This Floating Excrement Was Far Too Symbolic! It's the TV Disappointments of the Past Year.

As we consider the TV landscape of the recent year, a handful of shows stand out not for their excellence, but for their spectacular shortcomings. From awkward sequels to bafflingly bad docuseries, here are the productions that had us utterly bewildered or simply reaching for the remote.

And Just Like That

Where to begin with this love/hate follow-up? Plagued with woeful scripts, cringe-inducing character development (justice for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of beloved Samantha, the show struggled to find its footing. For a moment, as the final series started, it looked like it had at last hit its stride. Then arrived an episode all about Seema’s natural deodorant. No wonder the showrunner declared this would be the final series. It concluded on a bum note; the lingering shot of Miranda’s loo full of poo was just way too symbolic. Still, viewers certainly found joy picking apart every single “wtf?” moment. And as Carrie – a single woman once more – danced around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who couldn't let out a little sob?

All’s Fair

‘Is Kim Kardashian an actress? Of course she can’t.’

But that was almost the least of this show's problems. The recipient of a exceedingly uncommon no-star review, it was hard to know where to begin enumerating the problems. The hilariously leaden dialogue? The mind-numbing veneration of affluence and consumption? The seemingly wilful procession of cliches? Acting so bad they felt borderline malicious? Let’s just say “all of the above” and never speak of this show again. However, a second season has been commissioned, so we’re likely going to have to.

The Charlie Sheen Documentary

Considering the restraining orders, abuse allegations and parental failures, it’s reasonable to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not you’d really have gleaned it from this three-part docuseries which chuckled along at Sheen’s various episodes of self-destructive excess while failing to tell us a single thing we didn’t already know. Rather, it felt as if this volatile personality was being indulged, so any pity this series might evoke should be saved for the people who have had to suffer proximity with this charismatic but flippant narcissist.

The Supercomputer Drama

Naturally we understood it was ridiculous from the outset: a drama about a AI known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either save the world – or annihilate all of humanity. We stuck with it out of sheer admiration for its stars … but by the end, it felt like even they had given up trying. One scarcely reacted when his character died, and the other ultimately slicing Charlie with an axe … in painfully slow-motion. Talk about giving up the ghost.

The Gangster Drama

Dodgy characters 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 unfair on the crime shows of the late 90s. Many seem a bit dated now, but at least they didn’t endure the embarrassment of having to indulge baffling accents. But there were plenty of other issues. Primarily that it was just profoundly dull; a dispute over drug-selling territory between various cockney picaresques which felt rather simplistic.

With Love, Meghan

Given the extent to which she provokes the ire of certain performatively enraged commentators, it’s almost easy to applaud the Duchess of Sussex’s various ventures into quaint lifestyle as deliberate provocations. But then you view them and are forced to admit that actually, they might have a point. It’s like watching a lifestyle magazine animated; a meme for evening drinks with delusions of grandeur; a parade of snoozing dogs, buzzing beehives, sentimental platitudes and pointless crafting “hacks” you’ll not remember instantly. All underpinned by immense, mostly undeserved wealth. Ugh.

Victoria Beckham

There are clearly fascinating things to be said about both Victoria Beckham and her struggles with career, identity, self-acceptance. But for whatever reason, this documentary series chose not to explore them. Rather, the experience was like reading a marketing brochure. She obviously has good reason to resent what she describes as her “stern” image. But sadly, she didn’t do herself any helps with this guarded letdown of a series.

The Game Show

It had the potential to be the next big hit – except even camper, with a famous star as a deceased benefactor and a sharp-tongued personality managing her estate. What more could you want? As contestants battled it out, there was plenty of backstabbing and squabbling. But the rules quickly became bewildering: it’s even now too complicated to detail what precisely was happening. Even more regrettably, we only saw glimpses of the star via prerecorded videos. The series ended up smelling of a production that was straining desperately to live up to something far greater than it.

Too Much

How does one follow a show that defined a generation? The expectation was immense for this glitzy romcom about Jessica, a rosy-eyed New Yorker who arrives in London with a broken heart. The star seized the opportunity by the horns and was a delight to watch, embodying Austen levels of romantic notions. But it was all very glossy and, paradoxically, 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 smart recruitment of talented emerging comics, hopes were high. But sadly, most of it fell flat. A recurring sketch was a one-note joke milked to a husk but repeated in every episode. One star seemed too willing to slip into a well-known irate mode. The behind-the-scenes sketches, in contrast, simply inspired the idea that they should probably have stayed in there a while longer.

The Knox Dramatisation

This retelling of the story of Amanda Knox was executive produced by Amanda Knox and pretty much exclusively showcased the perspective of Amanda Knox. So, while there undoubtedly is an compelling drama to be made about the horrific 2007 murder, this isn’t it. The subject matter needed to be handled sensitively. Rather, the series struggled painfully to find the right voice, lumbering from strangely breezy, slightly stylised farce to ultimately, real-life horror. Complex? Perhaps. A total mess? Very much so.

The Maths Genius Thriller

We admire the lead actor … but did we buy him playing the most brilliant maths genius in history, a man so smart he’s on the brink of a discovery that could destabilise society? No! This international thriller about secret services targeting – and killing off – academics honestly got more farcical by the second. Silliness-by-numbers.

The Bonnie Blue Documentary

This uncritical portrait followed the content creator renowned for explicit escapades as she prepared for her biggest feat yet. What on earth would motivate her? What we craved was far greater examination of her true psychology, plus those of the men in the line. They could at least have interviewed the now-famous mum who showed up to drag her son away from the queue. What we got was horrific imagery and absolutely no critical analysis of her notoriety whatsoever. It's staggering to consider, the filmmaker has a young daughter too.