10 Great TV Shows That Went Downhill (And Then Redeemed Themselves)

4. The Walking Dead (2010 - Present)

You'll probably remember when first season of The Walking Dead aired and the world went collectively barmy over it. It was declared to be pretty much the best thing on television: scary, brilliantly-acted and totally unlike anything else.

High praise for the show, based on the comic book series of the same name, continued as it entered its less confident but still gripping second season, before things started to crumble partway through the third season and most definitely in the fourth. Whilst the third season rendered most of the characters unsympathetic and inconsistent (and made Andrea into a main character - why?), the fourth proved a messy and jumbled affair.

The Walking Dead has been long criticized over its lack of direction and snail-like pacing, and season four came to define said criticism in full force. After the highs of the first two seasons, the show felt like it had moved away from its roots to a frustrating extent.

Season five injected new life into The Walking Dead, however - a sense of added direction helped to realign the show and its characters, throwing in an escape and rescue plot that really kicked ass. Season 6 kicked things up another notch, with a great run full of action, drama, and intensity (right up until those final 30 seconds, anyway...). Now, the show isn't as close to being anywhere near as confident and - quite frankly - enjoyable as it was in those early years, but given the polarising nature of season four, The Walking Dead clearly found a way to get back on track.