Worst TV Show that lasted more than One Season.

[bpatrick]

Enough that Jerry Lee Lewis named his son Steven Allen Lewis.
But about Steve Allen's disdain of rock 'n' roll, has anyone ever
seen the bit where he reads the lyrics of "Be-Bop-A-Lula" as if
they are some kind of comic poetry?

 

[wbhist]

Enough that Jerry Lee Lewis named his son Steven Allen Lewis. But about Steve Allen's disdain of rock 'n' roll, has anyone ever seen the bit where he reads the lyrics of "Be-Bop-A-Lula" as if they are some kind of comic poetry?

Allen, some quarter-century later, had similar contempt for disco, given his "poetic" reading of Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff." (The best part, though, was when he solemnly intoned, "Hot, hot, hot . . . stuff, stuff, stuff.")

 

[jwk1979]

Enough that Jerry Lee Lewis named his son Steven Allen Lewis. But about Steve Allen's disdain of rock 'n' roll, has anyone ever seen the bit where he reads the lyrics of "Be-Bop-A-Lula" as if they are some kind of comic poetry?

Allen, some quarter-century later, had similar contempt for disco, given his "poetic" reading of Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff." (The best part, though, was when he solemnly intoned, "Hot, hot, hot . . . stuff, stuff, stuff.")

He also did a "Poetic Reading" of "My Sharonna"-The Knack, iirc, on "Solid Gold".

 

[LKellerIII]

In the late 60s, I heard humorist Henry Morgan (not to be confused with Harry) do an oral reading of the the lyrics for Hello, Goodbye, by the Beatles. Morgan, who was most famous for being an I've Got a Secret panelist, also hated rock music. The Beatles wrote some great lyrics over the years, but I have to admit - those particular lyrics ("Hello, hello, I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello...") did sound pretty lame when read without the music.

Like Steve Allen, Morgan spent most of his later years as a professional grouch, though he was much funnier than Allen.

 

[KeithE4]

In the late 60s, I heard humorist Henry Morgan (not to be confused with Harry) do an oral reading of the the lyrics for Hello, Goodbye, by the Beatles. Morgan, who was most famous for being an I've Got a Secret panelist, also hated rock music. The Beatles wrote some great lyrics over the years, but I have to admit - those particular lyrics ("Hello, hello, I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello...") did sound pretty lame when read without the music.

Most song lyrics are lame when printed. Go down to your local watering hole on Karaoke night and you'll see what I mean. But reciting bad song lyrics in an attempt at comedy wasn't what was so objectionable about Allen's "poetry readings." Some of them were, in fact, lame (of course, they weren't meant to be read as poetry, either). It was his absolute bitterness that showed on-air that made him look very petty and small.

 

[BobSacamano]

Steve Allan supposedly had a contract rider that he be introduced as: "world reknown recording artist, actor, producer, best selling author, composer of over a thousand songs, Emmy award winning comic genius"..sheez..I've also read that Jack Paar AND Johnny Carson both loathed him..

 

[onairb]

Steve Allan supposedly had a contract rider that he be introduced as: "world reknown recording artist, actor, producer, best selling author, composer of over a thousand songs, Emmy award winning comic genius"..sheez..I've also read that Jack Paar AND Johnny Carson both loathed him..

Don't know about Paar, but since Carson and Allen were 'competitors' at times in the '60s(when Allen had a syndicated show, although it aired in prime-time in many large markets, rather than opposite Johnny), they wouldn't have crossed paths on TV much until about 1969 or so.
From what I've read, they got along well enough that Allen sometimes guested, and even guest-hosted, on Johnny's show-at least until 1980, when Allen, while being interviewed about sitting in for Johnny, commented that it wasn't 'difficult' for him to take the reigns of what used to be Allen's show, saying that it doesn't really matter who hosted the 'Tonight Show', and that 'a trained chimpanzee could do it, and the same several million viewers would still tune in'.
To my knowledge, there was no 'feud' between Allen and Carson, but Allen was never asked to host the show again(although he did return as a guest a few years later..with Jack Paar.)

 

[jwk1979]

In the late 60s, I heard humorist Henry Morgan (not to be confused with Harry) do an oral reading of the the lyrics for Hello, Goodbye, by the Beatles. Morgan, who was most famous for being an I've Got a Secret panelist, also hated rock music. The Beatles wrote some great lyrics over the years, but I have to admit - those particular lyrics ("Hello, hello, I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello...") did sound pretty lame when read without the music.

Most song lyrics are lame when printed. Go down to your local watering hole on Karaoke night and you'll see what I mean. But reciting bad song lyrics in an attempt at comedy wasn't what was so objectionable about Allen's "poetry readings." Some of them were, in fact, lame (of course, they weren't meant to be read as poetry, either). It was his absolute bitterness that showed on-air that made him look very petty and small.

There are alot of Country song, as well the "Pop" Standards that Steve Allen and Henry Morgan seemed to love, that if you read the words without the music, that most people would find LAME.

 

[jwk1979]

Steve Allen also had a disdain for Professional Wrestling, which you have seen if you ever watched the Pro Wrestling documentry he narrarated on A&E during the late '90s. What is ironic is that Steve Allen once hosted and did commentary on Pro Wrestling in the early days of television.

 

[KML0224]

Steve Allen also appeared as a celebrity at WrestleMania VI in 1990.

 

[Ultimajock]

Steve Allan supposedly had a contract rider that he be introduced as: "world reknown recording artist, actor, producer, best selling author, composer of over a thousand songs, Emmy award winning comic genius"..sheez..I've also read that Jack Paar AND Johnny Carson both loathed him..

Don't know about Paar

...Paar, in his last book, P.S. Jack Paar: An Entertainment, wrote the line, "I'm very fond of Steve Allen, but not nearly as fond of him as Steve Allen is" ;-) ...

 

[Markieo]

Steve Allan supposedly had a contract rider that he be introduced as: "world reknown recording artist, actor, producer, best selling author, composer of over a thousand songs, Emmy award winning comic genius"..sheez..I've also read that Jack Paar AND Johnny Carson both loathed him..

A thousand songs? Name two.

 

[LKellerIII]

Steve Allan supposedly had a contract rider that he be introduced as: "world reknown recording artist, actor, producer, best selling author, composer of over a thousand songs, Emmy award winning comic genius"..sheez..I've also read that Jack Paar AND Johnny Carson both loathed him..

A thousand songs? Name two.

This Could Be the Start of Something (Big)

ooh, ooh...and...........uh...ummmm....OK, I'm stumped.

 

[RicoGregg]

Steve Allan supposedly had a contract rider that he be introduced as: "world reknown recording artist, actor, producer, best selling author, composer of over a thousand songs, Emmy award winning comic genius"..sheez..I've also read that Jack Paar AND Johnny Carson both loathed him..

A thousand songs? Name two.

This Could Be the Start of Something (Big)

ooh, ooh...and...........uh...ummmm....OK, I'm stumped.

....and The Gravy Waltz. That's about all I could name.

 

[wbhist]

Steve Allan supposedly had a contract rider that he be introduced as: "world reknown recording artist, actor, producer, best selling author, composer of over a thousand songs, Emmy award winning comic genius"..sheez..I've also read that Jack Paar AND Johnny Carson both loathed him..

A thousand songs? Name two.

This Could Be the Start of Something (Big)

ooh, ooh...and...........uh...ummmm....OK, I'm stumped.

....and The Gravy Waltz. That's about all I could name.

Allen co-wrote "Banana Split" which was the flip of The McGuire Sisters' 1957 hit "Sugartime."

 

[jwk1979]

Steve Allan supposedly had a contract rider that he be introduced as: "world reknown recording artist, actor, producer, best selling author, composer of over a thousand songs, Emmy award winning comic genius"..sheez..I've also read that Jack Paar AND Johnny Carson both loathed him..

A thousand songs? Name two.

This Could Be the Start of Something (Big)

ooh, ooh...and...........uh...ummmm....OK, I'm stumped.

....and The Gravy Waltz. That's about all I could name.

Allen co-wrote "Banana Split" which was the flip of The McGuire Sisters' 1957 hit "Sugartime."

I bet if you did a poetic reading of both "The Gravy Waltz" and "Banana Split", the lyrics would also sound pretty lame!

 

[MsMusicRadio]

Was Steve Allen Elvis Costello's Grandpa?

 

[bpatrick]

Steve Allen also had a disdain for Professional Wrestling, which you have seen if you ever watched the Pro Wrestling documentry he narrarated on A&E during the late '90s. What is ironic is that Steve Allen once hosted and did commentary on Pro Wrestling in the early days of television.

In one of his autobiographies Allen recalled being hired by KABC to announce their wrestling show and was told to inject humor into the call of the matches. On one occasion he described a wrestler moving a hold "to a full nelson from either a half nelson or an Ozzie Nelson." Some fans didn't take to his lighthearted approach; one viewer wrote, "If you think wrestling's so funny, try getting into that ring yourself." He also said he was never quite sure if the interviews were real or planned, so realistic were they.

Oddly, Dennis James never seemed to have that problem: he'd bring dog biscuits, which he'd crush into the microphone to simulate a bone-crushing hold; balloons he would rub to simulate groans; and a harmonica on which he'd play a cadenza when a wrestler was sent flying across the ring. The only wrestlers he seemed to offend were the Garibaldi brothers, and he earned their lifelong respect when, one night, the son of one of them was rushed to the hospital with possible polio. James heard about it just before airtime and asked viewers to say a prayer for the boy (I don't know if the boy recovered, but I do know that James could do no wrong in the Garibaldis' eyes after that).

 

[mleach]

My nominee for worse show that aired for two season or more is "Alice". The acting was bad, the scripts even worse and I found ALL the characters to be amoung the most annoying ever on TV. Why was Mel such an obnoxious loud mouth? Why did all the men in Phoenix find Flo irresistable and sexy? How did Vera make it on her own being so naive? Why was Philip such a smart-ass at such a young age? Why was a lounge singer like Alice working in a White-Trash dump like Mel's Diner? How could such annoying show with even more annoying characters last as long as it did on CBS? I don't ever recall it being shown in syndication during it run on CBS or after it's run ended.

One of the biggest complaints I have heard about Alice was how the show was so different in so many ways from the movie "Alice Doesn't Live here Anymore". Examples..

Alice... the movie..
*Alice and Tommy are from New Mexico
*husband Don was an a-hole
*Alice & Tommy ended up in Tuscon
*Mel Sharples had a partner who ran the diner with him
*I believe in the movie the restaurant was called "Mel & Ruby's cafe"
*Vera was the smart one
*Flo and Alice smoked cigarettes
*Flo seemed to have had little interest in picking up guys
*the movie was a drama

Alice...the TV show..
*Alice and Tommy are from New Jersey
*Alice in some episodes spoke about her "loving husband"
*Alice & Tommy ended up in Phoenix
*Mel Sharples was the sole owner
*the restaurant was called simply "Mel's Diner"
*Vera was the dumb one
*Flo & Alice didn't smoke ( well cigars as a joke in one episode )
*Flo enjoyed being well mans best friend
*the show was a comedy

I think a lot of people were expecting the Alice being just like the movie only to end up being disappointed while those who had never seen the movie, they were the biggest fans. Story goes that neither Beth Howland ( Vera ) and Polly Holiday ( Flo ) on purpose chose NOT see the movie. Not sure about Lavin though.

Come to think of it I haven't seen Alice Doesn't Live here Anymore for many many years...maybe I should see it again one of these days.

 

[mjlarochelle]

Big Brother, Dr. Phil, The View, and Oprah.