Worst movies/TV shows that never existed
- Thread starter West234
- Start date
I could see that airing during their earlier years.....ya'know, when the network was in it's "let's be as manly and offensive as possible" phase in their first few years before they somewhat got their act together during the Get More Action era of the network.
Hell, I could even see G4 airing the show....
oh..........
Yes, Stabbed in the Butt is a reference to that cutaway gag in the Family Guy episode Bigfat (Season 11 episode 17).
The funny thing is, I wasn't even trying to be cheeky on purpose about it.
And that was the idea behind it. An absurd sendup of game shows a la Joe Schmo Show with a touch of World's Worst Tenants.
Kiepski Film (Bad Movie), 2020
For those unaware, Świat Według Kiepskich (World according to the Bads, the term ,,Kiepski" litteraly means ,,bad" as in ,,bad, cheap shoes" or ,,lazy worker") is a Polish Classic - it was a comedy, but it helped raise awareness of real issues in Polish Society at the time, even though they were exaggerated. Domestic Violence, Joblessness, Jobs with no Upward growth, Alcoholism, Lack of family support for youths - all of them were tackles in some ways, according to the old Polish Maxim of ,,Przyjemne i użyteczne" (Useful and Entertaining, roughly).
And so, of course, Netflix had to ruin it.
The Plans for the movie already hit a roadblock early on - Many major actors were either dead (Bohdań Smoleń, the actor behind important side character Postman Ed) or unwilling to star in the Movie (most importantly Ryszard Kotys, who played Paździoch - the most important character outside of the actual Kiepski family, as well as Andrzej Grabowski - the famous actor responsible for the role of Family Patriarch Ferdynand Kiepski), resulting in the need to draft many unexperienced replacements . To add insult to injury, Dariusz Gnatowski (playing the role of Boczek, a major side character in both the orginal TV series and the initial script) died halfway through filming, so they had to replace him with reused assets and shitty, RougeOneTarkin-esque CGI.
The inclusion of Wasij Mazur, infamous for playing the main character in a Russian Kiepskis Rip-off, was also met with criticism. Add to that abysmal humor, low turnout rates due to the Pandemic and the excitement regarding the still-recent Presidential Election, the movie faced a rocky start when it launched in December 2020.
It was soon showered by negative reviews from every direction, with some Polish Politicians even calling for it to be removed from Cinemas. It became a massive flop, barely making back 17% of its original budget (excluding the small but still present Advertising costs) and resulted in Netflix shelving the planned ,,Polish Alternate History Universe" started by ,,1983".
For those unaware, Świat Według Kiepskich (World according to the Bads, the term ,,Kiepski" litteraly means ,,bad" as in ,,bad, cheap shoes" or ,,lazy worker") is a Polish Classic - it was a comedy, but it helped raise awareness of real issues in Polish Society at the time, even though they were exaggerated. Domestic Violence, Joblessness, Jobs with no Upward growth, Alcoholism, Lack of family support for youths - all of them were tackles in some ways, according to the old Polish Maxim of ,,Przyjemne i użyteczne" (Useful and Entertaining, roughly).
And so, of course, Netflix had to ruin it.
The Plans for the movie already hit a roadblock early on - Many major actors were either dead (Bohdań Smoleń, the actor behind important side character Postman Ed) or unwilling to star in the Movie (most importantly Ryszard Kotys, who played Paździoch - the most important character outside of the actual Kiepski family, as well as Andrzej Grabowski - the famous actor responsible for the role of Family Patriarch Ferdynand Kiepski), resulting in the need to draft many unexperienced replacements . To add insult to injury, Dariusz Gnatowski (playing the role of Boczek, a major side character in both the orginal TV series and the initial script) died halfway through filming, so they had to replace him with reused assets and shitty, RougeOneTarkin-esque CGI.
The inclusion of Wasij Mazur, infamous for playing the main character in a Russian Kiepskis Rip-off, was also met with criticism. Add to that abysmal humor, low turnout rates due to the Pandemic and the excitement regarding the still-recent Presidential Election, the movie faced a rocky start when it launched in December 2020.
It was soon showered by negative reviews from every direction, with some Polish Politicians even calling for it to be removed from Cinemas. It became a massive flop, barely making back 17% of its original budget (excluding the small but still present Advertising costs) and resulted in Netflix shelving the planned ,,Polish Alternate History Universe" started by ,,1983".
yeah and I forgot to mention that following the release of the film, the blue meanies from the Remake became the source of mostly memes on the internet in the early 2010s
Foodfight (2004)
(basically What If?... Foodfight actually ended up released in its original pre theft/stolen hard drive animation)
Made by Threshold Studios and distrusted by MGM, Foodfight's basically Toy Story but with food icons and mascots and it follows Dex Dogtective (Matt Damon), a dog cereal mascot who's dealing with the disappearance of his lover Sunshine Goodness (Anne Hathaway) against the threat of Brand X and Lady X (Eva Longoria) and together him and his friend, Daredevil Dan (Wayne Brady) rally the other ikes to stop Brand X's threat together for good.
The film was released in 2004 where it received some mixed to negative reviews with some praise towards its squash and stretch animation and Christopher Lloyd's performance as the hammy and over the top Mr. Plotnik with most viewing him as the highlight of the film along with Corey Burton's performance as Lieutanant X. But mostly recieved criticism towards its rather somewhat dated animation and unintentionally uncanny valley for several of its characters and its nonsensical plot with the scene where the ikes sing the Oscar Meyer Weiner theme being often the source of ridicule as well as the copious and not so subtle amount of innuendoes and not helping matters it was released the same year as Shrek 2 and The Incredibles where it made Foodfight look dated by comparison. The movie had a rather mediocre box office performance.
(basically What If?... Foodfight actually ended up released in its original pre theft/stolen hard drive animation)
Made by Threshold Studios and distrusted by MGM, Foodfight's basically Toy Story but with food icons and mascots and it follows Dex Dogtective (Matt Damon), a dog cereal mascot who's dealing with the disappearance of his lover Sunshine Goodness (Anne Hathaway) against the threat of Brand X and Lady X (Eva Longoria) and together him and his friend, Daredevil Dan (Wayne Brady) rally the other ikes to stop Brand X's threat together for good.
The film was released in 2004 where it received some mixed to negative reviews with some praise towards its squash and stretch animation and Christopher Lloyd's performance as the hammy and over the top Mr. Plotnik with most viewing him as the highlight of the film along with Corey Burton's performance as Lieutanant X. But mostly recieved criticism towards its rather somewhat dated animation and unintentionally uncanny valley for several of its characters and its nonsensical plot with the scene where the ikes sing the Oscar Meyer Weiner theme being often the source of ridicule as well as the copious and not so subtle amount of innuendoes and not helping matters it was released the same year as Shrek 2 and The Incredibles where it made Foodfight look dated by comparison. The movie had a rather mediocre box office performance.
Still better than the final film we got in 2012 in OTL,
I should note though that Foodfight was originally suppose to be released around Christmas 2003 before the hard drives were stolen in late 2002. Also, along with the final film, Charlie Sheen and Hillary Duff were suppose to voice Dex Dogtective and Sunshine Goodness, respectively.
The Simpsons Take Orlan-D’oh (2024)
Initially conceived as yet another Disney+ Simpsons short, as was previously the case with The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild, Disney pushed for 20th Century Fox to extend it into a feature length film, making it the second movie in the Simpsons franchise. Production from there on out was nothing short of an unmitigated disaster - like Buck Wild, the film was given an extremely low budget, forcing the animators to resort to using cheap Flash animation and making it look worse than the show itself. Even worse, several voice actors from the show, including Kelsey Grammer and Harry Shearer, outright refused to attach their name to the project, leading to their characters being recast in the movie proper.
The supposed “plot” of the movie centers around the Simpson family winning a vacation to Orlando, which quickly devolves into chaos as they run into Sideshow Bob, who’s been hired by Ron DeSantis to run the district overseeing Walt Disney World; however, like most Disney-produced Simpsons media, this plot is just an excuse for them to shill their other franchises and products, including the likes of Marvel, Star Wars, and the Orlando Magic. The film’s humor is mostly the same as the modern seasons of the show, consisting of unfunny “meta humor”, tired political jokes with the subtlety of a 16-wheeler ramming into a brick wall, and references to other Disney IPs, which, again, mainly serve to promote those IPs, with the addition of jabs at attractions in Orlando, including a particularly tasteless """joke""" revolving around the Orlando FreeFall incident. All of these aforementioned flaws, however, pale in comparison to the ending, in which Sideshow Bob, under the influence of what the film literally calls “Disney magic”, changes his ways for good before getting arrested, essentially writing him off the show.
Upon release, the film was torn apart by critics, audiences, and Simpsons fans alike for its abysmal animation, poorly constructed plot, shameless promotion of other Disney IPs, dated nature (the film makes several jokes about the Don’t Say Gay bill years after it went into effect, and the now-closed Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is referenced on multiple occasions), and its effects on the series as a whole. The hate towards the movie ended up getting so bad that it managed to surpass The Principal and the Pauper, Lisa Goes Gaga, and even the previous Simpsons Disney+ shorts as the most universally despised piece of Simpsons media; not helping was the revelation that Disney basically railroaded production of the film, forcing it to be one giant ad for the company. This, as well as all of the other elements mentioned, landed the film a dismal 9% on Rotten Tomatoes, and while Disney would attempt to save face by claiming the film to be non-canon, it did little to improve its reputation. Perhaps worst of all, though, was the film’s ramifications on the show itself - its already declining ratings tanked due to the stigma associated with the Simpsons IP, and several key cast members, including Al Jean, Dan Castellaneta, Harry Shearer, and Julie Kavner left the show for good, not wanting to damage their careers by associating with it, forcing Disney to cancel the show after 35 years.
Initially conceived as yet another Disney+ Simpsons short, as was previously the case with The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild, Disney pushed for 20th Century Fox to extend it into a feature length film, making it the second movie in the Simpsons franchise. Production from there on out was nothing short of an unmitigated disaster - like Buck Wild, the film was given an extremely low budget, forcing the animators to resort to using cheap Flash animation and making it look worse than the show itself. Even worse, several voice actors from the show, including Kelsey Grammer and Harry Shearer, outright refused to attach their name to the project, leading to their characters being recast in the movie proper.
The supposed “plot” of the movie centers around the Simpson family winning a vacation to Orlando, which quickly devolves into chaos as they run into Sideshow Bob, who’s been hired by Ron DeSantis to run the district overseeing Walt Disney World; however, like most Disney-produced Simpsons media, this plot is just an excuse for them to shill their other franchises and products, including the likes of Marvel, Star Wars, and the Orlando Magic. The film’s humor is mostly the same as the modern seasons of the show, consisting of unfunny “meta humor”, tired political jokes with the subtlety of a 16-wheeler ramming into a brick wall, and references to other Disney IPs, which, again, mainly serve to promote those IPs, with the addition of jabs at attractions in Orlando, including a particularly tasteless """joke""" revolving around the Orlando FreeFall incident. All of these aforementioned flaws, however, pale in comparison to the ending, in which Sideshow Bob, under the influence of what the film literally calls “Disney magic”, changes his ways for good before getting arrested, essentially writing him off the show.
Upon release, the film was torn apart by critics, audiences, and Simpsons fans alike for its abysmal animation, poorly constructed plot, shameless promotion of other Disney IPs, dated nature (the film makes several jokes about the Don’t Say Gay bill years after it went into effect, and the now-closed Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is referenced on multiple occasions), and its effects on the series as a whole. The hate towards the movie ended up getting so bad that it managed to surpass The Principal and the Pauper, Lisa Goes Gaga, and even the previous Simpsons Disney+ shorts as the most universally despised piece of Simpsons media; not helping was the revelation that Disney basically railroaded production of the film, forcing it to be one giant ad for the company. This, as well as all of the other elements mentioned, landed the film a dismal 9% on Rotten Tomatoes, and while Disney would attempt to save face by claiming the film to be non-canon, it did little to improve its reputation. Perhaps worst of all, though, was the film’s ramifications on the show itself - its already declining ratings tanked due to the stigma associated with the Simpsons IP, and several key cast members, including Al Jean, Dan Castellaneta, Harry Shearer, and Julie Kavner left the show for good, not wanting to damage their careers by associating with it, forcing Disney to cancel the show after 35 years.
Indeed, it would have been horrible. At the very least though, The Simpsons is finally getting put out of its misery after running for way too long.
yeah, i was actually inspired by a lot of these scenarios which end in complete disaster (the Family Guy and Annoying Orange movies come to mind). i was planning on having Disney selling off Fox as well, but i decided to keep things realistic-ish. at the very least, this is something i could see existing irl, even if it wouldn't be anywhere near as bad as it is in the post.
Now that's a stinkburger that would make Megamind 2 and Saving Bikini Bottom look like Into the Spider-Verse.
The Young Hero (1978 Reboot)
Excerpt from ,,Don't put your hands on me! - a History of how Politicians and Corporations ruined the Media" (Released 2021)
[...] But to all the people saying that this is just the result of ,,capitalist thuggery" - don't worry, the Eastern Bloc had their own fair share of fuck-ups as well.
The most damaging of them was most likely ,,The Young Hero", originaly released in 1955 to much critical acclaim.
Let's go over the plot shortly : It's set in an alternate world where an Unnamed Fascist Regime has taken over the entire planet, except for the walled-off city of Moscow, defended by a Red Army using super-modern tech, time and time again beating back the AntiCommunist Hordes. The main characters are a group of talented students who get conscripted and told in no unsimple terms they must kill the Fascists' Leader - the FATHER OF ALL (yes, the script has it in all caps), becouse, since he's in control of all of Earth aside from Moscow, while he's pitifuly weak now his united fascist state WILL eventualy get the factories back up and running and overwhelm the Defenders with Human Waves and sheer numbers (the Irony of the USSR concemning Human Wave tactics shouldn't be lost on anyone).
And so, we follow a montage of them training and growing as people before being eventualy deployed to a secret base presumed to be housing THE FATHER OF ALL. However, instead after they enter through the window in the dead of night they see the FATHER OF ALL'S second in command, Grand General-in-chief Istvański. The Man, although suprised, welcomes them in and gives us (the audience) exposition - his people were some of the earliest to be conquered by the FATHER OF ALL's Army, but instead of resisting they worked alongside him, stamping out guns and butter in exchange for some autonomy. Istvański climbed the ranks of the Army before eventualy becoming the FATHER'S Right Hand Man.
Thus, he begins telling the kids his plan - he intends for Moscow to fall, as without constant War the Fascists will no doubt grow ,,lazy and complecent", allowing for him to easily coordinate the uprising and throw them out, replacing the Global Fascist State and restoring the Reactionary Monarchies that the FATHER conquered on his way to Moscow. When they try to bring him to their side he begins ranting about the ,,evils of bolshevism" in stereotypicly souless-capitalist fashion before calling in the Guards.
The Heroes manage to flee, and after some whacky shenanigans end up in CIVILIZATION CITY (also in all caps), heavily implied to have once been Berlin before being reduced to rubble and rebuildt in a Brutalist Fashion. They manage to track down the FATHER, discovering that for all his ,,Strong" Fassad he's just a dwarf and coward, and so they cuff him and enter his Private Lab.
In the Lab, they find what the Fascists' War Effort has been going towards - a massive Mech that was supposed to lead the next storm on Moscow. Naturaly, they remark a bit about how much bread and homes could be made with the amount of cash sunk into the Bot before entering it, arriving in Moscow at the last moment and routing the now-demoralized Fascist Forces.
However, Istvański and his allies still go ahead with their plan, and from CIVILIZATION CITY'S Town Hall he proclaims the return of the various Kings and Kingdoms, only for the crowd to boo him, demaning ,,Peace, Bread and Democracy"!. Enraged, he orders his troops to crush the protesters. He laughs as the helpless rebels escape in the distance before stopping in his tracks when he notices a bullet-ridden Baby Carriage. In an instant his smirk dissapears and his eyes widen before he notices the Bot arriving back. It crushes his co-conspirators as it arrives as the Heroes cuff Istvański and proceed to promptly save the Protesters from the Cops at the last minute.
The Ending slides reveal the foundation of a World Socialist Republic, stereotypical scenes of reconstruction and rebuilding, a short Prision Scene where THE FATHER is yelling behind bars while Istvański is sitting contently in the cell next door while the Heroes' personal arcs are finished as the credits roll.
The Movie was originaly released to middling reviews, and probably would have been left to fall into obscurity if not for the idea of one Brezhnev Era Apparachetnik to remake it... except without all the ,,good" elements.
And so, the Young Hero (1978) was remade. And dear God, it sucked.
It removed all the good parts of the original, Flanderizing Istvański to just be a crook wishing to take THE FATHER'S place and simply make his allies the top dogs in the Global Fascist State. Meanwhile, the scenes showing that life in Walled Off Moscow weren't all sunshine and rainbows (with occasional shortages becouse, you know, it's one fucking city against the world) being cut (making one characters' remarks of ,,This Place looks worse off than the Suburbs of Moscow" when entering CIVILIZATION CITY completly nonsensical) and in general being somehow even less subtle than the original.
Worse off, some idiot had the idea to release it abroad, resulting in it being flooded with negative reviews by Western Critics and even being panned by the CCP for the horrendously low quality and constant cost cutting.
Excerpt from ,,Don't put your hands on me! - a History of how Politicians and Corporations ruined the Media" (Released 2021)
[...] But to all the people saying that this is just the result of ,,capitalist thuggery" - don't worry, the Eastern Bloc had their own fair share of fuck-ups as well.
The most damaging of them was most likely ,,The Young Hero", originaly released in 1955 to much critical acclaim.
Let's go over the plot shortly : It's set in an alternate world where an Unnamed Fascist Regime has taken over the entire planet, except for the walled-off city of Moscow, defended by a Red Army using super-modern tech, time and time again beating back the AntiCommunist Hordes. The main characters are a group of talented students who get conscripted and told in no unsimple terms they must kill the Fascists' Leader - the FATHER OF ALL (yes, the script has it in all caps), becouse, since he's in control of all of Earth aside from Moscow, while he's pitifuly weak now his united fascist state WILL eventualy get the factories back up and running and overwhelm the Defenders with Human Waves and sheer numbers (the Irony of the USSR concemning Human Wave tactics shouldn't be lost on anyone).
And so, we follow a montage of them training and growing as people before being eventualy deployed to a secret base presumed to be housing THE FATHER OF ALL. However, instead after they enter through the window in the dead of night they see the FATHER OF ALL'S second in command, Grand General-in-chief Istvański. The Man, although suprised, welcomes them in and gives us (the audience) exposition - his people were some of the earliest to be conquered by the FATHER OF ALL's Army, but instead of resisting they worked alongside him, stamping out guns and butter in exchange for some autonomy. Istvański climbed the ranks of the Army before eventualy becoming the FATHER'S Right Hand Man.
Thus, he begins telling the kids his plan - he intends for Moscow to fall, as without constant War the Fascists will no doubt grow ,,lazy and complecent", allowing for him to easily coordinate the uprising and throw them out, replacing the Global Fascist State and restoring the Reactionary Monarchies that the FATHER conquered on his way to Moscow. When they try to bring him to their side he begins ranting about the ,,evils of bolshevism" in stereotypicly souless-capitalist fashion before calling in the Guards.
The Heroes manage to flee, and after some whacky shenanigans end up in CIVILIZATION CITY (also in all caps), heavily implied to have once been Berlin before being reduced to rubble and rebuildt in a Brutalist Fashion. They manage to track down the FATHER, discovering that for all his ,,Strong" Fassad he's just a dwarf and coward, and so they cuff him and enter his Private Lab.
In the Lab, they find what the Fascists' War Effort has been going towards - a massive Mech that was supposed to lead the next storm on Moscow. Naturaly, they remark a bit about how much bread and homes could be made with the amount of cash sunk into the Bot before entering it, arriving in Moscow at the last moment and routing the now-demoralized Fascist Forces.
However, Istvański and his allies still go ahead with their plan, and from CIVILIZATION CITY'S Town Hall he proclaims the return of the various Kings and Kingdoms, only for the crowd to boo him, demaning ,,Peace, Bread and Democracy"!. Enraged, he orders his troops to crush the protesters. He laughs as the helpless rebels escape in the distance before stopping in his tracks when he notices a bullet-ridden Baby Carriage. In an instant his smirk dissapears and his eyes widen before he notices the Bot arriving back. It crushes his co-conspirators as it arrives as the Heroes cuff Istvański and proceed to promptly save the Protesters from the Cops at the last minute.
The Ending slides reveal the foundation of a World Socialist Republic, stereotypical scenes of reconstruction and rebuilding, a short Prision Scene where THE FATHER is yelling behind bars while Istvański is sitting contently in the cell next door while the Heroes' personal arcs are finished as the credits roll.
The Movie was originaly released to middling reviews, and probably would have been left to fall into obscurity if not for the idea of one Brezhnev Era Apparachetnik to remake it... except without all the ,,good" elements.
And so, the Young Hero (1978) was remade. And dear God, it sucked.
It removed all the good parts of the original, Flanderizing Istvański to just be a crook wishing to take THE FATHER'S place and simply make his allies the top dogs in the Global Fascist State. Meanwhile, the scenes showing that life in Walled Off Moscow weren't all sunshine and rainbows (with occasional shortages becouse, you know, it's one fucking city against the world) being cut (making one characters' remarks of ,,This Place looks worse off than the Suburbs of Moscow" when entering CIVILIZATION CITY completly nonsensical) and in general being somehow even less subtle than the original.
Worse off, some idiot had the idea to release it abroad, resulting in it being flooded with negative reviews by Western Critics and even being panned by the CCP for the horrendously low quality and constant cost cutting.
1984 was an Orwell adaptation filmed by Alexei German and financed by the Russian Ministry of Culture. It gained notoriety because the book's plot was mercilessly crumpled into the first half of the film. The entire second half saw viewers watch in sickening detail as a suspiciously Putin-like O'Brien slowly murdered Winston Smith in a filthy outhouse while shouting incongruous slogans. The film naturally flopped at the box office despite the sharp reduction in competition following the start of the special military operation, but this did not stop some critics from hailing it as the best critique of totalitarianism ever made.
Garrison
Donor
Doctor Who USA
1974-75
1970s US television had no shortage of short lived, poorly made, poorly written, science fiction, but the US adaptation of beloved British series Doctor Who had to be one of the worst. Much of the problem seemed to stem from a clash between enthusiastic but inexperienced producers and a television network that wanted to rein in the more outlandish elements of Doctor Who. The problems with the show started with the design of the TARDIS. Obviously a British Police Box made no sense in an American context and a telephone booth was deemed to be too associated with Superman and somehow they settled on an oversized vending machine as the appearance of the TARDIS. This would at least have provided some appropriate incongruity for episodes set on alien worlds or in the past, except that taking their cue from the Third Doctor era on the BBC the US Doctor would spend 10 of the 13 episodes in current day New York. of the remaining three one was a near obligatory episode set in Pilgrim times and the other two on alien worlds that looked remarkably like the New York subway system and a large international airport. There would of course be aliens in the New York bound episodes, but again network interference had a negative impact. The absence of the Daleks was either because some executive thought they 'looked stupid' or because they couldn't negotiate the rights to use them depending on which account you choose to believe. The Cybermen design was one that Irwin Allen would have rejected as having too much tin foil and the less said about the Silurians the better. The casting and backstories of the main characters was perhaps the worst issue. George Takei was a fine actor, but casting him as the master was seen as a dated continuation of the sinister Asian villain trope, the Brigadier and UNIT became a police precinct specializing in unusual cases, with Lieutenant Flynn, played by Leslie Nielsen, aiming for a deadpan humour in his lines that fell flat because of consistently atrocious dialogue. Bill Bixby as the Doctor was again not a terrible choice but in an effort to make the Doctor more connected to Earth the US version declared the Doctor was half-human and then added a romantic subplot with the American version of Jo Grant, played by Lindsay Wagner.
Of the 13 episodes shot only eight would be aired in the Autumn of 1974, with the rest burned off in March and April of 1975.
When the series was finally broadcast in the UK by ITV in 1976 it was met with outrage and ridicule in equal measures. The BBC version would continue through until 1987 and it is likely that memories of Doctor Who USA contributed to the abandonment of plans for a co-production with a US network to revive the show in the mid 1990s.
1974-75
1970s US television had no shortage of short lived, poorly made, poorly written, science fiction, but the US adaptation of beloved British series Doctor Who had to be one of the worst. Much of the problem seemed to stem from a clash between enthusiastic but inexperienced producers and a television network that wanted to rein in the more outlandish elements of Doctor Who. The problems with the show started with the design of the TARDIS. Obviously a British Police Box made no sense in an American context and a telephone booth was deemed to be too associated with Superman and somehow they settled on an oversized vending machine as the appearance of the TARDIS. This would at least have provided some appropriate incongruity for episodes set on alien worlds or in the past, except that taking their cue from the Third Doctor era on the BBC the US Doctor would spend 10 of the 13 episodes in current day New York. of the remaining three one was a near obligatory episode set in Pilgrim times and the other two on alien worlds that looked remarkably like the New York subway system and a large international airport. There would of course be aliens in the New York bound episodes, but again network interference had a negative impact. The absence of the Daleks was either because some executive thought they 'looked stupid' or because they couldn't negotiate the rights to use them depending on which account you choose to believe. The Cybermen design was one that Irwin Allen would have rejected as having too much tin foil and the less said about the Silurians the better. The casting and backstories of the main characters was perhaps the worst issue. George Takei was a fine actor, but casting him as the master was seen as a dated continuation of the sinister Asian villain trope, the Brigadier and UNIT became a police precinct specializing in unusual cases, with Lieutenant Flynn, played by Leslie Nielsen, aiming for a deadpan humour in his lines that fell flat because of consistently atrocious dialogue. Bill Bixby as the Doctor was again not a terrible choice but in an effort to make the Doctor more connected to Earth the US version declared the Doctor was half-human and then added a romantic subplot with the American version of Jo Grant, played by Lindsay Wagner.
Of the 13 episodes shot only eight would be aired in the Autumn of 1974, with the rest burned off in March and April of 1975.
When the series was finally broadcast in the UK by ITV in 1976 it was met with outrage and ridicule in equal measures. The BBC version would continue through until 1987 and it is likely that memories of Doctor Who USA contributed to the abandonment of plans for a co-production with a US network to revive the show in the mid 1990s.
You know, between this and what happened to Doctor Who in the Hensonverse, I think it’s best Doctor Who stayed a niche show on PBS in America.
