🔗 Share this article This Floating Poo Was Far Too Meaningful! These Are the TV Disappointments of the Past Year. Looking back, we reflect on the TV offerings of the past year, a selection of series stand out not for their excellence, but for their spectacular failures. Ranging from awkward sequels 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 divisive spin-off? Plagued with woeful writing, painful arcs (we demand better for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of fan-favourite Samantha, the show fought to justify its existence. For a moment, as the third series started, it seemed as if it had at last 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 ended on a bum note; the lingering shot of Miranda’s toilet flooded with poo was just way too on-the-nose. Still, viewers undeniably found joy picking apart every single “wtf?” 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 ‘Can Kim Kardashian act? The answer is a resounding no.’ But that was practically the smallest of this drama's issues. The recipient of a exceedingly uncommon zero star review, it was difficult to know where to begin listing the flaws. The hilariously leaden dialogue? The mind-numbing glorification of affluence and materialism? The almost wilful procession of cliches? Performances so poor they felt almost 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 Given the restraining orders, domestic violence allegations and parental shortcomings, it’s fair to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not you’d really have gleaned it from this multi-part documentary which chuckled along at Sheen’s various episodes of reckless excess while struggling to tell us anything we didn’t already know. Rather, it felt as if this volatile personality was being pandered to, so any pity this show might induce should be saved for the people who have had to endure close contact with this charismatic but dismissive narcissist. The Iris Affair Naturally we understood it was ridiculous from the get-go: 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 admiration for its leads … but by the end, it felt like even they had stopped bothering. One scarcely cared when his character died, and the other ended up hacking Charlie with an axe … in painfully slow-motion. Talk about admitting defeat. The Gangster Drama Dodgy characters meeting in deserted boxing gyms? The Prodigy’s Firestarter blaring in club scenes? The late 90s called and demands its crime drama back. Actually, that is harsh on the gangland dramas of the late 90s. Many look a little old-fashioned now, but at least they didn’t endure the ignominy of having to accommodate unconvincing accents. But there were many other problems. Mainly that it was just really boring; a conflict over drug-selling territory between various cockney rogues which seemed rather simplistic. The Meghan Markle Series Considering the degree to which she provokes the ire of certain performatively angry commentators, it’s almost easy to applaud the Duchess of Sussex’s various ventures into twee homemaking as intentional statements. But then you watch them and are forced to concede that actually, they may have a point. It’s like watching a homeware magazine come to life; a poster for wine o’clock with delusions of grandeur; a parade of sleeping dogs, buzzing beehives, sentimental sayings and pointless crafting “hacks” you’ll not remember instantly. All underpinned by immense, largely unearned wealth. Ugh. The Beckham Documentary There are obviously interesting things to be discussed about regarding Victoria Beckham and her journey with career, identity, self-worth. But for some reason, this three-part series chose not to explore them. Instead, the experience was akin to reading a sales brochure. She obviously has every right to resent what she describes as her “miserable cow” image. But sadly, she didn’t do herself any helps with this cagey letdown of a series. The Inheritance It should have been the next cultural phenomenon – except even more extravagant, with a glamorous star playing dead and a well-known personality managing her estate. What more could you ask for? As players competed, there was plenty of backstabbing and arguing. But the rules quickly became incomprehensible: it’s still too complicated to explain what precisely was happening. Even more disappointingly, we only saw brief appearances of the star via filmed videos. The series ended up smelling of a programme that was straining desperately to emulate something far greater than it. Too Much How do you follow a show that captured a generation? The expectation was immense for this glitzy 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 a delight to watch, reveling in Austen levels of romantic notions. But it was all very slick and, paradoxically, was insufficient. Plus, the sheer amount of famous cameos involved felt uncomfortable. The Sketch Show Return Not even good enough to be ‘patchy’. Given the shrewd inclusion of talented younger comics, hopes were high. But unhappily, most of it didn’t land. A particular sketch was a one-note joke milked to a dry pulp but repeated in every episode. One star seemed too ready to slip into a familiar irate mode. The writing room sketches, meanwhile, simply provoked the idea that they should probably have stayed 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 solely 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 material needed to be treated with care. Rather, the series struggled painfully to find the right voice, lurching from oddly breezy, slightly mannered farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Complex? Perhaps. A total mess? Absolutely. The Maths Genius Thriller We love the lead actor … but did we buy him playing the greatest maths genius since, a man so intelligent he’s on the verge of a discovery that could destabilise society? Nope! This international thriller about secret services targeting – and killing off – academics frankly got more farcical by the second. Silliness-by-numbers. The Bonnie Blue Documentary This uncritical portrait followed the content creator renowned for explicit exploits as she undertook her most extreme challenge yet. What on earth would motivate her? What we wanted was far greater interrogation of her actual psyche, 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 absolutely no interrogation of her infamy whatsoever. And to think, the filmmaker has a teenage daughter too.