The last five years in TV has seen some of the most artful and brilliantly entertaining content in the history of the medium, helping to elevate it to a greater, more cinematic level where it can readily compete with movies. That said, sometimes a show's esteem just gets blown wildly out of proportion in the frenzy of it all, and the result is that said show becomes deemed "overrated". Overrated can relate to a bad show which somehow still does well with audiences, a decent show which has had its stature unnecessarily elevated for misguided reasons, or even a great show which has suffered a backlash from the near-orgasmic praise its fanbase won't stop bestowing upon it. In all cases, hype is a real problem, because if you came to any of these shows late, there's a good chance you were left a little deflated. This article looks at a mix of shows, some completely new to the decade, others which began some time ago but reached their critical and popular mass within the last 4 or 5 years. Naturally such a subject will prove controversial with each show's fans (particularly in relation to the rabid fanbases of the more highly-rated entries), but at least give each rationale a chance before grabbing the flaming pitchfork! Without any further ado, here are the 15 most overrated TV shows of the decade...
15. Family Guy
The Show: An animated sitcom depicting the daily adventures of proud moron Peter Griffin, his wife Lois, talking dog Brian, teenage kids Chris and Meg, and perpetually-plotting evil baby son Stewie. Why It's Overrated: Back in 1999, and to an extent even when it returned from cancellation in 2005, Family Guy pretty much cornered the market on daring, adult animated comedy, rife with hilarious pop-culture references, outrageous running gags and meta-humour. It was a breath of fresh air compared to the likes of, say, The Simpsons, which had become long-stale by that point, but a decade on, the show has numerous similar rivals (some arguably better, like Bob's Burgers) and what once felt new now feels pretty rotten. The reliance on extremely lazy, over-extended gags and insanely random pop-culture references became tiresome years ago, but because the show's ratings have remained relatively consistent since its revival, it's unlikely to be cancelled in the near future. It still clearly has a legion of loyal fans, even though by now the show has zero creativity left. It's just running on fumes as Seth MacFarlane keeps building his pile of money higher and higher.