🔗 Share this article

Looking back, we consider the television landscape of the recent year, a selection of shows stand out not for their brilliance, but for their spectacular shortcomings. Ranging from cringe-inducing sequels to confusingly bad docuseries, here are the programmes that left us scratching our heads or just reaching for the remote.

And Just Like That

How to start with this love/hate follow-up? Burdened with woeful writing, cringe-inducing character development (justice for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of beloved Samantha, the show struggled to find its footing. Briefly, as the third series started, it looked like it had finally hit its stride. Then arrived an episode all about Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the creator announced this would be the final season. It concluded on a low point; the lingering shot of Miranda’s loo flooded with poo was just way too on-the-nose. Yet, fans certainly had a hoot dissecting every single “wtf?” episode. And as Carrie – a single woman once more – danced around her sprawling townhouse to Barry White, who didn’t release a small sob?

All’s Fair

‘Is Kim Kardashian an actress? The answer is a resounding no.’

But that was almost the smallest of this drama's problems. The subject of a very rare zero star review, it was difficult to know where to start enumerating the flaws. The hilariously leaden dialogue? The mind-numbing veneration of affluence and materialism? The seemingly wilful procession of tropes? Acting so poor they felt almost malicious? Suffice it to say “each and every one” and forget about this show again. However, a new season has been commissioned, so we’re likely going to have to.

AKA Charlie Sheen

Considering the restraining orders, domestic violence claims and parental shortcomings, it’s fair to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not you’d really have known it from this multi-part documentary which chuckled along at Sheen’s various episodes of self-destructive excess while failing to tell us anything we didn’t already know. Instead, it felt as if this loose cannon was being indulged, so any sympathy this series might evoke should be saved for the people who have had to suffer close contact with this charming but dismissive narcissist.

The Iris Affair

Of course we knew it was ridiculous from the get-go: a thriller about a AI known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either solve global crises – or destroy all of humanity. We stuck with it out of pure admiration for its stars … but by the end, it felt like even they had given up trying. One barely reacted when his character died, and the other ultimately slicing Charlie with an axe … in painfully slow-motion. That's what you call admitting defeat.

The Gangster Drama

Shady figures convening in empty boxing gyms? The Prodigy’s Firestarter blaring in club scenes? The late 90s called and wants its gangland drama back.

In truth, that is harsh on the gangland dramas of the late 90s. Many look a bit old-fashioned now, but at least they didn’t endure the embarrassment of having to accommodate baffling dialects. But there were plenty of other issues. Primarily that it was just profoundly dull; a conflict over drug-selling territory between various London rogues which felt rather simplistic.

With Love, Meghan

Given the degree to which she provokes the ire of the nation’s ostentatiously angry commentators, it’s almost easy to applaud the Duchess of Sussex’s televised forays into twee homemaking as deliberate statements. But then you view them and are forced to admit that actually, they may have a point. It’s like watching a lifestyle catalogue come to life; a poster for wine o’clock with delusions of grandeur; a parade of snoozing dogs, humming beehives, Hallmark platitudes and pointless crafting “hacks” you’ll not remember instantly. All underpinned by immense, largely unearned wealth. Ugh.

Victoria Beckham

There are clearly interesting things to be said about regarding Victoria Beckham and her struggles with career, self-image, self-worth. But for some reason, this three-part series chose not to explore them. Instead, the viewing was akin to consuming a marketing catalogue. She obviously has good reason to bridle at what she describes as her “miserable cow” image. But sadly, she didn’t do herself any favours with this guarded non-event of a series.

The Game Show

It should have been the next cultural phenomenon – except even camper, with a glamorous star playing dead and a sharp-tongued personality managing her inheritance. What more could you want? As contestants battled it out, there was plenty of betrayal and arguing. But the rules quickly became incomprehensible: it’s still too complicated to detail what precisely was happening. Even more disappointingly, we only saw glimpses of the star via filmed videos. The series ended up reeking of a programme that was trying way too hard to live up to something way beyond it.

The Lena Dunham Romcom

How do you follow a show that captured a generation? The expectation was immense for this starry romantic comedy about Jessica, a hopeful New Yorker who arrives in London with a broken heart. The lead actress seized the opportunity by the horns and was a delight to watch, embodying Jane Austen levels of romantic ideals. But it was all very slick and, paradoxically, was insufficient. Plus, the sheer amount of famous friends involved felt icky.

The Sketch Show Return

Not even good enough to be ‘patchy’.

Given the shrewd recruitment of talented emerging comics, hopes were high. But unhappily, most of it fell flat. A recurring sketch was a single joke stretched to a husk but recurring in every episode. One star seemed too ready to slip into a familiar irate mode. The behind-the-scenes sketches, in contrast, simply inspired the idea that they should probably have remained in there a bit longer.

The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox

This dramatisation of the story of Amanda Knox was overseen by Amanda Knox and pretty much solely showcased the perspective of Amanda Knox. So, while there probably is an compelling drama to be made about the tragic 2007 murder, this isn’t it. The material needed to be treated sensitively. Instead, the series struggled painfully to find the right voice, lumbering from strangely jaunty, slightly stylised farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Complex? Arguably. A total mess? Absolutely.

Prime Target

We admire the lead actor … but did we believe him playing the most brilliant maths genius in history, a man so intelligent he’s on the brink of a breakthrough that could ruin society? No! This international thriller about government agencies spying on – and killing off – intellectuals honestly got more farcical by the second. Silliness-by-numbers.

The Bonnie Blue Documentary

This hagiography followed the online personality renowned for explicit exploits as she prepared for her most extreme challenge yet. What on earth would motivate her? What we wanted was way more interrogation of her true psyche, plus those of the men in the line. They could at least have spoken to the now-famous mum who showed up to haul her son out of the queue. What we got was horrific imagery and absolutely no interrogation of her notoriety whatsoever. And to think, the filmmaker has a teenage daughter too.