🔗 Share this article This Floating Poo Was Far Too Symbolic! These Are the Television Letdowns of the Year. As we reflect on the TV offerings of the recent year, a handful of shows emerge not for their excellence, but for their spectacular failures. Ranging from awkward spin-offs to bafflingly bad docuseries, here are the productions that had us utterly bewildered or just reaching for the remote. And Just Like That How to start with this love/hate follow-up? Plagued with dreadful scripts, cringe-inducing character development (justice for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of beloved Samantha, the series fought to find its footing. Briefly, as the final series began, it looked like it had at last hit its stride. Then arrived an installment all about Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the creator declared this would be the final series. It concluded on a bum note; the closeup of Miranda’s loo full of poo was simply too on-the-nose. Still, viewers undeniably found joy picking apart every single “wtf?” moment. And as Carrie – once again single – twirled around her sprawling townhouse to Barry White, who didn’t release a small sob? The Kim Kardashian Drama ‘Is Kim Kardashian an actress? The answer is a resounding no.’ But that was almost the least of this drama's issues. The subject of a exceedingly uncommon no-star assessment, it was hard to know where to begin enumerating the problems. The laughably wooden dialogue? The mind-numbing veneration of wealth and materialism? The seemingly wilful procession of tropes? Acting so bad they felt borderline malicious? Let’s just say “each and every one” and never speak of this series again. Except, a new season has been commissioned, so we’re likely going to have to. The Charlie Sheen Documentary Considering the restraining orders, domestic violence allegations and fatherly shortcomings, it’s fair to say Charlie Sheen has been a troubled figure. Not that you’d truly have known it from this multi-part docuseries which chuckled along at Sheen’s various bouts of reckless excess while failing to tell us a single thing we weren't already aware of. Rather, it felt as if this loose cannon was being indulged, so any sympathy this show might induce should be reserved for the people who have had to suffer proximity with this charismatic but flippant narcissist. The Supercomputer Drama Naturally we knew it was preposterous from the outset: a thriller about a AI known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either save the world – or destroy all of humanity. We stuck with it out of pure love for its leads … but by the end, it felt like even they had given up trying. One scarcely reacted when his character died, and the other ended up hacking Charlie with an axe … in super slow-motion. Talk about admitting defeat. MobLand Shady characters convening in empty boxing gyms? A certain band's Firestarter jackhammering away in club scenes? The late 90s called and wants its crime drama back. In truth, that is harsh on the crime shows of the late 90s. Many seem a bit dated now, but at least they didn’t suffer the embarrassment of having to indulge unconvincing accents. But there were many other problems. Primarily that it was just profoundly boring; a conflict over drug-selling territory between various cockney picaresques which felt a bit basic. With Love, Meghan Considering the degree to which she provokes the ire of certain ostentatiously enraged commentators, it’s temptingly tempting to admire the Duchess of Sussex’s televised ventures into twee homemaking as intentional provocations. But then you watch them and are forced to concede that in this case, they may have a point. It’s like watching a homeware magazine come to life; a poster for evening drinks with delusions of grandeur; a parade of sleeping dogs, humming beehives, Hallmark platitudes and forgettable crafting “hacks” you’ll forget instantly. All supported by vast, mostly unearned wealth. Ugh. The Beckham Documentary There are clearly fascinating things to be discussed about both Victoria Beckham and her journey with vocation, self-image, self-acceptance. But for some reason, this three-part series chose not to say them. Rather, the viewing was akin to reading a sales brochure. She clearly 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 Game Show It should have been the next cultural phenomenon – except even more extravagant, with a famous star playing dead and a sharp-tongued personality overseeing her inheritance. What more could you want? As players competed, there was plenty of backstabbing and arguing. 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 live up to something way beyond it. The Lena Dunham Romcom How does one follow a show that captured a generation? The pressure was immense for this starry romantic comedy about Jessica, a hopeful New Yorker who lands in London with a broken heart. The star seized the opportunity by the horns and was joyous to watch, reveling in Austen levels of romantic notions. But it was all very slick and, ironically, was insufficient. Plus, the abundance of famous cameos involved felt uncomfortable. The Sketch Show Return Not even good enough to be ‘uneven’. Given the smart inclusion of gifted younger comics, expectations were high. But sadly, most of it fell flat. A recurring sketch was a one-note joke milked to a dry pulp but repeated in every episode. One star seemed too willing to slip into a familiar ranting mode. The writing room sketches, meanwhile, simply provoked the idea that they should probably have stayed in there a bit longer. The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox This dramatisation 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 handled sensitively. Rather, the series struggled painfully to find the right tone, lurching from strangely jaunty, somewhat mannered farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Complex? Arguably. A complete mess? Absolutely. Prime Target We love the lead actor … but did we buy him playing the greatest maths genius in history, a man so smart he’s on the brink of a discovery that could destabilise society? Nope! This international thriller about secret services spying on – and killing off – intellectuals honestly got more absurd by the second. Formulaic nonsense. The Bonnie Blue Documentary This hagiography followed the online personality renowned for explicit escapades as she undertook her biggest challenge yet. What on earth would motivate her? What we wanted was way more examination of her true psychology, 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 disturbing imagery and zero interrogation of her notoriety whatsoever. It's staggering to consider, the filmmaker has a teenage daughter too.