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Published Feb 1, 2026, 7:11 PM EST
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Sign in to your Collider account Add Us On follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recapFor every great TV drama, there are countless terrible ones. That’s because many directors, creators, and writers fail to understand that big budgets and star-studded casts can only take them so far before storytelling becomes non-negotiable. I’ll be the first one to admit that a compelling premise or cast definitely grabs eyeballs, but if a show isn’t able to maintain that vision, you’ll be surprised at how things come crashing down.
Not to sound insensitive, but it's also always a little fascinating to see just how often TV shows get the basics wrong. If you’re in the mood to discover some stories that are practically begging to be hate-watched, here is a list of the 10 worst failed TV drama shows of all time.
10 ‘Viva Laughlin’ (2007)
Nicky Fontana (Hugh Jackman) singing on a stage, surrounded by women in Viva Laughlin.Image via CBS
Viva Laughlin was a musical dramedy series that tried to combine a murder mystery premise with the fun and whimsy of a musical, and clearly, that proved to be a recipe for disaster. The show featured Hugh Jackman as an executive producer and cast member and was adapted from the BBC’s Blackpool. The story followed Ripley Holden (Lloyd Owen), an ambitious businessman determined to open a high-end casino in a small gambling town. Things spiral out of control when Holden’s business partner turns up dead, and he finds himself at the center of the investigation.
Now, the premise alone holds potential, but the fact that characters kept bursting into contemporary pop songs at random moments definitely took away from the gravity of it all. The music never felt fully integrated into the story, and the show really struggled to strike a balance with its tone. Viva Laughlin failed to garner any kind of positive reception and was pulled after just two episodes, with the remaining ones never seeing the light of day. Even die-hard fans of Jackman couldn’t deny that this series almost felt like a parody of the genres it attempted to blend. Ultimately, this CBS disaster will go down in history for doing too much while also doing nothing at all.
9 ‘Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip’ (2006-2007)
studio-60-on-the-sunset-strip-sarah-paulson-socialImage via Warner Bros.
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is definitely not Aaron Sorkin’s best work. The series revolved around the behind-the-scenes drama of a live sketch comedy show on the fictional National Broadcasting System (NBS). It starred Matthew Perry as Matt Albie, a head writer, and Bradley Whitford as Danny Tripp, a producer, both of whom return to work on the show after a tumultuous departure. Amanda Peet plays Jordan McDeere, the new president of entertainment, who desperately wants to bring the show to its former glory. The show had all the makings of personal and professional drama, but despite its star-studded cast, it fizzled out after just one season.
Just like Viva Laughlin, this show struggled to balance its comedic elements with the drama. Sorkin’s trademark dialogue and intricate character development were on point, and the story definitely explored everything that goes into running a comedy show. However, the most glaring issue was that it failed to deliver actual comedy, which gave you very little reason to tune into this show-within-a-show. The very little humor that Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip did feature felt forced. The result was a narrative that felt more like a boring soap opera that dragged on for way too long than the sharp commentary of the TV industry it was initially positioned as.
8 ‘Charlie's Angels’ (2011)
Image via ABC
Charlie’s Angels was the highly anticipated reboot of the 1976 original television series of the same name, but unfortunately, it couldn’t even come close to its predecessor. The show struggled with ratings right off the bat and was canceled after only four episodes. The series followed Kate Prince (Annie Ilonzeh), Eve French (Minka Kelly), and Abby Sampson (Rachael Taylor), who work as private detectives for the mysterious Charlie Townsend (Victor Garber), as they tackle high-stakes cases in Miami. The show was meant to modernize the concept of the original, but in doing so, it stripped the premise of any substance or personality.
Charlie’s Angels failed to lean into the campy charm of the original and took itself way too seriously, which just didn’t sit well with the fans. Not to mention that the three angels felt extremely one-dimensional and lacked the kind of chemistry that a show like this requires. Instead of focusing on simple, engaging plots, the reboot attempted to add layer upon layer of complexity to its plot for absolutely no reason. All Charlie’s Angels did was remind the world that sometimes, it’s best to leave a beloved franchise untouched.
7 ‘Alcatraz’ (2012)
Rebecca Madsen (Sarah Jones) and Emerson Hauser (Sam Neill) are drenched and looking down at something in the forest in Alcatraz.Image via Fox
Alcatraz was meant to be a prestige mystery drama with a high-concept hook and a setting rooted in American mythology. The series followed homicide detective Rebecca Madsen (Sarah Jones), Alcatraz expert Diego “Doc” Soto (Jorge Garcia), and FBI agent Emerson Hauser (Sam Neill) as they tracked down former inmates and guards from Alcatraz who mysteriously vanished in 1963 and began reappearing in modern-day San Francisco without having aged a single day. These criminals, dubbed the “63s,” had no memory of where they had been but returned with powerful drives to continue the crimes they had begun decades earlier. Rebecca and Doc then find themselves in a race against time to track these individuals down while trying to undercover what really happened to them.
There’s no denying that the premise is instantly compelling. However, the show’s biggest problem was that after establishing this central mystery, the story went pretty much nowhere. For some reason, Alcatraz settled into a procedural format rather than going ahead with serialized storytelling. Every episode followed the same structure, where a former inmate would reappear, commit crimes tied to their past, and be captured by the end. The show failed to expand on the very hook that people tuned in for, and this episodic formula led to its downfall. The story also failed to fully explore Rebecca’s personal connection to Alcatraz, with her grandfather being one of the vanished inmates. Alcatraz introduces all these mysteries only to leave them unanswered. It’s no surprise that the show’s ratings steadily declined when it became clear that the narrative was never going to build toward anything concrete.
6 ‘Robyn Hood’ (2023)
Image via Global Television Network
Robyn Hood was a Canadian drama that attempted to reimagine the English folklore tale of the heroic Robin Hood. The show followed Robyn Loxley (Jessye Romeo), the masked leader of a hip-hop collective known as The Hood, alongside his crew as they fought systemic corruption in a fictional city called New Nottingham. The idea could have been interesting to explore, but the execution made sure that the show was over pretty much right after it aired. From the very first episode, the dialogue felt unnatural, and the whole thing came across as unintentionally comedic. The story was awkwardly paced, and you had no reason to stay invested in Robyn’s journey because of a major lack of character development.
What’s more is that instead of stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, the crew often engaged in destructive stunts, trespassing, and vandalism, which ruined the entire purpose of the story. Robyn Hood wanted you to root for its main character, but gave you absolutely no reason to do so. Add in the low-budget production, choppy editing, and underwhelming CGI action scenes, and you have one of the worst shows to have ever aired in recent times. The show was canceled after eight episodes, and if you ask me, that was still too late.
5 ‘Lucky 7’ (2013-2014)
Image via ABC
Lucky 7 makes you wonder who was in charge of greenlighting the pilot, because this show was ridiculous right off the bat. The story, based on the British series The Syndicate, followed seven gas station employees in Queens, New York, who routinely pooled their money to play the lottery. Things take a turn when they hit a massive jackpot against all odds. The idea of the show is to serve as a cautionary tale of how money doesn’t solve all problems. However, in doing so, the show leans into an extremely preachy territory where it starts punishing its characters without giving the audience any reason to care about them.
The pilot is an overdose of moral dilemmas and interpersonal conflict that doesn’t make any sense or land with impact, thanks to its constant flashbacks and time jumps that make everything feel extremely convoluted. The show drops major plot points into the narrative with absolutely no breathing room. It’s like the writers are trying to cross boxes off a checklist, and that makes the show borderline unwatchable. Lucky 7 featured a genuinely talented cast, featuring Summer Bishil, Lorraine Bruce, and Alexandra Castillo, but it just didn’t have the storyline to do justice to their characters.
4 ‘Manifest’ (2018-2023)
J.R. Ramirez and Melissa Roxburgh in Manifest.Image via Netflix
Manifest is yet another show that started great but got worse with time. Its premise revolves around Montego Air Flight 828, which mysteriously disappears midair and reappears five and a half years later with its passengers completely unchanged. These individuals then begin to experience eerie callings that guide them toward events that are yet to happen. For a while, it really did seem like Manifest would become a generation-defining mystery drama. However, almost immediately, the show started failing to deliver on its big promises.
The narrative started introducing a bunch of storylines involving secret government projects and shadowy conspiracies, only to brush them all under the rug. Characters would find out information that had the power to redefine everything, but episodes later, the show would act like none of this mattered. As the seasons progressed, the central mystery took a backseat to the show’s soap-opera-like subplots, and that’s when people started tuning out. Manifest hit a wall where it couldn’t really figure out its tone or the story it wanted to tell, and this constant whiplash made it impossible for anyone to stay invested.
3 ‘Supertrain’ (1979)
Steve Lawrence, Char Fontane and Don Meredith in the short-lived NBC show, Supertrain. Image via NBC
Supertrain stands as one of the infamous examples of what happens when writers decide to prioritize spectacle over storytelling. The show was NBC’s attempt at giving the audience a futuristic TV experience, and in the beginning, it did show a lot of promise. The story takes place inside a nuclear-powered luxury train that can cross the U.S. at impossible speeds. This vessel has everything from swimming pools to shopping plazas, restaurants, and even a disco. Ideally, all of this would make it a pulp, fun, sci-fi fantasy series. Unfortunately, Supertrain took its setting so seriously that it forgot to focus on just about anything else.
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2 ‘The Idol’ (2023)
The Idol Episode 4Image via HBO
The Idol was supposed to be this tastefully provocative collaboration between Euphoria creator Sam Levinson and Abel Tesfaye, also known as The Weeknd, that exposed the pressures of fame in the music industry. However, the show did everything but that. The story followed Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp), a chart-topping singer whose career is at risk after a very public meltdown. However, just as she’s getting back in the game again, she meets the manipulative nightclub owner Tedros (Tesfaye), who presents himself as a spiritual guide. The Idol had all the makings of a show that could explore power, exploitation, and identity in the world of entertainment.
It’s extremely unfortunate that the show completely abandoned those themes to focus on aestheticized misery, humiliation, and shock value. Jocelyn has to be the most passive protagonist you will ever see. Depp was fully committed to the role, but she had very little to work with as her character was often sidelined and reduced to nothing but a hot mess. Tedros’s character was meant to come across as sleazy and unsettling, but Tesfaye’s awkward, exaggerated performance completely ruined that entire idea. It’s no wonder that The Idol was canceled after Season 1 because of controversy alone can’t carry a show for too long.
1 ‘Inhumans’ (2017)
The Inhumans posing together and looking directly at the camera in the ABC show 'Inhumans'.Image via ABC
Marvel’s Inhumans might just be one of the studio’s most shocking fumbles because to this day, I don’t know why it went so wrong. The show was positioned as an offshoot of the Marvel universe and followed the royal inhuman family of Attilan, whose lives come crashing down their their king, Black Bolt (Anson Mount), is overthrown by his evil brother Maximus (Iwan Rheon). This sets the ground for a mythical family drama about betrayal and power. Unfortunately, the show did absolutely nothing with that strong foundation. The idea of retaining Black Bolt’s inability to speak did justice to the comic, but the show could never figure out how to use silence as a storytelling tool.
Both the protagonist and antagonist came across as one-dimensional because it was evident that the show had no clear vision for their arcs. Inhumans featured an impressive ensemble, including Serinda Swan, Ken Leung, and Eme Ikwuakor, but their characters weren’t given any personality traits of their own. Not to mention the show’s terrible CGI that took away from whatever little story there was to get invested in. Inhumans was cancelled after just one season and stands as one of Marvel’s biggest failures of all time.
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