🔗 Share this article

Looking back, we consider the television landscape of the recent year, a selection of shows stand out not for their excellence, but for their notable shortcomings. From awkward sequels to bafflingly bad docuseries, here are the programmes that had us utterly bewildered or just reaching for the remote.

And Just Like That

Where to begin with this love/hate spin-off? Burdened with woeful scripts, cringe-inducing arcs (justice for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of beloved Samantha, the series fought to justify its existence. For a moment, as the final series started, it seemed as if it had at last hit its stride. Then arrived an episode all about Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the creator declared this would be the final season. It ended on a low point; the lingering shot of Miranda’s toilet full of poo was just way too on-the-nose. Yet, viewers certainly had a hoot dissecting every single “wtf?” episode. And as Carrie – once again single – danced around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who didn’t release a small sob?

The Kim Kardashian Drama

‘Can Kim Kardashian act? Of course she can’t.’

But that was practically the least of this show's issues. The subject of a exceedingly uncommon no-star assessment, it was difficult to know where to begin enumerating the flaws. The hilariously wooden dialogue? The tedious veneration of affluence and materialism? The almost deliberate procession of cliches? Performances so bad they felt borderline spiteful? Suffice it to say “each and every one” and never speak of this show again. Except, a new season has been commissioned, so we’re probably going to have to.

AKA Charlie Sheen

Given the legal troubles, domestic violence claims and parental shortcomings, it’s fair to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not you’d truly have known it from this multi-part docuseries which chuckled along at Sheen’s various episodes of reckless excess while struggling to tell us anything we weren't already aware of. Rather, it felt as if this loose cannon was being indulged, so any pity this show might induce should be reserved for the people who have had to endure proximity with this charming but flippant egotist.

The Iris Affair

Naturally we understood it was preposterous from the outset: a thriller about a supercomputer known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either save the world – or destroy all of humanity. We persevered out of sheer love for its stars … but by the end, it felt like even they had stopped bothering. One scarcely reacted when his character died, and the other ultimately hacking Charlie with an axe … in painfully slow-motion. That's what you call giving up the ghost.

MobLand

Dodgy figures convening in deserted boxing gyms? The Prodigy’s Firestarter jackhammering away in club scenes? The late 90s called and demands its crime drama back.

In truth, that is unfair on the gangland dramas of the late 90s. Many look a little old-fashioned now, but at least they didn’t suffer the ignominy of having to indulge unconvincing dialects. But there were plenty of other problems. Mainly that it was just profoundly dull; a conflict over drug-selling territory between various cockney rogues which felt a bit basic.

The Meghan Markle Series

Given the extent to which she grinds the gears of certain performatively angry commentators, it’s almost tempting to admire the Duchess of Sussex’s various ventures into twee lifestyle as deliberate statements. But then you view them and are compelled to concede that in this case, they might have a point. It’s like watching a homeware magazine animated; a poster for wine o’clock with ideas of grandeur; a parade of sleeping dogs, buzzing beehives, Hallmark platitudes and pointless crafting “hacks” you’ll forget instantly. All underpinned by immense, largely unearned wealth. Ugh.

The Beckham Documentary

There are clearly fascinating things to be said about both Victoria Beckham and her journey with vocation, self-image, self-acceptance. But for whatever reason, this three-part series chose not to say them. Instead, the experience was akin to reading a marketing brochure. She clearly has good reason to bridle at what she describes as her “stern” image. But sadly, she didn’t do herself any helps with this guarded letdown of a series.

The Inheritance

It had the potential to be the next cultural phenomenon – except even camper, with a famous star as a deceased benefactor and a well-known personality managing her estate. What more could you ask for? As contestants battled it out, there was plenty of backstabbing and arguing. But the rules quickly became bewildering: it’s even now too complicated to detail what precisely was happening. Even more regrettably, we only saw brief appearances of the star via prerecorded videos. The series ended up reeking of a programme that was straining desperately to emulate something way beyond it.

Too Much

How does one succeed a show that captured a generation? The pressure was enormous for this glitzy romcom about Jessica, a rosy-eyed New Yorker who lands in London with a broken heart. The star took her biggest role by the horns and was a delight to watch, reveling in Austen levels of romantic ideals. But it was all very glossy and, ironically, was not enough. Plus, the sheer amount of famous cameos involved felt icky.

Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping

Not even good enough to be ‘uneven’.

Given the shrewd recruitment of talented emerging comics, expectations were high. But sadly, most of it fell flat. A particular 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 provoked the thought that they should probably have stayed in there a while longer.

The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox

This retelling of the story of Amanda Knox was executive produced by Amanda Knox and pretty much solely presented the viewpoint of Amanda Knox. So, while there probably is an compelling drama to be made about the tragic 2007 murder, this was not it. The subject matter needed to be treated with care. Rather, the series laboured awkwardly to find the right tone, lurching from strangely jaunty, slightly mannered farce to ultimately, real-life horror. Twisted? Arguably. A complete mess? Very much so.

The Maths Genius Thriller

We admire the star … but did we buy him playing the most brilliant maths genius since, a man so intelligent he’s on the brink of a discovery that could destabilise society? No! This globe-trotting thriller about secret services spying on – and eliminating – intellectuals frankly got more farcical by the second. Formulaic nonsense.

The Bonnie Blue Documentary

This uncritical portrait followed the content creator notorious for sexual escapades as she prepared for her most extreme feat yet. What on earth would possess her? What we craved was way more interrogation of her actual psyche, plus those of the men in the line. They could at least have interviewed the legendary mum who appeared to haul her son away from the queue. What we got was horrific imagery and absolutely no interrogation of her notoriety whatsoever. It's staggering to consider, the documentary-maker has a young daughter too.