The Most Disappointing TV of the Year

Not all TV is created equal, and even though this year saw more terrific TV shows than ever before, they weren’t all gems. The following is a list of “disappointing” TV developments that could be TV moments, episodes, subplots, or entire seasons. And it’s not so much “the worst” TV as it is shows that should have been great but just weren’t for whatever reason…

20. Game of Thrones Killing Off Stannis Baratheon…We all knew Stannis would die eventually, and the books made that even clearer, but the series has changed things before, and I couldn’t help feeling like the actual death was a little anti-climactic.

19. Daredevil and Jessica Jones…I like elements of both shows–especially their first season villains and Rosario Dawson–and Krysten Ritter is great as Jessica, but Marvel’s experiment to go dark just didn’t quite lead to the riveting television it hoped for.

18. Manhattan’s Bomb Reveal and Suicide…The testing of the world’s first atomic bomb was dramatic enough without a gun-inflicted suicide being forced into the mix. It would have been much more powerful to just let the characters’ horror/wonder-filled faces speak for themselves.

17. Parks and Recreation Final Episode…Something about the whole season was a little off, but you’ll notice that people aren’t really talking about this series finale the way they did “Justified” or even “Parenthood.” If you’re being honest, it was paradoxically very thorough in showing what happened to the characters but a little half-hearted in that presentation.

16. The Blacklist…Remember when this show used to be exciting?

15. True Detective’s First Half…So the first half of the second season is admittedly pretty bad–we’re talking cliched characters, overly dramatic dialogue, and a deliberately confusing plot–but a lot of people missed that the second half actually was pretty strong. And that indecipherable season 1 plotting? It’s meant to mirror an actual conspiracy, with the pieces only gradually becoming clear even when they’re all around you.

14. Mad Men’s Final Episodes…AMC shouldn’t have split the final season. I think that’s pretty clear now, even though the final season does have a couple of memorable moments.

13. Master of None…It seemed clear to me that the show owes “Louie” a lot more of a debt than other critics seem to realize as most of the season 1 plots are borrowed directly from Louie C.K.’s show.

12. Married’s Over-Reliance on Whacky Sidekicks…Season 1 “Married” was a realistic portrayal of a marriage. Season two mostly focused on whacky sidekicks you don’t believe anyone would actually be friends with, like Russ’s cartoonish friend A.J.

11. Tyrant’s “What the Hell?” Ending…Jamal’s shooting (by his daughter-in-law) seemed thrown in there in case the series didn’t get renewed, but it felt more at place on “Dallas” than “Tyrant.” The show got renewed, and now Jamal will either inexplicably survive serious gun shot wounds or the series will have a tyrannical hole to fill.

10. Flesh and Bone…Starz’s ballerina miniseries had initial promise that went nowhere. Some great dance scenes didn’t make up for characters that seemed to be trying to come across as one-dimensionally unlikable.

9. The Affair…Speaking of a choice, well-made premium cable drama collapsing under the weight of bad character choices. The 2014 freshman show class almost all had better season two’s (like the vastly improved “Leftovers” and the solid “The Knick”), but “The Affair” damn near fell apart as its narrative went from intriguingly subjective to unstable.

8. Narcos’ Decision to Also Showcase the DEA…This is Pablo’s story and his scenes are great. Unfortunately, half the series also follows the DEA agents trying to nail him.

7. Bloodline Killing Off Its Best Character…It’s hard to know why I should keep watching a show that had one intriguing character…that won’t be around for season two.

6. Sense Eight…Some people really love this show, but I had a hard time caring about it.

5. Halt and Catch Fire Getting Renewed for Season 3…Why won’t AMC let this show die? And they cancelled “Rubicon” after one season.

4. Falling Skies Final Episodes…For all those long-suffering people who stuck with this show, it’s hard to imagine any of them being satisfied with a final season that was clearly made on the cheap (the aliens were barely shown to keep the budget in check and the effects looked terrible).

3. SNL’s Weekend Update…Colin Jost and Michael Che are the worst Weekend Update anchors in my lifetime, and yes I’m including Colin Quinn (who actually wasn’t bad) in that. Jost looks like an understudy for The Book of Mormon and is trying too hard to channel Seth Meyers. While Che never really seems comfortable behind the desk, and is almost telegraphing to us that he’s too cool to be there. I don’t know why Nasim Pedra and Beck Bennett aren’t doing it or Sasheer Zamata and Aidy Bryant or Kate McKinnon and Kenan Thompson or pretty much anyone but the two that are doing it. The fact that they pretty much just copy and paste Bill Maher/Stephen Colbert’s jokes from earlier in the week probably doesn’t help either. By the time “Update” gets to a story we’ve already heard Meyers, Noah, Wilmore, Oliver, Colbert, and every blog give us their take on it.

1. [Tie] The Strain Killing Off Nora and Recasting Zach or House of Cards’ Third Season…The Strain will be covered more in the Worst Characters of the Year list, but House of Cards is a particular disappointment. The entire series we’ve been asked to imagine what a Frank Underwood presidency would look like, and when we finally get it it looks a lot like…the usual-usual? Season 3 side-lined characters like loyal henchman Doug to focus on…Frank getting out-classed at every turn? Yikes. I’m hoping season 4 is a return to form, and we can see Underwood back to his old self while playing a real chess game with the Chinese or the Russians.