đ Share this article That Floating Excrement Was Way Too Symbolic! It's the Television Letdowns of the Year. As we consider the TV offerings of the past year, a handful of series emerge not for their excellence, but for their notable shortcomings. From awkward sequels to bafflingly bad docuseries, here are the productions that left us scratching our heads or just reaching for the remote. The 'Sex and the City' Sequel How to start with this love/hate follow-up? Burdened with dreadful writing, painful arcs (justice for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of fan-favourite Samantha, the series fought to find its footing. Briefly, as the final season started, it seemed as if it had finally found its groove. Then arrived an episode centered on Seemaâs natural deodorant. Little surprise the creator announced this would be the final series. It concluded on a bum note; the lingering shot of Mirandaâs toilet flooded with poo was just way too on-the-nose. Still, viewers undeniably found joy dissecting every single âwtf?â episode. And as Carrie â a single woman once more â twirled around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who couldn't release a small sob? Allâs Fair âCan Kim Kardashian act? Of course she canât.â But that was practically the least of this show's problems. The subject of a very rare no-star assessment, it was hard to know where to begin listing the flaws. The laughably wooden writing? The mind-numbing glorification of affluence and consumption? The almost wilful parade of cliches? Performances so poor they felt borderline spiteful? Letâs just say âall of the aboveâ and forget about this series again. Except, a second season has been ordered, so weâre likely going to have to. AKA Charlie Sheen Given the restraining orders, abuse allegations and parental failures, itâs reasonable to say Charlie Sheen has been a troubled figure. Not youâd really have gleaned it from this multi-part docuseries which chuckled along at Sheenâs various bouts of reckless excess while failing to tell us anything we didnât already know. Rather, it felt as if this volatile personality was being pandered to, so any sympathy this show might induce should be reserved for the people who have had to endure proximity with this charming but flippant narcissist. The Supercomputer Drama Naturally we understood it was preposterous from the get-go: a thriller about a supercomputer known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either solve global crises â or destroy all of humanity. We stuck with it out of sheer love 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 ended up slicing Charlie with an axe ⌠in painfully slow-motion. That's what you call giving up the ghost. The Gangster Drama Shady figures convening in deserted boxing gyms? A certain band's Firestarter jackhammering away in club scenes? The late 90s called and demands its gangland drama back. Actually, that is unfair on the crime shows of the late 90s. Many seem a bit dated now, but at least they didnât suffer the ignominy of having to accommodate unconvincing accents. But there were plenty of other problems. Primarily that it was just really dull; a dispute over drug-selling territory between various London picaresques which seemed rather simplistic. With Love, Meghan Considering the degree to which she grinds the gears of the nationâs performatively enraged commentators, itâs temptingly easy to admire the Duchess of Sussexâs various forays into quaint homemaking as intentional statements. But then you view them and are forced to admit that in this case, they might have a point. Itâs like watching a homeware magazine animated; a poster for wine oâclock with ideas of grandeur; a procession of snoozing dogs, humming beehives, sentimental platitudes and forgettable crafting âhacksâ youâll not remember instantly. All supported by immense, mostly undeserved wealth. Ugh. Victoria Beckham There are clearly fascinating things to be discussed about regarding Victoria Beckham and her journey with vocation, identity, self-worth. But for some reason, this three-part series opted not to explore them. Rather, the viewing was like reading a sales catalogue. She obviously has every right to resent what she describes as her âmiserable cowâ image. But unfortunately, she failed to do herself any helps with this guarded non-event of a series. The Game Show It should have been the next cultural phenomenon â except even camper, with a glamorous star as a deceased benefactor and a sharp-tongued personality overseeing her estate. What more could you want? As players competed, there was plenty of backstabbing and squabbling. But the rules quickly became incomprehensible: itâs still too confusing to explain what precisely was happening. Even more regrettably, we only saw glimpses of the star via prerecorded videos. The series ended up reeking of a production that was trying way too hard to live up to something way beyond it. The Lena Dunham Romcom How do you follow a show that defined a generation? The pressure was immense for this starry romantic comedy about Jessica, a hopeful New Yorker who lands in London with a shattered romance. The star took her biggest role by the horns and was joyous to watch, reveling in Austen levels of romantic notions. But it was all very slick and, ironically, was insufficient. Plus, the abundance of famous friends involved felt icky. Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping Not good enough to be âunevenâ. Given the smart inclusion of gifted emerging comics, expectations were high. But unhappily, most of it fell flat. A particular sketch was a one-note joke milked to a dry pulp but repeated in every episode. One star seemed too ready to slip into a familiar ranting mode. The behind-the-scenes sketches, meanwhile, simply inspired the idea that they should probably have remained in there a while longer. The Knox Dramatisation This retelling of the story of Amanda Knox was overseen by Amanda Knox and pretty much exclusively presented the viewpoint 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 treated with care. Instead, the series struggled painfully to find the right tone, lurching from strangely breezy, somewhat stylised farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Complex? Perhaps. A total mess? Absolutely. Prime Target We love the star ⌠but did we buy him playing the most brilliant maths genius in history, a man so smart heâs on the brink of a breakthrough that could ruin society? Nope! This international thriller about government agencies targeting â and eliminating â intellectuals frankly got more farcical by the second. Formulaic nonsense. 1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story This hagiography followed the online personality renowned for sexual exploits as she undertook her most extreme challenge yet. What on earth would motivate her? What we wanted was way more interrogation of her actual psyche, plus those of the men in the line. They could at least have spoken to the legendary mum who appeared to drag her son out of the queue. What we got was disturbing imagery and zero critical analysis of her notoriety whatsoever. And to think, the documentary-maker has a young daughter too.