2021 In Review: The 10 Worst Shows

We're taking a cue from Santa Claus with our latest Year in Review ranking, crafting a naughty list of the shows that were very bad this year.

Though 2021 was a banner year for the small screen overall — and, on that note, go here for our picks of the year's 20 best series — there were still some serious duds out there. In the list below, we're revisiting TV's 10 weakest offerings from the past 12 months, from the underwhelming fantasy of Netflix's Fate: The Winx Saga to the truly terrifying aesthetics of Fox's Alter Ego.

And though our list does feature several entries from the freshman class (Netflix's Sex/Life, ABC's The Celebrity Dating Game), we've also made room for a few returning series that didn't quite clear the creative bar they'd set for themselves in previous seasons.

But as much as we love a good spoiler here at TVLine, we won't blurt out which series came in first — or, uh, last — on our list of the year's worst shows. No, you will have to scroll down to see all 10 of our picks, ranked from "least worst" to worst, and then drop a comment with your own hot takes on this year's clunkers.

Still to come in TVLine's Year in Review: TV's Biggest Controversies, Sexiest Scenes, Character Deaths That Nearly Killed Us, Shocking Cast Exits, Scene-Stealing Characters and much, much more!

Following up her acclaimed, decade-long run on CBS' The Big Bang Theory was never going to be easy — especially with another multi-camera comedy to which it would inevitably get compared. To her credit, though, Mayim Bialik developed an extremely charming character in Kat, and she surrounded herself with another very likable cast (including Cheyenne Jackson, Leslie Jordan and Kyla Pratt). Unfortunately, the show itself paled in comparison to its beloved British predecessor Miranda, and failed to establish its own identity. Clearly Fox agreed that some tinkering was needed; a new showrunner was appointed ahead of Season 2.

Netflix's meandering fantasy drama felt like a series The CW had rejected: It had young, pretty women and men, otherworldly mythology and a smattering of British accents... but with far less racial diversity and intrigue. Meanwhile, fans of Nickelodeon's animated hit Winx Club who were expecting a more fleshed-out (pun intended), live-action take were instead given low-budget special effects, undercooked backstories and predictable teen angst.

The Editor of a Certain Age writing this caption wanted to love this ABC reboot of a throwback, or at least like it. But the fact is that with "celebrities" involved, you never felt like there were any stakes; heck, there wasn't even any feigning that the Mystery Celeb and his or her pick were heading anywhere together after the show. Zooey Deschanel brought the right amount of smiley skepticism (about true love being found behind a partition and all), but the near-inexplicable inclusion of Michael Bolton, who seemed as confused to be there as we were to see him there, turned an already awkward situation borderline sad.

Season 2 of Apple TV+'s A-lister-filled drama took some bizarre turns, including — but not limited to — isolating denounced sexual harasser Mitch in Italy for most of the season and then killing him off ahead of the finale. But mostly, we really didn't enjoy the effective, though highly depressing, way the show marinated in the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. We lived through that dread, and seeing it play out among Alex, Bradley & Co. was too much, too soon.

The Netflix series' premise was grounds for a steamy thriller: A suburban mom fantasizes about her bad boy ex, then finds her wild-child past catching up with her family-oriented present. Plus, its good-looking cast — led by Sarah Shahi, Adam Demos and Mike Vogel — made for the perfect eye candy. Unfortunately, the show failed to bring the excitement, instead delivering a dull, paper-thin story linked together by clunky sex scenes that felt more absurd than erotic. Maybe Season 2 will be better?

After new showrunners took over in Season 4, AMC's Walking Dead spinoff seemed like it was beginning to move with a real sense of direction. Spoiler alert: It wasn't. In Seasons 6 and 7, characters meandered like zombies, changing motivations as often as we wanted to change the channel. They discussed Big Questions with a sadistic repetitiveness and played out soap clichés (Dakota's sister's her mother! Emile has a twin!). Most egregiously, the series took whomever — or whatever — we liked and sidelined it for weeks (Alicia), weighed it down to the point of leadenness (Morgan and Grace's romance, Dwight and Sherry's reunion), banished it (Al and Isabelle) or flat-out killed it (John). Are we sure Madison is dead-dead?

This Netflix comedy about an Ivy League-educated bookworm moving in with her sister's hot, dumb friends was so cookie-cutter, its entire cast might as well have been made out of gingerbread. Years from now, all we'll remember about this show are Gregg Sulkin's abs. And we will remember them fondly.

Our hopes were high for FX on Hulu's season of one-off episodes set in the American Horror Story universe — perhaps a little too high. While one or two of the episodes lived up to AHS standards (praise Ba'al!), most of them either felt half-baked or just plain pointless. We didn't think we'd ever say this, but we'd be OK never revisiting Murder House again.

Given The Masked Singer's considerable success right out of the gate, we don't blame Fox for overestimating our collective interest in watching people sing behind creepy facades. It's one thing, though, to guess which celebrity is underneath a bedazzled animal costume; it's another, much less entertaining one to listen to strangers perform from a separate room, all while motion-capture technology presents a bizarre avatar of the singer on our screens. We can appreciate Alter Ego's attempt to spotlight talented singers in a creative way... but wouldn't we care more about the contestants if we actually saw them, and not these colorful nightmare concoctions?

Netflix was hoping to feast on a second helping of ratings gold with another season of its smash hit docudrama... but there was no meat left on this bone. Season 1's breakout stars were mostly absent this time around — Joe Exotic is in prison, and Carole Baskin refused to participate — leaving us with supporting players rehashing a story we've already heard. The streaming TV equivalent of a shameless cash grab, Season 2 felt lazy, slapped together and completely unnecessary.