đ Share this article This Floating Excrement Was Way Too Symbolic! These Are the Television Disappointments of the Past Year. Looking back, we consider the TV landscape of the past year, a selection of shows emerge not for their brilliance, but for their spectacular shortcomings. Ranging from cringe-inducing spin-offs to confusingly bad documentaries, here are the productions that left us utterly bewildered or just reaching for the remote. And Just Like That How to start with this love/hate follow-up? Plagued 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 series began, it seemed as if it had finally hit its stride. Then arrived an episode all about Seemaâs natural deodorant. Little surprise the showrunner declared this would be the last series. It concluded on a bum note; the closeup of Mirandaâs loo full of poo was just way too on-the-nose. Still, viewers undeniably had a hoot picking apart every single âwtf?â episode. And as Carrie â once again single â twirled around her sprawling townhouse to Barry White, who couldn't let out a little sob? Allâs Fair âIs Kim Kardashian an actress? Of course she canât.â But that was practically the smallest of this show's issues. The recipient of a exceedingly uncommon no-star review, it was difficult to know where to start enumerating the problems. The laughably leaden writing? The mind-numbing veneration of affluence and consumption? The almost deliberate parade of tropes? Acting so bad they felt almost spiteful? Suffice it to say âeach and every oneâ and forget about this series again. However, a new season has been commissioned, so weâre probably going to have to. AKA Charlie Sheen Considering the restraining orders, abuse allegations and fatherly shortcomings, itâs fair to say Charlie Sheen has been a troubled figure. Not youâd truly have gleaned it from this three-part docuseries which chuckled along at Sheenâs various episodes of reckless hedonism while struggling to tell us anything we didnât already know. Instead, it felt as if this loose cannon was being indulged, so any pity this series might induce should be reserved for the people who have had to suffer proximity with this charismatic but dismissive narcissist. The Iris Affair Naturally we knew it was ridiculous from the get-go: a drama about a AI known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either save the world â or destroy all of humanity. We persevered out of sheer love 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 slicing Charlie with an axe ⌠in painfully slow-motion. Talk about admitting defeat. MobLand Shady characters meeting in empty boxing gyms? The Prodigyâs Firestarter jackhammering away in club scenes? The late 90s called and wants its crime drama back. Actually, that is harsh on the gangland dramas of the late 90s. Many seem a bit old-fashioned now, but at least they didnât suffer the embarrassment of having to indulge unconvincing dialects. But there were plenty of other issues. Mainly that it was just really boring; a dispute over narcotics territory between various London rogues which felt rather simplistic. The Meghan Markle Series Given the extent to which she grinds the gears of certain performatively angry commentators, itâs almost easy to applaud the Duchess of Sussexâs various ventures into twee homemaking as deliberate provocations. But then you watch them and are forced to concede that in this case, they might have a point. Itâs like watching a homeware magazine come to life; a poster for wine oâclock with ideas of grandeur; a parade of sleeping dogs, humming beehives, Hallmark sayings and pointless crafting âhacksâ youâll not remember instantly. All supported by immense, mostly undeserved wealth. Ugh. The Beckham Documentary There are obviously fascinating things to be discussed about regarding Victoria Beckham and her journey with career, self-image, self-acceptance. But for whatever reason, this documentary series chose not to explore them. Rather, the experience was like consuming a marketing catalogue. She obviously has good reason to bridle at what she describes as her âmiserable cowâ image. But sadly, she didnât do herself any helps with this guarded letdown of a series. The Game Show It had the potential to be the next big hit â except even more extravagant, with a glamorous star playing dead and a well-known personality managing her inheritance. What more could you ask for? As players competed, there was plenty of betrayal and arguing. But the rules quickly became incomprehensible: itâs even now too confusing to detail what exactly was happening. Even more regrettably, we only saw glimpses of the star via filmed videos. The series ended up smelling of a production that was straining desperately to live up to something far greater than it. Too Much How do you follow a show that defined a generation? The expectation was enormous for this glitzy romcom about Jessica, a hopeful New Yorker who arrives in London with a shattered romance. The lead actress seized the opportunity by the horns and was joyous to watch, reveling in Austen levels of romantic notions. But it was all very glossy and, ironically, was not enough. Plus, the abundance of celebrity friends involved felt uncomfortable. Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping Not even good enough to be âunevenâ. Given the shrewd inclusion of gifted emerging comics, expectations were high. But unhappily, most of it fell flat. A recurring sketch was a one-note joke milked to a husk but recurring in every episode. One star seemed too ready to slip into a familiar ranting mode. The writing room sketches, meanwhile, 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 overseen by Amanda Knox and pretty much exclusively presented the perspective of Amanda Knox. So, while there undoubtedly is an compelling drama to be made about the tragic 2007 murder, this was not it. The material needed to be handled sensitively. Rather, the series laboured awkwardly to find the right tone, lurching from strangely breezy, somewhat mannered farce to ultimately, real-life horror. Complex? Perhaps. 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 intelligent heâs on the verge of a discovery that could destabilise society? No! This international thriller about secret services targeting â and killing off â intellectuals honestly got more farcical by the second. Silliness-by-numbers. The Bonnie Blue Documentary This uncritical portrait followed the online personality notorious for sexual escapades as she undertook her most extreme feat yet. What on earth would motivate her? What we craved was way more interrogation of her actual psychology, plus those of the men in the queue. They could at least have interviewed the now-famous mum who showed up to drag her son away from the queue. What we got was horrific shots and absolutely no critical analysis of her notoriety whatsoever. And to think, the filmmaker has a teenage daughter too.