🔗 Share this article That Floating Excrement Was Far Too Symbolic! It's the TV Disappointments of the Year. As we consider the TV landscape of the past year, a handful of shows emerge not for their brilliance, but for their spectacular shortcomings. From awkward sequels to confusingly poor docuseries, here are the programmes that had us scratching our heads or simply reaching for the remote. The 'Sex and the City' Sequel How to start with this divisive follow-up? Burdened with dreadful scripts, painful arcs (justice for Miranda!), and a mere 71 seconds of fan-favourite Samantha, the series struggled to find its footing. Briefly, as the final series began, it looked like it had finally found its groove. Then came an episode all about Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the creator announced this would be the final season. It ended on a bum note; the closeup of Miranda’s toilet full of poo was just way too on-the-nose. Yet, fans certainly had a hoot dissecting every single “wtf?” episode. And as Carrie – a single woman once more – danced around her sprawling townhouse to Barry White, who couldn't let out a small sob? The Kim Kardashian Drama ‘Is Kim Kardashian an actress? The answer is a resounding no.’ But that was practically the smallest of this show's problems. The subject of a exceedingly uncommon no-star assessment, it was difficult to know where to start listing the problems. The hilariously leaden writing? The mind-numbing veneration of wealth and consumption? The almost wilful parade of tropes? Acting so poor they felt borderline malicious? Suffice it to say “all of the above” and never speak of this series again. However, a new season has been ordered, so we’re probably going to have to. The Charlie Sheen Documentary Considering the legal troubles, abuse allegations and parental failures, it’s reasonable to say Charlie Sheen has been a troubled figure. Not that you’d really have gleaned it from this three-part docuseries which smirked its way at Sheen’s various episodes of self-destructive hedonism while failing to tell us a single thing we weren't already aware of. Rather, it felt as if this volatile personality was being indulged, so any pity this show might induce should be reserved for the people who have had to suffer close contact with this charismatic but flippant narcissist. The Supercomputer Drama Of course we knew it was preposterous from the outset: a thriller about a AI known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either solve global crises – or destroy all of humanity. We stuck with it out of sheer admiration for its leads … but by the end, it felt like even they had given up trying. One scarcely cared 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. The Gangster Drama Dodgy figures 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 harsh on the crime shows of the late 90s. Many look a little dated now, but at least they didn’t endure the ignominy of having to accommodate baffling dialects. But there were plenty of other issues. 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 degree to which she provokes the ire of the nation’s ostentatiously angry commentators, it’s almost tempting to applaud the Duchess of Sussex’s various ventures into twee homemaking as intentional 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 lifestyle catalogue come to life; a meme for evening drinks with ideas of grandeur; a procession of snoozing dogs, humming beehives, Hallmark sayings and pointless crafting “tips” you’ll forget instantly. All supported by immense, largely undeserved wealth. Ugh. Victoria Beckham There are obviously fascinating things to be discussed about regarding Victoria Beckham and her struggles with vocation, identity, self-acceptance. But for some reason, this documentary series chose not to explore them. Rather, the experience was like consuming a marketing brochure. She clearly has every right to bridle at what she describes as her “stern” image. But sadly, she failed to do herself any favours with this cagey letdown of a series. The Game Show It should have been the next cultural phenomenon – except even more extravagant, with a glamorous star as a deceased benefactor and a well-known personality managing her estate. What more could you ask for? As players competed, there was plenty of backstabbing and squabbling. But the rules quickly became incomprehensible: it’s even now too complicated to detail what precisely was happening. Even more disappointingly, we only saw brief appearances of the star via prerecorded videos. The series ended up smelling of a production that was trying way too hard to emulate something far greater than it. Too Much How does one follow a show that defined a generation? The expectation was enormous for this glitzy romcom about Jessica, a rosy-eyed New Yorker who lands in London with a broken heart. The lead actress took her biggest role by the horns and was joyous to watch, reveling in Jane Austen levels of romantic notions. But it was all very glossy and, ironically, was insufficient. Plus, the abundance of celebrity cameos involved felt uncomfortable. Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping Not good enough to be ‘patchy’. Given the shrewd recruitment of gifted emerging comics, hopes were high. But unhappily, most of it didn’t land. 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 behind-the-scenes sketches, meanwhile, simply provoked the idea that they should probably have remained in there a bit 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 presented the viewpoint of Amanda Knox. So, while there undoubtedly is an interesting drama to be made about the horrific 2007 murder, this isn’t it. The material needed to be treated with care. Instead, the series laboured awkwardly to find the right tone, lumbering from oddly breezy, slightly stylised farce to ultimately, real-life horror. Twisted? Arguably. A total mess? Very much so. Prime Target We admire the star … but did we buy him playing the greatest maths genius since, a man so intelligent he’s on the brink of a discovery that could ruin society? Nope! This globe-trotting thriller about secret services spying on – and killing off – intellectuals honestly got more absurd by the second. Formulaic nonsense. The Bonnie Blue Documentary This hagiography followed the content creator notorious for explicit exploits as she undertook her most extreme challenge yet. What on earth would possess her? What we wanted was far greater 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 haul her son out of the queue. What we got was disturbing imagery and absolutely no interrogation of her notoriety whatsoever. It's staggering to consider, the filmmaker has a young daughter too.