The Best of the Worst (partially found Fox TV series; 1991)

Title card.

Status: Partially Found

The Best of the Worst was a show aired by Fox Broadcasting Company as a part of its 1991-92 schedule. Greg Kinnear came to stardom relatively late in life, after a series of lead-up careers, first as an entertainment reporter, then as a host on The Best Of The Worst.

Production

The Best of the Worst was an interesting concept because it showcased weird and bizarre events from all over America. Greg, who started as a producer of the show, ended up as its anchor by chance, where he was able to show the charisma that helped him to get into the Talk Soup TV show and a successful film career years later. There was even a special correspondent reporting from Japan, David Spector, highlighting Japanese movies, game shows and variety shows (like ¨Za Gaman¨ for example). David L. Wolper was the executive producer.

The show had 13 episodes, with at least 4 planned episodes that went unaired, but it was cancelled because of declining Nielsen rating midseason, after the contest fiasco (See below). It finished dead last out of 98 shows and only averaged a 4.42 rating. In other countries, the syndication of the show lasted until 2000, where it became quite popular.

The show never received any official VHS/DVD releases.

Controversy

Burnie Burns from Rooster Teeth claims that he and his friend Dal were responsible for causing the show to end. Burns called up a radio show and, while impersonating Dal, said his job was counting cows and working with manure. To Burns' surprise, Dal was admitted to be on Best of the Worst, and ended up winning. He claimed that after Dal won, he received a phone call from a reporter, and he mentioned that counting cows wasn't actually part of his job. The show was then cancelled, and the winner was modified.

List of Episodes

This is a complete list of all episodes whose existence is proven. Original airdates and most of the episode descriptions are either taken from TVGuide, or determined through deduction/research.

#	Content	Air Date	Status
1	Segments include a museum dedicated to strippers; a morning TV show from Japan; winemaking in France; a dolphin channeler; questionable names of rock bands and towns.	Aug 17th, 1991	Lost
2	Segments include public-access cable-TV shows; nightmare vacation spots; and "stupid" people tricks, including a man who balances a lawnmower on his head.	Aug 24th, 1991	Lost
3	Feature a London dance troupe comprised of overweight male performers and human cheeses made from armpit bacteria and feet by a redneck family.	Aug 31st, 1991	Lost
4	A visit to a gallery exhibiting a collection of refrigerator magnets and art made from snails. Also: deejay-actor Jay Thomas; and a dentist who moonlights as a singing cowboy.	Sept 7th, 1991	Lost
5	Segments include the infamous "Worst Job in America" contest winner (As featured in "Rooster Teeth Podcast #192"), an Australian modelling agency that specializes in supplying unattractive talent; and a Las Vegas wedding chapel set up in a recreational vehicle.	Sept 14th, 1991	Lost
6	A poll on "What Bugs You, America?" in which respondents were asked 20 bizarre questions on a range of subjects, including questions on the "worst" politicians.	Sept 21st, 1991	Partially Found
7	On location showcasing the winner of the Worst Job in America Contest, conducted by Fox TV and radio stations. (They never officially acknowledge the result modification)	Sept 28th, 1991	Lost
8	News of the weird includes in-car psychiatry, a whistler's convention, a "talking" dog, a convention of barbed-wire collectors, a funeral home's miniature golf course and a hardware store's novel sales gimmick. Also: a husband-calling contest, tongue twisters, movie outtakes and unusual shopping items.	Oct 5th, 1991	Lost
9	Five finalists compete in the Worst Job in America Contest, and English superhero Captain Flash takes requests from those seeking revenge on their friends.	Oct 12th, 1991	Lost
10	Late Comedian Henny Youngman tours New York. He makes a monologue about Hot Dogs and then, he fights his way into the NY Metro line, just to end up fighting a cab driver. He finally arrives at the Yankee Stadium just to meet Kinnear, and both call NY the Best of the Worst city. Notable because of the footage of the WTC.	Oct 19th, 1991	Lost
11	Celebrity garbage; an Elvis convention; airline-food taste-testing by Cajun chef Justin Wilson; and bizarre dog tricks.	Oct 26th, 1991	Lost
12	Wacky weddings and celebrations include a rotten-sneaker contest and another honouring the biggest nose.	Nov 2nd, 1991	Lost
13	Segments include a rent-a-witch, hired to cast spells; a potato-chip collector; and the singing and dancing act of the Zodiac Man.	Nov 9th, 1991	Partially Found
14	Kinnear* filmed intro and ending segments and some external segments were made.	N/A	Lost
15	This episode never made it past the planning stages.	N/A	Unproduced
16	This episode never made it past the planning stages.	N/A	Unproduced
17	This episode never made it past the planning stages.	N/A	Unproduced

• Kinnear mentioned it very briefly while he was promoting ¨Stuck on You¨, as shown in E! Entertainment television Latinoamerica in the early 2000s.

External Link

• IMDB entry on The Best of the Worst. Retrieved 08 Nov '17