🔗 Share this article This Drifting Poo Was Far Too Symbolic! These Are the TV Letdowns of the Past Year. Looking back, we reflect on the television landscape of the past year, a selection of series emerge not for their excellence, but for their notable failures. From awkward spin-offs to bafflingly poor documentaries, here are the productions that left us scratching our heads or just reaching for the remote. And Just Like That Where to begin with this divisive follow-up? Plagued with dreadful writing, painful character development (justice for Miranda!), and a mere 71 seconds of fan-favourite Samantha, the series fought to find its footing. Briefly, as the third season began, it seemed as if it had at last hit its stride. Then came an installment all about Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the showrunner declared this would be the final season. It concluded on a bum note; the closeup of Miranda’s toilet full of poo was simply too on-the-nose. Still, fans undeniably had a hoot picking apart every single “wtf?” episode. And as Carrie – once again single – twirled around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who didn’t let out a small sob? All’s Fair ‘Can Kim Kardashian act? Of course she can’t.’ But that was almost the least of this show's issues. The subject of a very rare no-star assessment, it was hard to know where to begin listing the flaws. The laughably wooden writing? The mind-numbing veneration of wealth and materialism? The almost deliberate parade of tropes? Acting so poor they felt borderline malicious? Let’s just say “all of the above” and never speak of this show again. However, a new season has been ordered, so we’re probably going to have to. The Charlie Sheen Documentary Given the restraining orders, domestic violence claims and parental shortcomings, it’s reasonable to say Charlie Sheen has been a troubled figure. Not that you’d truly have known it from this three-part docuseries which chuckled along at Sheen’s various episodes of self-destructive hedonism while failing to tell us anything 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 saved for the people who have had to suffer close contact with this charming but dismissive egotist. The Supercomputer Drama Of course we understood it was ridiculous from the outset: a thriller about a AI known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either save the world – or annihilate all of humanity. We persevered 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 painfully slow-motion. That's what you call admitting defeat. The Gangster Drama Shady figures meeting in empty boxing gyms? The Prodigy’s Firestarter blaring in club scenes? The late 90s called and demands its gangland drama back. In truth, that is harsh on the crime shows of the late 90s. Many look a bit dated now, but at least they didn’t endure the embarrassment of having to accommodate baffling accents. But there were many other problems. Primarily that it was just profoundly dull; a conflict over narcotics territory between various London picaresques which seemed a bit basic. With Love, Meghan Considering the degree to which she grinds the gears of the nation’s ostentatiously enraged commentators, it’s almost easy to applaud the Duchess of Sussex’s various ventures into twee lifestyle as deliberate statements. But then you view them and are forced to concede that in this case, they might have a point. It’s like watching a lifestyle catalogue animated; a meme for evening drinks with delusions of grandeur; a procession of snoozing dogs, humming beehives, Hallmark sayings and pointless crafting “tips” you’ll forget instantly. All underpinned by vast, mostly unearned wealth. Ugh. The Beckham Documentary There are obviously interesting things to be said about both Victoria Beckham and her journey with career, self-image, self-worth. But for some reason, this documentary series chose not to explore them. Instead, the experience was akin to consuming a sales brochure. She obviously has good reason to resent what she describes as her “stern” image. But sadly, she failed to do herself any favours with this cagey letdown of a series. The Game Show It should have been the next cultural phenomenon – except even more extravagant, with a glamorous star as a deceased benefactor and a well-known personality managing her inheritance. What more could you want? As contestants competed, there was plenty of backstabbing and arguing. But the rules quickly became incomprehensible: it’s still too complicated to detail what exactly 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 straining desperately to live up to something way beyond it. Too Much How do you succeed a show that captured a generation? The expectation was immense for this glitzy romcom about Jessica, a hopeful New Yorker who lands in London with a broken heart. The star took her biggest role by the horns and was a delight to watch, reveling in Jane Austen levels of romantic ideals. But it was all very glossy and, ironically, was not enough. Plus, the sheer amount of famous friends involved felt uncomfortable. Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping Not even good enough to be ‘patchy’. Given the shrewd recruitment of gifted younger comics, hopes were high. But sadly, most of it fell flat. A recurring sketch was a single joke stretched to a husk but repeated in every episode. One star seemed too ready to slip into a well-known irate mode. The writing room sketches, in contrast, simply provoked the thought 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 overseen by Amanda Knox and pretty much exclusively presented the viewpoint of Amanda Knox. So, while there undoubtedly is an interesting drama to be made about the tragic 2007 murder, this isn’t it. The material needed to be treated sensitively. Instead, the series laboured awkwardly to find the right tone, lumbering from oddly breezy, somewhat stylised farce to ultimately, real-life horror. Complex? Perhaps. A total mess? Absolutely. Prime Target We love the lead actor … but did we believe him playing the most brilliant maths genius since, a man so smart he’s on the brink of a discovery that could destabilise society? No! This globe-trotting thriller about government agencies 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 exploits as she prepared for her biggest feat yet. What on earth would possess her? What we craved was way more interrogation of her actual psyche, plus those of the men in the queue. They could at least have interviewed the legendary mum who showed up to drag her son away from the queue. What we got was horrific imagery and zero critical analysis of her notoriety whatsoever. And to think, the filmmaker has a teenage daughter too.