10 TV Shows That Should've Been Cancelled Sooner

A show that can be held responsible for the boom of zombie-themed media over the past decade, The Walking Dead served as a new horror classic to sink your teeth into since its release in 2010. The series constantly proved that no character’s plot armour was impenetrable, and the moral conflicts showcased by a group of survivors following the collapse of civilisation proved extremely compelling.

A premise such as this provides a perfect environment for a show to go on near-indefinitely, as characters can be removed from and integrated into the ever-evolving core cast easily. Unfortunately, this often leads to shows retreading old ground, and The Walking Dead is no exception.

Arguably starting at the end of season six, in which new villain Negan murdered fan favourite Glen Rhee in one of the most shockingly violent TV deaths ever, the show subsequently diverged from the comic source material and began to roll steadily downhill. Many characters left the show in quick succession, culminating in the departure of lead Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes in season nine. For most series, this would be the sign to call it, with your central character poignantly going out in a blaze of glory.

Only, The Walking Dead was far too popular to let it end there. Rick was disallowed a definitive end, mysteriously whisked off to fulfil a movie trilogy that as yet hasn’t materialised. This left main actors Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride and Danai Gurira to carry the show’s banner, but with the latter also leaving soon after, the show’s quality rapidly dwindled.

While the main show has finally been cancelled, with a slate of no less than six current and upcoming spin-offs announced alongside those elusive movies, this certainly isn’t the end. Pray these reinvigorate the franchise, because otherwise we’ll all keep wishing that the producers had taken their show’s own advice and put it down before it turned.