper annoying character with little to no reddeeming qualities whatsoever, but because she flat out destroyed Arthur's model. Seriously, Arthur's parents are one day going to be writing letters to Dear Abby saying "How come our oldest son never speaks to us since he went off to college?".

^^She wasn't the problem; the script was the problem.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

Buffy the Vampire Slayer has some clunkers, Beer Bad comes to mind right away

I don't know about 'terrible' but I thought Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily was kind of an unfair episode.

Marilink wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 05, 2020 11:35 am

Buffy the Vampire Slayer has some clunkers, Beer Bad comes to mind right away

Doublemeat Palace as well

Two words:

Scott's Tots

To be honest, I actually think it's an absolutely brilliant episode of The Office, but holy **** is it ever painful to watch. A lot of people think Dinner Party is the most awkward episode, but for me, Scott's Tots beats it by a mile.

scott's tots is truly next level awkward

Trigun is my favorite anime but there's one episode where the entire thing is just a recap of everything up until that moment. Meryl Stryfe is writing her report of their encounters with Vash the Stampede. The episode actually reuses entire clips from previous episodes. It was dumb and pointless. Waste of time.

^ I really liked Trigun when I was a teenager but now I don't. It bothers me how Vash is such a pacifist. I have the same problem with Ruroni Kenshin, it's like just chop the dude's head off already.

^That actually annoyed me more when I first watched it but I grew up to it a whole lot more as I got older. It has a great contrast between how Vash deals with situations and how Wolfwood does, and the ultimate fate of Wolfwood based on his actions. Vash and Knives are twins but with polar opposites in their mission, and I like how Knives just wants to play with him to prove a point. Meanwhile you put this all in the backdrop of a western-style setting, and westerns are known to just have people shooting each other all the time, and it's ironic that everyone is afraid of Vash but he hasn't actually killed anyone, unlike most wild west flicks. So it's more symbolic than anything, and Vash is really just "badass Jesus".

It's definitely different, and I see what they were going for. I guess I just can't properly appreciate it. I just see a situation where the problem can be so easily resolved and he's just like "nO i CaNt KiLl HiTlEr".