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As we reflect on the television landscape of the recent year, a selection of series stand out not for their excellence, but for their notable failures. From cringe-inducing spin-offs to bafflingly poor docuseries, here are the productions that had us utterly bewildered or just reaching for the remote.

And Just Like That

How to start with this love/hate spin-off? Burdened with dreadful writing, cringe-inducing character development (we demand better for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of beloved Samantha, the show fought to justify its existence. For a moment, as the final season started, it looked like it had at last hit its stride. Then arrived an episode centered on Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the creator declared this would be the final series. It concluded on a low point; the closeup of Miranda’s loo full of poo was simply too on-the-nose. Yet, viewers undeniably found joy dissecting every single “wtf?” episode. And as Carrie – once again single – twirled around her sprawling townhouse to Barry White, who couldn't release a small sob?

The Kim Kardashian Drama

‘Is Kim Kardashian an actress? Of course she can’t.’

But that was almost the least of this drama's issues. The recipient of a exceedingly uncommon zero star review, it was hard to know where to begin listing the problems. The hilariously wooden dialogue? The mind-numbing glorification of wealth and consumption? The seemingly deliberate parade of tropes? Performances so bad they felt borderline malicious? Let’s just say “each and every one” and never speak of this series again. Except, a new season has been ordered, so we’re probably going to have to.

The Charlie Sheen Documentary

Given the legal troubles, domestic violence allegations and fatherly failures, it’s fair to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not that you’d truly have known it from this three-part documentary which chuckled along at Sheen’s various bouts of self-destructive hedonism while failing to tell us anything we weren't already aware of. Instead, it felt as if this volatile personality was being indulged, so any pity this show might induce should be saved for the people who have had to suffer proximity with this charming but flippant egotist.

The Supercomputer Drama

Of course we knew it was ridiculous from the outset: a thriller about a supercomputer known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either save the world – 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 scarcely reacted when his character died, and the other ended up hacking Charlie with an axe … in super slow-motion. Talk about giving up the ghost.

The Gangster Drama

Dodgy characters 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 seem a little dated now, but at least they didn’t endure the embarrassment of having to indulge baffling dialects. But there were many other problems. Mainly that it was just profoundly boring; a conflict over drug-selling territory between various London rogues which felt a bit basic.

The Meghan Markle Series

Given the extent to which she grinds the gears of the nation’s performatively enraged commentators, it’s temptingly easy to applaud the Duchess of Sussex’s televised ventures into quaint lifestyle as intentional provocations. But then you watch them and are compelled to admit that actually, they might have a point. It’s like watching a lifestyle magazine animated; a meme for evening drinks with ideas of grandeur; a procession of sleeping dogs, buzzing beehives, Hallmark sayings and forgettable crafting “hacks” you’ll forget instantly. All supported by immense, largely undeserved wealth. Ugh.

The Beckham Documentary

There are obviously interesting things to be said about both Victoria Beckham and her journey with career, identity, self-worth. But for whatever reason, this three-part series opted not to explore them. Rather, the experience was like consuming a marketing brochure. She obviously 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 non-event of a series.

The Game Show

It should have been the next cultural phenomenon – except even more extravagant, with a famous star playing dead and a well-known personality managing her estate. What more could you want? As contestants competed, there was plenty of backstabbing and squabbling. But the rules quickly became bewildering: it’s still too complicated to detail what exactly was happening. Even more regrettably, we only saw glimpses of the star via filmed videos. The show ended up smelling of a production that was straining desperately to emulate something way beyond it.

The Lena Dunham Romcom

How do you succeed a show that captured a generation? The expectation was enormous for this glitzy romantic comedy about Jessica, a hopeful New Yorker who arrives in London with a broken heart. The lead actress took her biggest role by the horns and was joyous to watch, reveling in Austen levels of romantic ideals. But it was all very slick and, ironically, was insufficient. Plus, the sheer amount of celebrity cameos involved felt uncomfortable.

Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping

Not even good enough to be ‘patchy’.

Given the smart recruitment of talented emerging comics, expectations were high. But unhappily, most of it didn’t land. A recurring sketch was a one-note joke stretched to a husk but repeated in every episode. One star seemed too willing to slip into a familiar ranting mode. The behind-the-scenes sketches, in contrast, simply inspired the thought that they should probably have remained in there a while 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 perspective of Amanda Knox. So, while there undoubtedly is an interesting drama to be made about the horrific 2007 murder, this was not it. The subject matter needed to be treated sensitively. Rather, the series laboured awkwardly to find the right tone, lumbering from strangely breezy, slightly mannered farce to ultimately, real-life horror. Complex? Arguably. A complete mess? Very much so.

The Maths Genius Thriller

We admire the star … but did we believe 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 globe-trotting thriller about secret services spying on – and killing off – intellectuals frankly got more absurd by the second. Silliness-by-numbers.

1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story

This hagiography followed the online personality notorious for sexual exploits as she prepared for her most extreme feat yet. What on earth would motivate her? What we craved was far greater interrogation of her true psychology, plus those of the men in the queue. They could at least have spoken to the legendary mum who showed up to haul her son away from the queue. What we got was horrific imagery and absolutely no critical analysis of her infamy whatsoever. It's staggering to consider, the filmmaker has a young daughter too.