5 Most Disappointing TV Shows Of 2018 (So Far)

5. Here And Now

Here And Now
HBO

Oscar winners Tim Robbins and Holly Hunter starring together in a new TV drama from Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball, marking his first TV work since he left True Blood behind after Season 5, with the weight of HBO behind it. That's surely a recipe for success, right?

It seemed so, and everything looked promising in the lead-up to Here And Now, with Ball getting back to writing a family drama but retaining some supernatural elements, with a series centring around a multicultural family and looking to tackle issues such as race and mental illness.

The show is definitely well-intentioned, but it almost has too many points that it tries to make, hoping to address a number of relevant topics that unfortunately results in a big, messy stew rather than a focused show with an important and authoritative voice. Unable to make up its mind about what it wants to be, the pot of ideas gets in the way of a clearly defined plot or actual character development, making this feel more like a series of lectures than an engaging TV show, when it had the makings of being an excellent modern family drama.

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Contributor
Contributor

NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.