The Ten WORST Disney Channel Shows
Disney Channel is a cornerstone for American and international childhoods, with good reason: many of their shows are GREAT. Sadly this channel has produced some real stinkers, too.These are the ten WORST Disney Channel shows…
10- I Didn’t Do It.
Every now and then there comes a show where you just can’t really explain the concept without going “I promise you, it’s better than it sounds.” With I Didn’t Do It, Disney experimented with the Rashomon style of storytelling, by having each episode deal with a wacky event and then having each main character recollect how it came to be from their perspective. An original idea that, sadly, wasn’t taken far enough. By the show’s second (and last) season, this premise was dropped in favor of becoming yet ANOTHER Tween/Teen sitcom starring a group of friends. Yet another case of a good idea thrown away before it could reach its true potential…
9- Fish Hooks.
The Disney company is practically SYNONYMOUS with excellent cartoons that become cornerstones for childhoods the world over. Mickey Mouse, Beauty and the Beast, Frozen…list goes on. Fish Hooks is, in so many ways, a slap in the face to that long tradition of excellence in animation. Sub-par character designs, uninspired writing, overused character types, etc. While the show does have its saving graces, it’s simply a mediocre-at-best show that EASILY gets overshadowed by what’s come before AND after! Seriously, did this show REALLY come from the same company that gave us Phineas and Ferb, Kim Possible, Darkwing Duck, and BOTH versions of Duck Tales!?
8-Dog with a Blog
This is one of those shows that COULD have worked better if the showrunners simply took their good ideas to their logical extreme. You got a talking dog. He’s got a blog. What can you do with that idea? Well, the showrunners apparently decided that their answer was “eh, we’ll make it a basic kiddie sitcom and call it a day.” They came up with an idea, and then gave up halfway through.
Honestly, it hurts me to put this show here; my mom LOVES this show. And as an animal lover myself, I wish this show was better. But…we got what we got…
At least the dog’s cute!
7- The Buzz on Maggie
A case of “who the hell is this show FOR!?” The plots are your typical teen girl show plots: prom episodes, dealing with bullies, accepting yourself for who you are, etc. It’s basically Lizzie McGuire in cartoon form. And it’s all starring a FLY. Who lives in the city dump. With PLENTY of barf jokes and bodily humor. Uhhh…who was this for, again?
Worst part is that the main theme actually slaps, the animation is pretty good, and the color palette and character designs are on point. It wasn’t a BAD show, but…it simply didn’t know which audience to reach.
6- So Random!
Disney, here’s a pro tip: when the star of the show you made for her has to quit due to personal reasons, DON’T CONTINUE THE SHOW WITHOUT HER! Sonny with a Chance was made as a star vehicle for Demi Lovato: a very funny girl who can REALLY sing. When Demi had to leave the show to enter rehab due to eating disorders, Disney did the disrespect to end all disrespects and continued the show without her. They turned a typical, if above average, kid oriented sitcom into a sketch show, and it deservedly failed.
5- Jonas
Remember when the Jonas Brothers were the hottest band in the world? A band so frickin’ popular, even South Park did an episode on them? Well, Disney gave them a show…
The Brothers are great singers, I won’t lie. They are more than capable of entertaining, I won’t deny it. But this show? It’s basically just “hey look! The Jonas Brothers!!!” It’s a Celeb Toon, live action. But at least the celebrities are…playing themselves. There’s that.
Basically, this show is strictly for Jonas Brothers fans. Otherwise, there’s nothing to watch here. Carry on…
4- Bunk’d (post Season 3)
So Jessie’s a great show; very funny, lovable cast of characters, good plots, and so on. It makes sense to make a spin off of a show if its popular, ESPECIALLY if said spin off keeps many of the main characters from the original show and focuses on them. But when those characters leave, for the love of God, END IT!
Bunk’d Season 3 wasn’t very good, but it AT LEAST still had the Ross kids in it; you know, the whole reason the show existed. Season 4 removed the Ross kids, instead focusing on NEW CHARACTERS! By this point, the show’s not even a spin off anymore!
And even then, even if you could argue that this helps keep the show fresh, there’s no reason to watch! The jokes are stale and forced, the new characters are bleh at best, and…just WHY?
3- Shorty McShort’s Shorts
Disney is at their best when they’re playing to their strengths: beautiful animation, witty writing, with a wonderful cast of easily recognizable, unforgettable characters. Shorty McShort’s Shorts is what happens when a company instead tries to replicate the success of their competitors with little thought as to what made the competition so successful to begin with.
SMS was a collection of boring, forgettable short cartoons, in the vein of Cartoon Network’s What a Cartoon Show, and Nickelodeon’s Oh Yeah Cartoons. What a Cartoon gave the world Johnny Bravo, Dexter’s Laboratory, and the Powerpuff Girls. Oh Yeah Cartoons gave us the Fairly Oddparents. Shorty McShort’s Shorts gave us…nothing. For goodness’ sake, the ONLY recurring short in the show was about a boy band that got caught lip synching!
2- Bizaardvark.
What do you get when you try to make iCarly without ANYTHING that made iCarly work? You get THIS garbage. Here’s what made iCarly work:
1- Lovable characters
2- Unique show concept made before YouTube was a thing.
3- A strong cast
4- Decent humor and writing
5- NOT HAVING JAKE PAUL IN IT!!!
Before we get to number 1, some dishonorable mentions…
Nina Needs to Go: a series of shorts about a girl that has to go pee pee. Every. Single. Episode. For toddlers…
KC Undercover: terrible characters, but an OK premise. Terrible characters, but a good theme song. Terrible characters, but ZENDAYA STARS IN IT! I adore Zendaya, but…this show ain’t it.
Best Friends Whenever: Yet another case of a good idea simply not taken far enough. Two best friends who can travel through time? GREAT! It’s otherwise just a typical sitcom for kids? Not so great…
1- Shake it Up.
How? Just…how do you make a show that’s got everything going for it THIS BAD? You’ve got Bella Thorne, who was a rising star with proven acting chops. You’ve got Zendaya, who can dance, sing, and act with the best of’em. You’ve got a nice premise going on: two girls who dance for a living on TV and have wacky adventures together. And…you make THIS!?
The humor in this show is mean spirited and cruel, the dance routines are uninspired and hardly play a role in the show, the music is OK at BEST (excepting the theme song), the clothing styles are laughably bad, and..the jokes. Good God. Did this show REALLY try getting away with an EATING DISORDER JOKE!? ON A SHOW AIMED AT GIRLS!!!??? FUCK YOU, DISNEY!!!
