When it comes to television, fans are willing to go to bat for their favorite shows. Boasting enormous fan bases to underline their immense levels of popularity and success, television plays host to a number of shows that seem to be almost universally popular, earning positive reviews from critics to complement their huge following. On paper, many of these entries seem unimpeachable in terms of their quality or prestige; everyone seems to love these shows. It’s an ironic state of affairs, given that I secretly can’t stand several of them.
It’s important to note that personal taste is extremely subjective, particularly in this case. No series can please everybody. With that being said, many entries touted as some oftelevision’s best showsappear to possess a notable flaw in one way or another, whether that be due to anirritating selection of characters, a repetitive premise, or an over-reliance on tropes.While their fans continue to sing their praises in their defense, I have yet to find myself convinced.
Despite a purported series finale in 2023,Season 4 ofTed Lassohas recently been confirmed. While this has many fans of the Apple TV standout breaking out the champagne, the news has come as a somewhat bitter blow to this writer. While an excellent first season of the Jason Sudeikis-led sports comedy-drama promised great things, an infectiously upbeat vibe can only carry you so far.
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These ten secondary Ted Lasso characters deserve more time to develop complete arcs in Apple TV+’s upcoming season 4 of the football sitcom.
Once Sudeikis' unabashedly earnest crowdpleaser is done breaking down your walls of skepticism in the first season,there’s unfortunately nowhere forTed Lassoto go that it hasn’t gone before. This means that every subsequent episode steadily declines in quality and engagement. It’s at that point where the show’s over-reliance on virtually every sporting cliché in the book becomes painfully apparent, meaning that what once came across as heartwarming now feels inescapably contrived.
One of the most successful andlongest-running sitcomsof all time, few shows have ever drawn the ire of this writer quite likeThe Big Bang Theory. Not only did Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady’s brainchild feature some of the most unlikable characters in sitcom history, but it ran for 12 seasons, meaning that this show and its re-runs have been a constant presence on television for the better part of two decades.
The Big Bang Theory holds a rating of 8.1 on IMDb.
On a more serious note,The Big Bang Theory’smost lamentable shortcomingis the fact that this purported tribute to nerd culture often ends up going against everything it allegedly stands for. It reduces the very characters that it’s supposed to represent to an array of clichéd stereotypes. In a further bitter twist of irony, the show’s laugh track is one of its most grating aspects but actually feels like a necessity as proceedings continue to run out of steam; a desperate final ploy to convince audiences that what they are watching is actually funny.
Led by Will Arnett as the eponymous anthropomorphic horse,BoJack Horseman’sexcellence has never been in doubt, earning highly positive reviews across six seasons to rubber-stamp its status as one of thebest sitcoms of all time. Raphael Bob-Waksberg’s animated series is irreproachable, but the reason that I can’t stand watching it to this day, is just how unashamedly heartbreaking the tragicomedy is, landing with the most devastating emotional heft that a cartoon has conceivably ever elicited.
While the manner in which the show handles fraught subject matter in the vein of addiction and mental illness is notably commendable,BoJack Horsemanhas always proved to be too consistently upsetting for any legitimate long-term enjoyment. The writing is incredible but the show is so unflinchingly realistic in its depiction of real life’s harrowing pitfalls that there are never any happy endings for its characters, leaving viewers feeling empty and lacking in closure from start to finish.
Depicting the rise and fall of Pablo Escobar’s drug empire,Narcosearned highly positive reviews from critics across three seasons, with the show’s success even leading to the spin-off entry,Narcos: Mexico. It’s a remarkable state of affairs, given that it’s arguably one of the least compelling crime dramas ever put to screen. Bogged down by pacing issues and incessant narration,Narco’slack of emotional depth was only amplified by the deeply unsympathetic nature of its central characters.
Narcos seasons by year
79%
92%
Season 3 (2017)
96%
While Wagner Moura produced an incredible leading performance during his two seasons as Pablo Escobar,Narcosdelighted in introducing their audience to a seemingly endless stream of supporting facesthat they had already forgotten thirty seconds later. Leaning heavily on supremely graphic violence and the glamorization of criminality,Narcoswas a dreary mess long before the departure of Moura and Boyd Holbrook’s colorful Steve Murphy removed any semblance of entertainment from the third season onwards.
Depicting the weekly supper of a middle-class Jewish family in North London,Friday Night Dinnerproved to be something of a cultural staple in Britain, with Mark Heap’s Jim and his dog Wilson still forming the basis of many Halloween costumes to this day. Unfortunately, despite the show’s widespread popularity in the UK, Robert Popper’s sitcom has always been one of those shows that never hit home with me, despite some legitimately hilarious material in patches.
After you’ve seen a pair of fully grown adult brothers play cringe-worthy practical jokes on one another, heard Martin shout “sh*t on it!”, or witnessed Jim and Wilson show up at the front door unannounced once, you’ve basically seen every single episode ofFriday Night Dinnerever made.
The show’s repetitive nature and predictability could be forgiven if it was a bit funnier, but the material is just so unvaried thatFriday Night Dinnerends up feeling more played-out with every subsequent episode. After you’ve seen a pair of fully grown adult brothers play cringe-worthy practical jokes on one another, heard Martin shout “sh*t on it!”, or witnessed Jim and Wilson show up at the front door unannounced once, you’ve basically seen every single episode ofFriday Night Dinnerever made.
Chronicling a widower’s life in the aftermath of his wife’s death, the Ricky Gervais-led tragicomedyAfter Lifeis spoken of in such effusive terms by many fansof the show that one would think the comedian had produced an offering to trumpThe Office. In reality,After Life’ssteadily declining critical reviews across three seasons pointed towards being a show that was more of a vehicle for Gervais rather than the soul-searching black comedy it aspired to be.
One of themost overrated sitcoms of the last ten years,After Lifeis supposed to be a witty, self-aware comedy, and yet the show’s sense of humor can be summarized by its most widely quoted piece of dialogue: Gervais using an unprintable obscenity towards a child who calls him a sex offender. The show undoubtedly has some excellent redeeming factors, with an unexpectedly moving side to Gervais' performance chief among them, but everything else is so relentlessly bleak or crude that it’s hard to see why anybody considers this essential viewing.
As part of a generation who grew up watching reruns ofFriends, the notion that the beloved sitcom was anything other than gold-standard television was once absolutely unthinkable. However, fast-forward to this time of writing, and it’s easy to see why many people can’t stand this once universally popular outing. A number of harsh realities swiftly become apparent fromFriends’very first season onward, a state of affairs that unfortunately persists for the remainder of a run that lasted a decade.
Friends retains a stellar rating of 8.9 on IMDb.
Laugh track aside, a large portion ofFriendsis actually incredibly funny and well-written television, with the late,great Matthew Perryalso breathing life into one of the greatest sitcom characters of all time in Chandler Bing. Unfortunately, this is outweighed by the laugh track and a larger section of the show that makes for uncomfortable viewing as of 2025, from the male characters' treatment of women to its archaic attitude towards narratives like a male nanny or a lesbian marriage.
StarringGossip Girl’sPenn Badgley as the obsessive serial killer, Joe Goldberg, the psychological thriller seriesYouwill conclude with Season 5when it is released later this month. While it’s always been one of Netflix’s most popular shows, the series' conclusion is a merciful state of affairs from this writer’s perspective, given whatYouarguably is at its core; hypersexualized, trashy television masquerading as a stylish drama.
…Youhas always been one of television’s most overrated series, unashamedly recycling the same tropes from season to season.
Not withstanding the fact that the show literally romanticizes generally despicable behavior towards women,Youhas always been one of television’s most overrated series, unashamedly recycling the same tropes from season to season. Despite some redeeming instances of excellent black comedy, the show is most notable for its abundance of plot holes, repetitive narrative devices, and general implausibilities, overly relying on the presence of a charismatic leading man to gloss over its more obvious shortcomings.
Based on Andzrej Sapowski’s novel series of the same name,The Witcherhas staked its claim as one of television’s most prominent fantasy dramas. Led byHenry Cavill’s famed monster-hunter, Geralt of Rivia, the well-received show looks virtually unimpeachable in terms of quality on paper. However, the stark reality that swiftly became apparent on watching the first season, is that the series can’t begin to hold a candle to fantasy titans likeThe Lord of the RingsorGame of Thrones.
The Witcherseasons by year
68%
95%
Season 3 (2023)
From a meandering, poorly paced story that notably deviates from Sapowski’s canon to some of the genre’s worst dialogue and most thinly developed characters,The Witcherpales across the board in comparison to its peers. Cavill’s unquestionable star power is contentiously the show’s only majorly redeeming aspect, begging the question as to whyThe Witcheris primed to continue without him. Later seasons have proved to be a marginal improvement, but the reason as to why this one remains such a fan favorite eludes me.
One of the most beloved sitcoms that England has to offer,Gavin & Staceychronicles the life and times of the titular couple and their respective friends and families. A constant presence around the holiday season courtesy of three Christmas special episodes before concluding in 2024, the show is somewhat of a British institution. Regrettably, this has always proved to be an unfortunate state of affairs from my perspective, given that I have secretly never been able to stand this fan-favorite comedy.
Gavin & Stacey: The Main Characters, Ranked By Likability
The popular British comedy, Gavin & Stacey was a huge hit with fans, but some characters proved themselves to be more likable than others.
The show’s reputation as one of thebest British sitcomsever made has always seemed questionable, given that it’s notably low on legitimate laugh-out-loud moments across three seasons. Supporting characters like Rob Brydon’s Brynn or Alison Steadman’s Pam are frequently touted as “iconic,” but frequently come across more as loud and irritating, while the eponymous duo are arguably as uncompelling a romantic pairing as comedy television has ever witnessed.
