This Drifting Excrement Was Way Too Meaningful! It's the Television Disappointments of the Past Year.

Looking back, we reflect on the television offerings of the past year, a selection of shows stand out not for their excellence, but for their notable shortcomings. From awkward spin-offs to confusingly poor docuseries, here are the productions that left us utterly bewildered or simply reaching for the remote.

And Just Like That

Where to begin with this love/hate spin-off? Burdened with dreadful scripts, painful character development (we demand better for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of fan-favourite Samantha, the series struggled to find its footing. For a moment, as the third series started, it seemed as if it had finally found its groove. Then arrived an episode all about Seema’s natural deodorant. No wonder the showrunner announced this would be the last series. It concluded on a low point; the lingering shot of Miranda’s loo flooded with poo was just way too on-the-nose. Still, fans certainly had a hoot dissecting every single “what on earth?” moment. And as Carrie – once again single – danced around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who couldn't release a little sob?

All’s Fair

‘Is Kim Kardashian an actress? Of course she can’t.’

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 begin listing the flaws. The hilariously leaden writing? The mind-numbing glorification of affluence and materialism? The almost wilful parade of tropes? Performances so bad they felt almost spiteful? Suffice it to say “all of the above” and never speak of this series again. Except, a second season has been ordered, so we’re likely going to have to.

AKA Charlie Sheen

Given the restraining orders, domestic violence allegations and parental failures, it’s reasonable to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not that you’d really have known it from this multi-part documentary which chuckled along at Sheen’s various bouts of self-destructive hedonism while failing to tell us anything we didn’t already know. 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 proximity with this charming but flippant egotist.

The Supercomputer Drama

Naturally we knew it was preposterous from the outset: a drama about a supercomputer known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either solve global crises – or annihilate all of humanity. We persevered out of pure love for its stars … 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.

MobLand

Shady characters meeting in deserted boxing gyms? A certain band's Firestarter blaring in club scenes? The late 90s called and demands its gangland drama back.

Actually, that is unfair on the crime shows of the late 90s. Many seem a little old-fashioned now, but at least they didn’t suffer the embarrassment of having to indulge baffling dialects. But there were many other issues. Primarily that it was just profoundly boring; a conflict over narcotics territory between various cockney rogues which seemed a bit basic.

The Meghan Markle Series

Given the extent to which she provokes the ire of the nation’s ostentatiously angry commentators, it’s temptingly easy to admire the Duchess of Sussex’s televised ventures into quaint lifestyle as intentional provocations. But then you view them and are forced to concede that in this case, they might have a point. It’s like watching a lifestyle magazine animated; a meme for evening drinks with delusions of grandeur; a procession of sleeping dogs, humming beehives, Hallmark platitudes and pointless crafting “hacks” you’ll forget instantly. All underpinned by immense, mostly unearned wealth. Ugh.

Victoria Beckham

There are clearly interesting things to be said about both Victoria Beckham and her journey with vocation, identity, self-acceptance. But for some reason, this documentary series opted not to explore them. Instead, the experience was akin to consuming a sales catalogue. She clearly has good reason to bridle at what she describes as her “miserable cow” image. But unfortunately, she didn’t do herself any helps with this cagey letdown of a series.

The Inheritance

It had the potential to be the next big hit – except even more extravagant, with a famous star playing dead and a well-known personality overseeing her inheritance. What more could you want? As contestants competed, there was plenty of backstabbing and arguing. But the rules quickly became incomprehensible: it’s even now too confusing to detail what precisely was happening. Even more disappointingly, we only saw brief appearances of the star via prerecorded videos. The show ended up reeking of a production that was trying way too hard to emulate something far greater than it.

Too Much

How does one succeed a show that defined a generation? The expectation was enormous 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 joyous to watch, reveling in Austen levels of romantic notions. But it was all very slick and, ironically, was insufficient. Plus, the sheer amount of famous friends involved felt icky.

Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping

Not good enough to be ‘patchy’.

Given the shrewd recruitment of talented younger comics, expectations were high. But unhappily, most of it didn’t land. A particular sketch was a one-note joke stretched to a husk but repeated in every episode. One star seemed too willing to slip into a familiar ranting mode. The behind-the-scenes sketches, meanwhile, simply inspired the idea that they should probably have stayed in there a while longer.

The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox

This retelling 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 tragic 2007 murder, this was not it. The material needed to be treated sensitively. Rather, the series laboured awkwardly to find the right voice, lumbering from oddly jaunty, slightly mannered farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Complex? Perhaps. A complete mess? Very much so.

The Maths Genius Thriller

We admire the lead actor … but did we believe him playing the greatest maths genius since, a man so smart he’s on the brink of a discovery that could destabilise society? No! This international thriller about secret services spying on – and killing off – intellectuals frankly got more farcical by the second. Silliness-by-numbers.

1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story

This uncritical portrait followed the content creator notorious for sexual exploits as she undertook her biggest challenge yet. What on earth would motivate her? What we craved was way more interrogation of her true psyche, plus those of the men in the queue. They could at least have spoken to the now-famous mum who showed up to drag her son away from the queue. What we got was disturbing shots and zero interrogation of her infamy whatsoever. And to think, the filmmaker has a teenage daughter too.