- 2 days ago
From fantasy flops to Marvel's struggles, these shows missed the mark. Join us as we count down our picks for the TV series that tanked with critics or viewers in 2025! Whether they suffered from high costs, declining viewership, or just poor timing, these programs couldn't capture the audience they needed to survive.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
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.
01:40It'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?
02:05Of 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.
02:36Although 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.
02:54The Recruit.
02:55Season 2.
02:56When 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.
03:14If 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?
03:43That's pretty shocking incompetence.
03:44Outlets like Deadline argue that Netflix had made a mistake bringing back The Recruit only a couple of weeks before releasing the second season of The Night Agent, which 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, and Netflix didn't put much effort into reminding them.
04:11You mind giving us a minute?
04:14Make it quick.
04:15This spot's about to be a mile underwater.
04:17Number 7.
04:19Clean 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?
04:43No, no, no, no.
04:44No, it's Desiree.
04:48I've always been Desiree.
04:51The fact that we're asking these questions might explain why Clean Slate was cancelled after one season, despite 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, and therefore didn't watch it.
05:09There could also be more devious reasons for this.
05:12You did want it, right?
05:13There.
05:16There.
05:18With the series centering on a trans woman, some 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 delivered 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 that trade talent to reverse their fortunes.
06:14With Mrs. Maisel alumni like Lou Kirby at the forefront, Ettoile seemed destined to land on his feet.
06:19You come in here and traumatize every male dancer in the company.
06:22Traumatize?
06:23How did I traumatize?
06:24This is the story you're telling.
06:25Although reviews sang the Palladino's praises, the series didn't spend much time in Prime Video's top 10.
06:32With the show costing a pretty penny, Amazon reneged on the two-season pickup, giving 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 an even worse idea now.
06:49Number 5. The Baldwins.
06:55Throughout the past few years, the accidental death that occurred on the set of the film Rust has loomed over Alec Baldwin's career.
07:02This has been just surreal. I mean, I can't even believe that we're going through this.
07:06With the charges against him eventually being dropped, Baldwin needed a comeback project that could restore good faith.
07:12This TLC reality series was the wrong vehicle.
07:14I'm just trying really hard to have time with them individually.
07:19It's time that they can't get back.
07:21We get the sense that the show was meant to humanize Baldwin and his family.
07:25Considering the tragedy that's still fresh in the public eye, though, the whole idea came off as tone-deaf and exploitative.
07:31I don't know. When did you go to prom?
07:32Prom was in 76, okay?
07:3676.
07:37Yeah.
07:37I was still eight years away.
07:42Your parents were in college.
07:43You can't even call it profitable exploitation, as ratings haven't been up to TLC's usual standards.
07:49Along with the Rust trial controversy, Hilaria Baldwin has only brought the show more baggage, with her Spanish accent scandal resurfacing.
07:56It just happens.
07:57It just happens.
07:58You know what it's called?
07:59What?
07:59Code switching.
08:00Number 4. Pulse.
08:02In a golden age of television, medical dramas were starting to seem like relics of a bygone era.
08:07Tom, did you supervise this?
08:09No, I just go ahead.
08:11Don't know what you're thinking.
08:13Come on, you told me to jump in.
08:15Okay, Tom, just supervise.
08:16Okay, better, alright?
08:17And call me when the CT's back.
08:18With The Pit becoming a smash hit for HBO, though, people found that there was still value to this genre.
08:24Around the same time The Pit wrapped up its first season, Netflix released its first English-language medical procedural.
08:29This is not a referendum on your competence, or your ability to be a good chief.
08:35Pulse was no The Pit, however.
08:37Reviews were middling at best, with critics feeling that the characters in certain storylines lacked, well, a pulse.
08:44Why are you so hard on me?
08:46Because the job is hard, and it's supposed to be hard.
08:49Its viewership also showed low vital signs, falling out of the Nielsen streaming charts after just two weeks.
08:55Three months after its debut, Netflix officially called the time of death.
08:58Even if it hadn't been overshadowed by The Pit, Pulse likely would have been DOA.
09:03Isn't this just gonna make everything so much harder for you?
09:07Not your concern.
09:08Just focus on being a good doctor.
09:09Number three, The Residents.
09:12The Residents should have been a certified success for Netflix.
09:15It was produced through Shondaland, a company known for churning out hit after hit.
09:20When's the last time a dead guy showed up at the White House?
09:221952.
09:24For real?
09:24Yes.
09:25Emmy winner Uzo Aduba led an ensemble cast that included Giancarlo Esposito.
09:29With a murder mystery at its core and enthusiastic reviews, The Residents had everything it needed to ensure a second season.
09:36Everything except an audience.
09:38Oh!
09:39I want you, I'm still drunk.
09:42Upon debuting, viewership was below what some industry experts anticipated.
09:46Netflix subscribers were more drawn to adolescence, which premiered a week earlier.
09:50People seemed to catch up with The Residents over time.
09:53We don't work for the Morgans.
09:55We work for this house.
09:57And we take care of this house.
10:00At one point, it topped Nielsen's overall chart for streaming shows in the US.
10:04Apparently, this was still too little, too late.
10:07Netflix canceled the expensive whodunit a couple of months later.
10:10At some point you go from not knowing something to knowing it, to seeing it.
10:14When is that exactly?
10:16I don't know.
10:16Number two.
10:17And just like that, season three.
10:19Being a follow-up to Sex and the City, and just like that, already had an audience that was guaranteed to watch.
10:25For the first season, at least.
10:26When he went there, I faked it.
10:30Yep, I faked phone sex.
10:33I faked real sex.
10:34Rather than appeal to its built-in fanbase, and just like that, targeted demographics that it clearly doesn't understand.
10:40In an attempt to appear more progressive, the characters we used to love ironically came off as uncomfortably behind the times, and out of touch with reality.
10:48I have my checkbook, and I'd be thrilled to give the commission to my cool gallerina girlfriend, Charlotte.
10:53Yay!
10:54Oh, God, that hurt.
10:56It took another season for the poor reception to drastically impact the ratings, which fell nearly 60%.
11:01I can't believe this.
11:03It's so stupid.
11:04Viewership for season three has sunk even lower, suggesting that the only people still watching are the most forgiving Sex and the City completionists, and those who can't just resist a cringe fest.
11:14We're good, right?
11:15We're good.
11:16Okay.
11:17Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
11:23You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
11:27If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
11:33Number 1.
11:34Suits LA
11:35A USA Network staple for nine seasons, Suits didn't become a Zeitgeist show until it came to Netflix in 2023.
11:41By then, Suits had been off the air for four years.
11:45With a renewed interest in the brand, NBCUniversal naturally prioritized a spinoff.
11:50Do you trust me or not?
11:52I do.
11:53But things you said would happen haven't happened yet.
11:55Not everybody gets the toy that they want for their birthday.
11:57Airing on NBC, Suits LA moved the legal action to the other coast.
12:02The show didn't bring many familiar faces with it, at least not among the main cast.
12:06While Harvey Specter and a few others popped up in guest spots, the new characters, led by Stephen Amell's Ted Black, just didn't click with audiences.
12:14What do you think about this?
12:18I have no choice.
12:21With ratings underwhelming and network executives seeking little growth potential, Suits LA lasted one season, proving that the clothes don't make the show.
12:30It's who wears them.
12:31Are you saying what I think you're saying?
12:33I never should have cut you out in the first place.
12:34What other shows bombed in 2025?
12:37Let us know in the comments.
12:38Harvey, do I need to be worried?
12:40No.
12:40No.
Recommended
28:25
|
Up next
17:42
13:15
11:06
11:08
31:33
13:57
12:01
10:27
14:01
12:14
9:31
13:03
9:47
11:45
23:29