Looking back, we consider the TV landscape of the past year, a handful of series emerge not for their brilliance, but for their spectacular shortcomings. Ranging from cringe-inducing spin-offs to confusingly poor docuseries, here are the productions that had us scratching our heads or just reaching for the remote.
How to start with this love/hate spin-off? Plagued with woeful writing, cringe-inducing character development (we demand better for Miranda!), and a mere 71 seconds of fan-favourite Samantha, the series fought to find its footing. Briefly, as the final season started, it looked like it had at last hit its stride. Then arrived an episode centered on Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the creator declared this would be the last series. It concluded on a bum note; the closeup of Miranda’s loo flooded with poo was simply too symbolic. Still, fans undeniably found joy dissecting every single “what on earth?” moment. And as Carrie – a single woman once more – danced around her sprawling townhouse to Barry White, who couldn't let out a little sob?
‘Is Kim Kardashian an actress? Of course she can’t.’
But that was practically the least of this show's problems. The recipient of a exceedingly uncommon zero star review, it was difficult to know where to begin listing the problems. The hilariously wooden writing? The mind-numbing veneration of affluence and materialism? The almost wilful procession of tropes? Acting so bad they felt borderline malicious? Suffice it to say “all of the above” and never speak of this series again. However, a new season has been ordered, so we’re probably going to have to.
Considering the legal troubles, domestic violence allegations and parental failures, it’s reasonable to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not that you’d really have gleaned it from this multi-part docuseries which smirked its way at Sheen’s various bouts of reckless excess 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 sympathy this series might evoke should be reserved for the people who have had to suffer close contact with this charming but flippant narcissist.
Naturally we knew it was ridiculous from the get-go: a thriller about a AI known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either save the world – or annihilate 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 scarcely reacted when his character died, and the other ended up hacking Charlie with an axe … in painfully slow-motion. Talk about admitting defeat.
Shady figures meeting in empty boxing gyms? A certain band's Firestarter jackhammering away in club scenes? The late 90s called and wants its crime drama back.
In truth, that is harsh on the crime shows of the late 90s. Many seem a bit dated now, but at least they didn’t suffer the ignominy of having to indulge unconvincing accents. But there were many other issues. Primarily that it was just really dull; a conflict over narcotics territory between various London picaresques which seemed rather simplistic.
Given the degree to which she provokes the ire of certain ostentatiously enraged commentators, it’s almost easy to applaud the Duchess of Sussex’s televised forays into twee homemaking as deliberate statements. But then you watch them and are forced to admit that actually, they might have a point. It’s like watching a lifestyle catalogue animated; a meme for evening drinks with delusions of grandeur; a parade of snoozing dogs, humming beehives, Hallmark platitudes and forgettable crafting “hacks” you’ll not remember instantly. All underpinned by immense, mostly unearned wealth. Ugh.
There are clearly interesting things to be said about both Victoria Beckham and her journey with vocation, identity, self-worth. But for whatever reason, this documentary series chose not to say them. Instead, the viewing was like reading a marketing brochure. She clearly has every right to bridle at what she describes as her “miserable cow” image. But unfortunately, she failed to do herself any favours with this guarded letdown of a series.
It had the potential to be the next cultural phenomenon – except even more extravagant, with a famous star playing dead and a well-known personality managing her estate. What more could you ask for? As players battled it out, there was plenty of betrayal and squabbling. But the rules quickly became bewildering: it’s even now too confusing to explain what precisely was happening. Even more regrettably, we only saw brief appearances of the star via filmed videos. The show ended up smelling of a programme that was straining desperately to live up to something way beyond it.
How does one follow a show that captured a generation? The expectation was immense for this starry romantic comedy about Jessica, a hopeful New Yorker who lands in London with a broken heart. The star took her biggest role by the horns and was a delight to watch, embodying Jane Austen levels of romantic ideals. But it was all very glossy and, ironically, was insufficient. Plus, the abundance of famous friends involved felt icky.
Not good enough to be ‘uneven’.
Given the smart inclusion of gifted emerging comics, expectations were high. But unhappily, most of it fell flat. A particular sketch was a single 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 behind-the-scenes sketches, meanwhile, simply provoked the idea that they should probably have remained in there a while longer.
This dramatisation of the story of Amanda Knox was executive produced by Amanda Knox and pretty much exclusively showcased the viewpoint of Amanda Knox. So, while there undoubtedly is an interesting drama to be made about the tragic 2007 murder, this was not it. The material needed to be handled with care. Instead, the series struggled painfully to find the right tone, lurching from oddly jaunty, slightly stylised farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Complex? Arguably. A total mess? Very much so.
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 discovery that could destabilise society? Nope! This international thriller about secret services targeting – and killing off – intellectuals frankly got more farcical by the second. Formulaic nonsense.
This hagiography followed the content creator renowned for explicit escapades as she prepared for her biggest challenge yet. What on earth would motivate her? What we craved was far greater examination of her true psyche, plus those of the men in the queue. They could at least have spoken to the legendary mum who showed up to drag her son away from the queue. What we got was disturbing shots and absolutely no interrogation of her notoriety whatsoever. And to think, the filmmaker has a young daughter too.
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