10 Once Great TV Shows That Became Laughing Stocks

If you're a TV fan, you've probably found yourself reluctantly sitting down to watch an episode of the god-knows-which season of your favourite show and thinking 'Man, remember how great this was when it started?'. If that sounds like you, then just know you're not the only one to think that, and your once-favourite TV show is far from the only one to become a shadow of its former self.

The truth is that countless TV series have suffered a decline in standard over the years, falling so far from the grace that once carried them to greatness that you're forced to question why their even on the air any more. And it's not just going on too long that can cause something like this because, for many, it happens overnight.

Poor creative decisions, refusal to quit for better or worse or an ending that just wasn't worth those years of emotional investment, history has shown us that no TV series is exempt from churning out terrible content - and there comes a point where even the passionate viewers realise that their favourite show is no longer the masterpiece it once was.

With that in mind, let's take a look at some TV titans that became parodies of themselves by making these very mistakes.

The pinnacle of all-things zombie-related, The Walking Dead turned a concept that had dominated the horror film genre for years into a fully-functioning TV show complete with rich and engaging characters just waiting to be explored and a compelling storyline that would have made fans of the comics very proud.

A titan of television, it was once a show that forced people to the edges of their seats. Now, it just forces them to ask 'Is that still on?'.

Here's the thing about The Walking Dead: In all fairness to it, it still has the potential to be good, and occasionally, it still is good - great even - but it just recycles the same old mediocre format over and over again, all while promising to do something new and exciting.

The truth is that it hit something of a lull midway through its fourth season and, in spite of recurring greatness, the moments of separation (in which very little happens) in between just weren't enough to keep fans invested.

It's far from the laughing stock that other shows on this list are, and the ninth season finally turned things around, but this is just a case of having too much of a good thing. It's been on our screens for far too long and, as a result, it's just went to the same old dried-up well too many times.