The 5 Worst TV Shows of 2022

The past year has seen plenty of great TV shows – House of the Dragon, The Old Man, Severance – but it’s also had its fair share of stinkers.

Here’s a look at five of the worst shows of 2022.

“The Time Traveler’s Wife,” HBO

From the start, this show was a confusing idea that begged the question, “Who is this for?” It’s based on a book that was a hit in 2003, so those fans have long since moved on. It was also made into a film (starring Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams) in 2009, so additional footage was not required.

But for some reason, HBO released a new version starring Theo James and Rose Leslie, who had no chemistry — while wearing ridiculously bad old-people makeup to make them look older in certain scenes.

“How We Roll,” CBS

This CBS sitcom starring Pete Holmes wasn’t offensively bad, but it felt like a relic from a TV era that ended at least a decade ago, like something that would have aired after “King of Queens.” It followed a Midwestern (Homes) father and husband who was fired from his job at an auto factory and decided to pursue his dream of becoming a professional bowler to support his family. Full of mild jokes and cliches, it’s a series that might have stuck in the days before there were hundreds of TV shows to choose from. It’s no surprise that it was scrapped after one season.

“The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On”, Netflix

On the surface, this show wasn’t much different than a bunch of other sadistic dating reality shows on the frontier. In it, long-term couples broke up, mingled with each other, then decided whether to get back together and pop the question to their original partner, or move on with someone else. But what made this series confusing was that most of the couples were under the age of 30. Why are you giving each other ultimatums to get married soon and have kids when you’re 23? It made no sense. It would have been more effective with a cast a decade older.

“Monarch”, fox

Set in the world of country music, this star-studded series follows a fictional family that rules the industry: patriarch Albie Roman (Trace Adkins), matriarch Dottie (Susan Sarandon), son of her music manager Luke (Joshua Sasse) and his Singer sisters Nicky (Anna Friel) and Gigi (Beth Ditto). It had potential but was weighed down by over-the-top melodrama, clunky dialogue, and musical numbers that felt less like watching “Empire” or “Glee” and more like a round of karaoke at a midtown bar.

“The Endgame,” NBC

There’s always a certain inevitability with a series that falls midseason — wasn’t it good enough to make the fall cut? Case in point: The Endgame, which featured a strong cast – Ryan Michelle Bathè and Morena Baccarin – but absolutely nothing else in its paint-by-numbers format and a plot that went nowhere… fast.

Honorable Mention: “Chrisley Knows Best”, USA

I could never quite understand the appeal of this bland, borderline-creepy reality series. But now that Todd and Julie Chrisley are going to slammer, it’s a moot point. Goodbye forever.