🔗 Share this article That Floating Excrement Was Way Too Symbolic! These Are the Television Disappointments of the Past Year. Looking back, we reflect on the television offerings of the recent year, a handful of series emerge not for their brilliance, but for their notable failures. From awkward sequels to bafflingly poor docuseries, here are the programmes that left us scratching our heads or simply reaching for the remote. And Just Like That How to start with this love/hate follow-up? Burdened with woeful scripts, painful arcs (we demand better for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of fan-favourite Samantha, the series fought to find its footing. For a moment, as the third series started, it looked like it had at last hit its stride. Then arrived an episode centered on 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 toilet flooded with poo was simply too on-the-nose. Yet, fans undeniably had a hoot picking apart every single “what on earth?” moment. And as Carrie – once again single – twirled around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who didn’t release a small sob? The Kim Kardashian Drama ‘Can Kim Kardashian act? Of course she can’t.’ But that was practically the least of this drama's issues. The subject of a very rare zero star assessment, it was hard to know where to start enumerating the problems. The hilariously leaden writing? The tedious glorification of wealth and consumption? The almost deliberate procession of tropes? Acting so poor they felt almost malicious? Let’s just say “all of the above” and forget about this series again. However, a second season has been commissioned, so we’re probably going to have to. AKA Charlie Sheen Given the legal troubles, abuse allegations and parental failures, 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 bouts of reckless hedonism while struggling to tell us anything we weren't already aware of. Rather, it felt as if this volatile personality was being indulged, so any sympathy this series might evoke should be reserved for the people who have had to endure close contact with this charming but flippant egotist. The Supercomputer Drama Naturally we understood it was preposterous from the outset: a thriller about a supercomputer known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either solve global crises – or annihilate all of humanity. We persevered out of sheer admiration for its leads … but by the end, it felt like even they had stopped bothering. One barely cared when his character died, and the other ended up hacking Charlie with an axe … in super slow-motion. That's what you call giving up the ghost. The Gangster Drama Shady figures meeting in empty boxing gyms? A certain band's Firestarter jackhammering away in club scenes? The late 90s called and wants its gangland drama back. In truth, that is harsh on the gangland dramas of the late 90s. Many look a bit old-fashioned now, but at least they didn’t suffer the embarrassment of having to accommodate unconvincing accents. But there were plenty of other problems. Primarily that it was just profoundly boring; a dispute over narcotics territory between various cockney picaresques which felt rather simplistic. With Love, Meghan Considering the degree to which she provokes the ire of the nation’s ostentatiously enraged commentators, it’s almost easy to applaud the Duchess of Sussex’s various forays into quaint lifestyle as intentional statements. But then you watch 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 wine o’clock with delusions of grandeur; a parade of snoozing dogs, humming beehives, sentimental sayings and pointless crafting “hacks” you’ll not remember instantly. All underpinned by immense, mostly undeserved wealth. Ugh. The Beckham Documentary There are obviously fascinating things to be said about both Victoria Beckham and her struggles with career, self-image, self-acceptance. But for whatever reason, this documentary series chose not to say them. Rather, the experience was like consuming a marketing catalogue. She obviously 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 cultural phenomenon – except even more extravagant, with a famous star as a deceased benefactor and a well-known personality overseeing her estate. What more could you want? As contestants competed, there was plenty of betrayal and squabbling. But the rules quickly became bewildering: it’s even now too complicated 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 do you succeed a show that captured a generation? The expectation was immense for this glitzy romcom about Jessica, a hopeful New Yorker who arrives in London with a broken heart. The lead actress seized the opportunity by the horns and was a delight to watch, embodying Jane Austen levels of romantic ideals. But it was all very glossy and, paradoxically, was not enough. Plus, the sheer amount of celebrity friends involved felt uncomfortable. The Sketch Show Return Not even good enough to be ‘uneven’. Given the shrewd inclusion of talented emerging comics, hopes were high. But sadly, most of it fell flat. A particular sketch was a one-note joke stretched 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, in contrast, simply inspired 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 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 horrific 2007 murder, this isn’t it. The material needed to be handled sensitively. Instead, the series laboured awkwardly to find the right voice, lurching from strangely breezy, somewhat mannered farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Complex? Perhaps. A total mess? Absolutely. Prime Target We love the lead actor … but did we believe him playing the greatest maths genius in history, a man so intelligent he’s on the verge of a discovery that could destabilise society? Nope! This international thriller about government agencies targeting – and eliminating – academics honestly got more farcical by the second. Silliness-by-numbers. The Bonnie Blue Documentary This hagiography followed the content creator renowned for explicit escapades as she prepared for her biggest challenge yet. What on earth would possess her? What we craved was way more examination of her actual psyche, plus those of the men in the line. They could at least have spoken to the legendary mum who appeared to drag her son out of the queue. What we got was horrific imagery and zero interrogation of her notoriety whatsoever. It's staggering to consider, the documentary-maker has a teenage daughter too.