TV's Biggest Blunders Ever

Many people are asking whether "The Jay Leno Show" debacle is the dumbest thing a TV network has ever done.

Entertainment Weekly magazine's new issue ranks the 50 biggest bombs and blunders in TV history. Dalton Ross, assistant managing editor of the magazine, shared some of the worst of the worst on "The Early Show."

Ross said No. 9 on their list is "Felicity" cutting her hair. The producers of this WB drama thought her cutting her hair would add a dramatic buzz. In a dramatic twist, fans revolted, ratings went down and the show never quite recovered, Ross says.

"Kerry Russell is a beautiful, beautiful woman, but more beautiful with hair," he said. "And when they decided to cut the hair off, it was a case of messing with success, and that haircut equaled a big cut in ratings, as well."

No. 6 on Entertainment Weekly's list are actors and actresses that left their shows too soon, such as Shelly Long quitting "Cheers" and David Caruso leaving "NYPD Blue," to pursue movie careers.

"I don't think people were toasting 'Troop Beverly Hills' too much. And Dave Caruso, his movie career flops, takes him eight years to get back on a little thing called 'CSI: Miami.'"

The No. 5 on the list, "Early Show" co-anchor Harry Smith said he couldn't remember - "The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer," on UPN network.

The show only aired for three weeks.

"Memo to network executives: Slavery, not funny," Ross said.

He said the premise of the show was that the main character was Abraham Lincoln's butler.

"And they thought it would be hilarious to make all these slavery jokes. It was not," Ross said. "People were offended. Three weeks and gone."

The show "Moonlighting" also made the list in the No. 4 spot. "Moonlighting," Ross said, is the "ultimate will they or won't they show."

Smith noted, "There was some amazing tension between (David and Maddie)."

Ross replied, "But you can't have sexual tension when your characters are having sex. And that was the problem -- eventually, they hooked up and then all that tension was gone; it was a slow burnout after that."

Another TV bomb was the "Caveman" show taken from the Geico car insurance commercials.

"What's funny as a 30 second ad for car insurance is a little tough when you stretch it out for a half an hour," Ross said. "'The Cavemen' bombed for three reasons: It reeked of crass commercialism, two, it wasn't funny, and three, it wasn't saving us any money on car insurance. So if you want to make me watch this, at least save me some money."

In a surprise, the show "Family Guy" also made the list.

"Fox cancelled it twice," Ross said. "Then it became a huge hit on DVD and in reruns, then they realized, 'Let's bring it back.' The lesson here is patience is a virtue."

And No. 1 on the Entertainment Weekly list?

"The Jay Leno Show" at 10:00 p.m.

"All these other bombs are ruining a half hour of primetime real-estate," he said. " (With) 'The Jay Leno Show,' you've got five hours of prime time gone, the local news gone, 'The Tonight Show,' which he leaves with Conan, it does really poorly. So, 12 hours a week you have down in the dumpster here. It was a debacle of epic proportions."