🔗 Share this article This Floating Excrement Was Far Too Symbolic! It's the TV Letdowns of the Year. As we reflect on the television offerings of the recent year, a selection of shows emerge not for their brilliance, but for their notable failures. Ranging from cringe-inducing spin-offs to confusingly poor documentaries, here are the programmes that left 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 scripts, painful character development (we demand better for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of beloved Samantha, the series fought to justify its existence. Briefly, as the final series began, it looked like it had finally hit its stride. Then arrived an installment all about Seema’s natural deodorant. No wonder the showrunner declared this would be the last season. It concluded on a bum note; the closeup of Miranda’s loo full of poo was just way too symbolic. Still, fans undeniably found joy picking apart every single “what on earth?” episode. And as Carrie – once again single – danced around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who couldn't release a small sob? The Kim Kardashian Drama ‘Is Kim Kardashian an actress? Of course she can’t.’ But that was almost the smallest of this show's issues. The subject of a very rare no-star review, it was difficult to know where to start enumerating the flaws. The hilariously wooden writing? The mind-numbing glorification of wealth and consumption? The seemingly wilful parade of cliches? Performances so poor they felt almost malicious? Suffice it to say “each and every one” and never speak of this series again. However, a new season has been ordered, so we’re likely going to have to. The Charlie Sheen Documentary Given the legal troubles, abuse allegations and parental failures, it’s fair to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not you’d truly have gleaned it from this three-part docuseries which smirked its way at Sheen’s various bouts of self-destructive excess while failing to tell us a single thing 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 flippant narcissist. The Supercomputer Drama Of course we knew it was ridiculous from the get-go: a drama about a supercomputer known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either solve global crises – or destroy 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 scarcely reacted when his character died, and the other ultimately hacking Charlie with an axe … in super slow-motion. Talk about admitting defeat. MobLand Dodgy characters convening in deserted boxing gyms? A certain band's Firestarter blaring in club scenes? The late 90s called and demands its crime drama back. In truth, that is harsh on the gangland dramas of the late 90s. Many seem a bit old-fashioned now, but at least they didn’t suffer the ignominy of having to indulge baffling dialects. But there were plenty of other problems. Mainly that it was just profoundly boring; a conflict over drug-selling territory between various London rogues which seemed rather simplistic. The Meghan Markle Series Considering the extent to which she provokes the ire of the nation’s performatively angry commentators, it’s temptingly tempting to admire the Duchess of Sussex’s various ventures into quaint lifestyle as deliberate provocations. But then you watch them and are forced to concede that actually, they might have a point. It’s like watching a homeware magazine animated; a poster for wine o’clock with delusions of grandeur; a parade of snoozing dogs, buzzing beehives, sentimental platitudes and forgettable crafting “tips” you’ll not remember instantly. All supported by vast, largely unearned wealth. Ugh. The Beckham Documentary There are obviously fascinating things to be said about regarding Victoria Beckham and her journey with vocation, self-image, self-acceptance. But for some reason, this three-part series chose not to say them. Instead, the experience was like reading a sales catalogue. She clearly has every right to resent what she describes as her “miserable cow” image. But sadly, she failed to do herself any helps with this guarded non-event of a series. The Game Show It had the potential to be the next big hit – except even more extravagant, with a glamorous star as a deceased benefactor and a sharp-tongued personality overseeing her estate. What more could you want? As players battled it out, there was plenty of backstabbing and squabbling. 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. The Lena Dunham Romcom How does one follow a show that captured a generation? The expectation was immense for this glitzy romantic comedy about Jessica, a hopeful New Yorker who arrives in London with a shattered romance. The star seized the opportunity by the horns and was joyous to watch, reveling in Jane Austen levels of romantic notions. But it was all very glossy and, paradoxically, was not enough. Plus, the sheer amount of famous cameos involved felt icky. Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping Not good enough to be ‘patchy’. Given the shrewd recruitment of talented emerging comics, hopes were high. But sadly, most of it fell flat. A particular sketch was a one-note joke milked to a husk but repeated in every episode. One star seemed too willing to slip into a well-known ranting mode. The writing room sketches, in contrast, simply provoked the thought that they should probably have remained 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 exclusively presented the perspective of Amanda Knox. So, while there probably is an compelling drama to be made about the tragic 2007 murder, this isn’t it. The subject matter needed to be handled with care. Rather, the series laboured awkwardly to find the right tone, lurching from oddly jaunty, slightly mannered farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Twisted? Arguably. A total mess? Absolutely. Prime Target We love the star … but did we believe him playing the most brilliant maths genius in history, a man so smart he’s on the verge of a breakthrough that could destabilise society? No! This globe-trotting thriller about secret services spying on – and eliminating – intellectuals honestly got more farcical by the second. Silliness-by-numbers. The Bonnie Blue Documentary This uncritical portrait followed the content creator notorious for explicit escapades as she undertook her most extreme feat yet. What on earth would possess her? What we craved was way more interrogation of her actual 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 out of the queue. What we got was disturbing shots and zero interrogation of her notoriety whatsoever. And to think, the filmmaker has a young daughter too.