People Can't Believe These 16 TV Shows Actually Aired, And It's No Wonder They Haven't Aged Well

"Many of the things done on the show, in earnest or not, could not and should not be done today."

When Reddit user u/Realcbear asked "what are some shows that have aged like milk?", I knew I had to round up some of the best answers...

1. America's Next Top Model

The CW

"So much of the advice is completely out of date and reflects extremely harmful cultural standards of the time. Tyra Banks is a victim, but she’s also a monster. Many of the things done on the show, in earnest or not, could not and should not be done today."

– u/GalacticGrandma

"Honestly the way she destroyed girls’ hair and teeth was criminal."  

– u/fiftycamelsworth

2. Secret Life Of The American Teenager

ABC Family

– u/Luna_Soma

"The 'you’re my whore' scene lives in my head rent free."

– u/merrymerryk

"I honestly can’t believe Shailene Woodley has managed to get other pretty big roles after that because good god was that show a trainwreck especially for scenes like that."  

– u/milkradio

3. Two and a Half Men

CBS

"Nothing from that show has aged well except for Melanie Lynskey, my queen." 

– u/walkingtalkingdread

"Honestly, I grit my teeth whenever I hear it come on the TV. Just, ew."

– u/hambone_boiler

4. 2 Broke Girls

CBS

"The first two seasons had some cute, fun moments but there was some of it that just hit wrong." 

– u/arwenthenoble

"I remember when this first came out and I couldn’t believe how openly racist it was, even for the time. Gross."  

– u/Speecyspicypotato

5. How I Met Your Mother

CBS

"It has some not so great stuff in it, mainly Barney manipulating women into sex."

– u/Proper-Emu1558

"I never understood why it was SO popular, it always grossed me out."

– u/Inez_Honeyfox

"One that stands out to me is when Enrique Iglesias guest starred, his character’s name was Gael, which is a fairly common Spanish name. Ted pretends not to understand it calling him 'Gayle' etc. Then later he uses really difficult English vocab so Gael won’t understand him. It was so weird."  

– u/BluePeriod_

6. Little Britain

BBC

"It was the biggest comedy show in the 2000s; its cultural footprint in the UK cannot be overstated." 

– u/6357673ad

"I know of the show through a flatmate I lived with when I lived in the UK and TBH the jokes were extremely offensive even back then."  

– u/milkradio

7. Californication

Showtime

"It was too long ago for me to point out specific examples, but I remember it was high-key misogynistic and was rooted in a warped 'male fantasy', where they could be washed up, middle-aged and mediocre across the board, but with a little bit of charisma and extra cash, they could bag any gorgeous, sexually adventurous woman under-25 no problem."

– u/totallyn0rmal

"He also used his young daughter as a mother/care taker proxy. He acted like the kid and she took care of the dad and we were supposed to think this was cute, or normal or whatever." 

– u/Successful-Side8902 

8. Sex and the City

HBO

"It's aged poorly, especially the show’s take on bisexuality. Carrie says in one episode that bisexuality is just a stop on the way to being gay." 

– u/58lmm9057

"Also, the reboot just comes off like it’s trying to make up for the original show’s lack of diversity and the POC cast unfortunately end up feeling like props at times as a result. And then you have Carrie (the supposed sex columnist) who is still so uptight and lacking in sex positivity she won’t say vagina." 

– u/blueandbrownolives 

9. That 70s Show

Fox

– u/Knickerbockers-94

"Only problem I had was them forcing a love arc between Jackie and almost literally every other guy on the show."  

– u/iantruesnacks

10. Dexter

Showtime

"I used to love it until I realised how they sexualised literally every female character. It doesn’t matter if it’s an old woman, someone’s daughter, or a murder victim, someone will make a 'joke' about her body, or having sex with her. It totally ruined the show for me." 

– u/taekken

11. Gossip Girl

The CW

"After all the BS, Dan was forgiven back in the day. All the damage he caused and it was 'aww Dan, lol!' It would not fly by today's standards." 

– u/Harpeigh

12. Law and Order SVU

NBC

"The jokes they make at the expense of LGBT victims while posturing as progressive are gross." 

– u/coffeeclichehere

13. Friends

NBC

"A lot of the jokes are either Joey sexually harassing Rachel and Monica, or Ross being like 'my ex is a lesbian' and that’s the whole punchline." 

– u/Motor_Appearance_311

"Not to mention the Monica fat jokes, yikes." 

– u/MollyBloom11 

"The jokes about Ross' ex were gross too because it felt like they were implying Ross was 'less of a man' for being left for a woman."  

– u/ThrowRAHealing

14. Entourage

HBO

"It works if you view it as a satire of the misogyny and bullshit chauvinism of the time. AKA, not how it was meant to be viewed at all."

– u/SmakeTalk

15. Saved By The Bell

NBC

– u/cantblametheshame 

"I used to see the occasional episode at work and I kept wondering how they got away with this? There was one episode where they were spying on the girls and taking voyeur pics for a calendar. It was really creepy."

– u/My_Immortl

16. One Tree Hill

The CW

"The body shaming, slut shaming, and name-calling in OTH is horrendous. Not one of the girls in this cast are even remotely overweight but the fat jokes/insults get tossed around often and it’s so uncomfortable. The name calling between girls competing for a guy is also pretty lame and one dimensional."

– u/CrissBliss

H/T to u/Realcbear and AskReddit for having this discussion!

Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.  

Are there any other shows that you think would not survive on air today? Let us know in the comments!