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These shows crashed harder than a streaming server on premiere night! Join us as we look at the television series from 2025 that either tanked with critics or failed to find an audience. Our countdown includes both new series and continuing shows that couldn't maintain momentum despite star power, massive budgets, or promising premises.
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00:00You're speaking English in a Spanish cadence, which is always perilous for me.
00:04Slow down, just a kiss. I can't understand you.
00:06Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at TV series from 2025 that either bombed with critics or in terms of viewership.
00:14We're including programs that premiered this year, as well as new seasons of ongoing shows.
00:18I think you are so afraid of your own potential, you self-sabotage.
00:25Number 10. The Wheel of Time, Season 3.
00:29Not every show on this list is bad.
00:31Some might even say that The Wheel of Time was among the best modern shows that not enough people watched.
00:37You're right. I will. Join me. No!
00:45That said, this adaptation of Robert Jordan's books needed a much larger following to justify its lofty production costs.
00:52When it premiered in 2021, there were high hopes that it could be another Game of Thrones.
00:56I'll go.
00:59What's wrong?
01:01I don't know if I can untangle this for us.
01:04By that point, though, Game of Thrones had been over for two years, and people were over it.
01:08Amazon nonetheless spun the wheel for three seasons, which cost around $80 to $120 million each.
01:14While the show gained a loyal fanbase, it never became a cultural phenomenon.
01:28Its time ran out this year, with Amazon cancelling the fantasy series.
01:31It's hard to get a read on the reception toward this MCU miniseries.
01:53Critic reviews were more positive than negative, but its audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is among the franchise's lowest.
01:59She built up with her own grandmoney.
02:01I did that, right?
02:02Of course, this can likely be attributed to review bombing.
02:09While Ironheart might be better than The Trolls Will Have You Think, viewership hasn't exactly reached new heights.
02:14After its first three episodes dropped, TV Time reported Ironheart was the third most streamed show of that week.
02:25Following its finale, Just Watch announced that it was that week's fifth most streamed show.
02:30Although the numbers could be worse, the fact that a Marvel show couldn't skyrocket to the top is yet another sign of how the mighty have fallen.
02:43Despite its cliffhanger ending, a second season seems doubtful.
02:46You can back up a little bit, boo.
02:49How did you do that?
02:51Do what?
02:53Number 8. The Recruit. Season 2.
02:55When The Recruit arrived on Netflix in late 2022, it accumulated over 26 million views during its first three weeks.
03:02There was little doubt that the espionage drama would get a second season, which landed in early 2025.
03:07You told me I would make money, but all they've done is vet me.
03:11I'm hanging up.
03:12Okay, but know this. If I don't start getting paid, I start spilling your secrets.
03:18Over its initial three weeks, Season 2 only gained around 15 million views.
03:22Not long after, Netflix canceled the series, although this wasn't necessarily due to a dip in quality.
03:28Let me ask you some questions.
03:30CEG's mandate is to root out traitors and moles inside the agency, yes?
03:33Yes.
03:34And yet you had no idea that Maximal Lodze had compromised a senior case officer, Xander Goy.
03:39She was skilled in deception.
03:41Is that how she slipped past your polygrapher? That's pretty shocking incompetence.
03:44Outlets like Deadline argue that Netflix made a mistake bringing back The Recruit only a couple of weeks before releasing the second season of The Night Agent,
03:51which has a similar spy theme.
03:53You'd have to kill me to stop me from going to get my wife back.
03:57I figured you would say that, but if she gives you up...
04:00She won't.
04:05It could also be that after more than two years, audiences forgot about The Recruit,
04:09and Netflix didn't put much effort into reminding them.
04:11You mind giving us a minute?
04:14Make it quick. This spot's about to be a mile underwater.
04:18Number 7. Clean Slate.
04:20Laverne Cox and George Wallace co-created a sitcom that they also starred in?
04:25And it was one of the last projects produced by the late, great Norman Lear?
04:28How come this is the first we're even hearing about it?
04:31Dad, I'm your daughter, Desiree.
04:42Desiree?
04:43The fact that we're asking these questions might explain why Clean Slate was cancelled after one season,
04:56despite strong reviews.
04:57Look at us, picking up right where we left off.
05:00After all these years.
05:02Well, it will be a process.
05:04What's gonna be a process?
05:05Perhaps not enough people knew of the show's existence,
05:07and therefore didn't watch it.
05:09There could also be more devious reasons for this.
05:12You did want it, right?
05:16Yay!
05:17Mm-hmm.
05:18With the series centering on a trans woman,
05:20some have theorized that Amazon pulled the plug for political purposes.
05:24In any case, it felt like the slate was wiped clean before the show was given a real chance.
05:28I'm not wanted anywhere.
05:30Oh, Des, Des.
05:33You are wanted.
05:34You're definitely wanted.
05:35I want you.
05:38Never said that before.
05:41Yeah, but I'm saying it now.
05:43And I'm sorry it took so long.
05:45Number 6.
05:46Et Toil.
05:47Amy Sherman Palladino and Daniel Palladino
05:50delivered one of Amazon's flagship shows with the marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
05:54It's not surprising that Amazon leapt at the opportunity to distribute their next series.
05:58Once we closed off the balconies, the house filled right up.
06:02We have to fix this.
06:04Our jobs are on the line.
06:05Before even debuting, Ettoile received a two-season order.
06:08The series revolved around two ballet companies from across the pond
06:12that trade talent to reverse their fortunes.
06:14With Mrs. Maisel alumni like Lou Kirby at the forefront,
06:17Ettoile seemed destined to land on his feet.
06:19You come in here and traumatize every male dancer in the company.
06:22Traumatized?
06:23How did I traumatize?
06:24This is the story you're telling.
06:25Although reviews sang the Palladino's praises,
06:27the series didn't spend much time in Prime Video's top 10.
06:30I would be happy to answer your questions.
06:32Madame la Vigne.
06:33With the show costing a pretty penny,
06:35Amazon reneged on the two-season pickup,
06:37giving Ettoile the vaudeville hook after one.
06:40Now might be a good time to make a new season of Gilmore Girls.
06:43This was a bad idea five years ago.
06:45It's a living worse idea now.
06:47Number 5.
06:54Pulse.
06:55In a golden age of television,
06:57medical dramas were starting to seem like relics of a bygone era.
07:00Tom, did you supervise this?
07:02No, I just go ahead.
07:04Don't know what you're thinking.
07:06Come on, you told me to jump in.
07:07Okay, Tom, just supervise.
07:09Okay, better, alright?
07:10And call me when the CT is back.
07:11With the pit becoming a smash hit for HBO, though,
07:13people found that there was still value to this genre.
07:16Around the same time the pit wrapped up its first season,
07:19Netflix released its first English-language medical procedural.
07:22This is not a referendum on your competence,
07:25or your ability to be a good chief.
07:28Pulse was no the pit, however.
07:30Reviews were middling at best,
07:31with critics feeling that the characters in certain storylines lacked,
07:35well, a pulse.
07:36God, why are you so hard on me?
07:39Because the job is hard,
07:41and it's supposed to be hard.
07:42Its viewership also showed low vital signs,
07:44falling out of the Nielsen streaming charts after just two weeks.
07:48Three months after its debut,
07:49Netflix officially called the time of death.
07:51Even if it hadn't been overshadowed by the pit,
07:54Pulse likely would have been DOA.
07:55Isn't this just gonna make everything so much harder for you?
07:59Not your concern.
08:00Just focus on being a good doctor.
08:02Number 4.
08:03The Residents.
08:04The Residents should have been a certified success for Netflix.
08:08It was produced through Shondaland,
08:10a company known for churning out hit after hit.
08:12When's the last time a dead guy showed up at the White House?
08:151952.
08:16For real?
08:17Yes.
08:17Emmy winner Uzo Aduba
08:19led an ensemble cast that included Giancarlo Esposito.
08:22With a murder mystery at its core and enthusiastic reviews,
08:25The Residents had everything it needed to ensure a second season.
08:29Everything except an audience.
08:30Oh!
08:32I want you, I'm still drunk.
08:34Upon debuting, viewership was below what some industry experts anticipated.
08:39Netflix subscribers were more drawn to adolescence,
08:41which premiered a week earlier.
08:43People seemed to catch up with The Residents over time.
08:46We don't work for the Morgans.
08:48We work for this house.
08:50And we take care of this house.
08:52At one point, it topped Nielsen's overall chart for streaming shows in the US.
08:57Apparently, this was still too little, too late.
09:00Netflix canceled the expensive whodunit a couple of months later.
09:03At some point, you go from not knowing something to knowing it, to seeing it.
09:07When is that exactly?
09:08I don't know.
09:09Number three.
09:10And Just Like That.
09:11Season three.
09:12Being a follow-up to Sex and the City,
09:14And Just Like That already had an audience that was guaranteed to watch.
09:18For the first season, at least.
09:19When he went there, I faked it.
09:23Yep, I faked phone sex.
09:25I faked real sex.
09:27Rather than appeal to its built-in fan base,
09:29and Just Like That targeted demographics that it clearly doesn't understand,
09:33in an attempt to appear more progressive,
09:35the characters we used to love ironically came off as uncomfortably behind the times
09:39and out of touch with reality.
09:41I have my checkbook, and I'd be thrilled to give the commission to my cool gallery
09:45and a girlfriend and shoveling.
09:46Yay!
09:47Oh, God, that hurt.
09:49It took another season for the poor reception to drastically impact the ratings,
09:53which fell nearly 60%.
09:54I can't believe this.
09:56It's so stupid.
09:57Viewership for season three sunk even lower,
09:59making HBO Max's announcement that it would be the revival's last a foregone conclusion.
10:04We're good, right?
10:05We're good.
10:06Okay.
10:07Number two.
10:08Suits LA.
10:09A USA Network staple for nine seasons,
10:12Suits didn't become a zeitgeist show until it came to Netflix in 2016,
10:15By then, Suits had been off the air for four years.
10:19With a renewed interest in the brand,
10:20NBC Universal naturally prioritized a spinoff.
10:23Do you trust me or not?
10:26I do.
10:27But things you said would happen haven't happened yet.
10:29Not everybody gets the toy that they want for their birthday.
10:31Airing on NBC, Suits LA moved the legal action to the other coast.
10:35The show didn't bring many familiar faces with it,
10:38at least not among the main cast.
10:40While Harvey Spector and a few others popped up in guest spots,
10:43the new characters, led by Stephen Amell's Ted Black,
10:46just didn't click with audiences.
10:48What do you think about this?
10:52I have no choice.
10:55With ratings underwhelming and network executives seeking little growth potential,
10:59Suits LA lasted one season, proving that the clothes don't make the show.
11:03It's who wears them.
11:04Are you saying what I think you're saying?
11:06I never should have cut you out in the first place.
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11:22Number 1.
11:26All's Fair
11:26Hi.
11:28You're late.
11:29Oh shit.
11:30What did I forget?
11:31Few TV launches in 2025 arrived with more noise,
11:34or collapsed more quickly than All's Fair.
11:37Marketed as Ryan Murphy's latest glossy prestige swing,
11:40and fronted by Kim Kardashian,
11:42Naomi Watts,
11:43and Glenn Close,
11:44the legal drama premiered on Hulu in early November,
11:46with every expectation of becoming a temple hit.
11:49But once the initial curiosity wore off,
11:51the bottom fell out.
11:53Grace, I know you're brokenhearted,
11:55but girl, you look damn good.
11:57Come on, gloves.
11:58Critics were brutal,
12:00calling the show flat, inert,
12:02and shockingly underwritten given its star wattage.
12:05Within days,
12:05it became clear its premiere spike,
12:07a reported 3 million viewers,
12:09within just a few days,
12:10was less a sign of strength
12:12than a testament to morbid curiosity.
12:14Well, this information is as usual.
12:17Unusable.
12:17I know the drill.
12:18Unusable in court, yes,
12:20but what we have here is knowledge.
12:23And knowledge is the key in the lock.
12:25What other shows bombed in 2025?
12:27Are there anything we missed?
12:28Be sure to let us know in the comments below.
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