The Worst Sitcom Ever Made
Geoff Houtman was part of the team that created the worst sitcom ever made. It's haunted him for 25 years. Now he's on a quest to see what lessons we can learn about failure in general.
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Audience Interest
Podcast Focus
Publishing Consistency
Platform Reach
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Back-catalog monthly reach
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- Per-Episode Audience
No new episodes in 90+ days
—🎙 Sporadic cadence·9 episodes·Long inactive - Monthly Reach
Unique listeners across all episodes (30 days)
400 to 3.6K🇳🇿100% - Active Followers
Loyal subscribers who consistently listen
80 to 720
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* Data sourced directly from platform APIs and aggregated hourly across all major podcast directories.
| Date | Episode | Description | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4/30/19 | 'I just want to go now' | So how did the failure that was Melody Rules affect the people involved? In this final episode, Geoff's on the road to find out and to discover what he's learned about himself and his perceived failure. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details | — | |
| 4/24/19 | 'The Network would say, here's what we're going to do, blah blah blah' | What were the Network people thinking when they made Melody Rules? Geoff gets their - surprisingly positive - take on the experience.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details | — | |
| 4/16/19 | 'There was just... vitriol in the air' | Melody Rules is finally unleashed on a hyped-up New Zealand public and is greeted with virtual (and actual) hostility.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details | — | |
| 4/9/19 | 'The one-eyed man in the kingdom of the blind' | Geoff tracks down John Vorhaus, the sitcom guru. How did John get the job of training the young writers and what did he make of it all?Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details | — | |
| 4/2/19 | 'Just f#&%ing stand there and say your line!' | Geoff tracks down the man who directed all 40 episodes of Melody Rules and hears about the challenges he faced: inexperience, arguments with the actors, news cameras on loan, making a sitcom in a broom closet.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details | — | |
| 3/26/19 | 'Even I thought I was a terrible choice!' | Even a badly chosen idea and a micro-managed script needs someone to play it. And casting is crucial... especially with inexperienced actors.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details | — | |
| 3/19/19 | 'What? You want us to write a kids' show?' | Geoff and some of the original writing group talk about the 'odd' way Melody Rules came to be chosen, and how micro-management from the outset set the course for sitcom-disaster.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details | — | |
| 3/12/19 | 'I think of it like a cult' | Kiwi TV show 'Melody Rules' came out in the 90s and is widely regarded as one of worst sitcoms ever made. But just how bad was it? Geoff Houtman - one of the show's original writers - embarks on a quest to find out what went wrong.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details | — | |
| 3/10/19 | The mess, the 25 year old monkey and me | It's been a monkey on his back for 25 years. It's time to try to understand what happened to bring about such a monstrous failure.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details | — |
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Chart history for The Worst Sitcom Ever Made
Peaked at #173 in New Zealand, currently #173 in New Zealand.
| Market | Genre | Peak | Current | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand | — | #173 | #173 | — |
Chart Positions
1 placement across 1 market.
Chart Positions
1 placement across 1 market.