Last week, we looked at the best shows of the last year. It’s only fair that we take some time and look at the worst. These five shows (and one dishonorable mention) offer a wide range of awful. If you’ve had the displeasure of watching any of them, I hope this list provides you with comfort. You are not alone. If you liked any of the shows on this list, I don’t need to know about it. I’m happy for you, or whatever you need me to say to stop you from commenting.
Dishonorable Mention: All’s Fair
It takes considerable skill to assemble a murder’s row of actresses (and Kim Kardashian) and give them material this horrendous. By now there’s been plenty of discussion on whether Ryan Murphy’s law drama is a contender for worst show of all time or a classic example of camp style. Make no mistake, this is a campy show, but it’s also one with so few redeemable qualities that it becomes hard to stomach. That the likes of Glenn Close, Sarah Paulson, and Naomi Watts are used to prop up the wooden acting of Kim K is its greatest offense. The only reason it’s relegated to a mention is that I never reviewed it. Truthfully, I never made it past the first episode. Do yourself a favor and just look up the clip of Paulson calling someone a “discarded cumrag.” You’ll be better off.
5. Shifting Gears
Few people get to enjoy the rich reward of starring in multiple TV shows. For Tim Allen, he gets to do it while regurgitating the material that made him famous. The world has changed, but Allen remains the same. Shifting Gears almost has enough self-awareness to make his character, a gruff widower who owns an auto shop, alone because of his own actions. This is a show for those same boomers, watching it while wondering why their kids never call, so he gets let off the hook. What follows is a collection of sitcom plots that were past due 30 years ago. The series’ greatest sin is the misuse of Kat Dennings, forcing her to find comedic chemistry with Allen. There’s nothing funny here, despite what the omnipresent laugh track seems to think.
4. Chad Powers
For the creators of Chad Powers, there is nothing funnier than a guy in some ridiculous prosthetics. Glen Powell stars as that guy, forced to wear the persona of Chad Powers after ruining his reputation. Powell tries and fails to stretch his comedy muscles, thanks to a series that relies solely on tired tropes. It doesn’t help that the guy under the makeup, Russ Holiday, is as irredeemable as they come. You’re basically waiting for everyone to figure it out. A comedy for the Barstool Sports crowd, Powers is the worst kind of show, one that inspires neither laughs nor jeers, just disinterest.
3. Pulse
Netflix takes a stab at the modern medical drama with a series that aims to add every plotline you could think of into one 10-episode season. Natural disasters, family drama, and an ill-advised sexual harassment storyline are all part of this look into the staff at a Miami trauma center. The constant use of flashbacks only adds to the chaos. Sprinkle in a trove of unlikable characters, and you have a recipe for one of the worst of the year. That this series premiered right as The Pitt was wrapping up its first season further showcased the gulf between them. This Grey’s Anatomy knockoff couldn’t hope to compete.
2. Good American Family
To give this show the faintest of praise, there is a decent idea lodged in the center of this real-life drama. The series, based on Natalia Grace’s adoption and subsequent abandonment, spends its first half telling the story from the perspective of the Barnetts. The husband and wife are eager to adopt, but things seem to go south when they become convinced that Natalia is not who she says she is. Just one minor problem, that’s not what happened. In the second half, the audience learns of the actual events and abuse Natalia suffered from the family. This choice adds an extreme tastelessness to a show already full of melodramatic acting and awful writing. Maybe starting with the abuser’s perspective wasn’t the most sound of choices.
1. Zero Day
After an unprecedented cyberattack, the United States trusts only one man to find the culprits responsible and bring them to justice. The man is former president George Mullen, a popular figure who reads like every centrist’s wet dream. He’s tough but sensible. He’s smart, but able to speak to the common man. His politics are so vague that he seems to stand for both everything and nothing at the same time. Played by Robert De Niro, Mullen is just one of the many inert characters with a big name actor attached. Zero Day is desperate to say something about our current times, but comes up short. It yearns for a time when an impressive speech could unite us and forgets that only ever happened on The West Wing.