10 Worst TV Shows To Launch This Decade

4. Under The Dome

Brian K. Vaughan, a former Lost writer and the mind behind comic hits such as Y: The Last Man, was a good choice to turn Stephen King's doorstep novel into a show. With the added bonus of King on-board to write the pilot, and a successful Super Bowl teaser ad to follow, CBS and all involved had high hopes for Under The Dome.

In a way, the show was a hit - for a while, that is. But while the pilot was strong - a keystone moment in television during 2013 was the moment the show's titular dome comes crashing down on the town of Chester's Mill, cutting buildings and cows in half - the story was kind of contrived. In King's novel, the dome encloses the town for around a week, creating a tense, taut story which is certainly something, seeing the length of the book. But Vaughan and co plumped to have the dome over the town for months instead, giving them room to run wild with the premise.

What transpired was a show full of confrontation and some decent portrayals of King's characters, but lacked any real direction. Vaughan hoped to tell his story in five seasons, but NBC gave him just over half, pulling the plug on the show after three. CBS, please stop.

Contributor
Contributor

Shaun is a former contributor for a number of Future Publishing titles and more recently worked as a staffer at Imagine Publishing. He can now be found banking in the daytime and writing a variety of articles for What Culture, namely around his favourite topics of film, retro gaming, music, TV and, when he's feeling clever, literature.