🔗 Share this article

Looking back, we consider the TV landscape of the recent year, a handful of shows emerge not for their brilliance, but for their notable shortcomings. Ranging from awkward sequels to confusingly bad docuseries, here are the programmes that left us scratching our heads or just reaching for the remote.

The 'Sex and the City' Sequel

How to start with this divisive follow-up? Plagued with dreadful writing, cringe-inducing arcs (we demand better for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of fan-favourite Samantha, the show fought to justify its existence. Briefly, as the final series started, it looked like it had finally found its groove. Then arrived an installment centered on Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the showrunner announced this would be the final season. It concluded on a bum note; the lingering shot of Miranda’s loo flooded with poo was simply too on-the-nose. Yet, fans certainly found joy dissecting every single “what on earth?” moment. And as Carrie – a single woman once more – danced around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who didn’t let out a small sob?

The Kim Kardashian Drama

‘Is Kim Kardashian an actress? The answer is a resounding no.’

But that was practically the least of this drama's issues. The subject of a very rare no-star assessment, it was difficult to know where to start listing the problems. The laughably wooden dialogue? The tedious veneration of wealth and consumption? The almost deliberate procession of tropes? Acting so bad they felt borderline malicious? Suffice it to say “all of the above” and forget about this show again. However, a new season has been commissioned, so we’re likely going to have to.

AKA Charlie Sheen

Given the legal troubles, abuse allegations and parental failures, it’s reasonable to say Charlie Sheen has been a troubled figure. Not you’d truly have gleaned it from this three-part docuseries which chuckled along at Sheen’s various bouts of reckless hedonism while failing to tell us anything we weren't already aware of. Instead, it felt as if this volatile personality was being pandered to, so any sympathy this show might evoke should be saved for the people who have had to suffer proximity with this charming but dismissive narcissist.

The Iris Affair

Naturally we understood it was ridiculous from the outset: a drama about a supercomputer known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either save the world – or destroy all of humanity. We stuck with it out of pure admiration for its leads … but by the end, it felt like even they had stopped bothering. One barely reacted when his character died, and the other ultimately slicing Charlie with an axe … in super slow-motion. That's what you call giving up the ghost.

MobLand

Shady characters meeting in deserted boxing gyms? A certain band's Firestarter jackhammering away in club scenes? The late 90s called and demands its crime drama back.

Actually, that is harsh on the gangland dramas of the late 90s. Many look a little dated now, but at least they didn’t suffer the embarrassment of having to indulge unconvincing accents. But there were many other issues. Mainly that it was just really boring; a dispute over narcotics territory between various London rogues which seemed a bit basic.

With Love, Meghan

Considering 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 forays into twee lifestyle as intentional provocations. But then you view them and are forced to admit that in this case, they might have a point. It’s like watching a lifestyle magazine animated; a poster for wine o’clock with delusions of grandeur; a procession of snoozing dogs, buzzing beehives, Hallmark platitudes and pointless crafting “hacks” you’ll not remember instantly. All underpinned by immense, largely undeserved wealth. Ugh.

Victoria Beckham

There are obviously fascinating things to be discussed about regarding Victoria Beckham and her journey with vocation, identity, self-acceptance. But for some reason, this three-part series chose not to explore them. Rather, the viewing was like consuming a marketing catalogue. She obviously has every right to resent what she describes as her “miserable cow” image. But sadly, she failed to do herself any favours with this cagey letdown of a series.

The Inheritance

It had the potential to be the next cultural phenomenon – except even camper, with a famous star playing dead and a sharp-tongued personality managing her estate. What more could you want? As players competed, 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 production 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 enormous for this starry 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 joyous to watch, reveling in Jane Austen levels of romantic ideals. But it was all very glossy and, ironically, was insufficient. Plus, the sheer amount of celebrity cameos involved felt icky.

The Sketch Show Return

Not even good enough to be ‘uneven’.

Given the smart inclusion of gifted younger comics, hopes were high. But sadly, most of it didn’t land. A particular sketch was a single joke stretched to a dry pulp but repeated in every episode. One star seemed too willing to slip into a familiar ranting mode. The behind-the-scenes 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 executive produced 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 was not it. The material needed to be treated sensitively. Rather, the series struggled painfully to find the right tone, lumbering from oddly jaunty, slightly stylised farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Twisted? Perhaps. A total mess? Absolutely.

Prime Target

We love the star … but did we buy him playing the most brilliant maths genius since, a man so smart he’s on the verge of a breakthrough that could destabilise society? Nope! This globe-trotting thriller about government agencies spying on – and killing off – academics honestly got more absurd by the second. Formulaic nonsense.

The Bonnie Blue Documentary

This uncritical portrait followed the content creator notorious for explicit exploits as she prepared for her most extreme challenge 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 legendary mum who showed up to haul her son out of the queue. What we got was disturbing shots and absolutely no critical analysis of her infamy whatsoever. It's staggering to consider, the filmmaker has a teenage daughter too.