How TV Ruined Your Life

Brainiac: Science Abuse

Brainiac is The Alternative science series that shows you the experiments you were never allowed to do in school. Richard Hammond aims to answer the scientific questions that have been bothering us all such as what you shouldn't put in a microwave and Do mobile phones really cause explosions in petrol stations.

Nathan for You

Self-proclaimed business expert, writer, director and comedian Nathan Fielder helps real small businesses turn a profit with marketing tactics that no ordinary consultant would dare to attempt. From driving foot traffic to an off-the-strip souvenir shop by using Hollywood flair and a Johnny Depp impersonator, to creating a rebate that can only be redeemed by climbing a mountain, to founding a coffee shop called "Dumb Starbucks,” Nathan has always gone to the limit to make his ideas come to life. With his unorthodox approach to problem solving, Nathan’s genuine efforts to do good often draw the real people he encounters into an experience far beyond what they signed up for.

Penn & Teller: Bull!

This daring original series stars postmodern bad boys of magic Penn & Teller as they question many of our culture's most cherished and widely held beliefs. From the truth about palm readings and TV psychics to the reality behind Feng Shui and Ouija boards, the archly comic masters of misdirection host this eye-opening analysis of the middle-ground between perception and reality.

Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer's Cut)

A 2009 television documentary series in six parts that covers 40 years of the surreal comedy group Monty Python, from Flying Circus to present day projects such as the musical Spamalot. The series highlights their childhood, schooling and university life, and pre-Python work. The series featured new interviews with surviving members John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin, alongside archive interview footage of Graham Chapman and interviews with several associates of the Pythons, including Carol Cleveland, Neil Innes and Chapman's partner David Sherlock, along with commentary from modern comedians.

The Muppets

The Muppets return to primetime with a contemporary, documentary-style show. For the first time ever, a series will explore the Muppets’ personal lives and relationships, both at home and at work, as well as romances, breakups, achievements, disappointments, wants and desires. This is a more adult Muppet show, for “kids” of all ages.

Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe

Charlie Brooker's acerbic take on recent TV contains reviews of current shows, as well as stories and commentary on how television is produced.

You Can't Do That on Television

You Can't Do That on Television is a Canadian television program that first aired locally in 1979 before airing internationally in 1981. It featured pre-teen and teenaged actors in a sketch comedy format. Each episode had a theme. The show was notable for launching the careers of many performers, including Alanis Morissette, and writer Bill Prady, who would write and produce shows like The Big Bang Theory, Gilmore Girls and Dharma and Greg. The show was produced by and aired on Ottawa's CTV station CJOH-TV. After production ended in 1990, the show continued in reruns on Nickelodeon through 1994, when it was replaced with the similar All That. The show is synonymous with Nick, and was at that time extremely popular, with the highest ratings overall on the channel. The show is also well known for introducing the network's iconic slime. The program is the subject of the 2004 feature-length documentary, You Can't Do That on Film, directed by David Dillehunt.

The Awful Truth

The Awful Truth is a satirical television show that was directed, written, and hosted by filmmaker Michael Moore, and funded by the British broadcaster Channel 4.

An Idiot Abroad

An Idiot Abroad is a British travel documentary television series broadcast on Sky1 and Science, as well as spin-off books published by Canongate Books, created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant and starring Karl Pilkington. The ongoing theme of both the television series and the books is that Pilkington has no interest in global travel, so Merchant and Gervais make him travel while they stay in the United Kingdom and monitor his progress.

Arrested Development

The story of a wealthy family that lost everything, and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together.

The Electric Company

The Electric Company is an educational American children's television series that was produced by the Children's Television Workshop for PBS in the United States. PBS broadcast 780 episodes over the course of its six seasons from October 25, 1971 to April 15, 1977. After it ceased production that year, the program continued in reruns from 1977 to 1985, the result of a decision made in 1975 to produce two final seasons for perpetual use. CTW produced the show at Teletape Studios Second Stage in Manhattan, the first home of Sesame Street. The Electric Company employed sketch comedy and other devices to provide an entertaining program to help elementary school children develop their grammar and reading skills. It was intended for children who had graduated from CTW's flagship program, Sesame Street. Appropriately, the humor was more mature than what was seen there.

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In

An American sketch comedy television program hosted by comedians Dan Rowan and Dick Martin.

Nick Cannon Presents: Wild 'N Out

Nick Cannon and an A-list celebrity lead a team of improv comedians as they compete against each other.

Adam Ruins Everything

Host Adam Conover employs a combination of comedy, history and science to dispel widespread misconceptions about everything we take for granted.

Travel Man: 48 Hours in...

British comedian Richard Ayoade (later taken over by Joe Lycett), accompanied by a celebrity guest, takes a ruthlessly efficient approach to travel, covering everything top tourist destinations have to offer in just 48 hours.

The Carol Burnett Show

The Carol Burnett Show is an American variety/sketch comedy television show starring Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner, and Tim Conway. It originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 278 episodes and originated from CBS Television City's Studio 33. The series won 25 prime time Emmy Awards, was ranked No. 16 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time in 2002 and in 2007 was listed as one of Time magazine's "100 Best TV Shows of All Time."

Good Eats

Host Alton Brown explores the origins of ingredients, decodes culinary customs and presents food and equipment trends. Punctuated by unusual interludes, simple preparations and unconventional discussions, he'll bring you food in its finest and funniest form.

Harry Hill's TV Burp

The big-collared comic gives his own spin on TV clips from recent programmes, plus contributions from a set of regular characters

A Black Lady Sketch Show

A narrative series set in a limitless magical reality full of dynamic, hilarious characters and celebrity guests presenting sketches performed by a core cast of black women.

Chappelle's Show

Dave Chappelle's singular point of view is unleashed through a combination of laidback stand-up and street-smart sketches.

Less than Perfect

Claude Casey moved up in the secretarial world of television news, from temp to the anchor's desk. After her boss hires her full time, Claude realizes she may be in over her head in this world of assistants fighting to get ahead. But Claude is determined to prove that though she may not be perfect, she's not going down without a fight.

An American in Canada

Jake Crewe is an American television news host who is forced, after beating up his station manager, to accept a job in Calgary, Alberta as the host of the lowest-rated morning news program in the city.

Hero

The Hero is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC on Thursday Night at 9:30pm from September 8, 1966 to January 5, 1967.

Nobody's Watching

Nobody's Watching is a television program that was never aired. It originated with and was written by Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence, as well as Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan, writers for Scrubs and Family Guy.

Le Rétro Palmarès de Jay et Mehdi

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

A behind-the-scenes look at a fictional sketch-comedy TV show.

Sports Night

The offbeat cast and crew of a sports news show deal with professional, personal, and ethical challenges while functioning in a pressure-cooker work environment.

The Dick Van Dyke Show

The Dick Van Dyke Show centers around the work and home life of television comedy writer Rob Petrie. The plots generally revolve around problems at work, where Rob got into various comedic jams with fellow writers Buddy Sorrell, Sally Rogers and producer Mel Cooley.

Fitz and Bones

Fitz and Bones is a short-lived American television series, starring Dick and Tom Smothers, that aired on NBC in 1981. Fitz and Bones details the investigative dynamic between reporter Ryan Fitzpatrick and cameraman Bones at a San Francisco news station, along with key cast members and plot tensions with bosses and rivals.

Good Morning, Miami

A talented young TV producer arrives in Miami to revamp the lowest-rated morning show in the country. Jake Silver risks taking the job when he sets eyes on the show's beautiful, down-to-earth hair stylist Dylan, who wows him like nobody before – and presents a romantic challenge.

Murphy Brown

Murphy Brown (Candice Bergen) is a recovering alcoholic who returns to the fictional newsmagazine FYI for the first time following a stay at the Betty Ford Clinic residential treatment center. Over 40 and single, she is sharp tongued and hard as nails. In her profession, she is considered one of the boys, having shattered many glass ceilings encountered during her career. Dominating the FYI news magazine, she is portrayed as one of America's hardest-hitting (though not the warmest or more sympathetic) media personalities.

Episodes

A British husband-and-wife comedy writing team travel to Hollywood to remake their successful British TV series, with disastrous results.

Drop the Dead Donkey

A sitcom set in the offices of "GlobeLink News" after its acquisition by media mogul Sir Roysten Merchant. Led by editor George Dent, the staff of GlobeLink battle to maintain the company as a serious news organization against Sir Roysten's right-hand man, Gus Hedges, who wants to make the show more sensationalist and suppress stories that might harm Roysten's business empire.

Kingi

A Finnish parody tv show about mainstream singing contests.

The Real Story

Discover the true stories involving very real people, places and events -- some known to the public, others hidden from it -- that went on to inspire some of Hollywood's biggest hits, most iconic heroes and notorious villains.

Review

A review of a movie, or a restaurant, or a car—or whatever else that typically falls under a critic's domain—is all well and good, and can even be helpful at times. But how can one find out about myriad other experiences that are never tackled in reviews? Enter Forrest MacNeil, a critic who goes beyond overviews of life's more-common subjects—way beyond—to satisfy the curiosity of others: The adrenaline rush of stealing; the danger of drug addiction; the delight of sleeping with a celebrity. MacNeil tries anything suggested by viewers of his TV show, then presents a 1-to-5-star review. But his unwavering commitment to experiencing intense adventures means he must deal with the unintended consequences of such a goal.

Welcome to New York

Welcome to New York is a television sitcom that aired on CBS. The show starred Jim Gaffigan, who played a weatherman from Fort Wayne, Indiana, who then moved to New York and worked as a meteorologist for fictional morning news show called "AM New York". Christine Baranski played Marsha Bickner, the larger-than-life, tightly-wound producer of "AM New York" who hired Jim, but tends to forget the details about his life - like where he moved from. The show premiered October 11, 2000 and aired until January 17, 2001. CBS canceled the show due to low ratings.

Pepper Dennis

Pepper Dennis is a reporter hoping to move into the anchor chair. She may or may not have helped her career ambitions by having a one-night stand with the guy who turns out to be her new boss.

Cake

A teenaged version of Martha Stewart, Cake stars as the host of "CakeTV," a public-access TV program about arts and crafts that is filmed in her garage. On the show, Cake and her friends teach viewers how to add a little imagination to their arts-and-crafts projects.

Children's TV on Trial

A look at kids' telly from the 1950s to the 1990s, covering the social trends and behind-the-scenes stories in each decade.