The Worst New TV Shows of 2021

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – December 24, 2021

What were the biggest television duds of the past year? Above are the lowest-scoring first-year primetime TV series (including limited series and specials) debuting in the United States between January 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021. 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 21, 2021, and must have at least 4 reviews from professional critics to qualify.

6 of 11 photo by CALEB ALVARADO/NETFLIX

40 #5: Coming Out Colton (Netflix)

Netflix's just-launched reality series follows football player turned The Bachelor star Colton Underwood as he meets with friends and family during his coming-out process (which he made public in April of this year during a TV interview). What could have been an important or inspiring series is instead a lackluster and contrived experience, hampered both by Underwood's "lack of charisma" on screen and the baggage of an off-screen scandal in which he was accused of stalking his one-time Bachelor partner Cassie Randolph.

“Somber music and carefully-shot interviews might evoke the look of a documentary, but there’s little substance to be found. ... It's impossible to shake the impression that all of this is part of a broader publicity campaign designed to relegate what happened with Randolph to the past and protect Underwood’s place in the spotlight.” —Laura Bradley, Daily Beast

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