The Worst TV Shows Of 2022
Fear the Rings of Obi-She-Hulk.
Nuclear zombies. Magical volcanoes. Jedi Masters who act like puzzled old buffoons. 2022 was a year where anything and everything was possible, including some wildly bad TV shows.
To be fair, 2022 was also a year of really, really, ridiculously good TV shows—like most years, it was a mixed bag. But before we get to the ones I loved, let’s take a walk down a different memory lane.
Obviously I didn’t watch every terrible show that aired or streamed in 2022. In fact, I probably missed a bunch—including bad reality TV which I simply don’t watch. I’m also leaving The Terminal List off my list, not because it was a great show but because it was such a remarkable improvement on the truly horrible book upon which it was adapted. It’s one of the few TV show book adaptations that really improves on the source material in just about every way—unlike some of the shows I list below.
Alright. Without further adieu, here are the worst shows of 2022, beginning with . . . .
8. The Witcher: Blood Origin
Somehow, the prequel to Henry Cavill’s The Witcher has managed to become the worst-reviewed show on Netflix by both critics and audiences. We often see a gap between reviewers and viewers but here, both are in agreement: The Witcher: Blood Origin is a total disaster and a puzzling addition to the Netflix Witcher-verse that’s at once boring and muddles the lore. Critics seemed unwilling to even give points for diversity this time around.
(Review forthcoming).
7. The Walking Dead
While not as bad as some earlier seasons of the show, the 11th and final season of The Walking Dead was largely a disappointment. The Commonwealth ended up being mostly boring. The 24-episode season was slow and dragged on for ages, with tons of filler and a lackluster conclusion. While the season finale had a few good moments, The Walking Dead ended much how I predicted it would: With a whimper, not a bang.
Read More: Here’s my series finale review of The Walking Dead.
6. The Book Of Boba Fett
I was so hyped for this show when it was first teased as a secret ending in The Mandalorian’s second season finale. How wrong I was! Boba Fett is one of the most mysterious Star Wars villains; in the Disney+ show he’s as far from mysterious as you can get. He’s also not a villain, or even an anti-hero. He’s just . . . a middle-aged good guy who can’t do crime very well. The show picked up considerably when Mando arrived, but still left a sour taste in my mouth.
Read More: Here’s my season finale review of The Book Of Boba Fett.
5. Obi-Wan Kenobi
Speaking of crushing disappointment, Obi-Wan Kenobi ended up being a massive letdown. Ewan McGregor remains my favorite part about the prequel trilogy (which I consider appalling in most every other way) and he deserved a show that was actually about the character Obi-Wan Kenobi. Instead, the Jedi Master was upstaged at every turn by various other characters and—worse—a truly execrable script. Bad fan-service, a predictable story, cheap production values. How did Lucasfilm let this happen to one of Star Wars’ most beloved characters?
Read More: Obi-Wan Kenobi Makes A Showdown With Darth Vader Boring
4. She-Hulk
This one just tried too hard to message. The Message wasn’t just hinted at here, but bashed over our heads with a sledgehammer and an angry She-Hulk who mostly spends her time bemoaning the pitfalls of dating (and men, who are universally terrible apparently). Look, I get that there are sexist trolls out there. You respond to them by creating good TV, not by trying to counter-troll. I have zero empathy for Disney and Marvel here. These are massive corporations trying to poke their massive corporate thumbs in viewers’ eyes and it just comes off as childish. There were certainly a few fun moments in She-Hulk but it was too pretentious and not nearly funny enough.
Watch: Here’s my video review of She-Hulk.
3. Willow
I was disappointed by Obi-Wan Kenobi. I am entirely devastated by Willow, one of the most exciting shows in recent memory. I’ve wanted a sequel to Willow since I was a kid (that wasn’t a Zelda-clone or that trilogy of weird fantasy novels). When I heard that a series was being made I was thrilled. I did not expect it to be a teen drama that would fit better on the CW, replete with cringey romance and some of the worst dialogue on TV. Modern-ish dialogue works in fantasy shows and movies (hell, Willow had some back in 1988!) but here it’s just bad. Christian Slater and Boorman have been the only bright lights in an otherwise truly abysmal fantasy show. I want to rinse my brain out with soap.
Read More: The Willow TV Series Is An Abomination
2. The Rings Of Power
The Rings Of Power was a show I didn’t have many expectations for at all. At first, I really enjoyed it—mainly thanks to the production values and excitement at returning to Middle-earth. Quickly, however, I realized just what a massive misfire Amazon’s ‘adaptation’ of Tolkien’s Second Age really was. Beyond the entirely unnecessary changes to the timeline and lore, the show suffered from lousy pacing, insipid dialogue and poor direction—unsurprising given the showrunners’ total lack of experience. How odd to place a pair of complete newcomers in charge of the most expensive series ever made!
Read More: Here’s my Rings Of Power season 1 finale review.
1. Fear The Walking Dead
As bad as The Rings Of Power’s debut season was, nothing can compare to the sheer atrocity that is Fear The Walking Dead. In its seventh season, the zombie spinoff series continued to jump the shark in ways previously unimaginable. After a Season 6 finale that left Texas a nuclear wasteland, the story turned into a bizarre competition over a lone office building that had miraculously withstood the blast. This radiation-free haven became the nexus of a conflict so vapid it beggars belief. Why Kim Dickens—who played the central series protagonist through Season 3—chose to return to this dumpster fire remains a mystery. Nothing compares to the awfulness that is Fear The Walking Dead.
Read More: Here’s my Fear The Walking Dead season 7 finale review.
Thanks for reading and subscribing! One of my 2023 New Year’s Resolutions is to publish more content on diabolical. 2022 was kind of a messed up year for me, but I’m turning a new leaf damnit!
I know I’m in the minority but I actually enjoyed the Book of Boba Fett in a sort of cheesy, entertaining way…my only qualm is that I liked the mystery of Fett’s fate and I thought the reveal in the Mandalorian was anticlimactic. Maybe it would have been better as a compressed Star Wars Visions type tale or something.
I have a feeling that a bunch of more talented people turned down the chance to run The Rings of Power. The fact that it’s based on an appendix and they can’t flesh it out with anything from the Silmarillion (since they don’t have the rights to it) make me feel like it would be really hard for anyone to make it work.