🔗 Share this article This Drifting Excrement Was Way Too Symbolic! These Are the Television Letdowns of the Year. As we consider the television landscape of the recent year, a selection of shows emerge not for their brilliance, but for their notable shortcomings. Ranging from awkward sequels to confusingly bad docuseries, here are the productions that left us utterly bewildered or simply reaching for the remote. The 'Sex and the City' Sequel Where to begin with this love/hate follow-up? Burdened with woeful scripts, cringe-inducing character development (justice for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of beloved Samantha, the show struggled to justify its existence. For a moment, as the final series began, it looked like it had at last found its groove. Then arrived an installment all about Seema’s natural deodorant. No wonder the showrunner declared this would be the final series. It ended on a bum note; the lingering shot of Miranda’s loo flooded with poo was just way too on-the-nose. Still, viewers certainly found joy dissecting every single “what on earth?” episode. And as Carrie – a single woman once more – twirled around her sprawling townhouse to Barry White, who couldn't release 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 issues. The recipient of a very rare zero star review, it was difficult to know where to start listing the flaws. The hilariously leaden dialogue? The tedious glorification of affluence and consumption? The almost deliberate parade of tropes? Acting so poor they felt borderline spiteful? Let’s just say “each and every one” and never speak of this show again. However, a second season has been commissioned, so we’re likely going to have to. The Charlie Sheen Documentary Given the restraining orders, domestic violence claims and fatherly failures, it’s reasonable to say Charlie Sheen has been a troubled figure. Not that you’d truly have known it from this multi-part documentary which chuckled along at Sheen’s various episodes of self-destructive excess while struggling to tell us anything we didn’t already know. Instead, it felt as if this loose cannon was being pandered to, so any sympathy this show might evoke should be saved for the people who have had to suffer proximity with this charming but dismissive narcissist. The Supercomputer Drama Of course we knew it was preposterous from the outset: a drama 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 love 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 ultimately slicing Charlie with an axe … in painfully slow-motion. That's what you call admitting defeat. The Gangster Drama Shady figures convening in deserted boxing gyms? A certain band's Firestarter blaring in club scenes? The late 90s called and wants its gangland 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 ignominy of having to indulge baffling dialects. But there were plenty of other issues. Mainly that it was just really boring; a conflict over drug-selling territory between various London picaresques which felt rather simplistic. With Love, Meghan Given the degree to which she provokes the ire of the nation’s performatively enraged commentators, it’s temptingly tempting to applaud the Duchess of Sussex’s various forays into quaint lifestyle as deliberate statements. But then you view them and are forced to admit that in this case, they may have a point. It’s like watching a homeware catalogue animated; a meme for evening drinks with ideas of grandeur; a procession of snoozing dogs, humming beehives, Hallmark sayings and pointless crafting “hacks” you’ll forget instantly. All supported by vast, mostly undeserved wealth. Ugh. Victoria Beckham There are clearly interesting things to be discussed about regarding Victoria Beckham and her struggles with career, self-image, self-acceptance. But for whatever reason, this documentary series chose not to explore them. Instead, the viewing was like consuming a sales brochure. She obviously has every right to bridle at what she describes as her “stern” image. But sadly, she failed to do herself any favours with this cagey non-event of a series. The Inheritance It should have been the next big hit – except even more extravagant, with a famous star as a deceased benefactor and a well-known personality overseeing her inheritance. What more could you ask for? As players battled it out, there was plenty of betrayal and squabbling. But the rules quickly became bewildering: it’s still too complicated to detail what precisely was happening. Even more regrettably, we only saw brief appearances of the star via filmed videos. The series ended up smelling of a programme that was trying way too hard to live up to something far greater than it. Too Much How do you follow a show that captured a generation? The expectation was enormous for this starry romantic comedy about Jessica, a hopeful New Yorker who lands in London with a shattered romance. The star took her biggest role by the horns and was joyous to watch, embodying Jane Austen levels of romantic notions. But it was all very slick and, paradoxically, was insufficient. Plus, the sheer amount of celebrity friends involved felt icky. Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping Not even good enough to be ‘uneven’. Given the smart inclusion of gifted emerging comics, hopes were high. But sadly, most of it didn’t land. A recurring sketch was a one-note joke milked to a husk but repeated in every episode. One star seemed too ready to slip into a well-known ranting mode. The writing room sketches, meanwhile, simply inspired the idea 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 interesting 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 struggled painfully to find the right tone, lurching from oddly jaunty, slightly mannered farce to ultimately, real-life horror. Twisted? Perhaps. A complete mess? Absolutely. Prime Target We love the star … but did we buy him playing the most brilliant maths genius in history, a man so smart he’s on the verge of a discovery that could destabilise society? Nope! This international thriller about secret services targeting – and killing off – intellectuals frankly got more farcical by the second. Formulaic nonsense. The Bonnie Blue Documentary This hagiography followed the content creator notorious for explicit escapades as she prepared for her most extreme feat yet. What on earth would possess her? What we wanted was far greater interrogation of her actual psychology, plus those of the men in the line. They could at least have spoken to the now-famous mum who showed up to drag her son away from the queue. What we got was horrific imagery and zero interrogation of her notoriety whatsoever. And to think, the filmmaker has a young daughter too.