The Worst Sitcom Ever Made

Geoff Houtman was part of the team that created the worst sitcom ever made. It's haunted him for 25 years. Now he's on a quest to see what lessons we can learn about failure in general.

Presented by Geoff Houtman

The words "The Worst Sitcom Ever Made" appears on a yellow background. In the corner is a portrait of the host, divided down the middle with one half showing a contemporary photo and the other a historic one.

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All episodes:

'I think of it like a cult'

Episode 1
Kiwi TV show 'Melody Rules' came out in the 90s and is widely regarded as one of worst sitcoms ever made. But just how bad was it? Geoff Houtman - one of the show's original writers - embarks on a quest to find out what went wrong.
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'What? You want us to write a kids' show?'

Episode 2
Geoff and some of the original writing group talk about the 'odd' way Melody Rules came to be chosen, and how micro-management from the outset set the course for sitcom-disaster.
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'Even I thought I was a terrible choice!'

Episode 3
Even a badly chosen idea and a micro-managed script needs someone to play it. And casting is crucial... especially with inexperienced actors.
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'Just f#&%ing stand there and say your line!'

Episode 4
Geoff tracks down the man who directed all 40 episodes of Melody Rules and hears about the challenges he faced: inexperience, arguments with the actors, news cameras on loan, making a sitcom in a broom closet.
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'The one-eyed man in the kingdom of the blind'

Episode 5
Geoff tracks down John Vorhaus, the sitcom guru. How did John get the job of training the young writers and what did he make of it all?
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'There was just... vitriol in the air'

Episode 6
Melody Rules is finally unleashed on a hyped-up New Zealand public and is greeted with virtual (and actual) hostility.
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'The Network would say, here's what we're going to do, blah blah blah'

Episode 6
What were the Network people thinking when they made Melody Rules? Geoff gets their - surprisingly positive - take on the experience.
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'I just want to go now'

Episode 8
So how did the failure that was Melody Rules affect the people involved? In this final episode, Geoff's on the road to find out and to discover what he's learned about himself and his perceived failure.
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The mess, the 25 year old monkey and me

Bonus episode
It's been a monkey on his back for 25 years. It's time to try to understand what happened to bring about such a monstrous failure.

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