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Looking back, we consider the television offerings of the recent year, a handful of series stand out not for their brilliance, but for their notable shortcomings. Ranging from cringe-inducing spin-offs to bafflingly bad docuseries, here are the productions that left us scratching our heads or just reaching for the remote.

And Just Like That

How to start with this love/hate spin-off? Burdened with dreadful writing, painful character development (justice for Miranda!), and a mere 71 seconds of beloved Samantha, the show fought to justify its existence. For a moment, as the final season began, it seemed as if it had finally hit its stride. Then arrived an episode centered on Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the showrunner declared this would be the last season. It ended on a low point; the closeup of Miranda’s loo flooded with poo was just way too symbolic. Yet, viewers certainly had a hoot dissecting every single “what on earth?” episode. And as Carrie – a single woman once more – twirled around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who couldn't let out a small sob?

All’s Fair

‘Can Kim Kardashian act? Of course she can’t.’

But that was almost the least of this drama's issues. The recipient of a very rare no-star review, it was hard to know where to begin enumerating the problems. The laughably leaden writing? The mind-numbing veneration of affluence and consumption? The seemingly deliberate parade of tropes? Acting so poor they felt borderline malicious? Let’s just say “each and every one” and never speak of this show again. Except, a second season has been ordered, so we’re probably going to have to.

The Charlie Sheen Documentary

Considering the restraining orders, abuse allegations and fatherly failures, it’s fair 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 excess while struggling 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 reserved for the people who have had to endure close contact with this charming but dismissive narcissist.

The Supercomputer Drama

Naturally we understood it was ridiculous from the outset: a thriller about a supercomputer known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either save the world – or annihilate all of humanity. We stuck with it out of pure love for its leads … but by the end, it felt like even they had stopped bothering. One scarcely cared when his character died, and the other ultimately slicing Charlie with an axe … in painfully slow-motion. Talk about admitting defeat.

The Gangster Drama

Dodgy figures convening in deserted boxing gyms? A certain band's Firestarter blaring in club scenes? The late 90s called and demands its crime drama back.

Actually, that is unfair on the crime shows of the late 90s. Many look a bit old-fashioned now, but at least they didn’t suffer the embarrassment of having to indulge baffling accents. But there were plenty of other issues. Primarily that it was just profoundly boring; a dispute 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 performatively enraged commentators, it’s almost easy to admire the Duchess of Sussex’s various ventures into twee homemaking as intentional statements. But then you watch them and are forced to admit that in this case, they might have a point. It’s like watching a homeware catalogue come to life; a poster for evening drinks with ideas of grandeur; a parade of snoozing dogs, buzzing beehives, Hallmark platitudes and forgettable crafting “tips” you’ll not remember instantly. All supported by immense, mostly undeserved wealth. Ugh.

The Beckham Documentary

There are clearly interesting things to be said about both Victoria Beckham and her journey with career, identity, self-acceptance. But for whatever reason, this documentary series chose not to explore them. Rather, the viewing was like consuming a marketing catalogue. She obviously has good reason to bridle at what she describes as her “stern” image. But unfortunately, she failed to do herself any helps with this cagey letdown of a series.

The Inheritance

It should have been the next big hit – except even camper, with a glamorous 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 betrayal and squabbling. But the rules quickly became incomprehensible: it’s still too confusing to detail what exactly was happening. Even more regrettably, 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 live up to something way beyond it.

The Lena Dunham Romcom

How does one succeed a show that defined 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 joyous to watch, reveling in Jane Austen levels of romantic ideals. But it was all very slick and, ironically, was not enough. Plus, the abundance of famous friends involved felt uncomfortable.

Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping

Not even good enough to be ‘uneven’.

Given the shrewd inclusion of gifted younger comics, hopes were high. But unhappily, most of it fell flat. A particular sketch was a single joke stretched to a dry pulp but repeated in every episode. One star seemed too willing to slip into a well-known ranting mode. The writing room 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 executive produced by Amanda Knox and pretty much exclusively presented 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 treated with care. Rather, the series laboured awkwardly to find the right voice, lurching from strangely jaunty, somewhat mannered farce to ultimately, real-life horror. Complex? Perhaps. A total mess? Absolutely.

Prime Target

We love the lead actor … but did we buy him playing the greatest maths genius in history, a man so intelligent he’s on the verge of a breakthrough that could destabilise society? Nope! This international thriller about government agencies spying on – and killing off – academics frankly got more farcical by the second. Silliness-by-numbers.

The Bonnie Blue Documentary

This uncritical portrait followed the online personality renowned for explicit escapades as she prepared for her most extreme challenge yet. What on earth would possess her? What we craved was far greater examination of her actual psyche, 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 zero critical analysis of her notoriety whatsoever. And to think, the documentary-maker has a teenage daughter too.