That Floating Poo Was Way Too Meaningful! It's the TV Letdowns of the Year.

Looking back, we consider the TV offerings of the recent year, a selection of shows stand out not for their brilliance, but for their notable shortcomings. Ranging from awkward sequels to confusingly bad documentaries, here are the productions that left us scratching our heads or simply reaching for the remote.

The 'Sex and the City' Sequel

How to start with this love/hate spin-off? Plagued with woeful writing, painful character development (justice for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of beloved Samantha, the show fought to justify its existence. Briefly, as the final series began, it seemed as if it had at last found its groove. Then came an episode centered on Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the creator announced this would be the final series. It ended on a bum note; the lingering shot of Miranda’s loo flooded with poo was simply too on-the-nose. Still, fans certainly found joy dissecting every single “what on earth?” episode. And as Carrie – once again single – twirled around her sprawling townhouse to Barry White, who didn’t let out a small sob?

The Kim Kardashian Drama

‘Can Kim Kardashian act? Of course she can’t.’

But that was almost the smallest of this show's issues. The recipient of a exceedingly uncommon no-star review, it was hard to know where to begin listing the problems. The laughably leaden dialogue? The tedious veneration of affluence and consumption? The seemingly deliberate parade of tropes? Performances so poor they felt borderline spiteful? Suffice it to say “each and every one” and forget about this show again. However, a new season has been commissioned, so we’re probably going to have to.

The Charlie Sheen Documentary

Given the legal troubles, abuse claims and fatherly failures, it’s reasonable to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not you’d truly have gleaned it from this three-part docuseries which chuckled along at Sheen’s various episodes of reckless hedonism while struggling to tell us a single thing we weren't already aware of. Rather, it felt as if this loose cannon was being pandered to, so any sympathy this series might induce should be saved for the people who have had to suffer proximity with this charming but flippant egotist.

The Iris Affair

Of course we knew it was ridiculous 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 stuck with it out of pure admiration for its leads … but by the end, it felt like even they had stopped bothering. 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 convening 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 unfair on the gangland dramas of the late 90s. Many look a little old-fashioned now, but at least they didn’t suffer the ignominy of having to indulge unconvincing dialects. But there were plenty of other issues. Mainly that it was just profoundly dull; a conflict over narcotics territory between various London picaresques which seemed a bit basic.

With Love, Meghan

Given the degree to which she provokes the ire of certain ostentatiously enraged commentators, it’s temptingly easy to admire the Duchess of Sussex’s various ventures into twee homemaking as intentional statements. But then you view them and are compelled to concede that actually, they might have a point. It’s like watching a homeware magazine come to life; a meme for wine o’clock with delusions of grandeur; a parade of snoozing dogs, buzzing beehives, Hallmark sayings and pointless crafting “hacks” you’ll forget instantly. All supported by immense, largely unearned wealth. Ugh.

The Beckham Documentary

There are clearly interesting things to be said about both Victoria Beckham and her struggles with career, identity, self-acceptance. But for whatever reason, this documentary series opted not to explore them. Instead, the viewing was like reading a marketing catalogue. She obviously has every right to bridle at what she describes as her “stern” image. But unfortunately, she failed to do herself any favours with this guarded non-event of a series.

The Inheritance

It should have been the next big hit – except even camper, with a glamorous star as a deceased benefactor and a sharp-tongued personality overseeing her inheritance. What more could you ask for? As contestants competed, there was plenty of betrayal and squabbling. But the rules quickly became incomprehensible: it’s still too confusing to explain what precisely was happening. Even more disappointingly, we only saw brief appearances 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 way beyond it.

Too Much

How do you succeed a show that defined a generation? The expectation was enormous for this glitzy romantic comedy about Jessica, a rosy-eyed New Yorker who lands in London with a shattered romance. 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, ironically, was not enough. Plus, the sheer amount of celebrity cameos involved felt uncomfortable.

Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping

Not good enough to be ‘patchy’.

Given the shrewd recruitment of talented 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 willing to slip into a well-known ranting mode. The writing room sketches, meanwhile, simply provoked the idea that they should probably have stayed in there a while longer.

The Knox Dramatisation

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 probably is an interesting drama to be made about the horrific 2007 murder, this was not it. The subject matter needed to be treated with care. Rather, the series struggled painfully to find the right voice, lurching from strangely jaunty, somewhat mannered farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Twisted? Arguably. A complete mess? Very much so.

Prime Target

We love the lead actor … but did we buy him playing the most brilliant maths genius in history, a man so intelligent he’s on the verge of a discovery that could ruin society? Nope! This international thriller about secret services spying on – and eliminating – academics frankly got more farcical by the second. Formulaic nonsense.

The Bonnie Blue Documentary

This hagiography followed the content creator notorious for sexual escapades as she undertook her biggest challenge yet. What on earth would possess 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 haul her son away from the queue. What we got was horrific imagery and zero critical analysis of her notoriety whatsoever. It's staggering to consider, the documentary-maker has a teenage daughter too.