Yahoo News 8 TV shows we'll quit if they don't shape up
There's more TV out there now than ever before – over 450(!) individual shows aired in 2016 – and we've all only got so much time to spend sat in front of the box. It's Darwinian out there: survival of the fittest.
Sometimes, you have to be ruthless and cut a show that you used to love. So if they want to avoid the chop, these eight old favourites – and we really did love them, once, and could again – need a tweak or two.
1. Homeland
What's wrong: A must-see when it launched back in 2011, Homeland worked best when we – and CIA officer Carrie (Claire Danes) – had no idea whether prisoner of war Brody had been turned by the enemy. By the time he was killed off in season three, all we were left with was endless scenes of mentally unstable Carrie breaking down in bathrooms, which made for a good drinking game but not much else.
How to fix it: Instead of bogging the drama down in convoluted plots that you needed a political degree to unravel, the producers should have turned Carrie into a female Jack Bauer. There's still time – the sixth season has our heroine back on US soil and is set between election day and inauguration day. That certainly gives her enough time to torture a few people (bad thing) and kick some terrorist ass (good thing).
2. The Walking Dead
What's wrong: Aside from that unnecessary cliffhanger and the Twitter-exploding, head-bashing first episode, TWD has been pretty dull lately, with our favourite characters thinly spread between Alexandria, the Sanctuary, the Kingdom and the Hilltop, and whole episodes being devoted to characters we really don't care much about (sorry, Tara).
How to fix it: It was hinted at during the midseason finale, but the group all need to be brought back together as soon as possible, please, to declare war on Negan and his prickly Lucille. And while we are asking, we want some Daryl/Rick bonding, more Carol (but less brooding), more Michonne, and, most important of all, can someone please give Carl a bloody haircut?
3. The Big Bang Theory
What's wrong: Now in its 10th season, The Big Bang Theory has forgotten something very important – how to be funny. It's all too couple-y for a show that was originally about four guys with no gal between them, and the characters have lost their geeky charm as they've gained other halves. Now that Howard has settled down to boring married bliss with Bernadette, we'll never get another lecherous delight like the episode when he and Raj tried to infiltrate the America's Next Top Model house. Boo.
How to fix it: Mayim Bialik's Amy is a great foil for Sheldon so she can stay, but we're struggling to remember why Melissa Rauch's Bernadette remains on the show. Surely a woman as smart as her wouldn't have ended up with Howard, so maybe it's time for her to pack up the baby and follow her dreams? If she could take whiny comic-book store owner Stuart with her, that would be a bonus.
4. Broadchurch
What's wrong: Whisper this if you must, but Broadchurch is one of those shows – like The Affair – that had a perfect first season… and should have stopped there. But a successful show makes money, so series two gave us an improbable continuation of the first year's plot, while adding another, less involving mystery (the Sandbrook case) into the mix.
How to fix it: David Tennant and Olivia Colman are returning for series three and – phew – producers promise a whole new case will need solving. Series creator Chris Chibnall has also insisted that this will be the final Broadchurch, so here's hoping we get a tense standalone case, lots of Miller and Hardy, some lovely English coastal scenery and a satisfying conclusion – no cliffhanger ending!
5. Sherlock
What's wrong: The most recent episode may have owed debts to James Bond, The Silence of the Lambs and, erm, The Crystal Maze, but we're not sure Arthur Conan Doyle would have recognised anything about his fictional detective – especially as he hasn't actually done any sleuthing in ages. We're done with all the incredibly clever/annoying characters who aren't Sherlock (bye-bye Eurus, and Mary, stop sending the post-death DVDs please). And did we really need an entire episode about Sherlock's best friend's wife's friend hiding a USB stick?
How to fix it: If Sherlock gets another season (and that's a big "if" at the moment, with Cumberbatch and Freeman's schedules looking pretty full for the next couple of years), it would be nice if Holmes and Watson actually solved a few crimes while Mrs Hudson brought them tea and hoovered to Iron Maiden. More Una Stubbs and more crime-solving and deductions, please...
6. Outlander
What's wrong: The second season of this terrific historical time-travelling romp faltered because it took away all the things we loved about the show – the intimate relationship between Jamie and Claire, the stunning Scottish scenery, the machinations amongst Clan Mackenzie, actor Sam Heughan in a kilt – and transplanted the drama to the ornate palace corridors of 18th century France. We wanted to see Jamie astride a horse looking all muddied and manly, not primping around the French court in silks!
How to fix it: If you stayed the distance in season two, you were rewarded as the action did return (hurrah!) to Scotland in the run-up to the infamous Battle of Culloden. Season three (coming later this year) will follow events of the third novel (Voyager), so here's hoping there will be much more Scottish-set adventure and a reunion between the two lovers, who were separated at the end of season two. (The bad news – fewer kilts, as following Culloden the English banned Scots from wearing tartan.)
7. Poldark
What's wrong: Oh Ross. You utter bastard, cheating on lovely Demelza with frosty, pouty Elizabeth. What were you thinking? It's very hard for viewers to stay tuned when the show's hero is such a cad, but as with Outlander above, the problem is that the TV series has to follow the events of the source novels, and as fans of Winston Graham's books know, his tryst with Elizabeth isn't the last time Ross makes a dubious personal decision during the course of the novels.
How to fix it: While more scenes of Aidan Turner scything in a field, shirt-free, would distract from his character's annoying brooding, perhaps a better solution would be for the next series to focus not on Poldark and Demelza, but on the true love story of the series – the one between earnest doctor Dwight Enys (Luke Norris) and spoilt but sparky Caroline (Gabriella Wilde).
8. True Detective
What's wrong: Short answer? The whole of season two. While the first season of this drama gripped as Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson investigated a serial killer in Louisiana, the second flopped as Colin Farrell and Rachel McAdams were wasted in a dull California-set drama with such a convoluted plot about yawnsome land deals that most viewers quit before the end.
How to fix it: If there is a third season after 2015's misfire, we can only hope series creator Nic Pizzolatto goes back to basics and gives us another tense, grim puzzle to be unravelled by a pair of detectives. Casting is key – and we wouldn't be entirely averse to reuniting with McConaughey's Rust Cohle if he's still up for it.
Don't forget to vote for your favourite TV shows in this year's National Television Awards! Shortlist voting closes at 12 midday on Wednesday, January 25.
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