While 2024 delivered some exceptional television, it also gave us some hilariously bad shows too. Whether they were bloated messes of wasted potential, or sequels and reimaginings no one asked for, these shows remind us that not every swing connects with the ball. Grab your popcorn, folks, and join us as we take a trip down memory lane to remember the 15 worst TV shows of 2024.
15. The Fire Hunter Season 2
The Fire Hunter season 2 is a continuation of the anime adaptation of the dystopian novel series, diving deeper into its mysterious world. While Season 1 held it together, Season 2 dives headfirst into convoluted storytelling in the worst possible way.
The animation quality definitely takes a bit of a nosedive, and with erratic pacing too, the story feels needlessly convoluted for something that isn’t that complicated. Everything presented here is poorly produced and unfortunately, that translates into a very forgettable anime.
14. Agatha All Along
Who knew a show based on villains, doing villainy things, initially conceptualized as a spin-off to a spin-off would just feel so… unnecessary. The protagonist here is Agatha Harkness, following her antics from WandaVision. She’s in Westview post-defeat and her goal here is more power. Across the 9 episodes we see plenty of wardrobe changes and wine box drinking, as our villain tries to become, well, more of a villain.
Agatha All Along basically serves up a lukewarm cauldron of half-baked plots and uninspired jokes. Kathryn Hahn tries her best, but even her charm can’t save this show from being a misfiring slog. And the musical numbers? Please, Marvel, let it go.
13. The Spiderwick Chronicles
It wouldn’t be a worst TV show list without a reboot or reimagining right? This time, it’s the turn of The Spiderwick Chronicles. When the poor film series is a better proposition than this TV remake, you know you have problems.
With outdated CGI and a plot that barely skims the surface of the original books, Spiderwick Chronicles feels like a half-hearted attempt to cash in on nostalgia. Add some atrocious acting and pacing slower than a troll on Nyquil, and you have a fantasy series that’s anything but magical.
12. Orphan Black: Echoes
A spiritual successor to the original, Orphan Black: Echoes follows a new set of clones in a conspiracy-laden world. The original Orphan Black was gripping and full of heart. Echoes is… not. It’s as if someone took the DNA of the first show and then removed all the tension, charm, and Tatiana Maslany’s brilliance.
Without its original anchor, Echoes feels like a pale imitation trying too hard to be edgy. And unfortunately, the only thing going for it is a place on our list.
11. Land of Tanabata
Another Netflix adaptation, this time from anime into live action; Land of Tanabata is a fantasy series about a mythical realm inspired by Japanese folklore.
Unfortunately, the exciting source material makes for a stunningly bland show that takes a rich tapestry of Japanese mythology and wrings out every last drop of intrigue. The characters are two-dimensional, the story a snooze-fest, and the visuals, while initially striking, can’t compensate for the lack of emotional engagement.
10. Dear Hyeri
Dear Hyeri is the latest Shin Hye-sun K-drama and possibly the only one that may go down in K-history as one of her worst yet. It’s also perhaps the only Korean drama to fall from being one of the year’s potential bests to one of the worst.
Although Dear Hyeri offers glimpses of heartwarming scenes packed with occasional emotional depth—mainly in the first half —the sheer lack of a misbranded and bluntly offensive plot, poor characterization, and terrible execution ultimately pull this Shin Hye-sun starrer down beyond recovery.
9. Good Times (2024)
There’s always a crude animation on these lists and in 2024, we get not just an animation, but also a modern reboot of a beloved ‘70s sitcom. Reboots are tricky at the best of times, and Good Times completely misses the mark.
The show centers on a working-class Black family navigating life in Chicago but the humour feels forced, and at times so cynical and on edge that it misses way more than it hits. Even worse, the charm of the original is nowhere to be found. Clearly nostalgia alone can’t carry a TV show.
8. The Umbrella Academy Season 4
The final season of Netflix’s quirky superhero family drama came… and went. Once one of Netflix’s most promising shows, The Umbrella Academy limps to the finish line with a season that’s all filler, no thrill.
With six episodes to play with, the tale blends tired tropes like amnesia, the human McGuffin aka. The girl-who’s-the-key-to-everything and an apocalyptic-world ending threat, all blended together into a dull sludge of grey.
The plot is a tangled mess of half-resolved storylines, and the quirky charm curdles into eye-roll-inducing randomness. While the end scenes aren’t bad, much like Game of Thrones before it, without proper context and work toward that point, it all feels devoid of meaning and emotion.
7. Echo
Dropped in one hit on Disney+, Echo is a spin-off to Hawkeye; an awkward patchwork of big action sequences, familial drama and tributes to Native American ancestry, rolled up into a package with a main character that struggles to inject any sort of charisma into her role.
For long stretches, Echo’s pacing is atrocious too. Even with 30 minute chapters, the show really struggles to fill its run-time up with anything other than bland filler. And unfortunately, that’s all Echo is.
This will undoubtedly impress those after anything better than Secret Invasion, but structurally, Echo is a complete mess. The story is bad, the choreography is poor, the characters are one-note and there’s barely any noteworthy themes beyond a tribute to Native American tribes. Echo is easily one of the worst shows of the year and it sets a low bar that few are likely to hit any time soon.
6. Polo
Welcome to the world of Polo, where the stakes have never been higher. The messily-edited action on the pitch can only be thwarted by what’s happening off the field, where for Timmy, losing could be worse than death. He could disappoint his father.
At its best, Polo is mildly interesting look at the hierarchical way rich sons take over their rich fathers and what that means for their family dynamic. But this sport documentary series, blending the world of Polo with genuine exciting sports misses bigtime.
Most of the time though, the straight-shooting style feels like a parody spoof documentary, like you’re just waiting for David Walliams and Matt Lucas to rock up as a dysfunctional father/son duo to join the ranks. Alas they do not, but that doesn’t make Polo any less of a joke.
5. The Impossible Heir
The Impossible Heir sees Lee Jae-wook acting his heart out in this soapy, trashy revenge drama in front of which Escape of the Seven seems like a masterpiece. From the poor writing over to the one-dimensional characters and slow pace, The Impossible Heir was perhaps fated to fail.
And if you thought the boring, corrupt, corporate mystery was painful to watch, the female lead is worse making us wonder if screen life draws from reality and whether she has some chaebol connection supporting her acting career.
4. Doctor Who Season 15 (Season 1?)
This year saw Doctor Who fans learn a valuable lesson – be careful what you wish for. With original creator Russell T. Davies back in the driver’s seat, fans eagerly awaited a return to form for the legendary sci-fi series. With Disney money behind it, season 15 (rebranded to season 1 for some reason) rebooted the Doctor for a modern audience in the modern era. And predictably, it went down as subtly as a sledgehammer to the face.
The magic of Doctor Who officially runs out here, with underwhelming writing, uninspired monsters, and a lackluster new Doctor. This season is a shadow of the show’s former brilliance, with even die-hard Whovians calling for a regeneration – and it not then a cancellation at least. On top of that, the storylines feel more geared for an American audience than a British one, and a simplistic, poorly constructed overarching story left more holes than Swiss cheese. In the end, Doctor Who confirmed that it’s a hollow shell of what once was.
3. The Acolyte
The Acolyte isn’t just a bad TV show, it’s a disastrous monstrosity that bungles every single facet of its production and it should really be studied by film enthusiasts across the world in how not to write a story.
The truth is, there are Indie films done on a tight budget that are more engaging and competent than what The Acolyte (which had a budget of 180 million dollars) offers – and with such a huge budget and IP to its name, that’s inexcusable for Star Wars.
The Acolyte is not just terrible TV, it’s a show that does irreparable damage to the Star Wars brand with its poor writing and characterisation. It’s an embarrassing example of how to take a huge budget and absolutely squander it into oblivion.
2. Velma Season 2
Speaking of embarrassments, the controversial Scooby-Doo spin-off returns for another round of raunchy humour and mystery, to the delight of tens of people across the world. And if there ever was a poster child for “who is this made for?” then Velma takes the cake.
If Season 1 was a trainwreck, Season 2 stomps through the smouldering remains, destroying any sign of life with its cynical blade of destruction. Doubling down on everything fans hated the first time around, Velma continued to alienate its audience with cringe-worthy dialogue, unlikable characters, and a plot screaming hatred for the source material. This one is not just a bad TV show, it’s a monumental waste of time and money for all involved.
1. Rings of Power Season 2
2024 really has been a race to the bottom when it comes to productions attached to different IPs hasn’t it? And perhaps no other captures that quite like Rings of Power. And perhaps, there’s no more apt example of this corporatism slop than this expensive, high fantasy series.
With the promise of more action this time, those sequences are stifled by hard cuts to lesser storylines that serve no purpose. You really have to try hard to be this bad at your job and Rings of Power exemplifies all the aspects of how not to create a TV show.
But then what did anyone expect from a couple of showrunners who have no experience writing TV beyond half a credit on a Star Wars movie? The show struggles with the core fundamentals of what goes into a narrative, let alone the nuanced complexities that come from making a complex villain akin to Walter White (the inspiration for Sauron this year according to the show-runners).
It really is hard to know what else to say other than the fact this is a very bad show. Unlike this series, which painfully plodded on without an end, I won’t insult your time or intelligence by continuing further and nit-picking every issue (and there are a lot) in this show. Rings of Power is a disaster-class in how not to write TV, and a worthy winner of the worst TV show for 2024.
So there we have it, our list of the 15 worst shows of 2024. From unnecessary spin-offs to misguided reboots, these series prove that even in a golden age of TV, not everything shines. Here’s to hoping 2025 delivers fewer duds and more must-watch gems. But as always, what do you think? Do you agree with our picks? Or do you think we’re way off the mark? Do let us know your thoughts in the comments below!