It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time: The Worst TV Shows in History and Other Things I Wrote

by Bruce Vilanch

Overview

"Bruce Vilanch, a storyteller without peer, has written a tell-all . . . on himself! And it's hilarious! He's finally coming clean and owning up to his part in creating some of the worst television of the twentieth century, and that's saying a lot. There's no one like him. As they've been saying since I discovered him as a cub reporter at the Chicago Tribune, when you're in a pinch . . . Get Bruce!" —BETTE MIDLER

Bruce Vilanch is known as a go-to comedy writer for award shows, sitcoms, and top-heavy variety specials, but he has also been responsible for quite a few of the worst shows ever put on television—legendarily bad productions.
Some of his work lives in infamy—The Star Wars Holiday Special, The Paul Lynde Halloween Special, Rob Lowe dancing with Snow White at the Oscars, and The Brady Bunch Variety Hour. How did these ever seem like a good idea?
Well, everyone has screwed up a few times, or had their work screwed up by others. It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time is a lifetime reflection of what Vilanch has experienced, learned, forgotten, dismissed, and embraced in decades of working in show business, specifically the south forty acres known as comedy. It involves very famous people and people who were not very famous but should have been.
And it explains to the person in the audience who says to himself, once he has gotten his jaw off the floor, "'How did this ever get made?"
Don't we all want to know?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780915864669
Publisher:	Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	03/04/2025
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Bruce Vilanch is an actor (occasionally an actress), writer (occasionally a rewriter), and comedian (occasionally for money, often for causes). He has coauthored 25 Academy Award spectacles, winning two writing Emmys in the process, and has been nominated for seven more. In addition to the Oscars, he has cowritten many Tonys, Emmys, Grammys, People's Choice, American Comedy Awards, TV Land Awards, SAG Awards, and a ton of other pageants, roasts, tributes, and various trumped-up reasons for people to strut a red carpet. He has coauthored dozens of variety television shows and actually put words in the mouth of Cher. He's also a lyricist, scoring gold and platinum records for disco songs he wrote for Eartha Kitt and the Village People. And musical theatre geeks will remember him as the coauthor of the Broadway misfire called Platinum, which was revived off-Broadway for reasons that continue to mystify Bruce.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. The Star Wars Holiday Special: At Least We Didn’t Have Jar Jar Binks
2. The Paul Lynde Halloween Special: At Least We Had the Real Wicked Witch
3. The Brady Bunch Hour: At Least We Didn’t Have Cousin Oliver
4. The Ice Pirates: At Least the Space Herpe Didn’t Have Lines
5. Can’t Stop the Music: At Least Disco Was Already Dead
6. Platinum: At Least a Chandelier Didn’t Fall and a Helicopter Didn’t Crash
7. Three/Comedy Tonight: At Least This Didn’t Make Joe Allen’s Wall, Either
8. The Look of the Year: At Least the Sushi Was Fresh
9. The Friars Club Roast: At Least It Was a Roast and Not an Auto-da-fé
10. Charo and the Sergeant and Henne: At Least It Wasn’t the Love Boat (or We Would Have Had Charo and Carol Chinning in the Same Show)
11. Oscar! Oscar!: At Least Nobody Sued . . . Oh, Wait a Minute, Somebody Did
Coda: At Least They Were the Worst

Editorial Reviews

“Bruce is the name, the man, the person, who steadied the Oscars for a hundred years. The go-to genius we all relied on.” —STEVE MARTIN

“A well-written treat for fans of show-biz gossip.” — Kirkus Reviews

“In true Vilanch fashion, [It Seemed Like A Bad Idea at the Time] serves as a reminder that even the most outrageous misfires can become cultural touchstones, and that sometimes, the best ideas really do start as bad ones.” — The Advocate

“An entertaining, often hilarious behind-the-scenes look at working in show business." — Library Journal

“[I]f you’re a fellow pop culture dumpster diver, it won’t matter whether you read or hear Bruce Vilanch’s stories. You’ll just be glad to have found them in the muck.” — The Washington Post

“It’s often been said you learn a lot more from failure than you ever do from success, and in master comedy writer Bruce Vilanch’s hilarious new book, It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time, he has created a screamingly funny encyclopedia of show business failure that takes the joy of schadenfreude to new heights. A laugh-out-loud autopsy of fiascos from television to film to Broadway, all told with Bruce’s impeccable wit and huge heart, from The Paul Lynde Halloween Special to The Ice Pirates, it must be read to be believed. And despite the subject matter this deeply funny debacle chronicle proves to be an unqualified hit.” —NATHAN LANE

“Turns out that all those TV specials I watched as a kid—the ones that not only delighted me but made me wince, groan, and squirm with embarrassment—had Bruce Vilanch’s name on them. And he lived!” —JANE LYNCH 

“These tales are not only hilarious but often shocking that they took place at all. Bruce tells each with wild detail and an incredible amount of heart. You may come for The Star Wars Holiday Special, but you’ll be thrilled you stayed for The Ice Pirates and Charo!” —ANDREW RANNELLS

From the Publisher

Bruce is the name, the man, the person, who steadied the Oscars for a hundred years. The go-to genius we all relied on.”

actor Steve Martin

Turns out that all those TV specials I watched as a kid—the ones that not only delighted me but made me wince, groan, and squirm with embarrassment—had Bruce Vilanch’s name on them. And he lived!”

actress Jane Lynch

Bruce Vilanch, a storyteller without peer, has written a tell-all…on himself! And it’s hilarious! He’s finally coming clean and owning up to his part in creating some of the worst television of the twentieth century, and that’s saying a lot. There’s no one like him. As they’ve been saying since I discovered him as a cub reporter at the Chicago Tribune, when you’re in a pinch…Get Bruce!”

actress Bette Midler

Longtime television writer and comedian Bruce Vilanch narrates his wry, sardonic, whimsical, and perhaps too detailed examination of some of the greatest disasters in his TV writing career. His delivery is well articulated, understandable, enthusiastic, and varied in tone and pace as he, primarily, examines the 1970s penchant for musical comedy specials: "The Star Wars Holiday Special," Paul Lynde's "Halloween Extravaganza," Rob Lowe's dance with Snow White at the Oscars, "The Brady Bunch Musical Hour," and assorted horrendous others. If an excuse is needed, Vilanch says that many involved in such efforts were partially or fully under the influence of substances popular in the era. Listeners will likely have fun with this novelty effort. W.A.G. © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine

MARCH 2025 - AudioFile