🔗 Share this article

As we reflect on the TV offerings of the recent year, a handful of shows emerge not for their brilliance, but for their notable shortcomings. From awkward sequels to bafflingly bad docuseries, here are the programmes that left us utterly bewildered or simply reaching for the remote.

The 'Sex and the City' Sequel

How to start with this love/hate spin-off? Burdened with woeful writing, cringe-inducing arcs (justice for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of fan-favourite Samantha, the series struggled to justify its existence. Briefly, as the third series started, it looked like it had at last hit its stride. Then arrived an episode all about Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the creator announced this would be the final season. It ended on a low point; the lingering shot of Miranda’s loo flooded with poo was simply too on-the-nose. Still, viewers undeniably found joy picking apart every single “wtf?” episode. And as Carrie – a single woman once more – twirled around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who didn’t let out a little sob?

The Kim Kardashian Drama

‘Is Kim Kardashian an actress? Of course she can’t.’

But that was practically the smallest of this show's problems. The subject of a very rare no-star assessment, it was hard to know where to start enumerating the flaws. The laughably leaden writing? The mind-numbing veneration of affluence and materialism? The seemingly deliberate procession of tropes? Acting so poor they felt borderline malicious? Suffice it to say “all of the above” and forget about this series again. However, a new season has been ordered, so we’re probably going to have to.

AKA Charlie Sheen

Considering the restraining orders, domestic violence allegations and fatherly failures, it’s fair to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not you’d truly have known it from this three-part documentary which smirked its way at Sheen’s various episodes of self-destructive excess while struggling to tell us a single thing we didn’t already know. Instead, it felt as if this loose cannon was being indulged, so any sympathy this series might induce should be saved for the people who have had to endure proximity with this charismatic but flippant egotist.

The Iris Affair

Of course we knew it was preposterous from the get-go: a thriller about a AI known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either save the world – or annihilate all of humanity. We stuck with it out of pure admiration for its leads … but by the end, it felt like even they had given up trying. One scarcely cared 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

Dodgy figures meeting in deserted boxing gyms? The Prodigy’s Firestarter blaring 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 seem a little dated now, but at least they didn’t suffer the ignominy of having to accommodate baffling accents. But there were many other issues. Mainly that it was just really dull; a conflict over narcotics territory between various cockney picaresques which seemed a bit basic.

With Love, Meghan

Given the degree to which she grinds the gears of the nation’s ostentatiously angry commentators, it’s temptingly easy to admire the Duchess of Sussex’s televised forays into quaint homemaking as intentional provocations. But then you view them and are compelled to admit that actually, they might have a point. It’s like watching a lifestyle catalogue come to life; a poster for wine o’clock with ideas of grandeur; a procession of snoozing dogs, buzzing beehives, Hallmark platitudes and forgettable crafting “tips” you’ll forget instantly. All underpinned by vast, largely undeserved wealth. Ugh.

Victoria Beckham

There are clearly fascinating things to be said about both Victoria Beckham and her journey with career, self-image, self-worth. But for whatever reason, this documentary series chose not to say them. Instead, the viewing was akin to reading a sales brochure. She clearly has every right to bridle at what she describes as her “miserable cow” image. But unfortunately, she didn’t do herself any favours with this cagey non-event of a series.

The Game Show

It should have been the next big hit – except even camper, with a glamorous star as a deceased benefactor and a sharp-tongued personality overseeing her estate. What more could you want? As players competed, there was plenty of betrayal and squabbling. But the rules quickly became incomprehensible: it’s still too confusing to detail what exactly was happening. Even more regrettably, we only saw brief appearances of the star via filmed videos. The show ended up reeking of a production that was trying way too hard to emulate something far greater than it.

The Lena Dunham Romcom

How does one succeed a show that defined a generation? The pressure was enormous for this glitzy romantic comedy 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, reveling in Austen levels of romantic ideals. But it was all very slick and, paradoxically, was not enough. Plus, the sheer amount of famous friends involved felt icky.

The Sketch Show Return

Not even good enough to be ‘uneven’.

Given the shrewd inclusion of gifted emerging comics, expectations were high. But sadly, most of it fell flat. A particular sketch was a one-note joke milked to a dry pulp but recurring in every episode. One star seemed too ready to slip into a familiar ranting mode. The writing room sketches, meanwhile, simply provoked the thought that they should probably have stayed in there a while 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 perspective of Amanda Knox. So, while there undoubtedly is an interesting drama to be made about the horrific 2007 murder, this isn’t it. The subject matter needed to be handled with care. Instead, the series laboured awkwardly to find the right voice, lurching from oddly breezy, slightly mannered farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Twisted? Arguably. A complete mess? Very much so.

Prime Target

We admire the lead actor … but did we buy him playing the greatest maths genius since, a man so intelligent he’s on the brink of a breakthrough that could destabilise society? Nope! This globe-trotting thriller about government agencies spying on – and eliminating – intellectuals honestly got more absurd by the second. Formulaic nonsense.

1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story

This uncritical portrait followed the content creator notorious for sexual exploits as she prepared for her most extreme challenge yet. What on earth would motivate her? What we craved was way more examination of her actual psyche, plus those of the men in the line. 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 zero critical analysis of her notoriety whatsoever. And to think, the filmmaker has a young daughter too.