7. The Secret Diary Of Desmond Pfeiffer (UPN, 1998)
Whats It About? During the American Civil War, a Black English nobleman is abducted by his enemies and taken to America onboard a slave ship where he escapes and starts working for President Lincoln.
Why Is It So Ridiculous? The set-up is insanely convoluted, lets start there. As well as that, there were no Black Noblemen in Britain in the 1800s. Historical sitcoms can be absolute crackers. You only need to look at Blackadder to see that. And thats where this sitcom failed completely. Even though it was set during the Civil War, it tried to parody modern day issues. And therein lies the problem. The world has changed significantly since the American Civil War. Also, as the aim was to use Abraham Lincoln to parody Bill Clinton, hes played as an idiotic sex addict despite being one of the most highly regarded presidents in American history. It wasted the opportunity of its premise and tried to do something that didnt fit with its setting and premise. So instead of wry commentary on the Civil War, we get stuff like an episode about Lincoln becoming addicted to telegraph sex. The jokes are out place and the set-up is idiotic.
What Happened To It? Other than the fact that it was terrible, there were claims that it was racially insensitive which led to it being cancelled after four episodes.