Nothing is more disappointing than when a show we used to hold in such high regard diminishes in quality and appeal.
Unfortunately, plenty of series fit the bill in 2022; if nothing else, they gave us something to complain about and discuss.
From beloved medical dramas on life support or plain DOA to reality guilty pleasures that have become hellscapes, our TV Fanatic staff had some strong thoughts.
And we’ve compiled a list of series that fell from grace in 2022.
Check out this potentially controversial list and share your thoughts below!
The Flight Attendant – HBO Max
It’s an example of a limited series that should have remained a limited series.
The HBO Max drama dug deeper into Cassie’s relationship with her mother, featuring a guest-starring turn from the incomparable Sharon Stone.
Unfortunately, the second mystery wasn’t strong, and I found myself rooting for every character but Cassie. Please let the show die.
Elite – Netflix
The first three seasons of Elite were great. In season four, the show went downhill.
Season five saw a slight rejuvenation before it wore out again in season six.
The show released two seasons in one year but season six overshadowed season five. It was tragic and uninteresting.
Season seven is around the corner but has Elite overstayed its welcome?
My Unorthodox Life – Netflix
The first season of this unique reality show was about a family navigating modernity away from the Orthodox Jewish lifestyle in which they were raised.
In the second season, it’s mostly just about a family falling apart. Obviously, I wish the Hart family didn’t have such misfortune in their marriages, businesses, and family togetherness this season.
But at what point does it become exploitative to keep watching? At what point does it stop being a unique look at a post-Jewish family and typical reality TV?
The Resident – FOX
The Resident was a maverick, always upending expectations with heroic doctors and smart storylines.
It could have been a struggle keeping the show alive after losing two of its leading ladies, but the superb cast never missed a beat — until The Resident Season 6.
An unearned love triangle for its leading man, a difficult pregnancy for a character nobody enjoys, and cartoon villains have left viewers scratching their heads. The network hasn’t even bothered to announce a renewal.
It’s a simmering disappointment without relief in sight.
Love is Blind – Netflix
The guilty-pleasure reality TV show still hooks us in with its dating drama. We spend all season figuring out which couples will make it to the altar and who will say, “I do.”
However, the magic of Love is Blind Season 1 (and a little bit of Love is Blind Season 2) is gone. What was once a great experiment to discover if love could be found in the pods has evolved into an emotional manipulator for its contestants.
The success rate of its matches hit a sharp wall, and as the show has grown in popularity, the integrity of those “searching for their future wife/husband” has been questioned.
Now, some contestants are only going on Love is Blind to become famous or grow their influencer followings by having their big reality TV moment. And with more contestants being left emotionally hurt or used by the time their relationships end, we have to wonder if the experiment is too far gone to be fixed.
Russian Doll – Netflix
Did anyone notice that Russian Doll Season 2 came out this year?
What was once one of the buzziest new series in 2019 soon became a new season that came and went without any fanfare.
The intriguing mystery and plot of Russian Doll Season 1 kept us on our toes, and the characters felt so fleshed out and nuanced that you couldn’t help but want to learn more about what happened.
However, the allure seemed to slip away with the latest case. Nadia’s misadventure while traveling back to the 1980s didn’t hit the same highs of the past, and what elements kept us interested in her first mystery held a different effect this time around.
Good Trouble – Freeform
Watching one more season of Good Trouble seems like a special kind of hell.
When it premiered in 2019, it was fresh, sexy, and very different from The Fosters. It has, however, fallen into a cycle of reusing storylines and characters; it’s tiresome at this point.
When will Dennis and Davia get together? Can Alice just make it already? She seems mad doing the same thing and expecting different results. Every new character is uninteresting and only makes the show worse.
Maybe Maia Mitchell knew something we didn’t when exiting, but it’s slowly becoming clear.
Call Me Kat – FOX
A good sitcom is hard to find nowadays and even harder to sustain.
After two strong seasons of the whimsical yet clever exploits of cat-loving mathematician-turned-barista Kat and her friends and family, Season 3 had a hard time finding a clear direction initially and then was struck by the tragedy of Leslie Jordan’s sudden death in October.
There isn’t a specific element one could point out as missing this season, but rather the parts that are there aren’t playing well with each other, whether it’s the roommate dynamic between Randi and Max or Kat’s sudden need to be pregnant while dealing with her mother’s degenerative eye condition.
With production halted indefinitely in the wake of Jordan’s death, there are obviously some hard decisions being made behind the scenes on how they’ll move forward. Without Phil’s sparkle, it’ll be an even harder path to climb back to their top form.
The Blacklist – NBC
How much more of a sign does a network need to end a show than having one of the two series leads leave?
Megan Boone’s Elizabeth Keen was killed off in The Blacklist Season 8. Rather than reading the writing on the wall, producers did a little character tinkering and soldiered on.
It’s now two seasons later, with Amir Arison (Aram) and Laura Sohn (Alina) departing after The Blacklist Season 9.
James Spader’s Raymond Reddington is a classic TV character who could read the dictionary and draw viewers. But come on. It’s time.
Rutherford Falls – Peacock
It’s hard to say Rutherford Falls was ever really that sure of what it wanted to be.
Was Ed Helms’ character self-conscious enough of his ego?
Was it a good look for Terry and his Native American cause to be so ruthless in his legal dealings, and was his heel-face turn convincing? Was it really enjoyable watching Regan be the butt of the jokes?
The show advertises itself as one in which no big heroes and villains exist, but the show’s solution to any first-season defects is moving them out of the limelight. What a cop-out!
The second season is largely about a mayoral race between two candidates — Bobby Yang and someone not appearing in the first season entirely — that had little characterization before the season started. There was just too little reason to care.
In the Dark – The CW
When In the Dark first hit the scene, it was a refreshing, original work unlike anything on the network, and you never knew what to expect.
It progressively went downhill from its laud-worthy first season, heading down a dark path of absurd and redundant storylines.
All the characters became unlikable, insufferable individuals we struggled to root for, excluding darling Pretzel, of course, who singlehandedly was in charge of the group brain cell.
We lost many characters along the way in frustrating manners, but the final season was so unwatchable it physically hurt, and the series finale has to go down as one of the most egregious offenses of television history.
New Amsterdam – NBC
By now, we’ve exhausted ourselves discussing just how offensively bad New Amsterdam is, but because it’s puzzling how this once-great series dropped the ball so much that we always find a way to gripe more.
It’s hard to believe that this series was effortlessly the most evocative, feel-good, inspiring medical drama on the air, worthy of multi-season renewal during its acclaimed first season. New Amsterdam is unrecognizable now.
The characters are either stagnant or regress beyond comprehension, the storylines have taken an exhaustive political direction that somehow manages to be offputting to everyone, and a series that used to be hopeful and joyful is a depressing mess.
The heinous mishandling of Helen’s departure, poor characterization of nearly all its characters, dismantling of every relationship, forced, rushed new romance, and what genuinely feels like a complete and utter disregard and disrespect for the viewers have made this final season agonizing.
We’re eagerly awaiting the second the plug is officially pulled, the code is called, and we’re free from this hell.
Over to you, TV Fanatics!
Do you agree with the choices on this list?
Do you have your own thoughts about who should be on the list?
Is there anything you take issue with here?
Hit the comments with your reactions!
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.