No matter how good a year in television is, there will always be some shows that miss the mark and disappoint us. Whether it was long-running series that ended terribly (True Blood, How I Met Your Mother) or new shows that failed to impress (Bad Judge, The Mysteries of Laura), 2014 was a year that had quite a few TV lows, no matter how fantastic all the highs were.
For all the great surprises we got, there were also some major letdowns. From bad series finales to sophomore slumps to some new shows that probably just should not have been made, I’ve got them all here for you (and for the record, I don’t consider some of the shows I mention to be the worst shows on TV; they may have just had off seasons). These are my biggest TV disappointments of 2014.
True Blood wastes its final season
Even though True Blood hadn’t been must-watch TV since its third season, I still had hope that the HBO vampire series could put together a decent conclusion to its seven-year run, especially since Season 6 didn’t completely suck (no pun intended). Unfortunately, most of Season 7 was a major waste (give or take an Eric and Pam moment) that ended with a terrible finale that was just as bad as another long-running show’s final episode (which, spoiler alert, will also make an appearance later on this list).
Good shows getting cancelled
Selfie, Enlisted, Trophy Wife, The Bridge: all very good shows that we’ll miss in 2015. Ratings-wise, none of them deserved another season, but I would have loved to seen where The Bridge went next in Season 3, or how Henry and Eliza’s relationship would continue to develop in Season 2 of Selfie. I’m happy we got spend some time with these characters, though, no matter how short it was.
Sleepy Hollow’s sophomore slump
Sleepy Hollow was easily one of the best new shows of 2013, and the series kept up its fun, thrilling pace as it ended its first season early in 2014. However, Season 2 of Sleepy Hollow, while not awful by any means, hasn’t been able to find the spark that Season 1 had, meaning that one of 2013’s biggest surprises has become of 2014’s biggest disappointments. Here’s hoping 2015 can bring the show back to its roots (the Ichabod and Abbie partnership) and regain what made the series so special last season. Also, more Jenny, less duplicitous Katrina, and let’s just totally get rid of Hawley. Please and thank you, Sleepy Hollow writers.
How I Met Your Mother’s horrible ending
There’s really no defending the ending of How I Met Your Mother (even though I somewhat tired to). It was a slap in the face to the show’s fans that had stuck with the series for all nine of its seasons, and it was a blatant disregard of what the show had been for the past few years. Breaking up Barney and Robin after spending so much time building them up as a couple? Killing off The Mother after we had just gotten the chance to really know and like her? Ted ending up with Robin? Yuck, yuck, and double yuck.
Justified’s murder of Crowes
Justified remains one of my all-time favorite shows, and I have no doubt that its sixth and final season, which kicks off next month on Tuesday, Jan. 20, will be a fantastic final chapter in the Kentucky crime drama’s run. However, there’s also no denying the fact that Justified Season 5 was a big disappointment for fans of the show, as the FX series introduced us to the non-threatening (and sometimes just plan stupid) Crowe family and produced what was probably its worst season yet. Now that Ava’s out of jail (ugh, that whole storyline) and all of the Crowes (minus Dewey–but we like him) are gone, it’s time to give us the final showdown that we can’t wait to see: Raylan vs. Boyd.
This fall’s awful new shows
Sure, we thankfully got The Flash, Jane the Virgin, Selfie, and How to Get Away With Murder, but we were also treated to stinkers like Manhattan Love Story, Mulaney, Bad Judge, and The Mysteries of Laura (which somehow ended up with a full season order at NBC–sigh). As good of a year for new shows as 2014 was, most of these freshman series came from cable or streaming sites, and only a select few of this year’s new network offerings really grabbed us. We don’t want to give up on network TV entirely (there’s still a lot of good stuff out there), but it’s understandable to gush over cable, Netflix, and Amazon when NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, and The CW are producing the garbage that made up most of this fall’s new shows.
What was your biggest TV disappointment this year?
Photos via HBO, FX, FOX, CBS & NBC
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