DAVID BIANCULLI

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100 SHOWS TO SEE BEFORE YOU DIE
March 12, 2012  | By David Bianculli

TV Guide Network, 9:00 p.m. ET

 
Part 2. I’m keeping this documentary series on the viewing list because its definition of See Before You Die shows includes ones that are unspeakably bad – and by that definition, this show qualifies to make its own list. It’s that horrendous. Where to start? How about with a total lack of perspective? Last week, in an episode repeated tonight at 8 p.m. ET, The Flying Nun ranked as No. 90, The Cosby Show at No. 89, and Land of the Lost as No. 88. Roll that around your tongue for a while. The interviewees gathered to offer context include unfamiliar young comics, unfamiliar young magazine editors, and unfamiliar staffers and columnists on such websites as HitDanBack.com -- so if you want your TV history served up by the clueless “cool kids” at the snark table, this is for you. But since you’re reading this site, it isn’t – except as a jaw-dropping example of low-budget TV history with a short-term cultural memory. Fox’s wretched 2001 reality series, Temptation Island, lands at No. 82, only one notch behind South Park and two behind All in the Family. Archie Bunker way down at No. 80? Warning: If you don’t watch with the express intention to be amused by shockingly awful historical rankings, 100 Shows to See Before You Die might kill you.
 
 
 
 
 
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