Top 10 Worst Cartoon Network Shows
These programs will make you dread Friday nights. Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Worst Cartoon Network Shows.
For this list, we’ll be reluctantly trudging through the worst that Cartoon Network has had to offer - whether animated or… live-action. We’re excluding Adult Swim series this time around.
#10: “Scaredy Squirrel” (2011-13)
We’ve already said how horrendous the theme song is, now it’s time to tear apart the rest of the show. Loosely based on Mélanie Watt’s book series, this Canadian import follows the titular germaphobic squirrel as he and his best skunk friend engage in all types of shenanigans. Along with having next to nothing in common with its source material, the show suffers from unimpressive art and animation, along with rather uninspired writing –it feels less like an adaptation and more like another “SpongeBob” rip-off. What’s even worse, the voice acting is like torture to the ears… especially Scaredy’s. If you can’t capture a book’s true spirit, why bother adapting it?
#9: “Almost Naked Animals” (2011-13)
The title alone is enough to repel viewers. Another Canadian import, the show follows a gang of badly-shaven animals wearing nothing but undergarments as they run a resort hotel. Their excitable manager, Howie, usually gets his staff involved in some form of hijinks. It’s not exactly clear what demographic this series was aiming for, but it’s safe to say that it didn’t end up appealing to anyone. Not only were the imagery and character designs unsavory, the premise and episode plots are unbelievably boring with random, fast-paced humor. There may have been a time when unsightly characters appealed to viewers, but that ship has sailed… and it took these animals’ clothes with it.
#8: “Level Up” (2012-13)
Time to open this can of worms – for a short while, Cartoon Network tried its hand at live-action programming… and most of them were pretty bad. For example, This forgotten disaster follows four gamers who do battle with escaped videogame monsters –or ‘Leaks.’ In addition to being horribly out of place on a CARTOON network, this show desperately tries to appeal to the gamer demographic, but knows nothing about how real gamers act –its characters being mostly stereotypes played by annoying actors. If you really want to appeal to your target audience, don’t talk down to them or try to imitate their culture… or at least actually learn about them first.
#7: “Dude, What Would Happen” (2009-11)
Imagine a reality show similar to “MythBusters,” but without the charm or scientific integrity; that’s exactly what you get with “Dude, What Will Happen.” Three eccentric teens set out to answer what could happen in some of the weirdest and most unimaginative situations through experimentation. Aside from once again being live-action litter on the CARTOON Network, the show spits in the eyes of science just to appeal to dumb thrill-seekers. It doesn’t help that the ‘Dudes’ are loud and in your face, and the jump cut editing is distracting. The show could have been fun for kids… if it were on a different network or properly written.
#6: “Incredible Crew” (2012-13)
The network tackled nearly every other live-action TV genre poorly, so why not add sketch comedy into the pot? Created by Nick Cannon, “Incredible Crew” offers viewers a mish-mash surreal skits, weird music videos, parody commercials, and so on. What’s really incredible is how phoned in the comedy really is. You can tell that the actors are trying, but their performances come off as awkward and forced. Add to that the fact that sketch comedy has mostly moved to the internet in recent years, and you’ve got a show that feels hopelessly out of date. Not even “Adventure Time”’s Jeremy Shada could save this incredibly bad train wreck.
#5: “Uncle Grandpa” (2013-17)
Originally, “Uncle Grandpa” debuted as a pilot episode for another terrible series called “Secret Mountain Fort Awesome” before becoming its own spin-off …not that it did any better. The series follows a Mary Poppins-like man who’s both the uncle and grandpa of everyone in the world, as he takes the kids he meets on strange adventures. Random humor is all fine and good, but “Uncle Grandpa” doesn’t seem to know when to stop, and most of it has no rhyme or reason. The character himself is no better, with his annoying voice and boneheaded methods for fixing things. Would you really trust THIS guy to watch over your kids?
#4: “Teen Titans Go!” (2013-)
The comment section would have our heads if we didn’t include this stinker. Rather than continue fan favorite “Teen Titans,” the whole series was rebooted as a comedy that happened to feature the original’s voice actors. The show received lots of backlash from superfans, and it’s easy to see why: it takes being random too far, and paints the Titans as incompetent idiots who act more villainous than the actual villains. Arguably the worst part of the series is how it constantly antagonizes its viewers – it KNOWS the original’s superior, but revels in its mediocrity, and practically rubs in the sad fact that it’s here to stay.
#3: “Out of Jimmy’s Head” (2007-08)
A follow-up to the TV movie “Re-Animated”, this show features Jimmy Roberts – a teenager with a cartoonist’s brain transplanted in his head, which of course allows him to see and talk to cartoon characters. It tries to rip-off “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”’s cartoon world meets real life scenario, but Jimmy’s regular life is cartoony enough –he has an alien sister for crying out loud – rendering the cartoon characters unnecessary. They try to cover up the nonsensical, unfunny writing with a laugh track… but has that ever worked? Out of all the live-action shows the network tried to force on us, this is the one we wish we could remove from our heads the most.
#2: “The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange” (2012-14)
Like what Nickelodeon did with “Fred: The Show,” Cartoon Network decided to bring YouTube’s “Annoying Orange” to the airwaves. The series follows the titular character and his friends as they embark on zany adventures alongside their human friend. The title is an understatement, as this series is nothing short of obnoxious – the jokes and writing are lackluster, and the Orange himself is too grating to bare. While it got high views in the first few weeks, critics rightfully plowed it into the ground and buried it after two seasons. If you want to bring a web series to Television, at least be sure they have some substance… and aren’t irritating beyond all reason.
Before we unveil our top pick, here are some dishonorable mentions.
“Secret Mountain Fort Awesome” (2011-12)
“Johnny Test” (2005-14)
“Squirrel Boy” (2006-07)
#1: “The Problem Solverz” (2011-13)
This “unique” little dud follows three detectives that take on any challenge they can find in the town of Farboro. Oh boy… where do we begin? The only thing harder on the eyes than the hideous character designs is the lazy animation. Furthermore, the writing provides absolutely nothing of value – just random, off-the-wall humor for the sake of it. It was originally pitched for Adult Swim, but was rejected and made into a kids’ cartoon… then cancelled after one season before the second/final season was released on Netflix. The one problem the Problem Solverz couldn’t solve was how terrible their series was.