🔗 Share this article

Looking back, we consider the television offerings of the recent year, a handful of series emerge not for their excellence, but for their spectacular failures. From cringe-inducing spin-offs to confusingly poor 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 dreadful writing, painful character development (we demand better for Miranda!), and a mere 71 seconds of beloved Samantha, the show struggled to justify its existence. Briefly, as the third season started, it looked like it had at last hit its stride. Then arrived an installment centered on Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the creator announced this would be the last season. It ended on a bum note; the closeup of Miranda’s toilet full of poo was simply too symbolic. Yet, fans certainly found joy picking apart every single “what on earth?” moment. And as Carrie – once again single – twirled around her sprawling townhouse to Barry White, who didn’t release a small sob?

All’s Fair

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

But that was almost the smallest of this show's issues. The subject of a exceedingly uncommon no-star review, it was difficult to know where to begin enumerating the flaws. The hilariously wooden writing? The mind-numbing veneration of wealth and materialism? The seemingly wilful procession of tropes? Performances so bad they felt borderline spiteful? Suffice it to say “each and every one” and never speak of this series again. Except, a new season has been ordered, so we’re probably going to have to.

The Charlie Sheen Documentary

Considering the restraining orders, domestic violence allegations and parental failures, it’s fair to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not that you’d really have gleaned it from this multi-part documentary which chuckled along at Sheen’s various episodes of reckless excess while failing to tell us anything we weren't already aware of. Rather, it felt as if this volatile personality was being indulged, so any sympathy this series might induce should be saved for the people who have had to endure proximity with this charming but dismissive egotist.

The Iris Affair

Naturally we understood it was preposterous from the outset: a thriller about a supercomputer known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either save the world – or destroy all of humanity. We persevered out of pure love for its stars … but by the end, it felt like even they had stopped bothering. One barely cared when his character died, and the other ultimately hacking Charlie with an axe … in super slow-motion. Talk about giving up the ghost.

MobLand

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

In truth, that is unfair on the crime shows of the late 90s. Many look a bit old-fashioned now, but at least they didn’t endure the embarrassment of having to indulge unconvincing dialects. But there were many other problems. Mainly that it was just profoundly dull; a conflict over narcotics territory between various cockney rogues which felt a bit basic.

With Love, Meghan

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 televised forays into quaint homemaking as deliberate statements. But then you watch them and are compelled to concede that actually, they may have a point. It’s like watching a lifestyle catalogue come to life; a poster for wine o’clock with delusions of grandeur; a procession of snoozing dogs, buzzing beehives, sentimental platitudes and forgettable crafting “hacks” you’ll forget instantly. All underpinned by vast, mostly unearned wealth. Ugh.

The Beckham Documentary

There are clearly interesting things to be said about both Victoria Beckham and her journey with vocation, self-image, self-worth. But for whatever reason, this documentary series chose not to say them. Instead, the experience was like reading a sales brochure. She obviously has good reason to bridle at what she describes as her “stern” image. But sadly, she failed to do herself any helps with this cagey non-event of a series.

The Inheritance

It had the potential to be the next cultural phenomenon – except even camper, with a glamorous star playing dead and a well-known personality overseeing her estate. What more could you ask for? As contestants battled it out, there was plenty of betrayal and arguing. But the rules quickly became bewildering: it’s even now too confusing to explain what exactly was happening. Even more regrettably, we only saw glimpses of the star via prerecorded videos. The show ended up reeking of a production that was trying way too hard to live up to something far greater than it.

The Lena Dunham Romcom

How do you follow a show that captured a generation? The expectation was enormous for this starry romcom about Jessica, a rosy-eyed New Yorker who arrives in London with a broken heart. The lead actress seized the opportunity by the horns and was joyous to watch, embodying Austen levels of romantic notions. But it was all very glossy and, paradoxically, was insufficient. Plus, the sheer amount of celebrity cameos involved felt uncomfortable.

Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping

Not good enough to be ‘uneven’.

Given the smart recruitment of gifted younger comics, hopes were high. But unhappily, most of it didn’t land. A particular sketch was a one-note 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 provoked the thought that they should probably have stayed in there a bit longer.

The Knox Dramatisation

This dramatisation of the story of Amanda Knox was executive produced by Amanda Knox and pretty much solely 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 subject matter needed to be treated sensitively. Instead, the series laboured awkwardly to find the right tone, lurching from strangely breezy, slightly mannered 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 greatest maths genius since, a man so intelligent he’s on the verge of a discovery that could ruin society? Nope! This international thriller about secret services targeting – and killing off – intellectuals honestly got more farcical by the second. Formulaic nonsense.

The Bonnie Blue Documentary

This uncritical portrait followed the online personality renowned for explicit exploits as she prepared for her most extreme challenge yet. What on earth would motivate her? What we craved was far greater interrogation of her true psychology, plus those of the men in the line. They could at least have spoken to the legendary mum who appeared to drag her son out of the queue. What we got was disturbing imagery and absolutely no interrogation of her infamy whatsoever. And to think, the documentary-maker has a young daughter too.