10 TV Characters Killed In Desperate Attempts To Boost Ratings

10. Glenn - The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead is one of those shows that seems to have fallen into that horrible trope of killing off a beloved character every time the ratings threaten to dip a bit too low. Special mentions go to Carl and Rick Grimes for their respective deaths (or "death" in the case of the latter), however Glenn's death at the very start of season seven was where the ratings influence really became the most apparent.

It's probably fair to say that some people were already growing tired of The Walking Dead by the time season six rolled around, with most agreeing that the show had never matched the heights of its debut season. It was still the most valuable show on AMC however, and the channel attempted to drum up the hype for its seventh season with the cliffhanger over which one the main group Negan was going to kill.

The unfortunate recipient was fan favourite Glenn Rhee, one of the few characters to have survived since the debut series. The death was almost unsettlingly bloody, and Glenn's selection was so random that it was pretty clear the show was just trying desperately to keep itself relevant by that point.