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Looking back, we reflect on the TV landscape of the recent year, a handful of shows stand out not for their excellence, but for their notable failures. Ranging from cringe-inducing sequels to confusingly poor docuseries, here are the programmes that had us utterly bewildered or just reaching for the remote.

And Just Like That

Where to begin with this love/hate follow-up? Plagued with woeful scripts, painful character development (we demand better for Miranda!), and a mere 71 seconds of fan-favourite Samantha, the show fought to find its footing. For a moment, as the final season started, it seemed as if it had at last found its groove. Then arrived an episode all about Seema’s natural deodorant. No wonder the showrunner announced this would be the final series. It ended on a low point; the closeup of Miranda’s toilet flooded with poo was simply too on-the-nose. Yet, viewers certainly found joy picking apart every single “wtf?” moment. And as Carrie – once again single – danced around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who didn’t release a little sob?

The Kim Kardashian Drama

‘Is Kim Kardashian an actress? The answer is a resounding no.’

But that was almost the least of this drama's issues. The subject of a very rare no-star assessment, it was hard to know where to start listing the problems. The hilariously leaden writing? The mind-numbing glorification of affluence and consumption? The seemingly wilful parade of cliches? Performances so bad they felt borderline malicious? Let’s just say “all of the above” and forget about this series again. However, a new season has been ordered, so we’re probably going to have to.

AKA Charlie Sheen

Given the legal troubles, domestic violence allegations and parental failures, it’s reasonable to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not you’d truly have gleaned it from this multi-part docuseries which chuckled along at Sheen’s various bouts of reckless excess 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 sympathy this series might evoke should be saved for the people who have had to suffer close contact with this charming but dismissive narcissist.

The Supercomputer Drama

Of course we understood it was preposterous from the outset: a thriller about a AI known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either solve global crises – or annihilate all of humanity. We stuck with it out of sheer love for its stars … but by the end, it felt like even they had stopped bothering. One scarcely reacted when his character died, and the other ultimately hacking Charlie with an axe … in super slow-motion. Talk about admitting defeat.

MobLand

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

Actually, that is harsh on the crime shows of the late 90s. Many seem a little dated now, but at least they didn’t suffer the embarrassment of having to indulge baffling accents. But there were many other issues. Mainly 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 certain performatively angry commentators, it’s temptingly tempting to admire the Duchess of Sussex’s televised forays into twee lifestyle as deliberate statements. But then you view them and are compelled to concede that actually, they may have a point. It’s like watching a homeware magazine come to life; a poster for evening drinks with delusions of grandeur; a procession of sleeping dogs, buzzing beehives, Hallmark platitudes and forgettable crafting “hacks” you’ll forget instantly. All underpinned by immense, largely unearned wealth. Ugh.

Victoria Beckham

There are clearly fascinating things to be said about regarding Victoria Beckham and her struggles with vocation, self-image, self-worth. But for some reason, this documentary series chose not to say them. Rather, the experience was like reading a marketing catalogue. She obviously has good reason to bridle at what she describes as her “miserable cow” image. But sadly, she didn’t do herself any helps with this guarded letdown of a series.

The Inheritance

It should have been the next big hit – except even camper, with a famous star as a deceased benefactor and a well-known personality overseeing her inheritance. What more could you ask for? As contestants battled it out, there was plenty of betrayal and squabbling. But the rules quickly became incomprehensible: it’s still too complicated to explain what precisely was happening. Even more regrettably, we only saw glimpses of the star via filmed videos. The show ended up reeking of a programme that was trying way too hard to emulate something far greater than it.

The Lena Dunham Romcom

How does one follow a show that captured a generation? The pressure was immense for this starry romantic comedy about Jessica, a hopeful New Yorker who arrives in London with a shattered romance. The lead actress took her biggest role by the horns and was a delight to watch, embodying Jane Austen levels of romantic notions. But it was all very slick and, paradoxically, was not enough. Plus, the abundance of celebrity friends involved felt uncomfortable.

The Sketch Show Return

Not even good enough to be ‘patchy’.

Given the smart inclusion of gifted emerging comics, expectations were high. But sadly, most of it fell flat. A particular sketch was a single joke milked to a dry pulp but recurring in every episode. One star seemed too willing to slip into a well-known ranting mode. The behind-the-scenes sketches, in contrast, simply provoked the thought that they should probably have stayed 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 tragic 2007 murder, this isn’t it. The material needed to be handled with care. Rather, the series struggled painfully to find the right tone, lurching from strangely breezy, somewhat stylised farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Twisted? Arguably. A total mess? Absolutely.

The Maths Genius Thriller

We love the lead actor … 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? No! This globe-trotting thriller about secret services spying on – and killing off – academics frankly got more farcical by the second. Formulaic nonsense.

1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story

This hagiography followed the content creator 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 actual psyche, plus those of the men in the queue. They could at least have spoken to the now-famous mum who appeared to drag her son away from the queue. What we got was disturbing imagery and zero interrogation of her notoriety whatsoever. It's staggering to consider, the filmmaker has a young daughter too.