Damn... there is nothing I hate more than a good character getting killed... specially for the wrong reasons, like disputes or just plain mean-ness (not to mention characters killed for sweeps episodes) While some shows kill characters all the time (Oz, Sopranos) some shows do it the wrong way. Other are done just right.

Let's get some obvious bad ones out of the way:

Zhaan, from Farscape: Virginia Hey could've stayed if they had accomodated her regarding her makeup (that was making her ill and be bald all the time) instead, she got canned out of the show.

Jadzia Dax from DS9: while she left the show on her own accord, the way they wrote her death in the show was just stupid... it made so sense to be an almost random killing.

Wild Bill Hickock from Deadwood: Not a bad death plot-wise, but it came too early IMHO, as that was one of the characters I love from Deadwood and Keith Carradine was darned good at it.

Some good ones:

Bobby Simone from NYPD Blue: It was a bit too long and dramatic, but given enough attention and was a good way to have Jimmy Smits out of the show.

Maude Flanders from The Simpsons: While the whole thing was just a bit shy of being funny, I think it gave Flanders more possibilities in the show. I didn't like Maude too much. But the writers handled it well.

Katherine Black from Millenium: Possibly the bleakest, darkest episode in Millenium (and that is saying a lot!) is when Frank Black's wife dies (Frank gives the virus vaccine to his daughter instead) Wow... still have chills about that one.

Cyril O'Reilly from Oz: 'Nuff said.

HA!! I like this!

I was devastated when they killed Pilot on Captain Power.

Also, I was highly upset when Tasha Yar was killed on ST:TNG, but later I realized that, yeah, they didn't need her.

Hey ciscokidinsf! <waves> Great topic.


I'll also add Adebesi for good measure. It was a "WTF?" moment but it was sure damn good.

Jen from Dawson's Creek: Of all the characters on the show, they killed her with cancer. I will admit that I cried when Jen died onscreen.

Tara from Buffy:What makes it hurt so much is not only is Tara one of the best characters on the show, but the ep she was killed in finally added her name to the main credits. ME just ripped my heart out and gleefully stomped on it when she got shot in front of Willow.

Ritchie Ryan from Highlander. To add insult to injury it was Duncan, his best friend, that did it. Jaw meet floor. Totally unexpected and it ruined the show for me.

Colin Hanks as Alex on Roswell. He was on of those characters who was always pushed aside and never really developed, but had potential. (See also, Ross, Pete.)

I wasn't so much pissed that he died, but the resolution of it was just horrible. Tess killing him for deciphering that manuscript thing? Please.

Doyle in Angel. Too soon, too sad. The transfer of his powers to Cordy was a good character move, but I still miss Doyle.

And ultra-sad that Glenn Quinn passed away not that much later.

Mrs. Lansingham on "The West Wing".

The one that will always get me, though, is Joyce Summers on "BtVS". To have her die with something so mundane. No demons involved, no magic. Just death. My own mother had died not too long beforehand, which didn't help when I tried to hold back the sobs through the whole episode.

Whedon did a great job with the total lack of music in that episode. When someone that close dies so suddenly, life doesn't have a soundtrack.

Doyle on Angel: Not only was he a character that was just perfect for the Joss-verse in terms of the half-demon half-human physiology and all the storyline directions that could have taken, not only was he the one thing to distinguish Angel from a Poor Man's Buffy as not only were Angel and Cordelia both from BTVS, but so was Doyle's replacement Wesley (and such an unrecognisable version of himself that it's a joke to continuity; if they wanted someone so utterly different why not make it a different character), not only did Doyle get the best lines and was the cutest, most interesting, charmingly flawed, likeable character, but his portrayer Glenn Quinn was the most talented, handsome, freaking special guy, who was perfect in the role. His death so early on meant that I went from watching every ep from S1 eps 1-9, to just watching sporadically until S5 when Spike came on board and the show seemed to improve generally in dialogue etc.

Lilah on Angel: At least they got some good stuff out of her, apart from the initial shock value of Cordelia's evilness (they could have used Lorne as that sacrificial lamb instead) her death was a waste, and particulary in view of the W & H arc of S5 Lilah would have been such a perfect addition. Especially with Lindsay coming back, my shippy drean of those two could have been fulfilled, with Lilah taking the place of Eve in that storyline.

Tasha Yar: Skye 1974 can you elabourate more on what you mean when you say they didn't need her. I mean, really they didn't 'need' any of the cast members, as professionally they could all be credibly killed off and replaced, and it's enough of an ensemble cast that no one person carries the show, but I can only think of 2 or 3 people who killing off would have been a bigger mistake. Tasha had a great backstory with her troubled/sordid past emerging to become a Starfleet officer, and I would have loved to have seen more of that, she was one of the more likeable characters but not in a one-dimensional way, the actress was a great combination of pretty so you could get into any romantic storylines (had there been the opportunity, sniff) but in a 'real' way (as compared with say Jeri Ryan, whose appearance seems to scream 'sex factor'), in a male-domaniated cast, indeed franchise, she was a female who was a very different character to the others on the ship, compared with the very girly Deanna and smooth Beverly, and I thought she had more chemistry with her fellow cast members than most of them. In fact while I generally didn't much like the smug William Riker, and had zero-interest in his chemistry free romance with Deanna (who I did actually come to like, just not with him) I thought he had great friendship and romantic chemistry with Tasha Yar. Plus she had a great name! And I'm interested to know what the story behind her leaving was - from your post I got the impression that they decided they didn't need her and she got pushed out? If so that's a crying shame, because not only was she one of my faves on a personal level, but for all the above reasons she could have done alot to change the dynamics of the cast for the better.

Richard Sharpe's long lost brother (whose name I've forgotten) on Sharpe: The casting was such a coup, as they looked so alike, the backstory of 2 men who have very similar characters of noble fighters but circumstance had them on different sides, and the fact that when they did reconcile they clicked really well, albeit with an interesting edge, made his death that same episode so wasteful.

Charles Kowalsky on SG1: Sexy as hell, a great foil for Jack (so nice to see him with a buddy just kidding around).

Zoot and Amber on the Tribe: Luckily they realised their mistake with Amber, and brought her back (although not in time for S2 where she would have shined with those story arcs, but for S3 where so much else had changed about the show that it lessened the impact), but damn Zoot was wasted potential. They could have had a whole Star Wars saga going on there, plus the actor was fab.

Harry Garibaldi on Hill Street Blues.

In contrast the characters I am indifferent too, or even like but think their death actually could serve some good drama in the long run, always manage to laugh in the face of credibility and come back, eg, Vaughn off Alias.

Since this thread was started today, we have to include John Amos. Anyone who watched Good Times will get chills reading Damn, Damn, Damn, but last night they went ahead and killed his character off West Wing. I know he wasn't a lead, but he added a lot to that show in the scenes he was in.

If they hadn't painted themselves into a corner with his character, I would have liked to see Rocket Romano hang around a few more seasons on ER as well.

Jen dying on Dawson's Creek made me hurt all sorts of ways. Sylph, I believe it was heart disease, not cancer, that killed Jen.

On the first season of Party of Five, Bailey's girlfriend (and Griffen's sister) Jill, died. I remember being shaken by that.


Of course, it was a sad, sad day in TV land when Carol's boyfriend +"Sandy" (aka. Matthew Perry) died after drinking and driving on Growing Pains.

Gary on 30something. I cried buckets over that car accident (of course, I think I was going a little crazy at the time between school, working and writing my thesis).

If any Ozites are wondering why I didn't say Chris Keller, its because he never died (la, la, la, I can't hear you).

Ridha, first off, let me say that I thought the EXACT. SAME. THING. about Yar and Riker. I wish they had given them more scenes together. I didn't like Riker and Troi together either, and I still don't. Also, I practically worshipped Tasha because I thought she was such a cool female character with, as you mentioned, a great backstory. When they killed her off, I almost stopped watching I liked her that much. When I said they didn't need her, I simply meant that the show was good even without her. I don't remember what the story was behind her leaving.

Sylph writes:



I agree. The second time he was killed, it all but ruined the show. By contrast, the first time-when he and Tessa were killed and he was revealed as an immortal-that was when the show really took off. It did a great job of underlining the themes of the show, and Adrian Paul always delivered when he was given heavy drama.

Laura Palmer from Twim Peaks owns this thread! Brilliant use of an important character who was killed off before the show even started!

Same here. And the way that they wrote him out really pissed me off. Paul McCrane gave almost a decade to that show, and they write him out by dropping a helicopter on him. After which the only person who cares that he's dead is Elizabeth. I can't blame PMC for wanting to escape the steaming pile of crap that ER's become (especially because Romano had become a caricature of his former self), but he deserved more respect than the writers treated him with.

I was upset that Fitz was written out of TWW, but John Amos wanted out, and at least he's getting a better send-off than Romano.

I still hate John Wells, though. Idiot.

Bobby Ewing, anyone? The one good thing to come out of that fiasco was that it taught all tv writers in the future to NEVER kill off a character unless they're absolutely sure the actor is never coming back.

You've already named several notable deaths that had an impact on me - Gary on 30Something, Wild Bill on Deadwood, Mrs Landingham and Fitz on West Wing - so I'll just add a few:

I stopped watching OZ after they killed Said. He was my favorite character and his death was so useless and random... though that was true of most of the deaths on that show...

Teri on 24 - possibly the most shocking death on network series tv, and the one that established definitively that all bets were off on that show.

Dr. Bobby Caldwell on St. Elsewhere - it happened offscreen, but his dignified exit, and the reverberations it had on the show, on the rest of the cast... memorable and resonant.

Sgt Esterhaus on Hill St. Blues and Coach on Cheers. I know the actors died, necessitating the character deaths, but they were done with great class and style.

Dr. Janet Fraiser (Teryl Rothery) on Stargate SG-1. It was well handled, but she will be sorely missed. And unlike Doyle or Yar, the actress wasn't leaving of her own accord.

I didn't like it when, on As Told By Ginger, the old lady (Maude?) that Carl wanted to marry died. She was COOL. I didn't have emotional investment in her because she was only around for one episode, I didn't even care if she got together with Carl (I like the telekinetic girl better) but the way she died was ridiculous: She was just talking, then said,"Oh foo," and dropped dead. And then Courtney took a picture.

Gary on thirtysomething had me crying tons too, and Mrs. Landingham was also a shock. I don't count when it happens in the last episode, because all the characters are leaving, so Chris Keller doesn't come into play for me. And I think Said needed out for a movie role if I'm not mistaken. Wasn't it that piece of crap Bruce Willis thing (sorry I can't be more specific)?

Claire, the assistant D.A., on Law and Order! That episode had a different feel from the rest and I thought it was exceptionally well done.

Speaking of killed Assistant D.As.... Richard Bay (Jason Kravits) from 'The Practice' (a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, back where 'The Practice' didn't suck) It was extremely well done and although the character was annoying (on purpose) everyone missed him dearly in the show.

Lord Refa from Babylon 5 is one of my favorite TV deaths. Doublecrossed by Londo and stomped to death by enraged Narns while gospel music plays on the soundtrack. Kosh's death was terrific too -- really built up the Shadows and Mr. Morden as the tremendous villains they were.

Another memorable death: Luther Mahoney on Homicide. It was a tremendous shock when Kellerman suddenly wiped the smirk off his face with a bullet -- and set up some of the show's greatest storylines.

As an old lady (you kids get off that lawn!), I remember when Col. Henry Blake's tour of duty in Korea ended. Everybody was happy when he left for home, then Radar announced that his plane went down. (M*A*S*H)

acatmaylook, that is one of the great, shocking tv deaths from our unspoiled youth and I cannot believe I left it out!

I agree with Shem--the death of Lord Refa was perfect. Horrible, and funny--trying to escape an underground tunnel filled with his enemy while a choir sings, "ain't no hiding place, no, ain't no hiding place".

Prue Halliwell on Charmed. Her death came from the real life feud of Alyssa and Shannen. Even though I like Paige, Prue kicked ass.

The serious:
Jenny Calendar on BtVS...I was shocked because she was the first semi-regular "good guy" character on Buffy to be offed and it also established the bad-assness of Angelus.

The funny/ridiculous:
Mitch Leary (Dawson's dad) on Dawson's Creek...killed in a car crash. He was eating an ice cream cone while driving. The scoop fell off the cone and he went reaching for it and lost control of the car. How embarrassing!

Word to Teri on 24 and Jenny on BTVS. Also adding Joyce on Buffy. I was completely unspoiled at that point and when Buffy walked into the house at the end of the episode and you can see Joyce lying all unnatural-like on the couch behind her, I literally gasped out loud. Plus The Body was, in my opinion, one of the best episodes of any show ever.

Hey, I got there first a page or two ago! *grin* Seriously, it's nice to see someone else who had such an intense reaction to that. I wasn't spoilerized either. No warning, just...she's gone. And that mind-screwing of the "revived" Joyce in the first few minutes nearly ripped my heart out. All the way around, one of the finest moments of the series.

Oh, Luther Mahoney's death on H:LotS was incredibly effective! Drove the plot and surprised the viewer. Ditto Mrs. Landingham; I was unspoiled and didn't see it coming, and it was a wonderful (and touching) exploration of how survivors deal with unexpected, senseless death. St. Elsewhere's Bobby Caldwell's off-screen death from AIDS was one of the first storylines of its kind, and I think they can be forgiven for its off-screen nature because...well, at least they were talking about it (almost nobody else was), and it was both sensitively handled and didn't serve as an excuse for moralizing.

Another tearjerking but well-handled death of a character was that of Sgt. Esterhaus on Hill St. Blues. Like the death of Coach on Cheers, the death came about because the actor portraying the character had died, but the show did a great job of acknowleding the character and letting the fallout from the situation drive storylines and character development. The very real sadness of the actors came across onscreen, but it didn't veer into maudlin, unbearable sentimentalism or mawkishness.

A famously funny one for the over-35 crowd (and TVLand viewers): Chuckles the Clown's funeral on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Totally inappropriate emotional reactions played for laughs, and for once, played really well. It probably helped that we didn't really "know" Chuckles, though. It's harder to laugh when you'll actually miss a character (paging Bill MacNeil/Phil Hartman).

A bad one: The Lone Gunmen on XF. No. Just...no. Pointless, trivializing dismissal of popular supporting players for no apparent reason except to piss off the fans, as far as I can tell.

Bill McNeal's death on NewsRadio was well-handled, with the remaining characters mourning and honoring him and his real-life portrayer. Phil Hartman's death is just about the saddest Hollywood death for me.

One thing you can say about Buffy...just because you died doesn't mean you're off the show....

Darla's the most obvious example. She gets dusted in season one, yet returns in a big way in season two of Angel, and plays a big part in season three with her surprise pregnancy

On the other hand, how many people shed a tear when Johnathan died in "Conversations with Dead People", right over the Hellmouth? Yet he came back, sort of, when the First took his form.

And I have to add the big battle in "Grad Day, part 2", where the Mayor turns into a dragon that eats Principal Snyder (clueless to the end), then gets blown up in the library.

Adding to the 24 deaths (I know there are countless)...

George Mason's death in Day 2, though completely contrived, really got me. I was so pumped when he revealed himself on the plane and made Jack "Death Wish" Bauer give him the controls of the plane to destroy the bomb. I know he was going to die that day either way, but I'm glad he got to go down with guns blazing, especially considering what a jerk he basically was in Day 1.

Grandpa Walton (on The Waltons) was another character whose actor had really died, over the hiatus. The first episode back is simple and classy, with each character saying his or her quiet goodbye to Grandpa at his grave. Grandma, who on the show and in real life, was recovering from a stroke, says, "You live in us Old Man." Kleenex, please.

A show that I used to watch back in the day, Chicago Hope ripped my heart out of my chest when it killed off Birch (Peter MacNichol). I was so emotionally wrecked that I've essentially repressed it from my memory. What I do remember: he was really happy before he was killed, like with a baby and a girlfriend. I believe he was shot by a mugger. The kicker is that they make it seem like surgery went ok and he's gonna make it, but then he dies! GAWD! The whole episode was part of Mandy Patinkin leaving the show, but that was irrelevant to me after Birch died. Never could watch an episode after it.

With all due respect to the classic Chuckles the Clown, my favorite sitcom death, hands down, is Susie on Seinfeld. You could make a valid argument for the death of George's fiancee Susan (Susan's doctor on George's reaction: "I would describe it as 'restrained jubilation.'"), but I like the Susie episode better;scene for scene, it's got more laughs. The story: Elaine's co-worker thinks that Elaine is actually a woman named Susie. After awhile, Elaine gets tired of the Susie charade and says that Susie killed herself. Peterman, everyone show up for the Susie memorial. Elaine gives one of the worst eulogies, something along the lines of, "And also like me, Susie really like salad" and it just goes on and on. Peterman says he'll always fondly remember a wild night of passion he and Susie shared. Jerry, very proud of himself, tells Elaine's horrified co-worker that he's had sex with both Susie and Elaine. The kicker? Elaine is made chairwoman of the Susie foundation. Peterman tells her, "It will completely revolve around your schedule. Nights, weekends..." And the gravestone simply reads, "Susie."

Yeah, a truly great "death". However, the whole thing reminded me of the "Captain Tuttle" episode of M*A*S*H*. Hawkeye had taken to signing the name "Tuttle" on documents that he didn't want traced back to him (It was the name of the imaginary friend he blamed things on in his childhood). Eventually everyone wonders who this Tuttle is. Henry claims to be on good terms with him. Frank wants to know him. Hot Lips becomes attracted to him sight unseen.

Tuttle is finally "killed" before he's scheduled to appear at an awards ceremony. Hawkeye proceeds to give one of the funniest eulogies I've seen on camera.

Word. I mean I understand why she left, I even understand why they had to kill her off (after she was married to Worf, it was the only way to get rid of her). But having Gul Dukat kill her seemed to be setting up a big death match between Dukat and Worf, which ultimately would have left us dissatisfied that Sisko didn't get to kill Dukat. Which would have sucked. Instead of Worf not getting to kill him, which totally did suck.



I can see both sides of this, I thought Yar was boring in the first season. But with the exception of Data and Picard, they were all boring the first season. I would have loved to see her develop. I am with you, Ridha.



I thought this scene was so disturbing, like so many things on that show. Seeing that guy drive the hunting knife into him, hearing him gasp and scream...it was quite graphic. I had nightmares about it.

On the other hand, when Joe died it seemed pointless and almost incidental....Officer down!!! and then, *yawn!*

It's ironic that Garibaldi was on only a season and a half, and Joe Coffee was in the original cast.



We all carry a part of him around in our hearts...in fact, you could probably say that all of us together made up Tuttle...

And here's my own: Crewman Daniels on Enterprise. Damn, does he not die every time he appears on screen?

They killed Daniels! Bastards!

I was sad when both Sam and Al died on One Life to Live . I liked both characters so I thought it was a waste. And I can't stand the storyline with Micheal and Marcie now so that just adds to my sadness.

Speaking of M*A*S*H, the scene when Radar enters the OR and reads the bulletin announcing that Henry Blake's plane had been shot down, no survivors ... I get goosebumps just typing about it. War is hell!

Chapelle's death on 24 was pretty unexpected. I kept screaming at my TV for something to happen that would stop it!

TV deaths that pissed me off:

Joxer on "Xena: Warrior Princess". Just plain stupid. All so they can show Xena's boring ass daughter Eve/Livia as being bad-ass. Except NOT. And they killed off a good character to do it. Which is why we referred to The Powers That Be on that show as "The Idiots in Charge."

Also, killing off the majority of the Greek pantheon later that season. Hades, Hephaestus, Deimos - WTF??? I couldn't even watch the show after the episode "Twilight", not even for my sexy, sexy Ares.

Mrs. Landingham on "The West Wing". (Yeah, I heard they killed off Fitzwallace last night, but I haven't watched it in ages, therefore he's still alive in my universe.)

Romano on "ER".

And set the way-back machine for this one : Lt. Ironhorse on "War of the Worlds". First TV death that pissed me off and actually made me stop watching a TV show.

Re: Tasha Yar's being killed. As I remember, Denise Crosby had second thoughts about being on the show. She felt that with such a large ensemble, her role wouldn't be given the screen time to develop and grow (in short, she was afraid that Yar would become part of the scenery, like Uhura). So she quit and did a Playboy spread soon afterward. And not a very much else, until they found ways to "resurrect" Yar (or variations thereof).

Now, why they had to kill the character, and not just transfer her off the ship, I don't know. Didn't they transfer Dr. Crusher to head Starfleet Medical when Gates McFadden wanted to explore her movie career (which career, as I recall, consisted of 1 line and a rather blurry appearance in The Hunt for Red October)? And, of course, transfered her back the following season?

I *can't* believe I remember this crap!

Dude, I'm tearing up just thinking about it. I know he had to die, but couldn't they have stretched it out a bit longer? Like, say... never?

From the Buffyverse: Doyle, Anya, Lilah, & Cordy. They brought the snark and got killed for it. You BASTARDS! Although, towards the end Cordy was seriously sucking IMO. Still, I didn't want her dead, ya know?

Zhaan from Farscape. The show went on to do great things after her death, but I still felt it was lacking somewhat, without her presence.

Word. As absurd as the show was, killing the gods has got to take the cake. I also have to add that I would have preferred if Gabrielle died and stayed dead.

Kenneth Irons from Witchblade. What a fucking travesty that was.

I have to go with Alice Garvey on Little House on the Prairie, not who died, but how she died, in a horrible fire.

I think of James from Good Times. That was sad. At 1st, I thought the actor had really died.
Henry Blake on M*A*S*H was sad and memorable. Especially since it was unexpected and I hear McLean cried for hours and the cast skipped the season ending party because they weren't in the mood.

And Edith Bunker on Archie Bunker's Place. That show went way too long. Imagine in early years of AITF saying she would die - that would have been totally unconvievable.

It should've been Dawson, y'all.

iMissEthan said:


Tears of the Sun.

Lets not forget Lucy on ER. The episode she died was one of the best episodes. Heh, I don't mean it that way, I liked Lucy, but the acting from everyone was spot on.

Chapelle's death really touched me. First, because I admire the show tremendously for not pulling some lameass stunt at the last minute to save him, and second, because the whole thing was so incredibly sad. He was so scared and yet so brave, but the thing that got me more than anything else was the fact that he had no one to call at the end. He told Jack the only people he felt close to were the people he worked with, and I was just like, "Dude, most of them hated you!" Excellent acting by Paul Schulze.

Chris Keller's second-story-no-way-could-that-have-really-killed-him swan dive? I'd been spoiled; I knew it was going to happen; I'd even seen the screen caps in advance...but it broke my heart. Even now, I can't bear to re-watch the finale. Cyril's death was also very sad, but I'm honestly torn between wishing it had happened the first time around (instead of the Governor's Batphone ringing at the last minute) and appreciating the irony of his ultimate execution and the toll the ordeal took on his entire family. I was, on the other hand, quite thrilled when Kenny Wangler took Frenchy's bullet.

The Henry Blake death was one of my earliest scarred-for-life moments. I think I had nightmares about it after.

Bobby Simone's death pissed me off mightily. He should have died with his boots on, but instead we were subjected to six weeks of Sipowitz-angst, tearful-worried-looking shots of Diane, inane "aren't we symbolic and deep" dream sequences with Burgess Meredith, and a sappy, new-agey ascent into heaven, all from a crime-show known for "grit." And just who was this "boy" who greeted him. Diane's three-week old miscarriage?

Oh, wow, I'm stupid. I actually read the thread to see if anyone had mentioned it and missed the reference entirely. Sigh. But it was a really great episode.

Under deaths that have mightily pissed me off, I would add basically all the deaths since the beginning of the most recent serial killer storyling on Days of Our Lives. With one exception, they were all vets of the show and were killed off in really unceremonious and even humilating ways (the matriarch of the show, Alice, was choked to death on one of her trademark homemade donuts). Moreover, the deaths were, as far as we can tell, totally pointless, a ratings stunt. I have a lot of respect for Matthew Ashford for refusing to come back and shoot these awful ghost sequences after being fired AGAIN by the same head writer.

Vacationland..big WORD! I totally forgotten about that one... I guess they killed them b/c their spin-off show didn't make it... Frohike and company, wherever you are, we miss you dudes!

Also, another sucky sci-fi show death was Professor Maximillian Arturo from Sliders he got canned for disagreeing with the producers... geez.

The Sopranos' better death scenes IMHO were Big Pussy and Ralphie... 'cause Tony himself did the deed on both.

That and the erotic autoasphixiation on Six-Feet Under. too much detail on that one.

plus she tried to escape the fire / call for help by breaking the window open by smashing it with Mary and Adam's baby. So. Very. Wrong.




That was an amazing story arc, and it brought us the righteously bitchy and powerful Georgia Rae Mahoney (I lurv me some Hazelle Goodman!)



But I digress. I have to say, I thought the death of Bleeding Gums Murphy on The Simpsons was a little disappointing.