I enjoy the TV show “The Walking Dead”. I wouldn’t call myself a giant fan but I watch every season. I tend to watch the season a season behind (I just started season 6, season 7 is underway) and it is a weird place of enjoyment-but-not-quite-fandom. I have a vested interest in seeing what happens to the original crew of the show.
I say that deliberately – the original crew. Season one of The Walking Dead was some of the best TV I have ever enjoyed. Season two was great, season three was good, and now the series is in what seems like maintenance mode – things are happening that are consistent with a zombie apocalypse and some of the events even follow the comic books (loosely and somewhat) but the show is just not dynamite. This is bound to happen when my main tie and motivation for the show is around the people and in earlier years they did a better job of developing them.
This show kills off recurring characters weekly and main characters annually, for the most part. Now in season six there really are only four characters that I care greatly for – Rick, Maggie, Glenn and Carol. I also, to a lesser extent, tend to care about Carl and Michonne.  Other characters have come, been killed / eaten, and gone – but their introduction and story lines just didn’t leave a lasting impression. I have no clue how long they plan on running this series but I do kind of have my own time set when to stop watching, when those characters are no longer a part of it.
I tend to struggle with long term TV shows as it seems the first couple of seasons are done exceptionally, and then people recognize that there is great money to be made so things adjust to profit. I don’t mind (and appreciate!) that they can drive profit from their art and work but I am unsure if the quality is really lowering or if it is just my personal experience. Take the series LOST, for example. That is a perfect example of an exciting and intriguing first year. After that it was pretty clear that they stopped moving the plot forward and focused on introducing new characters only to give them an episode to explore their backstory. I am not even cynical but that is my lasting impression of the show – “How do we stretch this out”, instead of “how do we explore a great plot”. I know that series lasted several years – perhaps others have far more patience than I do, or found something in it I couldn’t
I am not a big TV fan to begin with because it is just so passive. I don’t mind watching sports on TV but otherwise I am far happier with a laptop out and reading, or playing a game – even if the TV is on in the background.
Back to The Walking Dead – there is no possibility for a happy ending. The world explored becomes worse and worse and with less hope. The entire population is infected and there is no hope for a cure. It is a show to watch to explore the human condition when hope is at a premium. Â I still watch because I want to see how far the people I like make it. When their future / ending is decided and I can finally turn off the program for good is when my happy ending will be with the show.