TV shows that should have quit while they were ahead

It's never nice to watch your beloved TV shows go painfully downhill.

Whether it's increasingly unbelievable plot-lines, deteriorating writing, or great characters being replaced by bland ones, the small screen is awash with examples of dramas and comedies that outstayed their welcome.

With a number of current programmes attracting such accusations, we asked members of our Screen Babble discussion group which shows should have quit while they were ahead.

'Flogging a zombie-fied horse'

Perhaps unsurprisingly, increasingly maligned post-apocalyptic saga The Walking Dead was top of our readers' lists.

"Should have killed that off about 4 years ago when it was still good," says Paul Eyles. "Talk about flogging a dead (and zombiefied) horse."

Mark Dunford wholeheartedly agrees. "Walking Dead for sure. It’s gone on at least three seasons too long.

"I find it immensely dull at times. I actually resent having to keep watching it - but am not letting it defeat me though. I will stick it out to see how it ends. Such a shame."

A popular choice for 'most declining show' (Photo: AMC)

Jumping the shark

One common complaint viewers have is that a show they really liked just stopped making sense altogether.

Or 'jumped the shark', if you will.

"Revenge should've finished after the first season," claims Jessica Russ. "It just got ridiculous."

Similar sentiments are expressed by Sue Dougall about superhero drama Heroes. "I really enjoyed the first series but then... the goodies became baddies and the story got dragged out."

Dominic Purcell and Wentworth Miller are actually back as the jail-fleeing brothers for a new series (Photo: FOX)

Joanna Butler-Savage believes that Chicago Fire "got very cheesy and daft,"; Nick Long rapidly lost interest with Dexter around season six; and as for Prison Break, Finlay Greig believes it "became more and more ludicrous" - and should have ended after just one season.

Alison Hodson's personal bugbear is another prison drama: Bad Girls. It started "great", but "became a panto drama" by the end.

Falling from grace

Some genuine pop culture phenomenons have fallen by the wayside too, it seems.

"The X-Files should have ended years before it did first time around," argues Alan Barley. "The last two seasons have been pretty bad except for a couple of episodes."

The truth is still out there - but for how much longer? (Photo: Fox)

Sci-fi favourite Babylon 5, meanwhile, suffered the opposite problem of early cancellation, says Steve Wilkins.