Unfortunately, the streaming era has resulted in an exponential increase in the number of bad TV shows compared to previous times. That was certain to happen because most television programs are, at most, passable or average, and very few succeed in becoming masterpieces. On the other hand, some shows make viewers feel anxious, let down, and even furious.
Four of these programs were given renewals, so unless there is significant behind-the-scenes retooling, they could end up back on this list later on when their streaming providers decide to release a new season. These, however, are the top ten TV series of 2023 as of right now, for this year.
10. Secret Invasion
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Secret Invasion had a promising beginning by returning to a more serious tone that has been absent from the MCU for a while, save from the awful AI-produced opening titles. The show has some pretty good moments, particularly when Ben Mendelsohn's Talos is played by Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury.
However, as we've already stated, the scope and appeal of the original material were wasted when this program was turned into a Disney+ series. Compared to The Marvels, Secret Invasion had more logic as a Captain Marvel sequel and hence ought to have been a Marvel cinematic event. Secret Invasion quickly lost steam, and Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir) was merely another paper tiger villain rather than an epic showdown between Earth's superheroes and an army of shape-shifting extraterrestrial Skrulls.
Marvel's total disregard for the events of this series is perhaps the most offensive aspect of it, even more so than the manner it ended the lives of two MCU mainstays who deserved much more. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. frequently encountered this situation, and it was alleged that the MCU Disney+ series would be different.
9. Fubar
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Reheating his old content isn't going to cut it anymore; Arnold Schwarzenegger has to be told that the 1990s are finished. Fubar doesn't completely copy the plot of Arnold Schwarzenegger's True Lies (1994 movie), in which he portrayed a super spy whose wife didn't know about his real job until she joined him in his exciting double life. This time, Emma Bartholomina Brunner (Monica Barbaro), the couple's daughter, finds out that her father is a CIA agent before she and her father find out the truth about one another. Schwarzenegger's on-screen ex-wife, Tallulah "Tally" Brunner, is mainly unaware of Luke (Schwarzenegger).
Fubar features a respectable amount of action, but even when the bad guys invade the Brunners' personal lives, the gags never seem to land and there's never a true sense of dread. This program isn't any better even if Netflix has given it a second-season renewal.
8. Fatal Attraction
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The creative team of Fatal Attraction devised a dual narrative for the past and present, allowing viewers to witness the consequences of Dan Gallagher's (Joshua Jackson) affair with Lizzie Caplan fifteen years after it occurred. This is one intriguing idea that emerged from the show's reboot. Additionally, it looks like a fantastic casting choice to have Jackson and Caplan play the main roles.
Regretfully, neither Caplan nor Jackson were able to produce even half the intensity that Glenn Close and Michael Douglas did in the 1987 original picture. If anything, Close's portrayal in the film seems less cartoonishly extravagant than Caplan's one-note take on Alex. The show makes a special effort to depict the affair's events from Alex's perspective to let viewers relate to her. However, scenes like those made the tale drag agonizingly slowly, and the show barely got by until the brutal conclusion. If not for the next series on our list, Fatal Attraction would have been the poster child for this year's failure to adapt a movie into a television series.
7. True Lies
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Training Day and Rush Hour are two examples of excellent films that CBS has previously made into forgettable TV series; nonetheless, True Lies accomplishes the unusual achievement of erasing all of the enjoyable aspects of the original film. While Steve Howey and Ginger Gonzaga are talented actors in other roles, they are not on the same level as Jamie Lee Curtis and Arnold Schwarzenegger (Halloween Ends).
Before she becomes a spy herself in the very next episode, the pilot episode blows the twist of Helen Tasker's (Gonzaga) learning that her husband, Harry (Howey), is a spy with little to no build-up. Though it could have only been advantageous, there was not even an attempt to allow the narrative to unfold. Do you recall the terrible 2010 husband-and-wife espionage series Undercovers, which was created by J.J. Abrams? That wasn't as bad as this.
6. Saint X
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The narrative, the language, and the agonizing pacing would be the murder weapons if we had to identify Saint X's killer. It's not like there wasn't any intriguing information to explore here. Alison Thomas (West Duchovny) is vacationing in the Caribbean with her parents and her younger sister Claire (Kenlee Anaya Townsend) in the 2005 flashback. And before long, Alison is brutally killed.
Claire is reintroduced in the present-day timeline when she is using her middle name, Emily (Alycia Debnam-Carey). She immediately encounters Clive "Gogo" Richardson (Josh Bonzie), one of the men who was charged with killing Alison but was later freed without facing charges. The show has too many side plots to keep viewers interested, and Emily is demanding answers from Clive that he is unable to provide.
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5. Citadel
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How this is the most costly TV program ever is the biggest enigma that Citadel never attempts to solve. That $300 million budget—where did it go? It most likely didn't go to the authors of this greatly overhyped and severely underperforming program. As master spies for a company named Citadel, Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas co-lead the series as Mason Kane and Nadia Sinh.
Alternatively, before having their memories erased, they were spies. Kane now thinks he's Kyle Conroy, a family man, while Nadia thinks she's just Charlotte Vernon, your typical restaurant manager. Years after living under false identities, Mason and Nadia are forced to confront a common foe once more. Because Prime Video was so confident Citadel would be popular, it placed many international spinoff series orders in addition to a second season order. Prime Video still hasn't fixed the pricey error.
4. That ’90s Show
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Netflix frequently repackages successful original programs with a few cast members from the original cast together with new stars. Just as Full House gave rise to Fuller House, similarly, That '70s Show gave rise to That '90s Show, a show that is so similar to the original that it seems to have been inspired by divine inspiration.
The usual stoner jokes and teenage drama that were so effective in the first series just don't seem to work as well today. The few times that the previous cast members guest star and rejoin with the full-time returning characters Red (Kurtwood Smith) and Kitty Forman (Debra Jo Rupp, still one of the greatest TV mothers ever), are the few truly happy moments on this show. Beyond them, it's tempting to recite Smith's well-known RoboCop statement, "Witches, leave!" to the next generation of children in a PG-13 manner.
3. The Idol
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The Idol has even been dubbed one of the worst TV series ever produced by some. Given that we believe it to be merely the third-worst TV show of the year, that is rather a reach. However, it demonstrates that even HBO can have a disastrous misfire. Lily-Rose Depp, the daughter of Johnny Depp, plays the role of Jocelyn, a pop singer whose personal and professional life is getting out of hand. This puts Jocelyn squarely in the path of Tedros from The Weeknd, a shady character who quickly gains complete control over Jocelyn.
HBO acted swiftly to end the show after just one season. Remarkably, the program is still available for streaming on Max.
2. Gotham Knights
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The concept of a Batman series sans Batman appears to be very popular with TV networks. Just one year after cancelling Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman's Butler, Max will even launch a Penguin series that will split out of The Batman in 2024. Both Batwoman and the 2003 TV show Birds of Prey invented explanations for Batman's escape from Gotham City. However, none of these impersonators of Batman possessed the audacity of Gotham Knights, who promptly eliminated Bruce Wayne and falsely accused his adopted son of the crime.
Bruce Wayne has a lot of surrogate sons, including Tim Drake, Jason Todd, and Dick Grayson—better known as the first three Robins—if you are familiar with Batman comics. Damian Wayne, the current comic book Robin, is Bruce's biological son. But instead of presenting Bruce with a captivating personality like his predecessors did, the creators of Gotham Knights chose to present Turner Hayes (Oscar Morgan), Bruce's new adoptive son.
1. Velma
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We may have witnessed the most vile reboot in history with Velma. It appears as though those who made this program utterly detest Scooby-Doo. Although this isn't the first time these characters have been placed in mature settings, Velma showed less regard for Scooby-Doo and his friends than Robot Chicken and Harvey Birdman did. The writing is quite clumsy, the humour on this program is bland, and none of the characters in this series are authentic to their original roles.
Sadly, Mindy Kaling chose to play Velma because she had previously said that she wanted to treat the character fairly. Nevertheless, as Kaling co-developed the series and contributed to its interpretation of these cartoon icons, she bears nearly exclusive responsibility for its shortcomings. When a program has such a low fan base and there aren't many people that support Velma, it speaks volumes. Max has purchased a second season of this show, which means that someone is watching it. However, Velma merits every bit of criticism. This is the worst series of 2023, and Velma is the one character that Warner Bros. Discovery should have eliminated for tax reasons.
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About the Author:
Akanksha Sinha
I'm Akanksha Sinha, an expert in writing sports blogs, news, and various articles for entertainment and more. I bring a unique flair to my work, providing insightful perspectives on the world of sports.
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