The 2024–2025 season delivered a slew of high-caliber hits as well as a string of disappointing series. For every successful show that had us glued to the screen, there was another that failed to maintain our attention. While many series delivered compelling stories and performances that left audiences wanting more, others were stagnant, uninspired, and simply underwhelming.

Some of these series began with a compelling premise, only to fumble it as the story went on. Others were doomed from day one; panned by critics and promptly canceled. Series like Suits LA tried to clumsily capitalize on the success of their predecessor, only to fail at delivering a quality spin-off, while series like Rescue: HI-Surf were mired by formulaic story telling and shallow writing. This list includes some of the biggest disappointments of the 2024-2025 season.

8

‘Sausage Party: Foodtopia’ (2024–)

Created by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Et al.

Sausage Party: Foodtopia picks up where Sausage Party (2016) left off. After standing up to the human race in the original film, Sausage Fest: Foodtopia follows Frank (Seth Rogen), Barry (Michael Cera), Brenda (Kristen Wiig) and Sammy (Edward Norton) as they try and establish a new food society aptly named “Foodtopia”.

Sausage Party: Foodtopia clumsily tries to implement the same tired jokes of the original film. There’s an exhausting amount of puns and crude humor that loses its luster long before audiences reach the final episode. Despite an ensemble cast of phenomenal performers who do their best with undeniably uninspired material, Sausage Party: Foodtopia is a rotten series that fails to connect with audiences. Although the humor falls flat, some audiences might still enjoy the overall silliness of the series. Regardless, we can give Rogen a pass on this one given his extraordinary work on The Studio, one of Apple+TV’s best new series.

7

‘Cruel Intentions’ (2024–)

Created by Phoebe Fisher and Sarah Goodman

Cruel Intentions is a television adaptation of the popular 90s film of the same name which originally featured Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon and Sarah Michelle Gellar. It follows manipulative step-siblings Lucien Belmont (Zac Burgess) and Caroline Merteuil (Sarah Catherine Hook), who attempt to seduce the Vice President’s daughter in an attempt to maintain their social status following a hazing incident.

Cruel Intentions fails to be anything more than another failed attempt at a reboot of an old story. This is the type of mistake producers have been making for years now. Instead of pushing new, fresh stories, Hollywood keeps rehashing old ones in the hopes of a guaranteed profit. With its underwhelming performances and uninspired writing, Cruel Intentions desperately tried to capitalize on a scandalous storyline that just doesn’t resonate with contemporary audiences in the way its predecessor did. From this perspective, Cruel Intentions is no different from any of the other tired reboots we’ve seen in recent years, and given its tepid reception, it’s no wonder why the series was canceled after only one disappointing season. Despite being part of this middling series, Hook was able to make up for it with a stellar performance as a member of the unforgettably dysfunctional Ratliff family in the most recent season of Mike White‘s White Lotus.

6

‘Before’ (2024)

Created by Sarah Thorp

Before is a psychological drama thriller that tells the story of child psychiatrist Eli (Billy Crystal), who encounters a mysterious and troubled boy (Jacobi Jupe) after Eli’s wife commits suicide. As the two become acquainted and their bond deepens, Eli discovers that the boy may hold some connection to Eli’s past.

Given how undeniably phenomenal Crystal usually is, it pains me to say that this is a painfully boring series. Crystal, a typically engaging and charismatic performer, struggles to give Eli any life at all. But it’s not necessarily his fault. The somberly written character preempts any attempt at this, rendering Crystal’s endeavor futile. The sluggish pacing of Before doesn’t do the series any favors either; this protracted show meanders and stretches for far longer than it should, and its clichéd writing and repetitive storytelling undermine a potentially interesting premise. Before might’ve worked great as a film, but unfortunately this sorrowful series overstays its welcome.

5

‘Rescue: HI-Surf’ (2024)

Created by Matt Kester

Rescue: HI-Surf is an action drama series that follows the dedicated and heroic lives of lifeguards assigned to watch over the North Shore of O’ahu, Hawaii. Each episode features lifeguards saving people’s lives under the challenging and life-threatening conditions of Hawaii’s Seven Mile Miracle. Originally picked up by HBO, the series ultimately found a home on the Fox network before it was ultimately canceled following its weak first season.

Surf was definitely not up in Rescue: HI-Surf. This series was a poor attempt at a Baywatch in Hawaii that featured flat performances, underwhelming action scenes, and cheesy writing that does nothing to elevate the narrative. The best thing Rescue: HI-Surf had going for it was stunning cinematography that featured the beautiful deep blue waters of Hawaii and its surrounding landscapes. Still, jaw-dropping cinematography does not a good series; plenty of scenes in Rescue: HI-Surf would have made for an excellent screensaver though.

Rescue: HI-Surf

Release Date

September 22, 2024

Network

FOX

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  Arielle Kebbel

  Emily Wright

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4

‘Suits LA’ (2025)

Created by Aaron Korsh

Suits LA is a spinoff of Suits, a legal drama series set in New York about a successful lawyer who hires a young college dropout with photographic memory to work at his firm. In Suits LA, former federal prosecutor Ted Black (Stephen Amell) reinvents himself as a successful attorney serving a litany of powerful clients in the City of Angels. Ted and his associates navigate intersecting personal and professional challenges throughout the series.

Suits LA was an attempt at capitalizing on the success of Suits, which recently enjoyed an enormous resurgence in popularity after becoming available for streaming on Netflix. Though the series tried to replicate the magic of its predecessor, it faced a brutal mid-season slump that it was unable to recover from even with the return of beloved characters from the original series. Suits LA rushed its story and didn’t take the time to layer and define its characters in a meaningful way. The consequence of this was a series that made it challenging for audiences to connect with both the story and the characters.

Suits LA

Release Date

February 23, 2025

Network

NBC

3

‘Orphan Black: Echoes’ (2024)

Created by Anna Fishko

Orphan Black: Echoes is a science fiction thriller that takes place in 2052, thirty-seven years after the events of the original series. It follows Kira (Krysten Ritter) and her wife as they try and help an amnesiac woman. Orphan Black: Echoes was canceled after only one season.

Orphan Black: Echoes fails to capture the thrill and excitement of the original series. Despite incredible talent like Ritter and Keeley Hawes doing their best to carry the show on their shoulders, the dialogue of the series is too clichéd and unserious for anyone to save. Orphan Black: Echoes also struggled with awful pacing and poor editing. The series drags on and fails to build any excitement or momentum during its uneventful run. Ultimately, the series is little more than a soulless clone of the original. The main characters of the series assist a woman with remembering, although they might have better luck assisting audiences with forgetting the series altogether.

2

‘The Recruit’ (2022–2025)

Created by Alexi Hawley

The Recruit is a spy adventure series that follows a newly recruited CIA agent, Owen Hendricks (Noah Centineo), whose life gets flipped upside down when he encounters a European asset who threatens to expose her relationship to the agency. While The Recruit was highly praised for its first season, the second season failed to resonate with audiences.

The first season of The Recruit featured decent writing and layered characterization that paired well with the thrilling premise of the series. Instead of leaning into its strengths, the second season of The Recruit featured trite writing and a complete abandon of any realism. Respectfully, this is a television series, so it’s not unreasonable to have elements and plot points that are improbable, but The Recruit pushed this too far for audiences in its second season. For example, Owen, a recent college graduate and newly hired CIA operative who’s as green as they come, flawlessly outmaneuvers the Russian military. Really? The sloppily put-together second season ultimately failed to keep audiences on board.

The Recruit

Release Date

December 16, 2022

Network

Netflix

1

‘Universal Basic Guys’ (2024–)

Created by Adam Malamut and Craig Malamut

Universal Basic Guys is a comedy series that follows a couple of guys in Jersey who get let go from their jobs after AI robots are hired as labor. Fortunately for our heroes, they get rolled into a program that offers a “universal basic income”, giving our heroes some free disposable income to play with. Universal Basic Guys just concluded its second season and will be returning for a third season on Fox.

Universal Basic Guys has its funny moments, and its premise (given the current state of AI) feels extremely prescient. There’s also some great voice acting from the cast. But despite decent performances and legitimate social commentary, the show ultimately falls flat. The jokes are exhaustingly crass and the humor feels uncomfortably forced, and in spite of the cast of decent voice actors, the characters are simply not particularly likable. How Universal Basic Guys was renewed for another season seems to be as good a question as any, and it’s hard evidence that quality does not necessarily translate into longevity.

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