🔗 Share this article That Drifting Poo Was Far Too Meaningful! These Are the TV Letdowns of the Year. Looking back, we consider the television offerings of the recent year, a selection of series stand out not for their excellence, but for their notable shortcomings. From cringe-inducing sequels to confusingly bad docuseries, here are the productions that left us scratching our heads or just reaching for the remote. The 'Sex and the City' Sequel Where to begin with this love/hate spin-off? Burdened with dreadful writing, cringe-inducing arcs (justice for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of fan-favourite Samantha, the series struggled to justify its existence. For a moment, as the final series started, it seemed as if it had finally found its groove. Then arrived an installment all about Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the showrunner announced this would be the last series. It ended on a low point; the lingering shot of Miranda’s toilet flooded with poo was simply too symbolic. Yet, viewers undeniably found joy picking apart every single “what on earth?” episode. And as Carrie – a single woman once more – danced around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who couldn't let out a little sob? All’s Fair ‘Can Kim Kardashian act? Of course she can’t.’ But that was almost the smallest of this drama's problems. The subject of a very rare no-star review, it was difficult to know where to start enumerating the flaws. The laughably leaden writing? The mind-numbing veneration of wealth and consumption? The seemingly wilful parade of cliches? Acting so poor they felt borderline malicious? Let’s just say “each and every one” and never speak of this series again. However, a second season has been ordered, so we’re probably going to have to. The Charlie Sheen Documentary Considering the legal troubles, domestic violence claims and fatherly shortcomings, it’s fair to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not that you’d really have known it from this multi-part docuseries which smirked its way at Sheen’s various bouts of self-destructive excess while failing to tell us anything we didn’t already know. 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 close contact with this charming but flippant narcissist. The Supercomputer Drama Of course we knew it was preposterous from the get-go: a drama about a AI known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either solve global crises – or annihilate all of humanity. We persevered out of sheer admiration for its leads … but by the end, it felt like even they had stopped bothering. One barely reacted when his character died, and the other ultimately hacking Charlie with an axe … in painfully slow-motion. That's what you call giving up the ghost. The Gangster Drama Dodgy characters meeting in deserted boxing gyms? The Prodigy’s Firestarter jackhammering away in club scenes? The late 90s called and demands its crime drama back. In truth, that is unfair on the crime shows of the late 90s. Many seem a bit old-fashioned now, but at least they didn’t suffer the ignominy of having to accommodate unconvincing dialects. But there were plenty of other problems. Primarily that it was just really dull; a conflict over drug-selling territory between various London rogues which felt a bit basic. With Love, Meghan Given the extent to which she provokes the ire of certain performatively angry commentators, it’s temptingly tempting to applaud the Duchess of Sussex’s various ventures into quaint lifestyle as intentional provocations. But then you view them and are forced to admit that in this case, they may have a point. It’s like watching a lifestyle magazine come to life; a meme for wine o’clock with ideas of grandeur; a procession of snoozing dogs, humming beehives, Hallmark sayings and forgettable crafting “tips” you’ll not remember instantly. All supported by immense, mostly unearned wealth. Ugh. The Beckham Documentary There are obviously fascinating things to be said about regarding Victoria Beckham and her journey with career, identity, self-acceptance. But for whatever reason, this three-part series opted not to explore them. Rather, the experience was like reading a sales brochure. She obviously has good reason to resent what she describes as her “miserable cow” image. But sadly, she didn’t do herself any helps with this guarded non-event of a series. The Inheritance It should have been the next big hit – except even more extravagant, with a famous star as a deceased benefactor and a well-known personality overseeing her estate. What more could you ask for? As contestants battled it out, there was plenty of backstabbing and arguing. But the rules quickly became bewildering: it’s even now too complicated to explain what precisely was happening. Even more disappointingly, we only saw glimpses of the star via prerecorded videos. The series ended up reeking of a production that was straining desperately to live up to something far greater than it. The Lena Dunham Romcom How does one succeed a show that defined a generation? The pressure was immense for this starry romantic comedy about Jessica, a hopeful New Yorker who arrives in London with a broken heart. The star took her biggest role by the horns and was joyous to watch, reveling in Jane Austen levels of romantic ideals. But it was all very glossy and, ironically, was not enough. Plus, the sheer amount of celebrity cameos involved felt uncomfortable. The Sketch Show Return Not good enough to be ‘patchy’. Given the smart recruitment of talented emerging comics, expectations were high. But sadly, most of it fell flat. A recurring sketch was a single joke milked 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 provoked the thought 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 solely showcased the viewpoint of Amanda Knox. So, while there probably is an compelling drama to be made about the tragic 2007 murder, this was not it. The subject matter needed to be treated sensitively. Rather, the series laboured awkwardly to find the right tone, lurching from strangely jaunty, somewhat mannered farce to ultimately, real-life horror. Twisted? Perhaps. A complete mess? Very much so. The Maths Genius Thriller We love the lead actor … but did we believe him playing the greatest maths genius in history, a man so intelligent he’s on the brink of a discovery that could ruin society? Nope! This international thriller about secret services spying on – and eliminating – intellectuals 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 explicit escapades as she prepared for her biggest challenge yet. What on earth would possess her? What we wanted was way more examination of her true psychology, plus those of the men in the queue. They could at least have spoken to the now-famous mum who appeared to drag her son away from the queue. What we got was disturbing shots and zero interrogation of her notoriety whatsoever. And to think, the documentary-maker has a teenage daughter too.