🔗 Share this article This Drifting Poo Was Way Too Meaningful! It's the Television Letdowns of the Past Year. As we reflect on the TV landscape of the past year, a handful of series stand out not for their brilliance, but for their notable shortcomings. Ranging from awkward spin-offs to confusingly poor docuseries, here are the programmes that left us utterly bewildered or just reaching for the remote. And Just Like That How to start with this divisive follow-up? Burdened with woeful scripts, painful character development (justice for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of fan-favourite Samantha, the series 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 episode all about Seema’s natural deodorant. No wonder the showrunner declared this would be the final season. It ended on a low point; the closeup of Miranda’s toilet full of poo was just way too symbolic. Still, viewers undeniably found joy picking apart every single “wtf?” moment. And as Carrie – once again single – danced around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who didn’t release a small sob? The Kim Kardashian Drama ‘Is Kim Kardashian an actress? The answer is a resounding no.’ But that was practically the least of this show's problems. The subject of a exceedingly uncommon zero star review, it was hard to know where to start enumerating the flaws. The hilariously wooden writing? The tedious veneration of affluence and materialism? The seemingly wilful parade of cliches? Acting so bad they felt borderline spiteful? Let’s just say “all of the above” and forget about this series again. Except, a second season has been commissioned, so we’re likely going to have to. AKA Charlie Sheen Considering the legal troubles, abuse claims and fatherly failures, it’s fair to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not you’d really have gleaned it from this multi-part docuseries which smirked its way at Sheen’s various episodes of self-destructive hedonism while struggling to tell us anything we didn’t already know. Rather, it felt as if this loose cannon was being indulged, so any pity this show might evoke should be saved for the people who have had to endure close contact with this charismatic but dismissive narcissist. The Supercomputer Drama Of course we understood it was ridiculous from the get-go: a thriller about a supercomputer known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either solve global crises – or destroy all of humanity. We persevered out of pure admiration for its stars … but by the end, it felt like even they had stopped bothering. One barely reacted when his character died, and the other ultimately hacking Charlie with an axe … in super slow-motion. That's what you call giving up the ghost. MobLand Dodgy characters meeting in deserted boxing gyms? The Prodigy’s Firestarter blaring in club scenes? The late 90s called and demands its gangland drama back. Actually, that is unfair on the gangland dramas of the late 90s. Many seem a little old-fashioned now, but at least they didn’t endure the embarrassment of having to accommodate baffling accents. But there were many other issues. Mainly that it was just profoundly dull; a conflict over narcotics territory between various London rogues which felt rather simplistic. With Love, Meghan Given the extent to which she provokes the ire of certain ostentatiously enraged commentators, it’s temptingly easy to applaud the Duchess of Sussex’s various forays into twee lifestyle as intentional provocations. But then you watch them and are forced to concede that actually, they might have a point. It’s like watching a homeware magazine come to life; a poster for evening drinks with ideas of grandeur; a procession 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 regarding Victoria Beckham and her struggles with vocation, identity, self-acceptance. But for some reason, this three-part series opted not to explore them. Rather, the experience was akin to reading a marketing brochure. She clearly has good reason to resent what she describes as her “miserable cow” image. But sadly, she didn’t do herself any helps with this guarded non-event of a series. The Inheritance It should have been the next cultural phenomenon – except even more extravagant, with a glamorous star as a deceased benefactor and a well-known personality overseeing her inheritance. What more could you want? As players battled it out, there was plenty of betrayal and arguing. But the rules quickly became bewildering: it’s still too complicated to explain what precisely was happening. Even more disappointingly, we only saw brief appearances of the star via prerecorded videos. The series ended up smelling of a programme that was trying way too hard to live up to something far greater than it. The Lena Dunham Romcom How do you follow a show that captured a generation? The pressure was immense for this glitzy romcom about Jessica, a rosy-eyed New Yorker who lands in London with a broken heart. The lead actress seized the opportunity by the horns and was a delight to watch, reveling in Jane Austen levels of romantic notions. But it was all very glossy and, ironically, was insufficient. Plus, the sheer amount of celebrity cameos involved felt icky. The Sketch Show Return Not even good enough to be ‘uneven’. Given the smart inclusion of talented emerging comics, expectations were high. But sadly, most of it didn’t land. A particular sketch was a single joke stretched to a husk 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 Knox Dramatisation 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 was not it. The subject matter needed to be handled sensitively. Rather, the series struggled painfully to find the right voice, lumbering from strangely jaunty, slightly mannered farce to ultimately, real-life horror. Twisted? Perhaps. A complete mess? Very much so. Prime Target We love 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 breakthrough that could destabilise society? No! This international thriller about secret services spying on – and eliminating – academics frankly got more absurd by the second. Formulaic nonsense. The Bonnie Blue Documentary This hagiography followed the content creator renowned for explicit escapades as she prepared for her most extreme challenge yet. What on earth would possess her? What we craved was far greater examination of her actual psyche, plus those of the men in the line. They could at least have interviewed the legendary mum who showed up to haul her son away from the queue. What we got was horrific imagery and zero interrogation of her infamy whatsoever. And to think, the filmmaker has a teenage daughter too.