Poorly acted scenes in motion pictures aren't hard to find.
Questionable acting chops demonstrated by television stars, on the other hand, can get
buried a little deeper among the thousands of hours of TV broadcast every day.
But fear not, fans of the small screen — we've screened more than 50 years of TV history
to put together this retrospective of cringe-worthy clips.
We guarantee your gratification from these painfully poor performances.
A frightful fight
Legendary television screenwriter and producer Gene Roddenberry
created one of the most memorable shows in history with the futuristic science fiction
series Star Trek.
Unfortunately, lead actor William Shatner, playing USS Enterprise Captain James T. Kirk,
often boldly went where no bad acting had ever gone before.
(Still better than Star Trek: Into Darkness)
Shatner may be a sci-fi icon, but he set acting back eons with this painful-to-watch fight
sequence.
(At least it's not Star Trek V: The Final Frontier)
Even famed American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson weighed in on what's commonly referred
to as the "worst fight scene ever."
"I thought even by then, they could have been more creative with what they imagine an alien
to look like."
Fortunately, this scene wasn't the space explorers' final frontier — the original series aired
for three seasons, spinning off into an entire multi-million dollar franchise, proving that
Star Trek wasn't just here today...
Gorn tomorrow.
"Oh, not again!"
(A better use of Captain Kirk than Star Trek Generations)
The nose knows bad acting
Sticking with fight scenes that leave you feeling queasy, martial arts maverick Chuck
Norris was known for dialing up some stomach-curdling doozies on his 90's CBS show Walker, Texas
Ranger.
None were more unappetizing than this front porch frenzy.
"But you are going to jail."
"No way!
No more jail, NEVER!"
A show known for its awful brawls, all of those bouts surely bow down to this disaster.
Chuck Norris jokes aside, horrendous dialogue and tone-deaf acting often turned his eight-season
long primetime drama into pure comedy gold.
The bad guys in this fight scene will testify to it.
"Let me see...."
"You… you broke my nose!"
"I'll fix it."
"Ohhhh!!"
Baby on board
Talking about painful, there's no other way to describe the tragically lifeless first
foray into acting by Bristol Palin, daughter of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin.
If you look closely, you might even see her cue cards.
"I couldn't find the school… eh heh."
"I came by yesterday morning at 9 to go with you."
"Oh, I was out by 7…"
"I left you a note on the door last night, but I see it's still there."
Two years after her own teen pregnancy saga was revealed, Bristol got the acting bug.
She appeared in an episode of ABC Family's series The Secret Life of the American Teenager.
"It's for teen moms."
"So, I didn't get here on my own?"
"Of course you did."
"You're the world's greatest French horn player!
And I'm Yo-Yo Ma!"
Palin's awkward cameo apparently was a one-time acting gig; as she told E! Online,
"I'm not an actress.
I'll leave that up to the experts, but I had a great time here.
I don't think I'll be doing any more acting in the future."
Good idea.
Good night sweet kitty
In the next scene, it's not even humans doing the dirty work.
This time, ferocious felines took their faulty starring turn on an episode of NBC's short-lived
1983 series Manimal.
Just like these poorly-edited cats, viewers turned tail and ran… to another channel.
Television audiences didn't bite, and Manimal was one of the most infamous TV flops of the
decade.
Powerless punch
Bad acting, racially insensitive plotlines, and largely uninspired fight sequences gave
critics enough ammo to give Iron Fist's first season a resounding thumbs down.
Game of Thrones veteran Finn Jones played Iron Fist's lead, the conflicted martial arts
expert Danny Rand.
"Go slow… at the beginning."
(And act bad... for the whole season)
Critics said the overacting sensei was plagued with cheesy lines and clueless, slow-paced
martial arts moves.
Despite abysmal reviews for its first run, loyal Marvel fans will get more of the man
with the glowing right hand, as Iron Fist started filming season two in December 2017 (unfortunately).
Another Marvel misstep
Originally intended for a late 2018 movie release, Marvel's Inhumans franchise was instead
hastily pushed into television production in 2016.
The last minute rush to air reflected in the show's boring sets and bland lack of character
development.
"You know this was originally was going to be a horrible movie instead of a horrible TV show, right?"
"Really?
You didn't WANT to be king, you just HAD to be king."
It's clear here acting throughout the series suffered, too, especially courtesy of lead
character Black Bolt.
Since Black Bolt is mute and only communicates with abbreviated sign language, head nods,
and eye rolls, dialogue in the show is plagued with uncomfortably long silent pauses.
The Daily Beast summed up Inhumans succinctly, writing,
"This is, simply put, the worst thing to debut on TV this fall and the worst disaster that
merry Marvel has managed to cook up."
We can think of worse Marvel things but… close enough.
She's so excited
Whether giving us silver screen sludge in Showgirls, or overacting away on the small
screen, Saved by the Bell veteran Elizabeth Berkley has proven she's a princess of pitiful
performances.
Playing stressed-out straight-A student Jessie Spano, Berkley wore her crown with pride.
"I'm so excited!
I'm so… scared!"
The much-mocked scene stands out as the most memorable in Saved by the Bell's run, yet
it was almost left on the cutting room floor.
The original script called for Jessie to actually get addicted to speed, but NBC execs wouldn't
allow mentioning the drug.
The network eventually okayed Spano's storyline to switch from an addiction to speed to a
caffeine pill addiction, and "Jessie's Song", as well as Berkeley's infamous acting, lived
on.
"I'm so excited, I'm so excited!
I'm so… scared!"
Stick to the dancing
Sometimes, acting is so ridiculously over the top that it actually becomes good again.
"How much is it?"
"It'll be $18."
"Here you go, keep the change!"
"Hi, doggie!"
We present the case of Alfonso Ribeiro.
If you tap-danced on Broadway as a child, and then moonwalked alongside the legendary
Michael Jackson in a famous Pepsi commercial, it's safe to say you can hold your own as
an accomplished dancer.
But when Ribeiro made his transition into television acting, some critics said he had
two left feet.
"Carlton, man, listen.
My date with Lisa didn't quite turn out the way I planned."
"Pray, tell.
Why not?"
Ribeiro landed his signature TV role as Carlton Banks in 1990 on NBC's The Fresh Prince of
Bel-Air.
Carlton had his share of funny moments — but in this scene, Ribeiro took Carlton's character
over the top like few actors ever have.
"Oh God!
No, no, no!"
Luckily for television viewers, Ribeiro returned to his dancing roots and his hilarious "Carlton"
moves, winning the 19th season of Dancing with the Stars.
But really, it doesn't get better than this.
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