Least Shocking Deaths on TV

Ten characters who were dead the moment the script said they were happy.

Entries
10
Category
TV
Updated
  1. A gold-framed television title card with a fresh blank slot added, next to a single white rose on a windowsill.

    10. Tara Maclay

    Buffy the Vampire Slayer · 2002

    Amber Benson's name finally appeared in the opening credits, for the first and only time, in the episode where Tara dies. Whedon had long wanted to kill someone right after promoting them. Lesson learned: never be happy for a Buffy character on billing day.

  2. A T-shirt cannon on the infield of a speedway, a rolled-up shirt flying toward empty bleachers.

    09. Maude Flanders

    The Simpsons · 2000

    Maggie Roswell asked for a raise from $2,000 to $6,000 an episode to cover her commute from Denver, Fox offered $150 more, and she left. Maude was promptly knocked off the speedway bleachers by a T-shirt cannon. A pay dispute, resolved at 60 miles an hour.

  3. A black glossy tar puddle on an alien planet's rocky surface, a starship security badge resting at its edge.

    08. Tasha Yar

    Star Trek: The Next Generation · 1988

    Denise Crosby was so unhappy with the role she said she couldn't wait to get off the show. So Yar is casually killed by Armus, a sentient puddle of tar, with a hologram farewell taped in advance. She later came back twice, which is more than the puddle managed.

  4. A helicopter balanced precariously on the edge of a hospital rooftop, a single cane leaning on the ledge below.

    07. Dr. Robert Romano

    ER · 2003

    A helicopter rotor took his arm in one season premiere. The next season, a helicopter fell off the hospital roof and landed on him. Alan Sepinwall called it one of the silliest moments in ER history. The helicopters were simply finishing the job.

  5. A city bus stopped at a crosswalk at dusk, a pair of surgical scrubs folded neatly on the curb.

    06. George O'Malley

    Grey's Anatomy · 2009

    T.R. Knight had been publicly unhappy for a season about his shrinking role and the show's communication with him. George is hit by a bus saving a stranger and comes in as a John Doe, tracing 007 on Meredith's hand. The bus was the least telegraphed thing about it.

  6. A vintage 1920s open-top roadster overturned in a green English ditch, a baby rattle on the passenger seat.

    05. Matthew Crawley

    Downton Abbey · 2012

    Dan Stevens declined to renew his contract, so in the Christmas special Matthew meets his newborn son, drives home grinning through the countryside, and meets a lorry. A happy man alone in a car on a TV drama has a life expectancy of about forty seconds.

  7. A ukulele propped on a Hawaiian beach chair at sunset, an ER badge and a stethoscope left on the seat.

    04. Dr. Mark Greene

    ER · 2002

    Diagnosed with a brain tumor, cured, then told it came back inoperable, with Anthony Edwards confirmed to be leaving. He dies in Hawaii in the season finale to Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's ukulele. A season-long goodbye, scored. Nobody was surprised. Everybody cried.

  8. A flooded underwater station room with a guitar floating against a porthole, a marker resting on the console.

    03. Charlie Pace

    Lost · 2007

    Desmond spent all of season three having visions of Charlie dying and saving him at the last second, again and again. In the finale Charlie swims to an underwater station, writes a warning on his hand and drowns. The show told us for 22 episodes.

  9. Four red uniform shirts lying on a jungle path on an alien planet, a poisonous flower and a scorched rock nearby.

    02. The Redshirts of "The Apple"

    Star Trek · 1967

    Four security officers beam down to a jungle paradise and are killed by poison thorns, lightning, an exploding rock and angry villagers. Critics call it one of the episodes that codified the redshirt. Kirk, Spock and McCoy were fine. They always are.

  10. A small orange hooded parka lying in the snow at a bus stop in a quiet mountain town, a toppled pair of mittens beside it.

    01. Kenny McCormick

    South Park · 1997

    He died in nearly every episode of the first five seasons, 99 times by one count, and Stan and Kyle had a catchphrase ready. Parker and Stone eventually ran out of fun ways to do it and killed him for real. He came back. Of course he came back.

Honorable mentions

  • A steamy bathroom with a glass shower door fogged up and a cowboy hat hanging on the towel rack.

    Bobby Ewing

    Dallas · 1985

    Patrick Duffy left, Bobby was hit by a car, and a year later Duffy came back and Bobby stepped out of the shower. The whole previous season had been Pam's dream. A death so unshocking the show decided it never happened.

Dishonorable mentions

  • A greatsword resting on the steps of a stone sept, a rolled-up blank poster tied with twine beside it.

    Ned Stark

    Game of Thrones · 2011

    HBO put Sean Bean on bus stops and magazines, then executed him nine episodes in. Viewers were floored. The dishonor is theirs: Sean Bean had been dying on screen for decades. The man's filmography is a series of warnings.

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