TV's biggest flops and failures of 2020

It can't all be gold, right?

• There was so much television to watch in 2020, and, thanks to New Zealand’s dual lockdowns, so much extra time to watch it all. It couldn’t all be good, but much of it was, and I’ll definitely do something wrapping up the best shows of the year soon. For today, it’s time to focus on the shockers … enjoy!

Utopia (Amazon Prime Video)

Utopia, Dennis Kelly’s British caper from 2013-2014, is the greatest TV show ever made. It’s cartoony and sinister, full of stomach-churning torture, vicious school shootings and awful office massacres. It is confronting as all hell. But it also asks some big, important questions about humanity, overpopulation and the end of the world. Naturally, it got cancelled after two seasons. Amazon Prime Video’s resurrection had a chance to put that right. Instead, they did this, a watered-down hatchet job that got rid of everything that was original and brilliant about it, and turned it into an overly Americanised story about a pandemic. It was timely, but that’s all Utopia had going for it this year.

The Third Day (Neon)

After this incredible trailer, I was all-in on The Third Day, a show that looked like Midsommar meeting David Lynch. Instead, we got six episodes of Jude Law going a bit loopy in a show that seemed like it really wanted to be on a theatrical stage rather than a TV screen. The 12-hour live show, in which Jude Law dug a hole then took a nap, further proved that theory. If you sat through The Third Day this year, you’re either Jude Law’s biggest fan, or you really did clock Netflix.

The Outsider (Neon)

People freaking loved this show! I’ve had so many arguments about it, I’ve lost count. It certainly started well. After a brilliant first two episodes, The Outsider killed off its best character in Jason Bateman, and became a run-of-the-mill Stephen King cop caper with spiritual undertones. It wasted the talents of its best actors Ben Mendelsohn and Cynthia Erivo, and by the end I felt like it was wasting my time too. The Outsider needed to be left outside. It’s also been axed by HBO, so they thought so too.

Space Force (Netflix)

Steve Carell’s big return to television turned out to be a rocket ship that exploded on take-off. Whatever magic that helped Greg Daniels make The Office disappeared for this, a 10-episode Netflix season based around an inept space task force trying to get man back on the moon. I watched far too many episodes of Space Force, and laughed far too few times. Inexplicably, this one is coming back for a second season.

Run (Neon)

This had great actors, a solid script, and both Merritt Wever and Phoebe Waller-Bridge involved. For the first few episodes, I thought Run was fantastic. But like The Third Day, it quickly lost me, with a series of set-ups that seemed built for a stage, not a screen. Plot twists and character developments got more and more unbelievable, and don’t get me started on that ending. I’ve already talked about that ending. I freaking hated it.