The Worst New TV Shows of 2022

– December 15, 2022

What were the biggest television duds of the past year? In the gallery on this page we rank the lowest-scoring first-year primetime TV series (including limited series and specials) debuting in the United States between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022. Shows are ranked by Metascore (an average of grades from top professional critics on a 0-100 scale) prior to rounding based on scores from December 13, 2022 and must have at least 4 reviews from professional critics to qualify.

4 of 11 photo by Freeform/Adeline Lulo

44 #7: The Come Up (Freeform)

Freeform's September reality series follows six young creative professionals (in fields such as fashion, photography, and acting) living in New York. Is it the next Real World? Not exactly. For one thing, critics were bored by the series. And in an era when so many people are already streaming their lives, it may be hard to turn that into compelling TV content. The Daily Beast's Adam Manno, for one, notes that having "a cast that’s self-aware in that Young Millennial/Gen Z way ... sucks all the fun out of being young and hot."

“The experiment yields a weirdly empty, inert show with little insight to offer into youth culture today.” —Judy Berman, Time

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