🔗 Share this article

Looking back, we reflect on the television landscape of the recent year, a selection of shows emerge not for their brilliance, but for their notable shortcomings. Ranging from awkward sequels to confusingly bad documentaries, here are the programmes that had us utterly bewildered or just reaching for the remote.

And Just Like That

How to start with this love/hate spin-off? Burdened with woeful writing, cringe-inducing character development (justice for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of beloved Samantha, the show fought to justify its existence. Briefly, as the third series started, it looked like it had at last hit its stride. Then came an episode centered on Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the showrunner announced this would be the final season. It concluded on a low point; the lingering shot of Miranda’s loo flooded with poo was simply too on-the-nose. Still, fans undeniably found joy picking apart every single “wtf?” moment. And as Carrie – a single woman once more – danced around her sprawling townhouse to Barry White, who couldn't let out a little sob?

The Kim Kardashian Drama

‘Can Kim Kardashian act? The answer is a resounding no.’

But that was almost the smallest of this drama's issues. The recipient of a exceedingly uncommon no-star assessment, it was hard to know where to start listing the problems. The hilariously leaden dialogue? The tedious veneration of affluence and materialism? The almost deliberate procession of tropes? Performances so bad they felt borderline malicious? Suffice it to say “all of the above” and never speak of this show again. However, a second season has been ordered, so we’re likely going to have to.

AKA Charlie Sheen

Given the legal troubles, abuse claims and fatherly shortcomings, it’s reasonable to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not that you’d really have gleaned it from this multi-part documentary which chuckled along at Sheen’s various episodes of reckless excess while struggling to tell us a single thing we weren't already aware of. Instead, it felt as if this loose cannon was being pandered to, so any sympathy this series might evoke should be reserved for the people who have had to suffer proximity with this charismatic but dismissive egotist.

The Supercomputer Drama

Naturally we understood it was ridiculous from the outset: a thriller about a supercomputer known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either solve global crises – or annihilate all of humanity. We stuck with it out of sheer love for its leads … but by the end, it felt like even they had stopped bothering. One scarcely cared when his character died, and the other ultimately slicing Charlie with an axe … in painfully slow-motion. Talk about giving up the ghost.

MobLand

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

Actually, that is harsh on the gangland dramas of the late 90s. Many seem a bit dated now, but at least they didn’t suffer the ignominy of having to indulge baffling dialects. But there were plenty of other issues. Primarily that it was just profoundly dull; a dispute over narcotics territory between various London rogues which seemed a bit basic.

The Meghan Markle Series

Given the degree to which she grinds the gears of the nation’s ostentatiously angry commentators, it’s temptingly easy to admire the Duchess of Sussex’s various forays into twee homemaking as intentional statements. But then you watch them and are forced to concede that in this case, they may have a point. It’s like watching a lifestyle catalogue come to life; a poster for wine o’clock with ideas of grandeur; a procession of sleeping dogs, buzzing beehives, sentimental platitudes and pointless crafting “hacks” you’ll forget instantly. All supported by immense, largely unearned wealth. Ugh.

The Beckham Documentary

There are clearly fascinating things to be said about both Victoria Beckham and her struggles with vocation, self-image, self-worth. But for whatever reason, this documentary series chose not to say them. Instead, the experience was akin to consuming a sales catalogue. She clearly has every right to resent what she describes as her “stern” image. But sadly, she failed to do herself any favours with this cagey non-event of a series.

The Game Show

It should have been the next big hit – except even camper, with a famous star as a deceased benefactor and a sharp-tongued personality managing her inheritance. What more could you ask for? As contestants competed, there was plenty of backstabbing and squabbling. But the rules quickly became incomprehensible: it’s still too complicated to explain what precisely was happening. Even more disappointingly, we only saw glimpses of the star via filmed videos. The series ended up smelling of a production that was trying way too hard to live up to something far greater than it.

The Lena Dunham Romcom

How does one succeed a show that defined a generation? The pressure was immense for this glitzy romantic comedy about Jessica, a hopeful New Yorker who lands in London with a shattered romance. The lead actress seized the opportunity by the horns and was a delight to watch, embodying Austen levels of romantic ideals. But it was all very glossy and, ironically, was insufficient. Plus, the sheer amount of famous friends involved felt icky.

The Sketch Show Return

Not good enough to be ‘patchy’.

Given the smart recruitment of gifted emerging comics, expectations were high. But unhappily, most of it fell flat. A recurring sketch was a one-note joke stretched to a dry pulp but repeated in every episode. One star seemed too ready to slip into a well-known ranting mode. The behind-the-scenes sketches, meanwhile, simply inspired the idea that they should probably have remained 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 exclusively showcased the viewpoint of Amanda Knox. So, while there undoubtedly is an compelling drama to be made about the horrific 2007 murder, this was not it. The material needed to be treated sensitively. Rather, the series laboured awkwardly to find the right tone, lumbering from strangely jaunty, somewhat mannered farce to ultimately, real-life horror. Complex? Arguably. A total mess? Very much so.

The Maths Genius Thriller

We love the star … but did we believe him playing the greatest 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 killing off – academics frankly got more farcical by the second. Formulaic nonsense.

The Bonnie Blue Documentary

This hagiography followed the content creator notorious for explicit exploits as she prepared for her most extreme feat yet. What on earth would motivate her? What we wanted was way more examination of her actual psychology, plus those of the men in the line. They could at least have interviewed the now-famous mum who showed up to haul her son away from the queue. What we got was horrific shots and zero interrogation of her notoriety whatsoever. It's staggering to consider, the filmmaker has a young daughter too.