🔗 Share this article That Floating Poo Was Far Too Meaningful! These Are the Television Letdowns of the Past Year. Looking back, we reflect on the television landscape of the past year, a selection of shows stand out not for their excellence, but for their notable shortcomings. From awkward sequels to bafflingly bad docuseries, here are the programmes that had us scratching our heads or just reaching for the remote. And Just Like That Where to begin with this love/hate spin-off? Plagued with dreadful writing, painful arcs (we demand better for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of beloved Samantha, the show struggled to find its footing. For a moment, as the final series started, it looked like it had at last hit its stride. Then came an installment all about Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the showrunner declared this would be the final series. It concluded on a low point; the closeup of Miranda’s loo full of poo was simply too on-the-nose. Still, fans undeniably had a hoot picking apart every single “what on earth?” moment. 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 ‘Can Kim Kardashian act? The answer is a resounding no.’ But that was practically the least of this show's issues. The recipient of a exceedingly uncommon no-star review, it was hard to know where to begin enumerating the problems. The hilariously wooden dialogue? The mind-numbing veneration of wealth and consumption? The almost deliberate parade of cliches? Performances so bad they felt almost spiteful? Let’s just say “all of the above” and forget about this show again. However, a second season has been commissioned, so we’re likely going to have to. The Charlie Sheen Documentary Considering the legal troubles, abuse claims and parental shortcomings, it’s fair to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not you’d really have known it from this multi-part docuseries 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 pity this series might induce should be saved for the people who have had to endure close contact with this charming but dismissive 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 annihilate all of humanity. We stuck with it out of pure love for its stars … but by the end, it felt like even they had stopped bothering. One barely cared when his character died, and the other ended up slicing Charlie with an axe … in painfully slow-motion. Talk about admitting defeat. MobLand Dodgy figures meeting in empty boxing gyms? The Prodigy’s Firestarter jackhammering away in club scenes? The late 90s called and wants its gangland drama back. Actually, that is harsh on the crime shows of the late 90s. Many seem a little dated now, but at least they didn’t endure the ignominy of having to accommodate unconvincing dialects. But there were many other problems. Primarily that it was just really boring; a dispute over narcotics territory between various cockney picaresques which seemed a bit basic. The Meghan Markle Series Considering the degree to which she provokes the ire of the nation’s ostentatiously angry commentators, it’s temptingly tempting to admire the Duchess of Sussex’s televised forays into quaint lifestyle as intentional provocations. But then you view them and are compelled to concede that actually, they might have a point. It’s like watching a lifestyle catalogue animated; a meme for wine o’clock with delusions of grandeur; a parade of sleeping dogs, humming beehives, Hallmark sayings and forgettable crafting “tips” you’ll not remember instantly. All underpinned by immense, mostly unearned wealth. Ugh. The Beckham Documentary There are clearly fascinating things to be discussed about regarding Victoria Beckham and her struggles with career, self-image, self-worth. But for some reason, this documentary series chose not to say them. Instead, the viewing was like consuming a marketing brochure. She clearly has good reason to resent what she describes as her “miserable cow” image. But unfortunately, she didn’t do herself any favours with this guarded letdown of a series. The Inheritance It should have been the next big hit – except even more extravagant, with a glamorous star playing dead and a sharp-tongued personality managing her inheritance. What more could you want? As players battled it out, there was plenty of backstabbing and squabbling. But the rules quickly became incomprehensible: it’s still too confusing to detail what precisely was happening. Even more regrettably, we only saw glimpses of the star via filmed videos. The series ended up smelling of a production that was trying way too hard to live up to something far greater than it. Too Much How do you follow a show that defined a generation? The expectation was enormous for this glitzy romcom about Jessica, a rosy-eyed New Yorker who arrives in London with a shattered romance. The lead actress took her biggest role by the horns and was joyous to watch, embodying Austen levels of romantic ideals. But it was all very glossy and, ironically, was not enough. Plus, the sheer amount of celebrity cameos involved felt icky. The Sketch Show Return Not even good enough to be ‘uneven’. Given the shrewd recruitment of gifted younger comics, hopes were high. But unhappily, most of it fell flat. A particular sketch was a single joke milked to a dry pulp but repeated in every episode. One star seemed too ready to slip into a well-known irate mode. The writing room sketches, meanwhile, simply provoked the idea 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 solely showcased the viewpoint of Amanda Knox. So, while there undoubtedly is an compelling drama to be made about the horrific 2007 murder, this was not it. The material needed to be handled sensitively. Instead, the series struggled painfully to find the right tone, lurching from oddly breezy, somewhat stylised farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Twisted? Arguably. A complete mess? Absolutely. The Maths Genius Thriller We admire the star … but did we buy him playing the most brilliant maths genius in history, a man so smart he’s on the brink of a discovery that could destabilise society? No! This international thriller about government agencies targeting – and killing off – 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 exploits as she prepared for her biggest feat yet. What on earth would possess her? What we wanted was way more examination of her actual psyche, plus those of the men in the queue. 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 imagery and zero interrogation of her notoriety whatsoever. And to think, the filmmaker has a young daughter too.