Worst concept ever - My Mother the Car (1965) Discussion

[–] bawilson-2 18 years ago

I am tempted to say that MMTC is the stupidist sitcom ever put on TV; however, knowing television as I do, I'm sure that if I did so someone would point out a stupider one out there somewhere.

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[–] claude-rouyer 18 years ago

I like this serie.

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[–] doodlkatz-1 18 years ago

there has got to something worse .... "good times" comes to mind i really like jerry but like many other actors he does not seem to be able to star but is brillant as 2nd lead in coach the only co-star in a sitcom better than jerry/luther is don knotts as barney fife.mid60's tv was very experimental in concept look at mr ed, green acres or gilligans island they were every bit as stupid but some how they worked mmtc just somehow did not although it really is not all that bad it may have failed because of it's time slot who knows what it ran against the show was not all that bad

the more people I meet, the more I prefer the company of my cats

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[–] badhabits 18 years ago

I'll agree with you that the show itself was surprisingly decent, but its just hard to get over the idea of the mother/car character. Jerry is great. The writing was actually good. I won't retract my statement, but I will say that the entire series of Mr. Ed was just a retarded as the concept of MMTC was insane. I should probably lay off this show a bit...but not a whole lot.

"Dude, I'm totally wearing a hat."

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[–] doodlkatz-1 18 years ago

you're right "Mister Ed" was just as dumb of a concept But it worked an d noe is consider a cult classic Really my only defence is that fact that I enjoy Jerry and find him very funny in most everything he is in.....It's hard with the over all mediocre quality of tv to define any show as the absolute worst ...... who knows what the moron producers/writer will come up with next

the more people I meet, the more I prefer the company of my cats

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[–] badhabits 18 years ago

Dude, for sure, I don't know where they come up with this stuff, it's so random. This reality TV *beep* is getting out of control, there's no redeeming quality, and it does nothing relevant culturally (unless Ryan Seacrest is doing something life defining that I've missed in the promos for American Idol). Now, they just lock ten attention whores in a room together, pour alcohol down their throats, and encourage promiscuity. It's television, but not a show.

"Dude, I'm totally wearing a hat."

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[–] doodlkatz-1 18 years ago

I must be getting old but I really miss shame ... used to be people generally only made asses out of themselves either in front of their family or in a bar and then felt bad later Not today if you are a prevert or have some part or your personaiity that is repulsive you get a tv show appearence and/or a bbok deal. In the good old days you got caught in a romance with a farm animal you hung yourself behind the barn ,today you hang out with MAURY OR OPRAH Comedy wriers can not make up plots goofier than the antics of real folks[ Tom Cruise eats afterbirth] that's why reality shows are soo popular

the more people I meet, the more I prefer the company of my cats

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[–] scotbpens 14 years ago

Comedy writers can not make up plots goofier than the antics of real folks (Tom Cruise eats afterbirth) that's why reality shows are soo popular

I've heard that if you dip it in tempura batter and fry it real crisp, it's not too bad.

All the universe . . . or nothingness. Which shall it be, Passworthy? Which shall it be?

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[–] nlpnt 15 years ago

I'm guessing it had something to do with the '60s being the golden age of the three-martini lunch and legal barbituates.

Politics is like driving an automatic - put it in D to go forward and R to go backward.

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[–] Lexx-2 15 years ago

At the very least, if it wasn't for this show we wouldn't have had The Simpsons sketch "The Love-Matic Grandpa"!

"Oh, I did my thesis on life experience." - Anonymous Harvard Guy, The Simpsons.

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[–] acwoodcraft-1 16 years ago

I wonder why Mr. Ed caught on and MMTC flopped. I know Jerry Van Dyke's character's wife wasn't nearly as nice as Wilbur's. As I remember she was pretty mean. Don't know if that was the difference but it didn't help.

Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans

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[–] ross-mcglashan 18 years ago

There is another sitcom with a far, far worse premise.........

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0259776/

I fought in the Indie wars! I couldn't save Menswear, I couldn't save any of them!

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[–] ross-mcglashan 18 years ago

Cancel that actually, I've just seen it. Ingenious show.

"Hi, Hitler here. No, Bob Hitler, who do you think?"

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[–] dim_sumus 16 years ago

Some syndicated shows of the 80s were as bad if not worse than MMTC. I have memories of one called "What a Dummy" or something like that. This suburban family has a ventriliquist dummy that could talk on its own. Totally bad premise.

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[–] douttfire-1 17 years ago

Could be, But the basic idea (a car that was alive)was dredged up 30 or so years later and marketed as "Knight Rider"

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[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Reality_TV_Sucks 17 years ago

I found a TV Show which has a much worse concept:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108937/

Have a nice cup of STFU!

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[–] gerard-21 17 years ago

UM, Knight Rider was not about a car that was alive. It was about a car that talked because it boasted an onboard "life-like" computer. Much different than someone's mother coming back as a car.

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[–] gerard-21 17 years ago

Agree 100%. Even in that era of fantasy shows, when the concept was hatched, it was thought of as ridiculous.

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[–] NSurone 16 years ago

And then there's ALF. A sitcom about a funny, funky alien who lives with a typical, boring, white-bread family. Not much different from MY MOTHER, THE CAR, is it?

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[–] TooSlim 16 years ago

"It's About Time", the sitcom about the astronauts going back in time (and then back again) with cave people, was much worse than MMTC.

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[–] HijodelCid 15 years ago

You know what was WORSE?: all the science fiction shows of Irwin Allen: VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, LOST IN SPACE, THE TIME TUNNEL and LAND OF THE GIANTS.
Those shows had pretty decent concepts, and would start fairly well, only to degenerate fairly quickly into ridiculous garbage because Allen had no sensibility, no taste, no imagination and no respect for the intelligence of the viewers. For ex, he never explained how it was that the aliens in LIS and ancient cultures such as the Greeks and Trojans of the Siege of Troy in TTT could speak perfect English, a language which they obviously could not know.

God is subtle, but He is not malicious. (Albert Einstein)

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[–] scotbpens 14 years ago

To be fair to Irwin Allen, Lost In Space and VTTBOTS deteriorated in quality largely because the shows were given smaller and smaller budgets to work with. That meant less money for experienced writers, sets and effects. Both of those shows ended up as campy self-parodies featuring the MOW (Monster of the Week). In fact the same monsters frequently crossed over between Voyage, Lost in Space and Time Tunnel.

All the universe . . . or nothingness. Which shall it be, Passworthy? Which shall it be?

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[–] greenjeans 14 years ago

I was a child when this first was broadcast. I liked it. I don't know how much I would have liked it had I been older, but it fit in with many fantasy-themed shows around at the time that I liked. I accepted this show as just another fantasy-themed show.

I also watched Mr. Ed growing up. In my child's mind they seemed about the same - a horse talks, a car talks.

Haven't seen any of this series since the 60's. It's nostalgia for me and I look forward to watching some episodes.

I wonder if the people who rate this as the worst stinker ever, got to watch this as a child or were older when they first watched it?

There were other awful shows that don't seem to get the attention of this one.
As poster TooSlim mentions there was the series "It's About Time". That was almost unwatchable. Think I watched one or two episodes then I turned it off.

"My Mother The Car" fit in with many of the other fantasy-themed series that were on around that time. Such as: "Mr. Ed.", I Dream Of Jeannie", Bewitched", Munsters", "Twilight Zone", "Outer Limits","The Addams Family", "Star Trek"(TOS),"Lost In Space","Time Tunnel","Voyage to the Bottom Of The Sea". I watched all of these and really liked them.

I love fantasy and science fiction shows to this day and believe it's because there were so many shows in those genres while I was growing up, that I developed a life long preference for fantasy and science fiction shows.

These shows were aired between the 60's and 70's when there were only 3 channels to watch. I'm very glad that as a kid during that time period, there was something kids could enjoy besides cartoons and 'The Mickey Mouse Club" reruns.

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[–] altair42002 14 years ago

If you think MMTC was the worst concept ever, I suspect that you have never seen "Cop Rock" or "Fish Police". Cop Rock Has to be the most bizzare idea ever to make it on the air. If you've never seen Fish Police, consider yourself lucky. there were only 3 episodes shown, and unfortunatly, I watched all of them. My dad used to like shows like "Cops" and thought Cop Rock would be another similar show. I remember him seeing the promo for it and saying that he wanted me to stay up and watch it with him. After the first 10 minutes I realized that it was crap and went to bed. When Fish Police came out, I thought it sounded stupid, but I wanted it to be good because of all the big name people doing the voices. When it got pulled, I suspect the cast were relieved that it was over.

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[–] badhabits 13 years ago

Here's what seperates MMTC - which deserves an acronym in the interest of time rather than homage - the fantasy elements of television at that time were decidedly absurd, that much has been and can be asserted as fact, but there is no causality.

Gilligan's Island is ridiculously formed on the premise of a handful of castaways recreating society for no apparent reason. How they got there? Weather.

The plot of Mr. Ed is constructed on a talking horse, and his staggeringly short owner, and while anatomically impossible, within the universe created the possiblity is evidenced by the indisputable observation that the animal does totally talk.

MMTC does none of his, simply basing the story on a soul transfering not to the afterlife, but to an inanimate object. There is no tangible explanation outside of quirk. Failing to live-up to the scientific standards of Gilligan's Island is not something to be argued away.

I like the show, I like the legacy it left behind (The Simpsons episode aforementioned, Arrested Development's entire episode My Mother, the Car), and though it may not be literally the worst concept ever, the visibility constitutes at least a mention.

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[–] phillindholm 9 years ago

But, honestly, WHAT was Ann Sothern THINKING?.

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[–] phillindholm 9 years ago

I remember ''Cop Rock'' (though five minutes of one episode was all I could stand). But, though I'm going to hate myself for asking, what was the ''premise'' of ''Fish Police?''.

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[–] altair42002 9 years ago

The whole idea behind fish police was just that they were all fish. Everything else about it could have lifted right from any other cop show like dragnet, magnum p.i. or columbo.
The animation was terrible the dialog was corny and very cliché and every character seemed to be taken from some other show and changed into a fish.
Oh, and by the way, some of the "fish" smoked cigars??? How is that even plausible!

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[–] phillindholm 9 years ago

Thanks fr the answer. Now I KNOW what they were thinking. ''OK now, who can come up with a WORSE concept than ''My Mother, The Car''?. EXCELLENT!. You can start writing the pilot on Monday. Any questions?''.

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[–] lobomensch 9 years ago

2 words: Reality TV. Duck Dynasty, Honey Boo Boo, 19 And Counting -- FAR worse than My Mother The Car could ever aspire (or sink) to.

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[–] phillindholm 9 years ago

Sadly, that's too true.They almost make ''Cop Rock'' look good.

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[–] billybarnett806 8 years ago

Wait, Duck Dynasty? I love that show

"Like my great grandpappy used to say, when life gives you booty, make bootyade!"-Big E of New Day

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[–] mactach 8 years ago

If you don't like the show fine.

Most people back then felt the same way which was why it was canceled after 1 season though shut up about being emotional.

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