In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, the big trend in TV was giving sitcoms to popular stand-up comedians, based on their acts. Some of those shows became big hits—Tim Allen’s Home Improvement, Jerry Seinfeld’s Seinfeld, Roseanne Barr’s Roseanne. But not every one of them could bring down the house.

The George Carlin Show

Carlin was a legendary, groundbreaking, all-time great of comedy. His routines were more monologues about cultural ills and widespread hypocrisy than they were setups and jokes. Long after his career and influence peaked in the ‘70s, Carlin agreed to star in a sitcom for the young Fox Network in 1994. His material didn’t quite translate to the sitcom format—it was set in a bar where patrons basically set up Carlin to rant. It was canceled after 27 episodes.

All-American Girl

Margaret Cho was a fixture on the stand-up comedy shows that ran endlessly on cable TV in the 1990s, and her act lent itself very well to the sitcom format. Most of Cho’s material at the time was about her Korean-American parents and their slow adaptation to life in San Francisco. ABC turned all that into a show called All-American Girl in 1994—the first network TV show with an all-Asian cast. Critics and audiences found the series to be a typical family sitcom, however, and ABC canceled it after 19 episodes.

Chicken Soup

In the fall of 1989, TV industry insiders predicted one surefire new hit: Chicken Soup. Produced by the same team that made The Cosby Show and Roseanne, this time the comedian whose act got turned into a show was Jackie Mason. Mason was a well-known fixture of comedy and variety shows—he was a familiar face on TV in the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s…but not so much so to young viewers in the ‘80s. The premise: Mason played a Jewish man who fell in love with a Catholic woman (played by Lynn Redgrave). Despite getting a plum time slot right after Roseanne, viewers skipped Chicken Soup and ABC pulled the plug after just eight episodes.

The Jeff Foxworthy Show

Foxworthy’s comedy about blue collar, Southern life—particularly his enormously popular “you might be a redneck if…” made him one of the most successful comedians of all-time. He’s sold more than 15 million albums—more than any other comedian ever. His collections of “redneck” jokes have also sold millions, but the one place where Foxworthy wasn’t successful was on TV. Debuting on ABC in 1995, The Jeff Foxworthy Show starred the comedian as a working class guy with a family…but ABC didn’t want it to be too blue-collar, so it set the show in Indiana. That alienated enough fans to drive down ratings, and result in a cancellation. But then NBC picked it up for another season, re-set it in Georgia, and added Foxworthy’s touring partner Bill Engvall to the cast. Too little too late: the new Foxworthy didn’t catch on either, probably because it was on opposite Monday Night Football.