🔗 Share this article That Floating Poo Was Way Too Meaningful! It's the TV Letdowns of the Year. As we reflect on the TV offerings of the recent year, a selection of series stand out not for their excellence, but for their notable failures. Ranging from cringe-inducing spin-offs to bafflingly bad docuseries, here are the programmes that left us scratching our heads or simply reaching for the remote. And Just Like That How to start with this divisive follow-up? Burdened with dreadful writing, painful character development (justice for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of fan-favourite Samantha, the series struggled to justify its existence. Briefly, as the final season started, it looked like it had at last hit its stride. Then came an episode all about Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the creator declared this would be the last season. It ended on a bum note; the closeup of Miranda’s toilet flooded with poo was just way too symbolic. Still, viewers undeniably had a hoot dissecting every single “wtf?” moment. And as Carrie – once again single – danced around her sprawling townhouse to Barry White, who couldn't let out a little sob? All’s Fair ‘Can Kim Kardashian act? The answer is a resounding no.’ But that was practically the smallest of this show's issues. The recipient of a exceedingly uncommon zero star assessment, it was difficult to know where to begin enumerating the flaws. The laughably leaden dialogue? The tedious veneration of wealth and consumption? The almost deliberate parade of tropes? Acting so poor they felt borderline spiteful? Suffice it to say “all of the above” and forget about this show again. However, a second season has been ordered, so we’re likely going to have to. The Charlie Sheen Documentary Given the legal troubles, domestic violence allegations and parental shortcomings, 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 reckless 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 series might induce should be saved for the people who have had to endure proximity with this charismatic but flippant egotist. The Iris Affair Of course we understood it was preposterous from the outset: 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 sheer love for its stars … but by the end, it felt like even they had given up trying. One barely cared when his character died, and the other ultimately slicing Charlie with an axe … in painfully slow-motion. Talk about giving up the ghost. MobLand Dodgy characters meeting in deserted boxing gyms? The Prodigy’s Firestarter jackhammering away in club scenes? The late 90s called and demands its gangland drama back. In truth, that is unfair on the gangland dramas of the late 90s. Many look a little dated now, but at least they didn’t endure the embarrassment of having to accommodate unconvincing accents. But there were many other problems. Primarily that it was just really boring; a conflict over narcotics territory between various cockney picaresques which seemed rather simplistic. With Love, Meghan Considering the extent to which she grinds the gears of certain ostentatiously angry commentators, it’s temptingly easy to applaud the Duchess of Sussex’s various ventures into quaint homemaking as intentional provocations. But then you watch them and are compelled to admit that in this case, they might have a point. It’s like watching a lifestyle catalogue come to life; a poster for evening drinks with delusions of grandeur; a procession of snoozing dogs, buzzing beehives, sentimental platitudes and forgettable crafting “tips” you’ll forget instantly. All supported by vast, mostly unearned wealth. Ugh. The Beckham Documentary There are obviously interesting things to be said about regarding Victoria Beckham and her journey with career, identity, self-acceptance. But for some reason, this documentary series chose not to explore them. Instead, the experience was akin to consuming a marketing catalogue. She obviously has every right to bridle at what she describes as her “miserable cow” image. But sadly, she failed to do herself any favours with this cagey letdown of a series. The Game Show It had the potential to be the next cultural phenomenon – except even camper, with a famous star as a deceased benefactor and a sharp-tongued personality managing her inheritance. What more could you want? As players competed, there was plenty of backstabbing and arguing. But the rules quickly became bewildering: it’s even now too complicated to detail what precisely was happening. Even more disappointingly, we only saw glimpses of the star via prerecorded videos. The show ended up smelling of a production that was trying way too hard to live up to something way beyond it. The Lena Dunham Romcom How do you follow a show that captured a generation? The pressure was immense for this starry romcom about Jessica, a rosy-eyed New Yorker who arrives in London with a broken heart. The lead actress took her biggest role by the horns and was a delight to watch, embodying Austen levels of romantic ideals. But it was all very slick and, ironically, was not enough. Plus, the sheer amount of celebrity friends involved felt uncomfortable. The Sketch Show Return Not good enough to be ‘patchy’. Given the smart inclusion of gifted younger comics, expectations were high. But sadly, most of it fell flat. A recurring sketch was a one-note joke milked to a dry pulp but repeated in every episode. One star seemed too willing to slip into a familiar irate mode. The behind-the-scenes sketches, meanwhile, simply provoked the thought that they should probably have stayed in there a bit longer. The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox This dramatisation of the story of Amanda Knox was overseen by Amanda Knox and pretty much exclusively presented the perspective 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 treated with care. Instead, the series struggled painfully to find the right tone, lumbering from oddly jaunty, slightly mannered farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Twisted? Arguably. A complete mess? Absolutely. 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 verge of a breakthrough that could ruin society? Nope! This international thriller about secret services spying on – and eliminating – academics honestly got more farcical 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 wanted was way more interrogation of her actual psychology, plus those of the men in the line. They could at least have interviewed the legendary mum who showed up to drag her son out of the queue. What we got was disturbing imagery and absolutely no critical analysis of her infamy whatsoever. And to think, the documentary-maker has a teenage daughter too.