10 TV Shows That Were Doomed From The Start
4. WBF Bodystars
In 1991 and 1992, Vince McMahon's Titan Sports had diversified from the World Wrestling Federation, with the wily carny having one of the first of the serious brain hijacking moments that would prove how poor a businessman he could be when he moved out of his comfort zone. In deliberate, direct competition with the International Federation of Bodybuilders, McMahon created the World Bodybuilding Federation, launched to great fanfare and featuring thirteen of the best looking bodybuilders he'd been able to lure away from the IFBB.
Part of the promotional juggernaut for this new venture was the broadcast on the USA Network of WBF Bodystars: a weekly show dedicated to pushing the worked personas of his Bodystars and their physiques. That's right: McMahon was trying to build an allegedly legitimate bodybuilding franchise to take over from the industry leader, by co-opting the gimmicks and cartoon showmanship that he'd brought to professional wrestling.
The WBF was an unmitigated disaster: bodybuilding just isnt a spectator sport, and those who follow the niche activity in competition are precisely the kind of people whod be incredibly annoyed by McMahons hucksterism and cheesy presentation. But as much as the whole concept was flawed, Bodystars was worse. McMahon couldn't find advertisers willing to pay to feature commercials during the show, and ended up paying for the timeslot himself.
He couldnt get the mainstream host he'd wanted for the show, and ended up using pro wrestler Lex Luger, who had a great physique but was unknown in bodybuilding circles. As the WBF went down the tubes, increasingly Bodystars ended up being a bad infomercial for his training supplements. Imagine a really bad eighties pro wrestling TV show without any wrestling; it was such a bad idea that other bad ideas got together and tried to stage an intervention to get it the help that it needed.