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Looking back, we reflect on the television offerings of the past year, a handful of shows emerge not for their excellence, but for their spectacular shortcomings. Ranging from cringe-inducing spin-offs to bafflingly bad docuseries, here are the programmes that had us scratching our heads or simply reaching for the remote.

And Just Like That

How to start with this divisive spin-off? Burdened with woeful scripts, painful arcs (we demand better for Miranda!), and a mere 71 seconds of fan-favourite Samantha, the show fought to justify its existence. For a moment, as the third series started, it looked like it had finally found its groove. Then arrived an episode centered on Seema’s natural deodorant. No wonder the showrunner announced this would be the final season. It ended on a low point; the lingering shot of Miranda’s loo full of poo was simply too on-the-nose. Still, fans certainly had a hoot dissecting every single “wtf?” episode. And as Carrie – a single woman once more – twirled around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who couldn't let out 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 show's problems. The subject of a very rare zero star review, it was hard to know where to begin enumerating the problems. The laughably wooden writing? The tedious veneration of affluence and consumption? The almost wilful parade of tropes? Acting so bad they felt almost 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.

The Charlie Sheen Documentary

Given the legal troubles, domestic violence allegations and fatherly shortcomings, it’s fair to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not that you’d really have gleaned it from this three-part docuseries which chuckled along at Sheen’s various bouts of self-destructive excess while failing to tell us anything we didn’t already know. Rather, it felt as if this loose cannon was being pandered to, so any sympathy this show might induce should be saved for the people who have had to suffer close contact with this charismatic but dismissive egotist.

The Supercomputer Drama

Of course we knew it was preposterous from the outset: a thriller about a AI known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either save the world – or destroy all of humanity. We stuck with it out of sheer admiration for its stars … but by the end, it felt like even they had given up trying. One barely cared when his character died, and the other ultimately slicing Charlie with an axe … in painfully slow-motion. Talk about giving up the ghost.

The Gangster Drama

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

Actually, that is harsh on the crime shows of the late 90s. Many seem a little old-fashioned now, but at least they didn’t endure the embarrassment of having to indulge baffling dialects. But there were many other issues. Mainly that it was just profoundly boring; a conflict over narcotics territory between various cockney picaresques which seemed a bit basic.

With Love, Meghan

Given the extent to which she provokes the ire of the nation’s performatively angry commentators, it’s temptingly easy to admire the Duchess of Sussex’s various forays into quaint lifestyle as deliberate statements. But then you view them and are compelled to admit that in this case, they may have a point. It’s like watching a lifestyle catalogue come to life; a meme for wine o’clock with delusions of grandeur; a procession of sleeping dogs, buzzing beehives, sentimental sayings and forgettable crafting “hacks” you’ll not remember instantly. All underpinned by immense, largely unearned wealth. Ugh.

Victoria Beckham

There are clearly interesting things to be discussed about both Victoria Beckham and her struggles with vocation, identity, self-acceptance. But for some reason, this documentary series chose not to explore them. Rather, the viewing was akin to consuming a sales brochure. She obviously has every right to bridle at what she describes as her “miserable cow” image. But unfortunately, she failed to do herself any helps with this guarded letdown of a series.

The Inheritance

It should have been the next cultural phenomenon – except even camper, with a famous star as a deceased benefactor and a well-known personality managing 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 bewildering: it’s even now too complicated to detail what exactly was happening. Even more regrettably, we only saw brief appearances of the star via filmed videos. The series ended up smelling of a programme that was straining desperately to emulate something way beyond it.

The Lena Dunham Romcom

How does one follow a show that captured a generation? The expectation was immense for this starry romantic comedy about Jessica, a rosy-eyed New Yorker who lands in London with a broken heart. The star seized the opportunity by the horns and was a delight to watch, embodying Jane Austen levels of romantic ideals. But it was all very slick and, paradoxically, was insufficient. Plus, the sheer amount of famous friends involved felt icky.

The Sketch Show Return

Not good enough to be ‘uneven’.

Given the smart recruitment of gifted emerging comics, hopes were high. But sadly, most of it didn’t land. 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 familiar ranting mode. The writing room sketches, in contrast, simply provoked the thought that they should probably have stayed in there a while longer.

The Knox Dramatisation

This dramatisation of the story of Amanda Knox was executive produced by Amanda Knox and pretty much exclusively presented the perspective of Amanda Knox. So, while there undoubtedly is an compelling drama to be made about the tragic 2007 murder, this isn’t it. The material needed to be treated with care. Instead, the series struggled painfully to find the right voice, lurching from oddly jaunty, slightly stylised farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Twisted? Perhaps. A total mess? Absolutely.

Prime Target

We love the lead actor … but did we believe him playing the greatest maths genius since, a man so intelligent he’s on the brink of a breakthrough that could destabilise society? No! This international thriller about secret services targeting – and killing off – intellectuals honestly got more absurd by the second. Silliness-by-numbers.

The Bonnie Blue Documentary

This hagiography followed the online personality notorious for explicit exploits as she undertook her biggest feat yet. What on earth would motivate her? What we craved was way more interrogation of her true 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 horrific imagery and absolutely no interrogation of her infamy whatsoever. It's staggering to consider, the filmmaker has a young daughter too.