🔗 Share this article

As we reflect on the television landscape of the past year, a handful of shows emerge not for their excellence, but for their spectacular failures. From cringe-inducing sequels to bafflingly bad documentaries, here are the productions that left us scratching our heads or simply reaching for the remote.

And Just Like That

How to start with this love/hate spin-off? Burdened with woeful writing, painful arcs (we demand better for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of beloved Samantha, the show fought to justify its existence. Briefly, as the third season began, it looked like it had finally hit its stride. Then arrived an installment centered on Seema’s natural deodorant. No wonder the showrunner declared this would be the last series. It ended on a low point; the lingering shot of Miranda’s toilet flooded with poo was simply too on-the-nose. Still, fans certainly found joy dissecting every single “what on earth?” moment. And as Carrie – once again single – twirled around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who didn’t let out a little sob?

All’s Fair

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

But that was practically the smallest of this show's issues. The recipient of a exceedingly uncommon zero star review, it was hard to know where to begin enumerating the problems. The hilariously leaden dialogue? The mind-numbing veneration of wealth and consumption? The almost wilful parade of cliches? Acting so bad they felt almost spiteful? Suffice it to say “all of the above” and never speak of this show again. However, a second season has been commissioned, so we’re probably going to have to.

The Charlie Sheen Documentary

Given the restraining orders, domestic violence allegations and parental shortcomings, it’s reasonable to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not that you’d truly have known it from this multi-part documentary which chuckled along at Sheen’s various bouts of reckless excess while failing to tell us anything we weren't already aware of. Rather, it felt as if this loose cannon was being indulged, so any sympathy this show might induce should be reserved for the people who have had to suffer close contact with this charming but flippant narcissist.

The Iris Affair

Of course we understood it was preposterous from the get-go: a drama about a supercomputer 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 stopped bothering. One barely reacted when his character died, and the other ended up hacking Charlie with an axe … in super slow-motion. That's what you call admitting defeat.

MobLand

Shady figures meeting in empty boxing gyms? The Prodigy’s Firestarter jackhammering away in club scenes? The late 90s called and wants its crime drama back.

Actually, that is harsh on the crime shows of the late 90s. Many look a bit dated now, but at least they didn’t suffer the ignominy of having to accommodate baffling dialects. But there were plenty of other issues. Mainly that it was just profoundly boring; a dispute over drug-selling territory between various cockney picaresques which felt a bit basic.

The Meghan Markle Series

Given the degree 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 homemaking as intentional provocations. But then you view them and are compelled to admit that actually, they might have a point. It’s like watching a lifestyle magazine come to life; a poster for wine o’clock with ideas of grandeur; a procession of sleeping dogs, buzzing beehives, sentimental sayings and forgettable crafting “hacks” you’ll forget instantly. All underpinned by immense, largely undeserved wealth. Ugh.

Victoria Beckham

There are clearly fascinating things to be discussed about both Victoria Beckham and her struggles with vocation, identity, self-acceptance. But for whatever reason, this documentary series chose not to say them. Instead, the viewing was akin to reading a marketing brochure. She obviously has every right to resent what she describes as her “stern” image. But sadly, she failed to do herself any helps with this cagey letdown of a series.

The Game Show

It should have been the next big hit – except even more extravagant, with a famous star as a deceased benefactor and a sharp-tongued personality managing her inheritance. 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 still too complicated to explain what exactly was happening. Even more disappointingly, we only saw brief appearances of the star via prerecorded videos. The series ended up reeking of a programme that was straining desperately to live up to something way beyond it.

Too Much

How do you follow a show that defined a generation? The pressure was immense for this glitzy romantic comedy about Jessica, a rosy-eyed New Yorker who lands in London with a broken heart. The star seized the opportunity by the horns and was a delight to watch, reveling in Jane Austen levels of romantic notions. But it was all very slick and, paradoxically, was insufficient. Plus, the sheer amount of celebrity friends involved felt uncomfortable.

Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping

Not even good enough to be ‘patchy’.

Given the shrewd recruitment of talented emerging comics, expectations were high. But sadly, most of it fell flat. A particular sketch was a one-note joke stretched to a husk but recurring in every episode. One star seemed too ready to slip into a well-known ranting mode. The writing room sketches, meanwhile, simply provoked the idea that they should probably have stayed in there a bit longer.

The Knox Dramatisation

This retelling of the story of Amanda Knox was overseen by Amanda Knox and pretty much solely presented the perspective of Amanda Knox. So, while there undoubtedly is an interesting drama to be made about the horrific 2007 murder, this isn’t it. The subject matter needed to be treated with care. Instead, the series struggled painfully to find the right tone, lumbering from strangely jaunty, slightly stylised farce to ultimately, real-life horror. Complex? Perhaps. A total mess? Very much so.

The Maths Genius Thriller

We admire the star … 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? Nope! This globe-trotting thriller about secret services spying on – and killing off – intellectuals honestly got more farcical by the second. Formulaic nonsense.

1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story

This hagiography followed the content creator notorious for sexual exploits as she prepared for her most extreme feat yet. What on earth would possess her? What we craved was way more examination of her true psyche, plus those of the men in the line. They could at least have interviewed the legendary mum who appeared to drag her son out of the queue. What we got was horrific imagery and absolutely no critical analysis of her infamy whatsoever. And to think, the filmmaker has a young daughter too.