“From rushed finales to messy reboots, these TV shows were so bad even their creators admitted they failed. A hilarious deep dive into TV’s biggest regrets.

Science fiction didn’t suddenly get smart in the streaming era. Long before prestige budgets and moody synth scores, TV writers in the 60s and 70s were already wrestling with identity, free will, surveillance, and the quiet terror of technology. Today’s “original” sci-fi often feels fresh—but only because it’s standing on some very old shoulders.

If you remember being able to follow these shows as a kid, you were probably smarter than you thought!

Television’s power to entertain is one thing–but when shows tap into cultural nerves, they can set off political debates, public outrage, and even policy questions. These 20 shows didn’t just draw viewers–they sparked discussions that stretched far beyond the screen. From dramas that reshaped how we think about war and justice to reality series that ignited ethical firestorms, here’s how TV crossed the line and found itself in the middle of serious political controversy.

Some television series don’t just air and disappear. They live on in forums, conventions, edits, theory threads, cosplay, fan art, and inside jokes shared across the internet. Whether they were lightning rods for fan creativity or mysterious threading puzzles that begged to be unraveled, these shows built fandoms that refuse to let them be forgotten.

Streaming was supposed to free us from appointment television, endless reruns, and whatever random procedural happened to be on at 9pm. Instead, it’s given us something arguably worse: shows that look prestige-y, sound expensive, and somehow still feel like background noise you didn’t ask for. Cable at least knew what it was. These shows? They often aim high, miss wildly, and leave viewers nostalgic for the days when changing the channel was easier than committing to eight disappointing episodes.