10 Biggest Missed Opportunities In TV History

7. Killing Shane Too Early - The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead
AMC

The Walking Dead truly didn't know what it had with its early antagonist Shane Walsh, played with gruff delight by the ever-brilliant Jon Bernthal.

Shane was a terrific foil for protagonist Rick (Andrew Lincoln), and so his death in season two's penultimate episode left many fans hugely disappointed, leaving a giant void of personality and overall screen presence in his wake.

While it's fair to say that Shane died much earlier than this in the comics, given that the show has deviated significantly from the source material on numerous occasions, would it have killed the showrunners to keep Shane around for a little longer at least?

The show could've slow-bled the increasing tension between Shane and Rick for at least another season before bringing it to the boil. If nothing else, seeing Shane's descent into madness continue for another batch of episodes would've made for compulsive viewing.

Given how long-tenured some of the series' more notable villains have been - namely Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) - it's a crying shame that Shane got taken off the chess board so soon.

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Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.