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As we reflect on the television offerings of the recent year, a handful of shows emerge not for their excellence, but for their notable failures. From awkward spin-offs to confusingly poor docuseries, here are the programmes that left us utterly bewildered or simply reaching for the remote.

And Just Like That

How to start with this divisive follow-up? Burdened with dreadful scripts, painful character development (justice for Miranda!), and a mere 71 seconds of beloved Samantha, the show fought to justify its existence. Briefly, as the third season began, it looked like it had finally hit its stride. Then arrived an installment centered on Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the showrunner announced this would be the final season. It ended on a low point; the closeup of Miranda’s loo full of poo was simply too on-the-nose. Still, fans undeniably found joy picking apart every single “what on earth?” moment. And as Carrie – once again single – danced around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who couldn't release a little sob?

The Kim Kardashian Drama

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

But that was almost the smallest of this show's problems. The subject of a very rare no-star assessment, it was difficult to know where to start listing the problems. The hilariously wooden writing? The tedious veneration of wealth and consumption? The seemingly deliberate parade of tropes? Acting so bad they felt borderline malicious? Suffice it to say “all of the above” and forget about this show again. However, a new season has been commissioned, so we’re probably going to have to.

The Charlie Sheen Documentary

Given the restraining orders, domestic violence allegations and parental shortcomings, it’s fair to say Charlie Sheen has been a troubled figure. Not you’d truly have known it from this three-part documentary which smirked its way at Sheen’s various bouts of self-destructive excess while failing to tell us anything we weren't already aware of. Instead, it felt as if this loose cannon was being pandered to, so any pity this show might evoke should be saved for the people who have had to endure close contact with this charming but flippant narcissist.

The Supercomputer Drama

Naturally we understood it was ridiculous from the get-go: a thriller about a AI known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either save the world – or destroy all of humanity. We persevered out of pure 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 painfully slow-motion. That's what you call admitting defeat.

MobLand

Shady characters meeting in empty boxing gyms? A certain band's Firestarter blaring in club scenes? The late 90s called and demands its gangland drama back.

In truth, that is unfair on the gangland dramas of the late 90s. Many seem a bit old-fashioned now, but at least they didn’t suffer the embarrassment of having to indulge unconvincing dialects. But there were plenty of other issues. Primarily that it was just really dull; a conflict over drug-selling territory between various London picaresques which seemed rather simplistic.

With Love, Meghan

Considering the extent to which she provokes the ire of the nation’s performatively angry commentators, it’s almost easy to admire the Duchess of Sussex’s televised forays into quaint lifestyle as deliberate statements. But then you view them and are forced to concede that actually, they might have a point. It’s like watching a lifestyle catalogue come to life; a poster for evening drinks with delusions of grandeur; a procession of sleeping dogs, buzzing beehives, Hallmark sayings and pointless crafting “hacks” you’ll not remember instantly. All underpinned by vast, largely unearned wealth. Ugh.

The Beckham Documentary

There are obviously interesting things to be said about regarding Victoria Beckham and her journey with career, self-image, self-acceptance. But for some reason, this documentary series chose not to say them. Rather, the viewing was akin to reading a marketing catalogue. She clearly has good reason to resent what she describes as her “stern” image. But unfortunately, she failed to do herself any helps with this guarded letdown of a series.

The Inheritance

It had the potential to be the next cultural phenomenon – except even camper, with a famous star as a deceased benefactor and a well-known personality overseeing her estate. What more could you ask for? As players competed, there was plenty of backstabbing and arguing. But the rules quickly became incomprehensible: it’s even now too complicated to explain what exactly was happening. Even more regrettably, we only saw brief appearances of the star via filmed videos. The show ended up smelling of a production that was trying way too hard to emulate something way beyond it.

Too Much

How does one follow a show that defined a generation? The pressure was enormous for this starry 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 a delight to watch, reveling in Jane Austen levels of romantic notions. But it was all very slick and, ironically, was not enough. Plus, the abundance of celebrity cameos involved felt icky.

The Sketch Show Return

Not even good enough to be ‘uneven’.

Given the shrewd recruitment of talented younger comics, expectations were high. But unhappily, most of it fell flat. A particular sketch was a single joke stretched to a dry pulp but recurring in every episode. One star seemed too ready to slip into a familiar irate mode. The behind-the-scenes sketches, in contrast, simply provoked the idea that they should probably have remained in there a while longer.

The Knox Dramatisation

This dramatisation of the story of Amanda Knox was overseen by Amanda Knox and pretty much solely presented the viewpoint of Amanda Knox. So, while there probably is an compelling drama to be made about the tragic 2007 murder, this isn’t it. The material needed to be handled sensitively. Rather, the series struggled painfully to find the right tone, lumbering from strangely jaunty, slightly stylised farce to ultimately, real-life horror. Complex? Arguably. A total mess? Very much so.

Prime Target

We admire the lead actor … but did we buy him playing the most brilliant maths genius since, a man so smart he’s on the brink of a breakthrough that could destabilise society? No! This globe-trotting thriller about secret services targeting – and killing off – intellectuals frankly got more farcical by the second. Silliness-by-numbers.

The Bonnie Blue Documentary

This uncritical portrait followed the content creator notorious for explicit escapades as she prepared for her most extreme challenge yet. What on earth would motivate her? What we wanted was far greater interrogation of her actual psyche, plus those of the men in the line. 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 shots and absolutely no critical analysis of her infamy whatsoever. It's staggering to consider, the documentary-maker has a teenage daughter too.