🔗 Share this article This Floating Excrement Was Far Too Symbolic! It's the Television Disappointments of the Past Year. As 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 awkward sequels to confusingly poor documentaries, here are the productions that left us scratching our heads or simply reaching for the remote. And Just Like That Where to begin with this love/hate follow-up? Burdened with woeful scripts, painful arcs (justice for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of fan-favourite Samantha, the series struggled to justify its existence. Briefly, as the third season began, it looked like it had finally hit its stride. Then came an episode centered on Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the creator declared this would be the final season. It concluded on a low point; the lingering shot of Miranda’s loo full of poo was simply too on-the-nose. Yet, fans certainly had a hoot 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 small sob? The Kim Kardashian Drama ‘Is Kim Kardashian an actress? Of course she can’t.’ But that was practically the least of this drama's issues. The recipient of a very rare no-star assessment, it was hard to know where to begin enumerating the flaws. The hilariously wooden writing? The tedious glorification of wealth and consumption? The seemingly wilful parade of cliches? Acting so bad they felt borderline malicious? Suffice it to say “each and every one” and never speak of this show again. Except, a second season has been ordered, so we’re likely going to have to. The Charlie Sheen Documentary Given the restraining orders, abuse claims and fatherly shortcomings, it’s reasonable to say Charlie Sheen has been a troubled figure. Not you’d truly have known it from this multi-part documentary which chuckled along at Sheen’s various episodes of self-destructive hedonism while struggling to tell us a single thing we didn’t already know. Rather, it felt as if this loose cannon was being pandered to, so any sympathy this series might induce should be reserved for the people who have had to endure close contact with this charming but dismissive narcissist. 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 save the world – or destroy all of humanity. We persevered out of sheer admiration for its stars … but by the end, it felt like even they had given up trying. One scarcely reacted when his character died, and the other ended up slicing Charlie with an axe … in painfully slow-motion. Talk about admitting defeat. The Gangster Drama Shady 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 crime shows of the late 90s. Many seem a bit old-fashioned now, but at least they didn’t suffer the ignominy of having to accommodate unconvincing accents. But there were plenty of other problems. Mainly that it was just really dull; a dispute over narcotics territory between various cockney picaresques which felt a bit basic. With Love, Meghan Considering the degree to which she provokes the ire of certain performatively enraged commentators, it’s almost easy to applaud the Duchess of Sussex’s televised forays into quaint lifestyle as intentional statements. But then you watch them and are compelled to concede that in this case, they might have a point. It’s like watching a lifestyle catalogue come to life; a poster for wine o’clock with delusions of grandeur; a parade of snoozing dogs, humming beehives, Hallmark sayings and forgettable crafting “hacks” you’ll not remember instantly. All supported by immense, largely undeserved wealth. Ugh. Victoria Beckham There are obviously interesting things to be discussed about regarding Victoria Beckham and her journey with career, self-image, self-acceptance. But for some reason, this three-part series opted not to explore them. Instead, the experience was like consuming a marketing brochure. She clearly has good reason to resent what she describes as her “stern” 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 cultural phenomenon – except even camper, with a famous star as a deceased benefactor and a sharp-tongued personality managing her estate. What more could you want? As players battled it out, there was plenty of backstabbing and arguing. But the rules quickly became bewildering: it’s even now too confusing to detail what exactly was happening. Even more disappointingly, we only saw brief appearances of the star via prerecorded videos. The show ended up reeking of a production that was straining desperately to emulate something way beyond it. Too Much How do you follow a show that captured a generation? The pressure was enormous for this starry romcom about Jessica, a rosy-eyed New Yorker who lands in London with a broken heart. The star seized the opportunity by the horns and was a delight to watch, embodying Jane Austen levels of romantic ideals. But it was all very slick and, ironically, was insufficient. Plus, the abundance of celebrity cameos involved felt uncomfortable. The Sketch Show Return Not even good enough to be ‘uneven’. Given the smart inclusion of talented emerging comics, hopes were high. But unhappily, most of it didn’t land. A particular sketch was a single joke milked to a dry pulp but recurring in every episode. One star seemed too willing to slip into a familiar ranting mode. The writing room sketches, meanwhile, simply provoked the thought that they should probably have remained in there a bit longer. The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox This dramatisation of the story of Amanda Knox was executive produced by Amanda Knox and pretty much solely presented the viewpoint of Amanda Knox. So, while there undoubtedly is an compelling drama to be made about the horrific 2007 murder, this isn’t it. The subject matter needed to be treated with care. Instead, the series struggled painfully to find the right tone, lumbering from oddly breezy, slightly stylised farce to ultimately, real-life horror. Twisted? Perhaps. A complete mess? Very much so. The Maths Genius Thriller We love the lead actor … but did we buy him playing the greatest maths genius since, a man so smart he’s on the verge of a discovery that could ruin society? Nope! This international thriller about secret services targeting – and eliminating – academics honestly got more farcical by the second. Silliness-by-numbers. 1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story This hagiography followed the content creator renowned for explicit escapades as she prepared for her most extreme challenge yet. What on earth would motivate her? What we craved was way more interrogation of her actual psychology, plus those of the men in the line. They could at least have interviewed the now-famous mum who appeared to drag her son out of the queue. What we got was horrific shots and absolutely no critical analysis of her notoriety whatsoever. And to think, the filmmaker has a young daughter too.