It seemed so cruel, to kill her off so randomly just after she’d been saved — but it gets worse. Also shot was Richie Ryan, but he came back to life, revealing that though he didn’t know it, he was Immortal. That only lasted another couple of seasons though, because the producers pulled out another shocker at the end of Season Five, when he gets accidentally beheaded by none other than Duncan MacLeod. It never really recovered from the darkness of that episode, either; Richie’s death overshadowed everything even worse than Tessa’s death had, perhaps because he was the only other regular left who’d known Tessa well.

Killing Hugh Fitzcairn was a shock, though since it was only his second appearance, not too unexpected. (Also, not bad for his career on the show; he appeared more times *after* his character was killed than before, through the magic of flashbacks.)

Adric on the Doctor Who serial “Earthshock” has been mentioned. Doctor Who seldom kills off its principals. (Well, except the Doctor, but he regenerates, so that doesn’t really count.) Everybody knew he was leaving the show, but nobody knew *how* — being blown up trying to save Earth from an event which, as it turned out, was not only not going to destroy it but was actually vital for creating the human reason. Completely pointless death. For the only time in the series’ long history, the ending credits ran without the signature tune — there was just a still image of Adric’s shattered badge on a black background, with complete silence.

When they killed Rory in Season Five, in the Silurian two-parter, I was stunned. I had been completely not expecting that. Of course, they brought him back to life a few episodes later anyway, but it didn’t really erase that shock.

Regarding the off-screen death of Stephen Furst’s character on St. Elsewhere.

I didn’t like it either — not because it seemed implausible. The character clearly had a hard time coping.

What cheesed me off, is that at the top of the episode the residents learn where they are going for their fellowships.

Axelrod gets sent to Millard Fillmore Hospital in Buffalo.

I cheered because that was where, a few months earlier, they had taken out my tonsils.

My Axelrod and his buddies took it like it was a death sentence.

There’s lazy writing for you — Pick on poor Buffalo and poor ol’ President Fillmore.

I vividly remember watching the infamous Rosalind Shays episode with her and being a little floored by her reaction:

“HA!,” Mom said. “She got actually got the shaft!”

When Barbarino from “Welcome Back, Kotter” died of an overdose in the last episode, my mother dropped a tray of lasagna she was about to serve.

posted by Mike on 7-30-2010 at 11:05 am

Anybody? I don’t remember this happening.

Followed by Shane offing himself, wife and son a couple of seasons later.

Definitely Penny on Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. That one came out of nowhere for me.