Worst TV Shows of 2022
Every year throws up an array of stand-out shows. Some for all the right reasons, exemplifying the best the small screen has to offer, with sharp cinematography, stunning storytelling and unforgettable characters. Then we get the other side of the spectrum.
Poorly written characters, shoddy production design and a terrible script. There’s nothing worse than being lumped with a terrible TV show. In recent years we’ve counted down our favourite shows of the year… but what about the worst?
2022 has thrown up some real stinkers and as we gear up ready for Christmas, New Year and beyond, let’s take a trip down memory lane and remember all those shows that failed to grab us – or you, the paying audience. Whether it be big budget fantasy productions or weird artistic projects that failed to resonate, we’ve dug through the archives and despaired together to bring you our top 30 worst TV shows of the year.
Do feel free to follow the links below to jump further down the list. However, as a quick disclaimer this list is in no particular order. As always, feel free to chime in with your personal worst shows of the year – and if you disagree with any on the list of course!
Kardashians
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Servant Season 3
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How I Met Your Father
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He’s Expecting
Blockbuster
Blockbuster’s directionless sitcom – coming from Netflix no less – was a big flop this year. While it’s perhaps not as bad as other comedies on this list, it’s a poor showing all round. The characters are underdeveloped, the scripts lacking in creativity, and the whole project feels like a poor man’s version of Superstore or Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
You can check out our full season review for Blockbuster here!
The Kardashians
It would be so easy just to fill this list full of reality TV flops but The Kardashians deserves a place on this list for its season failings. Executively produced and carefully curated by The Kardashians themselves, this reality show feels more like damage control, intent on brushing over all those dramatic moments from The Kardashians’ lives.
This show is the perfect example of how to propagate a specific message rather than actually showing the “real” part of reality.
You can check out our full season review for The Kardashians here!
Obi-Wan Kenobi
If Book of Boba Fett and the sequels opened the door for negative opinions to form against Disney Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi opened the floodgates. Playing damage control ahead of release, it seemed Star Wars knew they had a stinker on their hands with this one.
Shockingly cheap production design, continuity errors galore and some serious flaws with the canon (which the writers later admitted they were annoyed and wanted to change), Obi-Wan Kenobi made it all the worse by sidelining its own protagonist for little Leia. And don’t get us started on the plot contrivances and deus ex machina!
You can check out our full season review for Obi-Wan here!
Surface
What’s worse than a bad show? An eye-wateringly boring one. Well, step forward Apple TV’s Surface. A woefully bland and drawn-out mystery, Surface felt like a poor man’s Sharp Objects, with a lack of memorable characters or a compelling story.
A lot of the plot beats feel like well-trodden ground (protagonist has amnesia, tries to remember crucial event in life) but it’s mixed in with flashbacks and a central cast that never really gel together. Oh, and it ends on a cliffhanger. Because of course it does!
You can check out our full season review for Surface here!
Resident Evil
Under any other name, Resident Evil may have appealed to the Gen Z teen drama market as a quirky, off-kilter zombie flick. Parading the Resident Evil name however, this has nothing to do with the source material. In fact, Netflix’s series had about as much in common with the Resi games as Dora the Explorer does to Ellen Ripley fighting xenomorphs. In fact, that would probably have produced a more entertaining show!
Unfortunately, Resident Evil is the next in a long line of IPs that have been distorted by modern writers to fit their own sensibilities.
With clones, giant creatures, TikTok dances (yes, really) and a boring screenplay that eventually leads through to a cliffhanger (that won’t be resolved as Netflix hastily cancelled this one), Resident Evil is easily one of the worst shows this year.
You can check out our full season review for Resident Evil here!
Green Mother’s Club
Green Mother’s Club is an overlong, tonally confused mess and unfortunately, it outstays its welcome long before the 16 episodes are up. A show like this lives or dies by its characters and Green Mothers Club’s ensemble is a bit of a washout.
The show dabbles in mother/child relations, playground politics, murder mystery melodrama and soapy scandals. Unfortunately, none of these mesh together very effectively, producing a lukewarm drama that could have been so much better.
You can check out our full season review for Green Mother’s Club here!
Locke and Key Season 3
There’s nothing better than a show bowing out on with a bang. It can be the difference between a mediocre and a great show, and Locke and Key had a lot riding on it going into this third and final chapter. Netflix’s drama doesn’t just drop the ball, it actually smashes that ball to pieces, ripping apart the lore created for itself whilst simultaneously delivering a disastrously season full of contrivances and poor writing.
While the final episode at least tries to salvage some of the damage, it feels a little too late by that point.
You can check out our full season review for Locke and Key Season 3 here!
Virgin River Season 4
Soap operas always feel in danger of turning into bland, laborious slogs after a whole. Season 3 of Virgin River felt in danger of going that way at times, with many redundant episodes that could have been cut completely. Season 4 then, goes one step further.
We’ve criticized this show before for displaying dramatic cliffhangers to lull you into watching the next episode after 25 minutes of meaningless drivel, and then resolving that in record time. Well, season 4 does that again, but this time it occurs for almost every single episode. In one, we timed how long it took for the “big drama” to resolve itself. 4 minutes and 24 seconds.
This, coupled with the meandering drama and unsatisfying character arcs, makes Season 4 a worthy spot on this list.
You can check out our full season review for Virgin River Season 4 here!
Servant Season 3
Three words can accurately sum up Servant season 3 – nothing much happens. Yes, AppleTV’s promising horror/mystery series returns with a meandering, lackadaisical story that doesn’t really do anything particularly impressive with its 10 episode run-time.
Instead, this series drip-feeds out a rather boring plot across 10 episodes. There are flickers of brilliance here but that’s quickly extinguished in favour of more monotonous drama that doesn’t really advance the story all that much. There’s nothing worse than feeling like your time has been wasted, and that’s precisely what Servant Season 3 does.
You can check out our full season review for Servant season 3 here!
Suspicion
Another AppleTV show makes its way onto this list, which is pretty surprising given the streaming platform only has a couple of handfuls of original series released this year.
Suspicion could have been a great show. On paper, the premise is actually quite intriguing. Unfortunately a bloated run-time, way too many plot contrivances and a really poor ending create a cataclysm of errors that are hard to ignore.
The visuals may be good but some of the editing in this show is questionable at best. The first few episodes are so poorly handled, whiplashing between characters and refusing to let any of these characters grow and lean into their personas.
Instead, this one hits the accelerator from the word go and never lets up, eventually spinning off the track and hitting the wall.
You can check out our full season review for Suspicion here!
Thirty Nine
Thirty Nine had all the ingredients to be a certified banger. Fresh off the success of Crash Landing on You, Son Ye-Jin fronts a line-up of talented stars in a slice of life healing drama that – on paper at least – looks incredible. Unfortunately, Thirty Nine’s execution leaves a lot to be desired.
Not only is the show about 3 episodes too long, it absolutely butchers the development for almost all the main characters. Some of that stems from the overall focus which feels torn between which character should be the main protagonist.
What we end up with is a show that’s neither here nor there, with episodes largely revolving around these two, and also having the knock-on effect of sidelining Joo-Hee in the process.
You can check out our full season review for Thirty Nine here!
The Guardians of Justice
There are a plethora of superhero shows and movies out there. The whole entertainment spectrum is littered with a startling amount of choice. The decision to spearhead an indie project with former wrestler Diamond Dallas Page is certainly a surprising one. And a gamble that doesn’t pay off.
Each of these seven episodes zip by like a hyperactive child that’s just eaten several packs of smarties. The show rockets through its story, leaving absolutely no time for characterization, depth or wiggle room to allow the world and characters to breathe. Asa result, this breathless pace also breezes past the comedy, which largely fall flat, along with an underwhelming narrative.
You can check out our full season review for Guardians of Justice here!
Last Light
Unfortunately, there’s no light at the end of this abysmally dark and woeful tunnel. Elements of thriller, disaster, and science fiction are more often than not a readily potent mix. But unfortunately, Last Light has none of that. Maybe the disaster part – but for very different reasons.
Last Light is a huge disappointment considering the possibilities to carve out a slow burn with complex characters and adventurous world-building. There is absolutely no way it should even be allowed to be streamed by Peacock on its platform. Please, stay away.
You can check out our full season review for Last Light here!
The Time Traveler’s Wife
Steven Moffat is back with another timey-wimey series but unfortunately this is less Doctor Who and more doctored mess. The Time Traveler’s Wife is a time travel disaster, with poor plotting and characterisation throughout.
The Time Traveler’s Wife conveys one thing, at least, clearly: that it strives to be a sweeping romance about the changing nature of people and the complex nature of falling in love. Really, it’s not in the least a love story. The Moffat/Nutter adaptation of Niffenegger’s beloved novel is rather a message of doom and gloom–and a bearer of empty promises.
You can check out our full season review for The Time Traveler’s Wife here!
How I Met Your Father
A bland remake of the popular sitcom How I Met Your Mother, this one seemed destined to fail from the very beginning. With the obligatory laugh track returning, there’s very little humour to be found here. The jokes fall flat, the scenarios poorly contrived, and the entire project feels like a B-version of the superior original. The less said about this one the better.
Echoes
In its simplest form, Echoes is the serialized version of an airport thriller book. The premise is intriguing enough and the story zips along at a good pace, but if you stop to think about the logistics of the plot or characters, the entire story comes undone. And that’s exactly what we have with Echoes.
Not only is the premise rather cliched, the execution leaves a lot to be desired, with an uneven kilter of seven episodes that make up a muddled thriller that should have been further fleshed out in the writer’s room.
While Echoes doesn’t stoop to the level of CW productions, it isn’t exactly going to light up the small screen any time soon.
You can check out our full season review for Echoes here!
Chosen
Every year we get another formulaic sci-fi teen flick on Netflix that disappoints. And 2022’s crown goes to Chosen. There are a number of mystery box shows on TV, and each have had varying degrees of success. From the mammoth LOST down to the lowly Tribes of Europa, there are a fair number of these shows desperate to grab one’s attention.
Netflix’s Chosen is he latest in a long line of shows trying to do just that. Armed with poor dialogue, a terribly written protagonist and some questionable logic, this Danish series is definitely not one to write home about.
You can check out our full season review for Chosen here!
Stay Close
After striking a multi-series deal with Netflix, Harlan Coben’s murder mystery adaptations have been a real mixed bag of the mediocre and the excellent. Sooner or later, there was bound to be one stinker. And that putrid smell comes from Stay Close.
With a flawed premise, strained characters and a patchwork of different cliches and tropes throughout, Stay Close starts off shaky and continues down a disastrous path, slowly peeling away layers of believability to leave behind a flimsy shell of a murder mystery.
Along with figuring out who the killer is long before the final episode, the entire premise of Stay Close relies on contrivances, conveniences and clumsy police work, three ingredients that completely crumble when you apply any sort of logic to this one.
You can check out our full season review for Stay Close here!
Summertime Season 3
There have been a smattering of teen dramas over the years, each carving their own niche in the genre. Whether it be the more recent Heartstopper or the edgy and drug-fuelled shenanigans of Rue and co. in Euphoria, there’s something for everyone.
Summertime has always felt like a show with a lot of untapped potential. Unfortunately, the drama in season 3 is not as pretty as the visuals, dabbling in murky but predictable shades of grey.
The story this year is very by-the-numbers and holds absolutely nothing in the way of surprises, twists or turns. Fair play to Netflix and the team for wrapping this one up with an actual ending, but honestly a feature film would have been far more fitting for this. Instead, we get another 8 episodes of formulaic and overdone drama. Everything here has been done before – and better – elsewhere.
You can check out our full season review for Summertime Season 3 here!
The Pentaverate
Originally conceived by Myers as a movie (and obviously so), The Pentaverate stretches itself out to fill its six episodes with a wacky plot that doesn’t quite pull itself together until the finale. Overstuffed with info dumps and cheap gags, the series devotes little time to exploring its characters. As such, we never get attached to them–and the clumsy social critique isn’t nearly clever enough to make up for that loss.
As much fun as ludicrous costumes and farcical characters can be, these comedic aspects fail to elevate the overarching story. They are instead expected to carry the entirety of the show in between scarce, poorly-planned plot points.
You can check out our full season review for The Pentaverate here!
Love (ft. Marriage and Divorce) Season 3
Love ft. Marriage and Divorce has a poor track record when it comes to storytelling, character development and everything else you’d expect in a competent drama. Yet somehow, the show manages to remain incredibly popular… and something very watchable.
This soapy drama feels like an algorithm has written the scripts, with random bouts of drama, long, drawn-out chapters where not much happens and generally delivering a season of directionless drama. Sure that may be good for some people, but somehow season 3 is even worse than what’s come before it – and that’s saying something.
You can check out our full season review for Love (ft. Marriage and Divorce) here!
God’s Favorite Idiot
Come what may, God’s Favorite Idiot is not a good television show by any stretch of the imagination. In most parts, this series comes across as trying too hard. So hard, that skipping their monotonous blabber seems the logical choice. The beat remains the same; the joke is again something crass, facetious, and woefully misplaced and detached from the context.
Stuff like “pleasurable sauna” and “genital scent perfumes” belong to the 2000’s and in hindsight, probably not even there. These dated themes are stuffed down our throats in the hopes of seeing something even slightly positive come out on the other side. But for us, there’s very little positives to be had here.
You can check out our full season review for God’s Favorite Idiot here!
Heirs to the Land
Based on the novel by Ildefonso Falcone’s, Heirs to the Land succeeds the events of another Netflix original adaptation of the author’s work: Cathedral of the Sea. The Spanish period drama impresses with intricate production design, beautiful cinematography, and a dramatic saga with intensely high stakes: all positive attributes, and yet hollow trappings that fail to obscure flat characterization and lack of emotional depth.
Hugo Llor is a fictional character, as are most of the major players in Heirs to the Land. But the show weaves in real historical settings, political figures, and religious strife between Christians and Jews. Unfortunately, Heirs doesn’t incorporate much of this rich historical context in any compelling way.
The show is an antiquated, insensitive foray into 1300’s Barcelona. Heirs to the Land may be set in the 14th century, but we hope its writers and creators know they don’t have to be stuck there.
You can check out our full season review for Heirs to the Land here!
Hold Tight
Hold Tight is the second Harlan Coben adaptation to make it onto this list, and although it’s not as bad as Stay Close, there’s still a lot to pick holes at here. Much like The Woods, the story takes place deep in the heart of Poland. Our setting here is a small Warsaw suburb, with two concurrent mysteries that interweave together to form a rather tepid 6 episode series.
While there are some nice ideas at work, they’re overshadowed by an overwhelming amount of mediocrity and a dragged out story with a pretty poor resolution.
You can check out our full season review for Hold Tight here!
He’s Expecting
He’s Expecting is nowhere near as bad as the IMDB rating would have you believe (2.5/10?!) but it’s biggest problem comes from its pacing and tone.
Adapted by the anime of its same name (and live-action anime almost never get good adaptations), the show immediately struggles to carve a place for itself, dividing viewers over its controversial main plot-line, which revolves around a male falling pregnant rather than a woman.
While the social commentary is clear, the execution is more messy and haphazard. Despite a run-time of around 4 hours, He’s Expecting outstays its welcome long before that.
You can check out our full season review for He’s Expecting here!
Forecasting Love and Weather
The forecast for this K-drama is definitely cloudy with a chance of disappointment. JTBC’s latest offering flatlines into mediocrity long before its 16 episode run is up.
That’s a shame because there are some nice ideas here, including the symbiotic relationship between weather and emotion, as well as showcasing some big K-stars. Unfortunately, that’s not enough to save this sinking ship.
The tone here is utterly bizarre, switching from melodrama to comedic moments, sometimes entangled together in really awkwardly contrived moments. Not only that, but the show ships a second couple with very questionable morals, deciding this is a couple we should root for.
With the tonal shift comes a noticeable lack of enthusiasm and chemistry from the leads, as if they just want to finish this drama and move onto a better project. And to be honest, if you make it further than episode 12 or 13, you’ll feel the same way.
You can check out our full season review for Forecasting Love and Weather here!
Elite Season 6
Some shows should just end and put everyone out their misery. Spanish drama Elite is one such example. With most of its central cast now gone and replaced by younger(ish) models, Elite’s story is now one that values style over substance. This sixth season only exemplifies that and even worse, the murder mystery isn’t even a murder and there’s very little in the way of mystery either!
Elite hardly lives up to its name this year, given the quality we’ve received. Blasé would probably be a more apt title, making season 6 an unfortunate misfire.
You can check out our full season review for Elite here!
Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power
There’s a scene in The Dark Knight where The Joker burns a whole stack of cash for fun. If you replaced The Joker with Jeff Bezos over at Amazon, you’d probably have something close to Rings of Power. This billion dollar production not only fractured the fanbase ahead of release, it did so with one of the most boring adaptations of Tolkien’s work.
With very little to do with the source material and one of the most unlikable protagonists in Galadriel, Rings of Power is a disaster of the highest order. The narrative is poorly plotted, with pseudo-intellectual dialogue that’s as nonsensical as it is humorous. And who could forget our characters shrugging off a pyroclastic flow from a volcano?
Jeff Bezos wanted his own Game of Thrones by piggybacking off Tolkien’s work. Well, he’s certainly got his wish… this is the disastrous final season all over again.
You can check out our full season review for Rings of Power here!
She-Hulk: Attorney At Law
With the writers confirming they wanted to make a “sex positive show for kids” whilst simultaneously championing it as “Marvel’s horniest series”, She Hulk came out earlier this year to mixed reviews from critics – and scathing reviews from fans.
With the writers set out to intentionally annoy Marvel fans with this adaptation, whilst also breaking the MCU with its shockingly bad finale, She-Hulk’s problems extend beyond that to the core fundamentals of the show itself. She-Hulk is full of morally questionable, one-dimensional characters, a distinct lack of action and a nasty, cynical tone throughout. She-Hulk is not just bad – it’s also boring.
With an exciting episode depicting our protagonist waiting for a text, and lots of chapters about getting drunk and having one night stands (sex positive show for kids, remember), She-Hulk delivers a new low for the MCU.
You can check out our full season review for She-Hulk here!
Killing Eve Season 4
An ending can make or break a show. And boy does Killing Eve lean into the latter. With a big fight promised against “The Twelve”, this espionage thriller had all the ingredients to be a showstopper… and then the final fight to stop them HAPPENS OFF-SCREEN.
For all of its build-up and hype, Killing Eve falls flat on its face. It drags its fans through the mud, meandering around plotlines and character tropes that just don’t work. And worst of all, it tops that off with an insulting final episode that rushes through its plot to pat itself on the back with a massive THE END plastered on screen.
To quote Lord of the Rings, “If this is to be our end, then I would have them make such an end, as to be worthy of remembrance.” Killing Eve’s ending will be remembered all right. Remembered as one of the worst finishes to a TV show in recent memory. Move over Game of Thrones, there’s a new champion atop that rotten podium!
You can check out our full season review for Killing Eve here!
Final Thoughts
So there we have it, our picks for the 30 worst TV shows of 2022! 2022 hasn’t been all bad, there have been some amazing shows (which will be showcased in our special top 40 this year!)
As always, our team at TheReviewGeek will be there every step of the way to celebrate the best – and despair at the worst!
From all of us here though, thank you for your support and comments across the site this year. 2022 has been a turbulent year of television and 2023 promises to be just as wild!
Do you agree with our list? What’s your worst TV show of the year? Let us know in the comments below!
I will say, I disagree with your opinion on the Pentaverate. I see where your coming from and I can kind of see what mindset you sort of had going into it. First of all, remember it’s Mike Myers THE Austin Powers, it’s just silly! When I watched it, I loved it. It was stupid and silly and childish, and I loved every second of it. I also loved the cheap gags. That’s kind of his trademark! It’s not supposed to be the greatest thing on television either, it’s not even supposed to be serious. It’s supposed to be wild and completely inconceivable because that’s Mike Myers, that’s his humor and it works in a wacky, beautiful, stupid, childish, yet perfect way. You’re not supposed to really get attached to the characters, they’re just so stupid! It’s perfect! I love the stupidity that he brings to the table, it’s unique. His cheap gags, his childish jokes. They’re all wonderful. That’s what makes this show work, what makes it great.
What about La Brea? People walk through a lake and come out bone dry! Not to mention unbelievable science, poor character development and bad dialogue. The things like the lake walk with dry characters though is one of the worst things ever!!!!!!
She Hulk was so bad, and the ending pretty much confirmed that it was INTENTIONALLY SO, I cannot believe Marvel allowed this monstrosity or the lead actress did not step in to save herself. The ending that basically admits that its whole story was terrible in some meta joke? Meta almost never works, and calling attention to the fact that you stink might be the worst use of meta you can pick. It is like the kid who gives a presentation at school who gets up and snarks saying they never did any of the work and everyone who did are losers, then gives everyone the finger thinking that they are being oh so rebellious. And the first episode where she lectures a beloved MCU hero in one of the most tone deaf speeches in the MCU? From beginning to end this was a trainwreck.