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Looking back, we reflect on the television offerings of the recent year, a selection of series stand out not for their excellence, but for their notable shortcomings. Ranging from awkward spin-offs to bafflingly poor documentaries, here are the programmes that left us utterly bewildered or simply reaching for the remote.

And Just Like That

Where to begin with this love/hate follow-up? Burdened with woeful scripts, painful character development (justice for Miranda!), and a mere 71 seconds of beloved Samantha, the series struggled to justify its existence. For a moment, as the final series started, it looked like it had finally hit its stride. Then arrived an episode centered on Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the showrunner announced this would be the final season. It concluded on a low point; the lingering shot of Miranda’s loo flooded with poo was simply too on-the-nose. Still, viewers certainly found joy dissecting every single “what on earth?” moment. And as Carrie – a single woman once more – twirled around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who didn’t release a small 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 problems. The recipient of a exceedingly uncommon zero star assessment, it was difficult to know where to begin enumerating the flaws. The hilariously wooden writing? The tedious veneration of wealth and materialism? The almost wilful parade of tropes? Performances so bad they felt borderline spiteful? Let’s just say “all of the above” and forget about this show again. Except, a new season has been commissioned, so we’re likely going to have to.

AKA Charlie Sheen

Given the restraining orders, domestic violence claims and fatherly failures, it’s reasonable to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not you’d truly have known it from this three-part docuseries which chuckled along at Sheen’s various episodes of self-destructive hedonism while failing to tell us anything we didn’t already know. Rather, it felt as if this volatile personality was being pandered to, so any sympathy this series might evoke should be reserved for the people who have had to suffer proximity with this charismatic but dismissive egotist.

The Supercomputer Drama

Of course we understood it was ridiculous from the get-go: a drama 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 leads … but by the end, it felt like even they had given up trying. One scarcely cared when his character died, and the other ended up slicing Charlie with an axe … in super slow-motion. That's what you call giving up the ghost.

The Gangster Drama

Shady characters meeting in empty boxing gyms? The Prodigy’s Firestarter jackhammering away in club scenes? The late 90s called and demands its crime drama back.

In truth, that is unfair on the gangland dramas of the late 90s. Many look a little old-fashioned now, but at least they didn’t endure the embarrassment of having to indulge baffling accents. But there were many other issues. Mainly that it was just profoundly boring; a dispute over narcotics territory between various London picaresques which felt a bit basic.

The Meghan Markle Series

Considering the extent to which she grinds the gears of the nation’s performatively enraged commentators, it’s temptingly tempting to applaud the Duchess of Sussex’s various ventures into twee homemaking as intentional provocations. But then you view them and are forced to concede that in this case, they may have a point. It’s like watching a homeware magazine animated; a meme for wine o’clock with delusions of grandeur; a procession of sleeping dogs, humming beehives, sentimental sayings and forgettable crafting “hacks” you’ll not remember instantly. All underpinned by immense, mostly undeserved wealth. Ugh.

The Beckham Documentary

There are obviously interesting 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 experience was like reading a sales brochure. She obviously has every right to resent what she describes as her “stern” image. But unfortunately, she failed to do herself any helps with this cagey non-event of a series.

The Game Show

It should have been the next big hit – except even more extravagant, 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 betrayal and arguing. But the rules quickly became incomprehensible: it’s still too confusing to detail what precisely was happening. Even more disappointingly, we only saw glimpses of the star via filmed videos. The series ended up reeking of a production that was trying way too hard to emulate something far greater than it.

The Lena Dunham Romcom

How does one follow a show that defined a generation? The expectation was enormous for this starry romantic comedy about Jessica, a hopeful New Yorker who arrives in London with a shattered romance. The star seized the opportunity by the horns and was joyous to watch, reveling in Austen levels of romantic notions. But it was all very glossy and, paradoxically, was insufficient. Plus, the sheer amount of celebrity cameos involved felt icky.

The Sketch Show Return

Not even good enough to be ‘uneven’.

Given the shrewd inclusion of talented emerging comics, hopes were high. But unhappily, most of it didn’t land. A particular sketch was a single joke milked to a dry pulp but repeated in every episode. One star seemed too willing to slip into a familiar ranting mode. The writing room sketches, in contrast, simply inspired the thought that they should probably have stayed in there a bit longer.

The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox

This retelling of the story of Amanda Knox was executive produced by Amanda Knox and pretty much exclusively presented the viewpoint of Amanda Knox. So, while there probably is an compelling drama to be made about the horrific 2007 murder, this was not it. The material needed to be treated sensitively. Instead, the series struggled painfully to find the right voice, lurching from strangely breezy, slightly mannered farce to ultimately, real-life horror. Complex? Perhaps. A total mess? Very much so.

Prime Target

We admire the star … but did we believe him playing the greatest maths genius since, a man so intelligent he’s on the verge of a breakthrough that could ruin society? No! This international thriller about government agencies spying on – and killing off – intellectuals honestly got more absurd by the second. Silliness-by-numbers.

The Bonnie Blue Documentary

This hagiography followed the content creator renowned for explicit 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 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 shots and zero interrogation of her infamy whatsoever. It's staggering to consider, the filmmaker has a young daughter too.