10 Ridiculous TV Premises You Won't Believe Were Real
The epitome of the phrase "how did this get made?"
TV can sometimes seem like the same old same old. Tried and tested formats, the usual suspects in front of and behind the camera, a whole industry playing it safe and ticking over. Some shows are good, some are bad, but for the most part it’s a whole lot of middle of the road filler.
Then, there are the shows that buck the trend. The shows that leave you scratching your head and questioning what you’ve just seen: how did that get on the air? Why does that exist? Who on earth thought that was a good idea?
These are the TV oddities that defy explanation, the pitches you wish you could have been in the room to see. Sometimes, a little outside the box thinking is a good thing, and you end up with a fresh, original, even vital concept.
More often than not, though, if it sounds like a steaming pile of nonsense, then it probably is. Whether the show is just a confused but harmless mess or something more insidious, these brain boggling shows go to demonstrate that a little imagination can be a dangerous thing indeed.
10. Cop Rock
A true fever dream of a series, Cop Rock is half police procedural, half musical, and all weird. Co-created by Stephen Bochco, who helmed some of the USA’s most successful cop shows of all time, Cop Rock was a risky choice for ABC, and their bold move did not pay off.
Put simply, Cop Rock is exactly as insane as it sounds. Your typical police drama storyline plays out - there are crooks and sworn officers, arrests and interrogations, courtroom showdowns and every other aspect of the law we’ve come to expect. Only, every now and then, the characters burst into song.
Cop Rock’s key error (apart from everything about it) was the mishmash of tone. Obviously it didn’t take itself too seriously - except when it did. The storylines were played deadly straight, and the musical numbers for high camp comedy.
The show is now an infamous part of ‘90s American culture, a watchword for bad decision making in the TV business. Perhaps there was a way to do the concept justice, to make it a little more silly, or a little more serious - more likely, though, it was just a terrible idea all round.