🔗 Share this article

Looking back, we reflect on the television landscape of the past year, a handful of series emerge not for their brilliance, but for their spectacular failures. Ranging from cringe-inducing spin-offs to confusingly poor docuseries, here are the programmes that left us utterly bewildered or simply reaching for the remote.

And Just Like That

Where to begin with this love/hate follow-up? Plagued with dreadful scripts, painful arcs (justice for Miranda!), and a mere 71 seconds of beloved Samantha, the show fought to justify its existence. Briefly, as the final season started, it seemed as if it had at last found its groove. Then came an installment all about Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the creator declared this would be the final series. It ended on a low point; the closeup of Miranda’s loo flooded with poo was just way too on-the-nose. Yet, fans undeniably found joy picking apart every single “wtf?” episode. And as Carrie – once again single – twirled around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who didn’t release a small sob?

The Kim Kardashian Drama

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

But that was almost the smallest of this show's issues. The recipient of a very rare no-star review, it was hard to know where to begin enumerating the flaws. The hilariously leaden dialogue? The mind-numbing glorification of wealth and consumption? The almost deliberate parade of cliches? Performances so bad they felt borderline spiteful? Let’s just 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 restraining orders, abuse claims and parental failures, it’s reasonable to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not that you’d truly have known it from this three-part documentary which chuckled along at Sheen’s various episodes of self-destructive excess while struggling to tell us a single thing we didn’t already know. Rather, it felt as if this loose cannon was being indulged, so any sympathy this series might evoke should be reserved for the people who have had to endure proximity with this charismatic but dismissive egotist.

The Iris Affair

Of course we knew it was preposterous from the outset: a thriller about a supercomputer 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 leads … but by the end, it felt like even they had given up trying. One barely cared when his character died, and the other ultimately hacking Charlie with an axe … in super slow-motion. Talk about admitting defeat.

The Gangster Drama

Dodgy figures meeting in deserted boxing gyms? A certain band's Firestarter blaring in club scenes? The late 90s called and demands its gangland drama back.

Actually, that is harsh 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 accommodate baffling accents. But there were plenty of other issues. Primarily that it was just really boring; a dispute over drug-selling territory between various cockney picaresques which seemed rather simplistic.

The Meghan Markle Series

Given the extent to which she grinds the gears of the nation’s ostentatiously angry commentators, it’s almost tempting to admire the Duchess of Sussex’s various ventures into twee homemaking as intentional provocations. But then you watch them and are compelled to concede that actually, they may have a point. It’s like watching a homeware catalogue animated; a poster for wine o’clock with ideas of grandeur; a parade of sleeping dogs, humming beehives, sentimental sayings and pointless crafting “tips” you’ll not remember instantly. All underpinned by immense, mostly unearned wealth. Ugh.

The Beckham Documentary

There are clearly interesting things to be said about regarding Victoria Beckham and her journey with career, self-image, self-acceptance. But for some reason, this documentary series chose not to say them. Rather, the viewing was like reading a sales brochure. She obviously has every right to bridle at what she describes as her “stern” image. But unfortunately, she failed to do herself any helps with this cagey letdown of a series.

The Inheritance

It should have been the next cultural phenomenon – except even more extravagant, with a famous star as a deceased benefactor and a sharp-tongued personality overseeing her estate. What more could you want? As contestants competed, there was plenty of betrayal and squabbling. But the rules quickly became bewildering: it’s still too confusing to detail what exactly was happening. Even more regrettably, we only saw brief appearances of the star via prerecorded videos. The series ended up smelling of a programme that was trying way too hard to emulate something far greater than it.

Too Much

How does one succeed a show that captured a generation? The expectation was enormous for this glitzy romcom about Jessica, a hopeful New Yorker who lands in London with a broken heart. The lead actress took her biggest role by the horns and was joyous to watch, reveling in Jane Austen levels of romantic notions. But it was all very glossy and, ironically, was insufficient. Plus, the abundance of famous cameos involved felt uncomfortable.

The Sketch Show Return

Not good enough to be ‘patchy’.

Given the shrewd recruitment of gifted emerging comics, hopes 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 willing to slip into a well-known irate mode. The writing room sketches, in contrast, simply inspired the thought that they should probably have remained in there a bit longer.

The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox

This retelling of the story of Amanda Knox was overseen by Amanda Knox and pretty much exclusively showcased the viewpoint of Amanda Knox. So, while there probably is an interesting drama to be made about the horrific 2007 murder, this was not it. The subject matter needed to be handled sensitively. Instead, the series struggled painfully to find the right voice, lurching from oddly jaunty, slightly stylised farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Twisted? Arguably. A total mess? Very much so.

The Maths Genius Thriller

We love 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 destabilise society? No! This international thriller about secret services targeting – and killing off – intellectuals frankly got more absurd by the second. Formulaic nonsense.

1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story

This hagiography followed the online personality renowned for sexual escapades as she prepared for her biggest feat yet. What on earth would motivate her? What we wanted was far greater examination of her true psychology, plus those of the men in the queue. They could at least have interviewed the now-famous mum who showed up to haul her son out of the queue. What we got was disturbing imagery and zero interrogation of her notoriety whatsoever. And to think, the filmmaker has a young daughter too.