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TV's Biggest Blunders

Mike Vicic - February 28, 2010

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Dana Delany. Jay Leno. Janet Jackson. The Geico Caveman. What do these four people have in common? They all appear on TV Guide Network's one-hour special, 25 Biggest TV Blunders, premiering on Sunday, February 28 at 8pm ET/PT.

 

This special takes viewers on a quick trip through decades of TV mishaps with celeb experts -- Carolina Bermudez (Senior Editor @ In Touch Weekly), Alison Rosen (Celebrity Blogger), Dawn Yanek (Editor at Large @ Life and Style), Noah Levy (Senior Editor @ In Touch Weekly), Richard Blakeley (Editor @ Gawker.tv), and others -- as tour guides who provide snappy dialogue, little-known facts and feisty opinions. Here's a preview of some of TV's famous FUBARs you'll see in the countdown:

 

Stars Who Turned Down Hit TV Roles: Paul Shaffer had the chance to be George Costanza on Seinfeld, but he never returned the call. Dana Delaney could've been Carrie Bradshaw on Sex & the City, but she turned down the role.
The Tonight Show Fiasco: 'nuff said.
Nipple Gate: Six years later, this wardrobe malfunction is still making news. This past week "CBS Corp. asked a federal appeals court to uphold its initial decision throwing out an indecency fine after a Supreme Court ruling in another case revived the issue." Plus, every live event must now air with a seven-second delay.
TV Shows Based on Commercials: Characters on TV ads might be fun and interesting for 30 seconds -- but not 30 minutes -- as ABC found out with the short-lived Cavemen sitcom.
Roseanne's 9th Season: Roseanne worked when it was an everyperson's blue-collar family sitcom. Then the Conners won the lottery in Season 9, abandoning its comedic formula...and its audience.
Cousin Oliver Syndrome: When the kids in a family sitcom grow up, sometimes execs think they have to keep the 'cute' factor by adding a new child to the family mix. The Brady Bunch added cousin Oliver. Growing Pains had a homeless Luke (Leonardo Dicaprio).  Eight Is Enough wasn't -- it added cousin Jeremy (Ralph Macchio).
Dennis Miller on NFL Monday Night Football: Why did the NFL think he would appeal to the average football fan? People who enjoy Dennis Miller only understand his obscure comedic references about half the time. To help the average sports fan, ESPN ran Tuesday columns solely devoted to deciphering Dennis -- you can read the Annotated Dennis Miller Archives for yourself.

 

Which TV goof will be ranked #1? In an interview with TV Tango, Diane Robina (EVP Development, Acquisitions & Programming Strategy at TV Guide Network) revealed that the Jay Leno/Conan fiasco tops this list of Biggest Blunders -- although she personally feels and strongly advocated that the decision to erase episodes of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson should've been #1.

 

What else will be on the list of gaffes? You'll have to watch tonight to find out -- but if you can't wait that long, you can check out Entertainment Weekly's recent list of TV's 50 Biggest Bombs and Blunders for someone else's opinion. EW's Top 5 include:

1. Putting Jay Leno at 10pm
2. Fox yanks Family Guy off the air — twice
3. Cavemen
4. Moonlighting's David and Maddie hook up
5. The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer