Best of the Worst

This article is about the show. For the award, see Best of the Worst (Award).

The title card for "Best of the Worst"

Best of the Worst is a variety film panel show stylized as a movie night among friends who love bad and critically panned movies. The show features a rotating panel with no permanent guests. Celebrity guest panelists occasionally show up, as well as specialist episodes with mid-episode panel changes.

Many episodes are themed around a specific topic that is shared among all three films, such as “sequels to films already featured”, “films featuring dinosaurs”, and “films with ‘Kick’ in the title”. In later episodes, the hosts have admitted that this is an artifact of the format, and themes are much less prevalent to keep the panelist's interest during the screening process. Themes have become more abstract or more based around specific actors as the show has gone on.

Format

A typical example of the screening segment.

The discussion period being held at the BOTW Table.

The show has three major segments. During the introduction, the panelists and crew will explain their film choices and read the description of the film on the back of the DVD or VHS tape box where applicable. This is interspersed with clips from the screening.

After all films have been showcased—and after the films have been watched—the discussion period begins. The person who begins introducing the discussion is considered the de facto host of the program for that day. Panelists will bemoan not becoming the host, since the host selects who will be describing the plot of each film. This process is largely honorary as descriptions of the films are spread out amongst the entire panel.

Each film is given a discussion period where the plot of the film is recapped in broad strokes. Throughout, the film is criticized by the panelists who give their opinions and often includes notes about proper filmmaking—or lack thereof.

After all films have been described, the host asks each person at the table which film is the Best of the Worst. Panelists will then give their answers and occasionally an explanation.

There are no official rules for Best of the Worst, but the winner is often selected based on the criteria of the most entertaining “for any reason.” This specific phrase has been repeated in multiple episodes when justifying or clarifying certain selections.

Losers

Main article: Best of the Worst (Award) § List of losers

In earlier episodes it was common to pick a “loser” in addition to a winner. This tape would usually be destroyed or otherwise humiliated in a sketch. As the series continued, however, this fell out of favor unless a tape was particularly disappointing or offensive.

Gimmicks

In addition to the standard format a number of gimmicks have been devised to keep the show fresh. Some will even harbor sub-gimmicks. Some are minor, while others are entire series unto themselves.

Battle of the Genres

The Battle of the Genres title card.

For the episode named "Battle of the Genres", see Battle of the Genres.

In a Battle of the Genres episode three films are selected in the different genres of “Action”, “Science Fiction”, and “Horror”.

While a lot of BOTW episodes feature a film selection from disparate genres, Battle episodes are unique as the Best is decided based on which film represents it’s genre the best. For example, a film may be less entertaining than the others, but because it represented Action-themed movies better than the others represented Sci-fi and Horror it will win the competition.

As mentioned previously, themes are less common on traditional Best of the Worst episodes to keep the show fresh. Jay admitted in Spookies, Action USA, and Alien Private Eye that “now every episode is kind of a battle of the genres.” As a result, this gimmick is rarely seen.

Wheel of the Worst

Wheel of the Worst episodes include the titular wheel loaded with a variety of tapes and DVDs. Unique to this format only is that the tapes are not feature films, but instead are direct-to-video publications like self-help tapes or vanity projects. This wheel is spun to determine which videos will be shown.

Plinketto

Named after Harry S. Plinkett, Plinketto is an alternative method of selecting tapes that includes a massive pegboard along which VHS tapes and DVDs are placed. A ball is dropped from the top of the board, where it bounces down to one of the entries below. Whichever it lands on is selected to view.

The Black Spine Edition

Black Spine is an alternative tape selection process where tapes are placed, spine-out, in a shelf or shelves facing the panelists. Panelists are tasked with selecting a tape at random, without seeing any visual information about the tape beforehand. Black Spine candidates are only tapes, and the only criteria is that they must not have anything written along their spines.

Black Spine has only appeared twice without alterations aside from a minor appearance in Wheel of the Black Spine Plinketto. It’s commonly cited by panelists as one of the worst gimmicks on the show.

Black Spine Junka

Junka is a jumbling tower party game using a 5x5 tower of Black Spine candidate tapes. Contestants remove tapes one by one from the tower and add a copy of Nukie to the top of the tower. Whosoever collapses the tower loses the match. All tapes collected by the winner over the course of the game are used as the showcase material.

Due to the sheer volume of tapes collected during this process, panelists are allowed to abort any viewing if a tape is too boring, uninteresting, or creepy. Only a fraction of Junka tapes make it to the discussion period. Rich Evans has mentioned a fondness for Junka due to this clause allowing them to skip particularly awful tapes.

Bad Movie Scavenger Hunt

In a Bad Movie Scavenger Hunt, two or three panelists are tasked with finding a tape that meets up to 3 different criteria with regard to its title or box art. These can include things like “is a painted cover” or “has ‘Blood’, ‘Death’ or ‘Kill’ in the title”.

Spotlight and Blacklight

Spotlight episodes are used for individual movies that are already known to the panelists. While re:View is used for culturally significant films and Half in the Bag is for newer and more high profile releases, Spotlight episodes tend to be specifically about weird, unprofessional, and “so bad it’s good” movies.

Spotlight episodes often forego a plot synopsis in favor of describing and analyzing specific parts of the film. These episodes trend towards analysis more than any other Best of the Worst, owing perhaps to the fact that these films have been viewed multiple times by the panel.

Blacklight episodes are a specific variant of Spotlight episodes for films that aren’t particularly funny or baffling, but still interesting enough that the panelists want to showcase it.

Settings

A few common settings are seen during episodes of Best of the Worst:

• The introductory segments are often filmed in the movie room. Even when introductory sequences are filmed elsewhere, the movie room is always used for the screening process.
• During Wheel and Plinketto episodes, the introductory segments are filmed backstage.
• Since it’s construction, most discussions take place at the Best of the Worst Table.
• Halloween episodes often take place in specially-constructed sets, which are marked on the pages for those specific episodes.

See Also

• List of Best of the Worst episodes