🔗 Share this article This Drifting Poo Was Way Too Symbolic! It's the Television Letdowns of the Year. Looking back, we reflect on the television offerings of the past year, a selection of series emerge not for their brilliance, but for their spectacular failures. From cringe-inducing sequels to confusingly bad docuseries, here are the programmes that had us utterly bewildered or simply reaching for the remote. The 'Sex and the City' Sequel Where to begin with this love/hate spin-off? Plagued with dreadful scripts, painful character development (justice for Miranda!), and a mere 71 seconds of fan-favourite Samantha, the series struggled to justify its existence. For a moment, as the third season began, it looked like it had at last found its groove. Then arrived an installment all about Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the showrunner announced this would be the final series. It ended on a bum note; the closeup of Miranda’s toilet flooded with poo was simply too symbolic. Yet, fans certainly found joy dissecting every single “wtf?” episode. And as Carrie – once again single – danced around her sprawling 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 almost the least of this drama's problems. The subject of a exceedingly uncommon no-star assessment, it was difficult to know where to start enumerating the problems. The hilariously wooden dialogue? The mind-numbing glorification of wealth and materialism? The seemingly deliberate procession of cliches? Performances so bad they felt borderline spiteful? Let’s just say “all of the above” and forget about this show again. Except, a second season has been ordered, so we’re likely going to have to. The Charlie Sheen Documentary Given the restraining orders, domestic violence claims and fatherly failures, it’s fair to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not you’d really have gleaned it from this multi-part docuseries which smirked its way at Sheen’s various bouts of self-destructive hedonism while failing to tell us anything we didn’t already know. Rather, it felt as if this loose cannon 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 egotist. The Supercomputer Drama Of course we knew it was ridiculous from the outset: a thriller about a AI known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either save the world – 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 cared when his character died, and the other ultimately slicing Charlie with an axe … in super slow-motion. Talk about admitting defeat. The Gangster Drama Dodgy figures convening in deserted 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 harsh on the gangland dramas of the late 90s. Many seem a little old-fashioned now, but at least they didn’t endure the ignominy of having to indulge baffling dialects. But there were plenty of other issues. Primarily that it was just profoundly boring; a dispute over narcotics territory between various London picaresques which felt rather simplistic. With Love, Meghan Given the degree to which she provokes the ire of certain ostentatiously enraged commentators, it’s almost easy to applaud the Duchess of Sussex’s televised forays into twee homemaking as intentional statements. But then you watch them and are compelled to concede that in this case, they might have a point. It’s like watching a homeware magazine come to life; a poster for wine o’clock with delusions of grandeur; a procession of snoozing dogs, humming beehives, Hallmark sayings and pointless crafting “hacks” you’ll not remember instantly. All supported by immense, largely unearned wealth. Ugh. Victoria Beckham There are obviously fascinating things to be said about both Victoria Beckham and her journey with vocation, self-image, self-acceptance. But for some reason, this three-part series opted not to explore them. Rather, the experience was akin to reading a sales brochure. She clearly has every right to resent what she describes as her “miserable cow” image. But sadly, she failed to do herself any helps with this cagey letdown of a series. The Inheritance It had the potential to be the next cultural phenomenon – except even camper, with a glamorous star playing dead and a well-known personality overseeing her estate. What more could you ask for? As contestants competed, there was plenty of backstabbing and squabbling. But the rules quickly became incomprehensible: it’s even now too confusing to detail what precisely was happening. Even more regrettably, we only saw brief appearances of the star via filmed videos. The show ended up smelling of a production that was straining desperately to emulate something far greater than it. Too Much How does one follow a show that captured a generation? The pressure was enormous for this glitzy romcom about Jessica, a hopeful New Yorker who arrives in London with a shattered romance. The star 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 famous cameos involved felt uncomfortable. Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping Not even good enough to be ‘uneven’. Given the smart recruitment of gifted younger comics, expectations were high. But unhappily, 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 ready to slip into a well-known ranting mode. The writing room sketches, in contrast, simply inspired the thought that they should probably have stayed in there a bit longer. The Knox Dramatisation This retelling of the story of Amanda Knox was executive produced by Amanda Knox and pretty much solely showcased the perspective of Amanda Knox. So, while there probably is an interesting drama to be made about the tragic 2007 murder, this isn’t it. The subject matter needed to be handled sensitively. Instead, the series laboured awkwardly to find the right voice, lumbering from strangely jaunty, slightly stylised farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Twisted? Arguably. A complete mess? Absolutely. Prime Target We love the lead actor … but did we believe him playing the greatest maths genius since, a man so intelligent he’s on the verge of a discovery that could destabilise society? No! This globe-trotting thriller about secret services spying on – and killing off – academics frankly got more absurd by the second. Formulaic nonsense. 1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story This uncritical portrait followed the online personality renowned for explicit exploits as she undertook her biggest challenge yet. What on earth would motivate her? What we craved was far greater examination of her true psyche, plus those of the men in the line. They could at least have interviewed the legendary mum who showed up to drag her son away from the queue. What we got was disturbing imagery and zero interrogation of her notoriety whatsoever. It's staggering to consider, the filmmaker has a young daughter too.