🔗 Share this article That Floating Excrement Was Way Too Meaningful! These Are the Television Letdowns of the Past Year. As we reflect on the TV landscape of the past year, a selection of shows emerge not for their brilliance, but for their notable failures. From awkward sequels to bafflingly bad docuseries, here are the programmes that left us utterly bewildered or simply reaching for the remote. The 'Sex and the City' Sequel How to start with this love/hate spin-off? Plagued with woeful scripts, painful arcs (justice for Miranda!), and a mere 71 seconds of beloved Samantha, the show struggled to justify its existence. Briefly, as the third series began, it looked like it had at last found its groove. Then came an installment centered on Seema’s natural deodorant. No wonder the creator announced this would be the final season. It ended on a low point; the lingering shot of Miranda’s loo flooded with poo was just way too on-the-nose. Still, fans certainly 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 let out a little sob? The Kim Kardashian Drama ‘Is Kim Kardashian an actress? The answer is a resounding no.’ But that was practically the smallest of this drama's issues. The recipient of a exceedingly uncommon zero star assessment, it was hard to know where to start listing the flaws. The laughably leaden dialogue? The mind-numbing veneration of affluence and consumption? The seemingly wilful procession of tropes? Performances so bad they felt almost spiteful? Suffice it to say “each and every one” and forget about this series again. Except, a new season has been ordered, so we’re probably going to have to. The Charlie Sheen Documentary Given the legal troubles, abuse allegations and fatherly failures, it’s reasonable to say Charlie Sheen has been a troubled figure. 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 a single thing we weren't already aware of. Instead, it felt as if this volatile personality was being indulged, so any sympathy this show might induce should be saved for the people who have had to endure proximity with this charming but dismissive narcissist. The Iris Affair Naturally we understood it was ridiculous from the get-go: a thriller about a AI known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either solve global crises – 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 barely reacted when his character died, and the other ended up hacking Charlie with an axe … in painfully slow-motion. That's what you call giving up the ghost. MobLand Shady figures meeting in empty boxing gyms? The Prodigy’s Firestarter blaring in club scenes? The late 90s called and wants its gangland drama back. Actually, that is harsh on the gangland dramas of the late 90s. Many look a bit dated now, but at least they didn’t endure the embarrassment of having to indulge baffling accents. But there were plenty of other problems. Primarily that it was just really boring; a dispute over narcotics territory between various cockney picaresques which felt rather simplistic. With Love, Meghan Considering the extent to which she grinds the gears of the nation’s performatively enraged commentators, it’s almost tempting to applaud the Duchess of Sussex’s various forays into quaint lifestyle as deliberate statements. But then you view them and are forced to admit that in this case, they may have a point. It’s like watching a homeware magazine come to life; a meme for evening drinks with delusions of grandeur; a procession of sleeping dogs, humming beehives, sentimental platitudes and pointless crafting “tips” you’ll not remember instantly. All underpinned by vast, largely undeserved wealth. Ugh. The Beckham Documentary There are clearly fascinating things to be discussed about both Victoria Beckham and her struggles with career, identity, self-acceptance. But for whatever reason, this three-part series chose not to explore them. Rather, the experience was akin to reading a sales catalogue. She obviously has good reason to bridle at what she describes as her “stern” image. But unfortunately, she didn’t do herself any helps with this cagey non-event of a series. The Inheritance It should have been the next big hit – except even more extravagant, with a famous star playing dead and a sharp-tongued personality overseeing her estate. What more could you want? As players competed, there was plenty of backstabbing 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 filmed videos. The series ended up smelling of a production that was straining desperately to emulate something way beyond it. Too Much How do you succeed a show that captured a generation? The pressure was enormous for this starry romantic comedy 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 joyous to watch, embodying Austen levels of romantic ideals. But it was all very glossy and, ironically, was not enough. Plus, the abundance of celebrity cameos involved felt icky. Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping Not even good enough to be ‘patchy’. Given the smart recruitment of gifted emerging comics, hopes were high. But unhappily, most of it didn’t land. A particular sketch was a one-note joke stretched to a husk but recurring in every episode. One star seemed too ready 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 solely presented 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 subject matter needed to be handled sensitively. Instead, the series laboured awkwardly to find the right tone, lurching from strangely jaunty, somewhat stylised farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Complex? Arguably. A complete mess? Very much so. The Maths Genius Thriller We love the lead actor … but did we buy him playing the greatest maths genius in history, a man so intelligent he’s on the verge of a discovery that could ruin society? Nope! This globe-trotting thriller about government agencies spying on – and eliminating – academics frankly got more absurd by the second. Formulaic nonsense. 1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story This uncritical portrait followed the content creator notorious for sexual exploits as she undertook her biggest feat yet. What on earth would motivate her? What we craved was way more examination of her true psyche, plus those of the men in the queue. They could at least have spoken to the legendary mum who appeared to drag her son away from the queue. What we got was disturbing imagery and zero critical analysis of her infamy whatsoever. It's staggering to consider, the documentary-maker has a young daughter too.