TV's Most Shocking Deaths

POSTED BY: DMI
UPDATED: Monday, June 13, 2022 07:07
VIEWED: 12236
PAGE 1 of 1

DMI

Thursday, May 6, 2010 3:50 PM

Top 20 most shocking TV deaths from EW:

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20366760,00.html

Dee's suicide from BSG season 4 came in nineteen and a Buffy death came in sixth.

------------------------
I pray for one last landing,
on the globe that gave me birth.
Let me rest my eyes on the fleecy skies
and the cool, green hills of Earth.

http://www.blogiversity.org/blogs/dmi/default.aspx

CYBERSNARK

Thursday, May 6, 2010 5:29 PM

. . . Why does Derek Reese not get a mention?

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

STORYMARK

Thursday, May 6, 2010 5:37 PM

Probably because not enough people were watching to notice?

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

LWAVES

Thursday, May 6, 2010 5:49 PM

Some good picks, some I've never seen.

I'll second Derek Reese.

Buffy is a stand out because of the way the episode was handled. Brilliant piece of TV.

Sam Tyler's 'death' in Life On Mars, depending on your viewpoint of whether he died or not.

Again a sort of death in the regeneration of Tom Baker and David Tennant in Doctor Who. Okay Tennants goodbye went on a little long but the moments that led to it are fantastic.

Blake from Blake's 7. Having gone missing after two seasons Avon continued to search for him despite his constant comments as to not liking the guy. Then in the finale they finaly meet up with Avon believing that Blake has betrayed them all. The final image of Avon over Blake's dead body is still one of the best endings ever.

Larry Zito from Miami Vice. My fave outside of the main two. Especially poignant because of the way he went. His partner Stan never ran with another and IMO never really got over his death.

Plus I'll add Crow from Firefly. Didn't get to really know the character but for pure shock value the 'kicked into engine' scene is one of Joss's best WTF moments.

"The greatest invention ever is not the wheel. It's the second wheel." - Rich Hall

CHRISISALL

Thursday, May 6, 2010 5:50 PM

Joyce was the one for me, AND I EVEN KNEW IT WAS COMING!!!!

The laughing Chrisisall

STORYMARK

Thursday, May 6, 2010 5:53 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by lwaves:
... David Tennant in Doctor Who.

How shocking can it be when they announce it a year before it airs?

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

FARFLY

Thursday, May 6, 2010 8:39 PM

Mass murderer Joss has done in too many for me. Jenny, Tara, Joyce, Anya, Book, Wash. Then he went outside of TV and killed Penny.

The man must be stopped.

WHOZIT

Thursday, May 6, 2010 9:39 PM

TV has been around for over 65 years, the oldest one they list isn't even 20 years old yet. They need to do more research.

STORYMARK

Thursday, May 6, 2010 9:45 PM

The only big shocking death from an older series I can think of is the Colonel on MASH. There must be others, but that's all I can think of.

But really, most of their readers are not likely to be familiar with any shows older than 20 years, so it makes sense to keep the scope of the list limited, especially since it's purely subjective anyway.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

WHOZIT

Thursday, May 6, 2010 10:28 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Storymark:
The only big shocking death from an older series I can think of is the Colonel on MASH. There must be others, but that's all I can think of.

But really, most of their readers are not likely to be familiar with any shows older than 20 years, so it makes sense to keep the scope of the list limited, especially since it's purely subjective anyway.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

True, the 18 - 49 demo seems to be the one that matters most.

LWAVES

Thursday, May 6, 2010 11:27 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Storymark:
Quote:
Originally posted by lwaves:
... David Tennant in Doctor Who.

How shocking can it be when they announce it a year before it airs?

Okay that's a fair point which means I should have explained myself better. The regeneration was signposted for a long while so that wasn't the shock part of it. It was the fact that after all the build up of the Master and the Time Lords return it ended up being lovable old Wilf that finally needed rescuing and that would start the whole process for The Doctor. Maybe even then it was not so much of a shock but more of a dawning realisation after The Doctor survives the final fight just before we hear the four knocks on the glass.
I stand corrected.

"The greatest invention ever is not the wheel. It's the second wheel." - Rich Hall

AURAPTOR

Thursday, May 6, 2010 11:33 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by farfly:
Mass murderer Joss has done in too many for me. Jenny, Tara, Joyce, Anya, Book, Wash. Then he went outside of TV and killed Penny.

The man must be stopped.

Odd.. I keep forgetting about Jenny.

I was so

at Angel... err.... Angelus

Lt. Col. Blake was the first stunner I recall. Gary Burghoff said the crew had no idea, and when he read the lines, the stunned looked on everyone's faces weren't rehearsed.

Bones: "Don't 'rawr' her!"
Booth: "What? she'rawred' me first."

STORYMARK

Thursday, May 6, 2010 11:37 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by lwaves:
Quote:
Originally posted by Storymark:
Quote:
Originally posted by lwaves:
... David Tennant in Doctor Who.

How shocking can it be when they announce it a year before it airs?

Okay that's a fair point which means I should have explained myself better. The regeneration was signposted for a long while so that wasn't the shock part of it. It was the fact that after all the build up of the Master and the Time Lords return it ended up being lovable old Wilf that finally needed rescuing and that would start the whole process for The Doctor. Maybe even then it was not so much of a shock but more of a dawning realisation after The Doctor survives the final fight just before we hear the four knocks on the glass.
I stand corrected.

"The greatest invention ever is not the wheel. It's the second wheel." - Rich Hall

Alrighty, I get you.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

CHRISISALL

Thursday, May 6, 2010 11:39 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:
I keep forgetting about Jenny.

I was so at Angel... err.... Angelus

Yeah, that was a bad one...

The laughing Chrisisall

KWICKO

Friday, May 7, 2010 12:33 AM

Sheriff Lamb on "Veronica Mars" was a shocker.

Mrs. Landingham on "The West Wing", too. And the secret service guy (Mark Harmon played him) who was covering CJ.

Col. Henry Blake on MASH. That one broke my heart.

And yeah, Jenny, Joyce, Tara, Book and Wash, Wesley...

STORYMARK

Friday, May 7, 2010 12:55 AM

Richie on Highlander.

Tasha on TNG.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

RAHLMACLAREN

Friday, May 7, 2010 4:12 AM

*pssst*
(whispering)
Could someone be kind and post the list? My connection is stupid slow.

Thanks in advance.

--------------------------------------------------
Find here the Serenity you seek. -Tara Maclay

FARFLY

Friday, May 7, 2010 4:41 AM

Sorry, no list with that link. It's a slide show.

DMI

Friday, May 7, 2010 2:15 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Storymark:

Tasha on TNG.

As big a Trekkie as I am, I've got to disagree with that one. It packed absolutely zero dramatic punch. They kill her early in the episode and you suspect she's not really dead ('cause it's Trek and they do these things) then it slowly settles in over the course of the episode which has nothing to do with Tasha so you're not really thinking about it and when they have her memorial service in the end you're just left to go, "oh, she's really dead? darn..."

------------------------
I pray for one last landing,
on the globe that gave me birth.
Let me rest my eyes on the fleecy skies
and the cool, green hills of Earth.

http://www.blogiversity.org/blogs/dmi/default.aspx

KWICKO

Friday, May 7, 2010 2:29 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by RahlMaclaren:
*pssst*
(whispering)
Could someone be kind and post the list? My connection is stupid slow.

Thanks in advance.

Rahl, give me a bit and I'll try and compile that list for you and post it up. I'm crazy busy at work today (YAY!), so I'll have to sneak it in when I can.

Mike

"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero, Real World Event Discussions

KWICKO

Friday, May 7, 2010 2:48 PM

Okay, here goes. I'm spoilering this, because THERE ARE SPOILERS FOR SOME SHOWS THAT PEOPLE HAVEN'T SEEN YET!

Proceed at your own peril. You've been warned. At least one show was impacted for me. :(

Select to view spoiler:

20. Omar Little, The Wire
19. Dee Dualla, Battlestar Gallactica
18. Agent Caitlin Todd, NCIS
17. Gary Shepherd, 30something
16. Dan Conner, Roseanne
15. Lucy Knight, ER
14. Kenny, South Park
13. Ianto Jones, Torchwood: Children of Earth
12. Maude Flanders, The Simpsons
11. John Locke, Lost
10. Lawrence Kutner, House
9. Susan Ross, Seinfeld
8. Mrs. Landingham, The West Wing (Hey, whattaya know! One of my picks was on their list!
7. Sayid Jarrah, Sun-Hwa Kwon, and Jin-Soo Kwon, Lost
6. Joyce Summers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
5. Adriana La Cerva, The Sopranos
4. Rosalind Shays, L.A. Law
3. Terry Crowley, The Shield
2. Teri Bauer, 24
1. Rita, Dexter

Mike

"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero, Real World Event Discussions

STORYMARK

Friday, May 7, 2010 3:04 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by DMI:
Quote:
Originally posted by Storymark:

Tasha on TNG.

As big a Trekkie as I am, I've got to disagree with that one. It packed absolutely zero dramatic punch. They kill her early in the episode and you suspect she's not really dead ('cause it's Trek and they do these things) then it slowly settles in over the course of the episode which has nothing to do with Tasha so you're not really thinking about it and when they have her memorial service in the end you're just left to go, "oh, she's really dead? darn..."

I suppose one's mileage will vary. I was only 12 at the time, and when it happened, I was completely surprised.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

STORYMARK

Friday, May 7, 2010 3:06 PM

double oops

JAYNEZTOWN

Friday, May 7, 2010 3:17 PM

Meh who needs fiction when you got

Christine Chubbuck

Terrorists killing thousands in the WTC, terrorists taking the Russian theater hostage, Madrid the police raid an Arab appartment and they blow themselves up in a suicide explosion, Mumbai...

Then you had 24/7 coverage of Bush invading Iraq

Shuttle Challenger going boom after Reagan's teacher in space speech was pretty shocking

STORYMARK

Friday, May 7, 2010 5:08 PM

Way to miss the point of the thread, then. Bravo.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

KWICKO

Saturday, May 8, 2010 1:07 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Storymark:
Way to miss the point of the thread, then. Bravo.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

PN - er, I mean "Jaynez" - has serious issues discerning reality from fiction. He thinks the movie "Conspiracy Theory" is a documentary, and thinks the real world is all scripted.

'Course, he also uses a whiskey flask for a walkie-talkie and a broken lawnmower for a Segway.

Just sayin'.

CHRISISALL

Saturday, May 8, 2010 1:16 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Storymark:

I was only 12 at the time, and when it happened, I was completely surprised.

I was 20-something, and it shocked me something fierce, I'll tell ya.
Still, Jenny Calender takes the cake for me.

The laughing Chrisisall

KWICKO

Saturday, May 8, 2010 1:31 AM

I think I screamed when Jenny got it. And I *KNOW* I screamed when Riley did Spike with the stake in the heart! Luckily it was a plastic stake made to LOOK like wood, but I still screamed "NO!!!" - and alwyas kinda hated Riley more after that.

I had pretty much the same reaction when Wash died, too. And Tara. Joyce I kinda saw coming, but then kinda not, too. I didn't scream, but mighta gotta little weepy.

Mike

"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero, Real World Event Discussions

CHRISISALL

Saturday, May 8, 2010 1:49 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:

I had pretty much the same reaction when Wash died, too.

Not TV, but yeah, when Wash got it, I was freaked. I was like: Whedon is EVIL!!!!! I HATE THIS MOVIE!!!!

But

I got better.

The laughing Chrisisall

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Saturday, May 8, 2010 6:38 AM

Didn't see most of those.
Agree with ER.
Dan Conner died? Somebody on NCIS?

All those detectives dying on NYPD Blue, no mention? Like Ricky Schroeder?

No votes for Max Guevera?

LWAVES

Saturday, May 8, 2010 9:59 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:
Didn't see most of those.
Agree with ER.
Dan Conner died? Somebody on NCIS?

All those detectives dying on NYPD Blue, no mention? Like Ricky Schroeder?

No votes for Max Guevera?

Yeah I forgot about ER. Lucy Knight's death was shocking and at the time, with a show like that, it wasn't guarranteed that Carter would make it.
I thought Mark Greene's was one of the more touching one's on TV. Not shocking in any way but very well played.

As for Max then I have to say that she never stayed dead so doesn't count IMO. There was one episode of the season still to go so there was no way they were really gonna do that. It's like Buffy's 'death' at the end of season 1. To me this list represents characters that stay dead.

"The greatest invention ever is not the wheel. It's the second wheel." - Rich Hall

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Sunday, May 9, 2010 8:27 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by lwaves:
Quote:
Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:

No votes for Max Guevera?

As for Max then I have to say that she never stayed dead so doesn't count IMO. There was one episode of the season still to go so there was no way they were really gonna do that. It's like Buffy's 'death' at the end of season 1. To me this list represents characters that stay dead.

I do not dispute your logic, however DarkAngelIsAll has posted in this thread, and it is shocking that he has not trumped your points with a post on Max.

Doctor Greene died?

KWICKO

Sunday, May 9, 2010 10:54 AM

Quote:
Doctor Greene died?

In 2002. Inoperable brain tumor.

DMI

Sunday, May 9, 2010 5:16 PM

Quote:

Not TV, but yeah, when Wash got it, I was freaked. I was like: Whedon is EVIL!!!!! I HATE THIS MOVIE!!!!

But

I got better.

I was the same way. I saw the movie opening night with my dad and he was a little mad at how bummed I was afterward. "You've been talkin' 'bout this movie for more than a year, you think you'd be a little happier havin' seen it. *grumble grumble surly grumble*"

------------------------
I pray for one last landing,
on the globe that gave me birth.
Let me rest my eyes on the fleecy skies
and the cool, green hills of Earth.

http://www.blogiversity.org/blogs/dmi/default.aspx

PCCH7

Friday, May 14, 2010 4:12 PM

I´m glad that BSG and Dexter got in there but they´ve missed some obvious and awesome ones.. Without spoiling anything I´ll just say TSCC and possibly Dollhouse should have been on there. At least TSCC..

Select to view spoiler:

Derek Reese biting the bullit was quite shocking and awesome, also Camerons "death" is kinda out of the blue. At least in the way it happens but I loved it. And then we have Summer on DH as well.. I knew she would die but I didn´t see it happening when it did.

"Summer Glau can simply walk into Mordor.."

BORIS

Friday, May 14, 2010 4:56 PM

I don't know about shocking deaths....but the most shocking TV event ever for me was Xander getting his eye gouged out with relish by Caleb. Nothing before or since has ever made me feel as ickified and stunned. so stunned at the time I had to go and get comforted by my housemate...despite the fact I had woken her with my horrified squawking...and I'm not even a huggy person! that's how traumatised I was!

CAVALIER

Wednesday, May 19, 2010 4:36 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by whozit:
TV has been around for over 65 years, the oldest one they list isn't even 20 years old yet. They need to do more research.

The season 1 finale of The Sandbaggers, first shown in 1980.

I'm not going to spoil it, except to point out that it all was, as you would expect, perfectly logical and sensible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sandbaggers

JAYNEZTOWN

Monday, June 6, 2022 5:00 PM

https://www.ranker.com/list/most-shocking-tv-deaths/ranker-tv

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Saturday, June 11, 2022 9:28 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
Okay, here goes. I'm spoilering this, because THERE ARE SPOILERS FOR SOME SHOWS THAT PEOPLE HAVEN'T SEEN YET!

Proceed at your own peril. You've been warned. At least one show was impacted for me. :(

20. Omar Little, The Wire
19. Dee Dualla, Battlestar Gallactica
18. Agent Caitlin Todd, NCIS
17. Gary Shepherd, 30something
16. Dan Conner, Roseanne
15. Lucy Knight, ER
14. Kenny, South Park
13. Ianto Jones, Torchwood: Children of Earth
12. Maude Flanders, The Simpsons
11. John Locke, Lost
10. Lawrence Kutner, House
9. Susan Ross, Seinfeld
8. Mrs. Landingham, The West Wing (Hey, whattaya know! One of my picks was on their list!
7. Sayid Jarrah, Sun-Hwa Kwon, and Jin-Soo Kwon, Lost
6. Joyce Summers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
5. Adriana La Cerva, The Sopranos
4. Rosalind Shays, L.A. Law
3. Terry Crowley, The Shield
2. Teri Bauer, 24
1. Rita, Dexter

Mike

"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero, Real World Event Discussions

Quoting here because the OP linky is dead. And removed spoiler tags.

I still have not been able to view the new linky list.

ETA:
1. Lt Col Henry Blake. M*A*S*H.

2. Eddard Stark. Game of Thrones.

3. Dan Conner. Roseanne.

4. Paul Hennessey. 8 Simple Rules.

5. Mark Greene.

6. Robb Stark.

7. George O'Malley.

8. Lucy Knight.

9. Rita Morgan.

Jon Snow

Maude Flanders

Mark Sloan

Oberyn Mrtell

Hank SAchrader

Lawrence Kutner

Charlie Pace

Jin Soo Kwon

Zoe Barnes

Adriana De Cerva

Libby

Susan Ross

Omar Little

Shane Walsh

Jimmy Darmody

6IXSTRINGJACK

Saturday, June 11, 2022 7:55 PM

When Highlander's girlfriend died on the TV show. I don't remember her name (I don't remember his name either, to be honest).

As he looked around the place they shared and at all the old pictures of them together while showing a montage of his memories of her, that was the first time I'd heard "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas... a song that was stuck in my head for years, even though I never knew if I'd ever hear it again. I didn't even know the song wasn't a thing that wasn't made specifically for the show until a few years later when I heard it on a cassette tape in my step-dad's truck. (And just remembering how all of that unfolded makes me nostalgic for the pre-internet days where you couldn't just Google something). Upon figuring this out, I immediately went out and bought Point of Know Return and played that song endlessly until I got bored of it.

Dust in the Wind now ranks up there with Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven as a song that makes me cringe every time I hear it on the radio because of how overplayed they are still to this day.

....

YouTube's got it.

Her name was Tessa. His name was Duncan.

--------------------------------------------------

Falsus in unum, falsus in omnibus

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Saturday, June 11, 2022 9:33 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:
Didn't see most of those.
Agree with ER.
Dan Conner died? Somebody on NCIS?

All those detectives dying on NYPD Blue, no mention? Like Ricky Schroeder?

No votes for Max Guevera?

I had not seen BSG back then. Agree with that entry, but The Passage is still my favorite episode.

Why not Jaimie Sommers, Steve Austin's fiancee in The Six Million Dollar Man?

Dobson on Firefly?

Jess on FBI: Most Wanted?

The Aisha Tyler character on Ghost Whisperer?

JAYNEZTOWN

Monday, June 13, 2022 7:07 AM

Didn't realize ER had so many deaths of main characters