🔗 Share this article That Floating Poo Was Far Too Symbolic! It's the TV Disappointments of the Past Year. Looking back, we reflect on the TV landscape of the recent year, a handful of shows stand out not for their excellence, but for their spectacular failures. From awkward spin-offs to bafflingly poor docuseries, here are the programmes that left us utterly bewildered or simply reaching for the remote. And Just Like That Where to begin with this love/hate follow-up? Plagued with dreadful scripts, cringe-inducing arcs (justice for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of fan-favourite Samantha, the show fought to find its footing. For a moment, as the third season began, it looked like it had at last found its groove. Then arrived an installment all about Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the showrunner declared this would be the last series. It concluded on a low point; the lingering shot of Miranda’s toilet full of poo was just way too symbolic. Yet, fans undeniably found joy dissecting every single “what on earth?” 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? All’s Fair ‘Can Kim Kardashian act? The answer is a resounding no.’ 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 begin enumerating the problems. The hilariously leaden writing? The mind-numbing veneration of affluence and materialism? The seemingly wilful parade of cliches? Performances so bad they felt almost malicious? Suffice it to say “all of the above” and never speak of this series again. However, a new season has been commissioned, so we’re probably going to have to. AKA Charlie Sheen Given the restraining orders, abuse allegations and fatherly failures, it’s reasonable to say Charlie Sheen has been a troubled figure. Not that you’d really have known it from this three-part docuseries which smirked its way at Sheen’s various bouts of self-destructive hedonism while failing to tell us anything we weren't already aware of. Instead, it felt as if this volatile personality was being pandered to, so any pity this series might evoke should be saved for the people who have had to suffer close contact with this charming but flippant egotist. The Supercomputer Drama Of course we understood it was preposterous from the get-go: a drama about a AI known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either solve global crises – or annihilate all of humanity. We stuck with it 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 super slow-motion. That's what you call giving up the ghost. MobLand 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 look a bit old-fashioned now, but at least they didn’t suffer the ignominy of having to accommodate baffling accents. But there were plenty of other problems. Mainly that it was just profoundly boring; a dispute over drug-selling territory between various London picaresques which seemed rather simplistic. The Meghan Markle Series Given the extent to which she grinds the gears of certain performatively angry commentators, it’s temptingly easy to admire the Duchess of Sussex’s televised forays into quaint homemaking 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 lifestyle catalogue animated; a poster for evening drinks with ideas of grandeur; a parade of sleeping dogs, humming beehives, sentimental sayings and forgettable crafting “tips” you’ll forget instantly. All supported by immense, mostly undeserved wealth. Ugh. Victoria Beckham There are obviously fascinating things to be said about regarding Victoria Beckham and her struggles with vocation, self-image, self-acceptance. But for whatever reason, this documentary series opted not to say them. Rather, the viewing was akin to consuming a sales brochure. She obviously has good reason to bridle at what she describes as her “miserable cow” image. But sadly, she didn’t do herself any helps with this cagey non-event of a series. The Inheritance It should have been the next big hit – except even camper, with a glamorous star playing dead and a well-known personality overseeing her estate. What more could you want? As players competed, there was plenty of betrayal and arguing. But the rules quickly became bewildering: it’s still too confusing to detail what precisely was happening. Even more disappointingly, we only saw brief appearances of the star via filmed videos. The show ended up reeking of a programme that was straining desperately to emulate something way beyond it. The Lena Dunham Romcom How does one succeed 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 broken heart. The lead actress took her biggest role by the horns and was a delight to watch, reveling in Jane Austen levels of romantic notions. But it was all very slick and, paradoxically, was not enough. Plus, the sheer amount of celebrity friends involved felt uncomfortable. The Sketch Show Return Not good enough to be ‘uneven’. Given the shrewd inclusion of gifted emerging comics, expectations were high. But unhappily, most of it didn’t land. A recurring sketch was a one-note joke stretched to a dry pulp but recurring in every episode. One star seemed too willing to slip into a familiar irate mode. The writing room sketches, meanwhile, simply provoked the thought that they should probably have remained in there a while longer. The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox This dramatisation of the story of Amanda Knox was executive produced by Amanda Knox and pretty much exclusively showcased the perspective of Amanda Knox. So, while there probably is an interesting drama to be made about the tragic 2007 murder, this was not it. The subject matter needed to be treated sensitively. Instead, the series laboured awkwardly to find the right voice, lumbering from strangely breezy, somewhat stylised farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Twisted? Arguably. A total mess? Absolutely. The Maths Genius Thriller We love the star … but did we buy him playing the greatest maths genius since, a man so intelligent he’s on the brink of a discovery that could destabilise society? Nope! 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 renowned for explicit escapades as she prepared for her most extreme feat yet. What on earth would motivate 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 interviewed the now-famous mum who showed up to haul her son away from the queue. What we got was horrific shots and zero critical analysis of her infamy whatsoever. And to think, the filmmaker has a young daughter too.