The Final Episode #104: Charles In Charge (1984 - 1985, 1987 - 1990)

 

Alright! It's finally time to get back to the crapola! I've been having a good time talking about these syndicated shows that I'm going to add one more to Syndication Silliness! I had forgotten about said show and I know I gotta talk about it. Still that show is not today's show. Today's show is another sitcom Charles in Charge. It started in 1984 and ended in 1985. That was the original run on CBS. I guess someone saw something in this show and they brought it back for syndication in 1987. I am now talking about it in 2021. Years are fun. Charles in Charge is not fun. It just might be the worst sitcom pre the year 2000. We all know that The Big Bang Theory takes the cake for worst overall.

The reason this is the worst is because of one man. Scott Baio. Scott Baio just might be the worst actor of all time. Some people try their hardest and just fail at it but you can see them trying. Scott Baio does not even try. I am amazed he got a career in acting. I mean it's not the most amazing career but it was still a career. He started on Happy Days, made the silly boner comedy Zapped (which I actually do love but thats because I have a complete love of all boner comedies) and this series. He also did some work on Arrested Development. It's more of a career than this guy deserves. So what is this show about huh? It stars a guy named Charles who goes on wacky adventures with Willie Aames (yes, the Bibleman) and some family he lives with. Woo. There's not much else you can say about this tv show, except that it's clearly the worst tv show producer Michael Jacobs was ever apart of.

So as is with other shows I've never seen an episode of, I try to watch at least two to get a feel for the show. I usually discuss both episodes here, one in one paragraph and The Final Episode in more detail but my god this show gives me less material than Mama's Family did. It's very not good. The first episode I watched revolved around the old plot of "Old Friends Come back into the main characters life and are assholes to the new friends he has made". Yep. They ruin a bike race for helping the school library get more books or some shit. Charles has to let go of his old friends and love his new friends. Blah blah. I will give this show one bit of praise and that is Willie Aames is VERY into his role. I wish they had given him better jokes but he's fucking into being the biggest dummy in the history of the situational comedy.

So the Final Episode entitled "Charles B Demille" came to us on November 10th, 1990. It starts out with Charles yelling at a clock. I bet that's what Scott Baio does a lot of these days "TRUMP WON THE ELECTION YOU STUPID CLOCK!!!!" but yeah. It turns out that the mailman is coming with a letter that says if he will get into Princeton or not. Yeah, this would work for several other shows but I sure as hell don't believe for a second they'd let this dunderfuck into Princeton. Anyway Buddy comes in and acts like a goofball until Sarah played by Josie Davis (this is where I would talk about things she's in but she's only been in some Lifetime movies and something called Mantervention which sounds really terrible but I have to watch,) She's bitching and moaning about the school having cut funds for a trip or some shit. She has the mail. Buddy gets it and opens up a random envelope from a Sorority House setting up a fundraiser! This has Charles mom (Ellen Travolta who I don't know if she's actually related to SUPER FAMOUS Joey Travolta or not!) tell her to do her own fundraiser.

She says she would need a good director to do a fundraiser thing and she looks for Charles to do it.  The grandfather character comes in and his actor was literally in every tv show made up until this point. No joke. Not many people can say they were on The Twilight Zone AND My Favorite Martian. I wish I were talking about those shows instead. He was also some general in Return of the Living Dead Part 3. So far he's my favorite member of the cast. We then get Buddy trying to wiggle in on running the talent show and getting 350 Dancing girls. I dunno I get a feeling that would get the funds. Anyway we go to the auditions and Charles' mom brings in some shitty old ventriloquist dummy and I'm surprised I spelt ventriloquist correctly. Wild. So Charles wants to do his act from the 5th grade with this ugly, ugly dummy. I thought it was gonna come to life and kill. I wish it had.

Anyway the snot nosed brother wants to do his magic act so we get to Nicole Eggert. This lady was in movies with Corey Haim AND Corey Feldman. I've heard that she slept with both of them but I do not know for sure. Anyway if this is true this makes her the coolest woman who ever lived. I mean who could say no to getting to sleep with BOTH Coreys? Truly the most magnificent thing on the world. She says some horseshit relating to the plot but I just wanted to mention her and her Corey love.  Wooie. Oh and Walter and Charles mom want to do a vaudeville song so he calls up his mother to write one about Charles mom shitty diner. Wooie. I really need to make sure the shows I talk about actually have interesting things happen. Oh and Charles finds out some guy called from Princeton and runs to talk to him. 

Oh no the Princeton professor has ONE NIGHT ONLY to be in town and it's the same night as the FUNDRAISER OF GOOD TIMES. Oh shit CHARLES HAS TO STUDY!!!!! If he doesn't direct the fundraiser will do poorly for some reason! WHAT WILL HE CHOOSE??? He chooses PRINCETON and Buddy has to direct! Oh no! So Buddy does some shitty crap with some Dancing Girls (you can really tell by this point I have checked out completely and barely care.) Charles is with the Professor who looks really familiar and I think is doing a Ronald Reagan kinda thing. I dunno. He makes some speech about some shit and it inspires Charles to go back and help direct the show! Ho ho ho! He wants to do his ventriloquist thing but Mugsy his dummy is gone so he has to use Buddy! This is actually the only good bit in this episode so I won't get angry at it. 

They do their dumb shit in the fundraiser. Buddy gets a dancing girl in there. It's all great and even the Princeton man shows up to tell Charles that this willing to do this he's willing to put in emotional commitment  for his students. Blah blab bloh. Yeah you can tell how little I care about this shit.  They do their tearful goodbye on the stage and blah blah blah end this damn show now. They then play a record of the theme song of the show. Weird. That's not even the end of the meta-ness of the ending.  Everyone starts hugging each other until we cut back to the house where Scott Baio plays himself and some weird shit making fun of the show pops up. Willie Aames then says This is your dream and any time you need us you can go to sleep and then go I DONT WANNA WAKE UP! He tries this and then the cast pops up and they start singing the theme song again. This show is stupid and I don't like it.

FINAL VERDICT: After how bad these two Syndicated sitcoms I've done are  I don't know if I want to even do the third one. Either way next time will be something else. This show was stupid and I don't like it.