Plenty of great TV shows premiered in 2016. But you won’t find any of them here. Click on to recall — for one last time — the year’s most-likely-to-be-forgotten bombs, clinkers and stinkers (in alphabetical order).
“Damien” (A&E)
The proud holder of an 11 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, this TV adaptation of the horror movie franchise drew perhaps the most chillingly awful reviews of the year. “Ludicrous” was among the kinder summaries.
“Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency” (BBC America)
A major disappointment, considering the pedigree (Netflix/BBC co-production of a Douglas Adams novel series, with Elijah Wood costarring). But hey, BBC has already ordered season 2, so ….
“Good Girls Revolt” (Amazon)
A period piece that got the period all wrong, “Good Girls” told the kinda-sorta true story of women who took on discrimination at a newsweekly. So many liberties were taken with the facts, it became hard to take the show seriously.
“Heartbeat” (NBC)
Not a good year for medical soaps, especially this one, which USA Today dubbed “badly cast, risibly written.”
“Notorious” (ABC)
Oh, this legal procedural was notorious, all right – mostly for its rotten reviews. “It’s like the writers are just throwing ideas on a wall to see what sticks,” TheWrap’s Amber Dowling wrote.
“Pure Genius” (CBS)
“Pure Genius”? Not according to critics of this high-tech medical drama. “Just a doctor drama with C.G.I. and without interesting character dynamics,” according to the New York Times.
“Rush Hour” (CBS)
A TV show based on a hit movie – what could go wrong? Everything. “A dispiriting, derivative buddy-cop comedy,” according to USA Today.
“Second Chance” (Fox)
“Not a Chance” is more like it. A convoluted sci-fi fable loosely based on “Frankenstein,” this Fox drama never figured out what it wanted to be.
“Vinyl” (HBO)
When Mick Jagger teamed up with Martin Scorsese to tell the story of the ’70s record biz, what resulted was … a curio that never clicked with viewers. HBO renewed the drama for a second season, then changed its mind and killed it after all.
Tired of turkeys? Now check out our roundup of the 12 best new TV shows this year.
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