🔗 Share this article That Floating Excrement Was Far Too Meaningful! It's the TV Disappointments of the Year. Looking back, we reflect on the television offerings of the recent year, a handful of shows 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 just reaching for the remote. And Just Like That How to start with this divisive spin-off? Plagued with dreadful scripts, painful arcs (justice for Miranda!), and a mere 71 seconds of beloved Samantha, the series fought to justify its existence. Briefly, as the final series started, it looked like it had at last hit its stride. Then came an installment centered on Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the creator announced this would be the final season. It ended on a bum note; the lingering shot of Miranda’s loo full of poo was just way too on-the-nose. Yet, viewers certainly found joy dissecting every single “what on earth?” episode. And as Carrie – once again single – danced around her sprawling townhouse to Barry White, who didn’t let out a small sob? All’s Fair ‘Is Kim Kardashian an actress? The answer is a resounding no.’ But that was practically the smallest of this drama's problems. The recipient of a very rare zero star review, it was difficult to know where to begin listing the flaws. The laughably leaden dialogue? The tedious glorification of wealth and consumption? The almost deliberate procession of cliches? Acting so poor they felt borderline spiteful? Let’s just say “each and every one” and never speak of this series again. However, a new season has been ordered, so we’re probably going to have to. The Charlie Sheen Documentary Considering the legal troubles, abuse claims and parental failures, it’s reasonable to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not that you’d really have gleaned it from this multi-part documentary which smirked its way at Sheen’s various bouts of self-destructive excess while struggling to tell us anything we weren't already aware of. Rather, it felt as if this volatile personality was being indulged, so any pity this series might induce should be saved for the people who have had to suffer proximity with this charismatic but flippant egotist. The Supercomputer Drama Naturally we knew it was ridiculous from the outset: a drama about a supercomputer known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either solve global crises – or destroy all of humanity. We stuck with it out of sheer love for its leads … but by the end, it felt like even they had stopped bothering. One scarcely reacted when his character died, and the other ultimately slicing Charlie with an axe … in painfully slow-motion. Talk about admitting defeat. The Gangster Drama Shady characters convening in deserted boxing gyms? The Prodigy’s Firestarter blaring in club scenes? The late 90s called and wants its crime drama back. Actually, that is unfair on the gangland dramas of the late 90s. Many look a bit old-fashioned now, but at least they didn’t suffer the ignominy of having to indulge baffling dialects. But there were many other issues. Primarily that it was just profoundly boring; a conflict over narcotics territory between various cockney picaresques which seemed a bit basic. With Love, Meghan Given the extent to which she grinds the gears of certain performatively angry commentators, it’s almost easy to admire the Duchess of Sussex’s televised ventures into quaint lifestyle as intentional statements. But then you watch them and are compelled to admit that in this case, they may have a point. It’s like watching a lifestyle catalogue animated; a meme for evening drinks with delusions of grandeur; a procession of sleeping dogs, buzzing beehives, sentimental sayings and pointless crafting “hacks” you’ll forget instantly. All underpinned by immense, mostly undeserved wealth. Ugh. The Beckham Documentary There are clearly interesting things to be discussed about both Victoria Beckham and her struggles with vocation, identity, self-worth. But for whatever reason, this documentary series opted not to explore them. Rather, the experience was like reading a marketing catalogue. She clearly has every right to resent what she describes as her “stern” image. But unfortunately, she failed to do herself any favours with this guarded non-event of a series. The Inheritance It should have been the next big hit – except even camper, with a famous star playing dead and a sharp-tongued personality overseeing her estate. What more could you ask for? As contestants competed, there was plenty of backstabbing and squabbling. But the rules quickly became bewildering: it’s still too complicated to explain what precisely was happening. Even more disappointingly, we only saw glimpses of the star via filmed 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 succeed a show that captured 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 took her biggest role by the horns and was joyous to watch, embodying Jane Austen levels of romantic ideals. But it was all very slick and, paradoxically, was insufficient. Plus, the abundance of celebrity friends involved felt uncomfortable. Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping Not even good enough to be ‘patchy’. Given the shrewd inclusion of gifted younger comics, hopes were high. But sadly, most of it fell flat. A particular sketch was a one-note joke stretched to a dry pulp but repeated in every episode. One star seemed too ready to slip into a well-known irate mode. The writing room sketches, meanwhile, 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 presented the perspective of Amanda Knox. So, while there undoubtedly is an compelling drama to be made about the tragic 2007 murder, this isn’t it. The subject matter needed to be handled sensitively. Rather, the series struggled painfully to find the right tone, lumbering from oddly breezy, somewhat mannered farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Twisted? Perhaps. A complete mess? Absolutely. Prime Target We admire the star … but did we buy him playing the greatest maths genius in history, a man so intelligent he’s on the brink of a discovery that could destabilise society? Nope! This international thriller about government agencies spying on – and killing off – intellectuals frankly got more farcical by the second. Formulaic nonsense. The Bonnie Blue Documentary This hagiography followed the content creator renowned for sexual escapades as she prepared for her biggest challenge yet. What on earth would motivate her? What we wanted was way more examination of her true psyche, plus those of the men in the queue. They could at least have interviewed the legendary mum who appeared to haul her son out of the queue. What we got was disturbing imagery and absolutely no interrogation of her infamy whatsoever. And to think, the filmmaker has a young daughter too.