Went off the deep end long time ago. Not sure how many viewers here, still on.

The show accomplished the impossible in the first few seasons. It took the implausible premise of the zombie apocalypse and made it real. It was a slow-burn and it was riveting and chilling. The plot moved along with the characters from location to location and there was palpable danger. The actors were top notch and the story was unpredictable. There were hints that an origin story would be revealed.

Over time, it turned into a soap opera of random locations and situations. The plot became formulaic and basically "big bad/monster of the week" and was fractured along with the locations which became confusing. Some of the earlier effective big bads like the Governor and Negan were replaced by really lame ones like Alpha and the Commonwealth governor. The strong characters Rick and Michonne were shuffled away for unsatisfactory reasons and replaced by weaker characters. The origin story was closeted, never to be heard from again. Plot armor lowered the perceived danger level.

I toughed it out for 11 seasons, hoping for the return to form which never came.

The episodes just became rinse/repeat.
Totally formulaic and all of the tension evaporated.
Plus… the inevitable question of just how many hours of zombies does one need in their lives when they have MAGA neighbors?
Just asking.

Where's the escapism in a show about a freaking pandemic?

That was just bad luck on their part. If the show was bolder, they could have eliminated the zombies at a certain point. They were just wallpaper after a while, the real threat was always from other humans.

At one point, I referred to it as "the most depressing hour on television". I think I made it to the episode where Rocket Romano was killed then I couldn't take it any more.

Because of that, I'd agree 100%, ER lasted way beyond its prime.

season and it stunk. Stopped watching . I streamed it during Covid and there was marked difference. When I streamed I saw the helicopter incident that you were referring to, Thank you. Probatim.

Most American shows are best the first two years & then go downhill. American writers seem reluctant to write characters out so they keep the same tired cast year after year. It's not unusual in English shows to have more than one main character written out in a season.

Star Trek: The Next Generation didn't get good until Season 2 when Riker grew that beard. Season 7 was arguably the best.

I love the show, and watched till the Finale.. but the last few seasons goe monotonous and the Jack storyline was annoying.

The humourous episodes were always the best...the musical, the Scooby-Doo crossover...

And it's still a comfort show for fun. Love that I can pretty much drop into any season and know where we're at

Supernatural got so bad and repetitive that even the characters themselves were making fun of it...in the show!

And the Walking Dead got to be just like the zombies the show revolves around...shambling, lifeless, just moving on and on brainlessly...

…Been running since the late 1980s

debm55, You’re welcome! I haven’t watched the Simpsons in years. I should watch some episodes to see if it’s still funny to me.

The original “jumped the shark”.

a lot after Christopher Meloni left.

I thought the show has been great but maybe I don't know any better. I fell behind when Kelli Giddish left but they are still being recorded.

for the love of god please end it......

After two seasons I realized I was watching an evening soap opera with medical props.

Especially when it was just Mayberry.

To me it always felt like the writers didn’t expect it to gone on very long. They kept writing themselves into corners that required fantastical twists to fix. Bring a guy back to life. Time travel. Hide the island. There’s a big steering wheel that MOVES the damn island.

Jumped the shark when they brought the little girl in and Mike and Gloria left.

Worst show ever. Hosted by such a loser. Very low ratings. Sad.

Great show for several seasons, then they let the music overwhelm the dialog.
It just got tired. They kept all boring male characters and lost the interesting women. And lost Tony. And me.

which means something has exceeded its "sell by" date.

Frasier--Speaking only for myself, I lost all interest in it after Niles and Daphne got together.

The original Hawaii Five-O--Lasted 12 seasons but lost something with the cast changes after the tenth season.

which in itself is quite remarkable.

But it became a run of the mill married sitcom when they all started getting married.

I am sure there are many more, but after a glut of TV in my youth I just don't watch a lot.

First ten seasons were great but last 25 seasons were “meh”.

After awhile they just run out of material to support the show's premise. Sitcoms are the worst; even if they are funny to start out with, all the jokes get used up and the whole reason for the show is gone. Case in point is The Big Bang Theory - at first it was really funny and clever, but the big joke that supported the show was that the characters were too hopelessly nerdy and socially awkward to find girlfriends. But when they got girlfriends the main premise of the show was lost; IRL an obnoxious, self-absorbed dork like Sheldon does not have a girlfriend. His obnoxious, self-absorbed dorkiness provided a lot of the humor, and when he became normal enough to attract a girlfriend he wasn't funny any more.

The West Wing held up longer than most, but even it declined after Sorkin left and some of the characters changed.

I used to watch it regularly and can't recall the exact moment I gave up on it. I think Lesley Stahl was gushing about some overhyped technology. They really need an injection of fresh blood if they are going to cover technology stories (at the risk of sounding ageist).