# Best TV Character Departures **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 6, 2009, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-character-departures/480030 "2009-01-06T03:13:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-character-departures/480030/61 "2009-01-07T22:07:53Z")
_Homicide: Life on the Streets’_ finale was a TV movie, where Al “Gee” Giardello was shot and killed, gave Gee a great send-off. Who knew the afterlife is a card game in the squad room with your old, already deceased cronies? _Magnum P.I._ would’ve had a great send off for Magnum, if the series hadn’t unexpectantly been brought back for another year. In what was supposed to be the series finale, the final scene was supposed to be Magnum, who’d been shot, walking towards the gates of Heaven, while John Denver’s song, _Looking For Space_ played in the background. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-character-departures/480030/62 "2009-01-07T22:09:52Z")
> [@Bytegeist](#): > > This is when I stopped watching ER. Me too actually. Or maybe it was when they moved location to Africa, I can’t remember which came first chronologically. (Not that the crises in African refugee camps aren’t an important or worthy topic for a plotline, mind, but I watch ER for entertainment rather than an international civics lesson.) ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-character-departures/480030/63 "2009-01-07T22:18:39Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Me too actually. Or maybe it was when they moved location to Africa, I can’t remember which came first chronologically. (Not that the crises in African refugee camps aren’t an important or worthy topic for a plotline, mind, but I watch ER for entertainment rather than an international civics lesson.) But..but..that’s how they got Thandie Newton on the show? And what’s-her-name, with all the blond hair and snarky attitude. Mary McCormack? As a mostly-straight male, I appreciate that. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-character-departures/480030/64 "2009-01-07T22:23:27Z")
> [@Bytegeist](#): > > Unless there’s a **third** helicopter that I’m forgetting, the first one didn’t fall on him. Rather, it chopped his arm off when he got too close to the tail rotor. (It was parked on the roof, blades spinning, and he stood up suddenly from a crouching position in the wrong place.) I loved that episode, if for no other reason than the fact that it was completely unexpected. I don’t remember NBC spoiling the surprise in one of their previews either. (Rosalind Shays’ death in the elevator shaft on LA Law was another surprise event on an NBC show.) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-character-departures/480030/65 "2009-01-07T23:17:21Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Thus missing the even more ridiculous airplane falling on a housing development, which was trumped by the shoot-out in the ER to kidnap Sam and her son, trumped in turn by Neela getting trampled at an anti-war rally, and finally by the exploding ambulance. > > County General: the only place in the multi-verse more dangerous than Gotham City. Wasn’t there a runaway tank in there somewhere? ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-character-departures/480030/66 "2009-01-07T23:36:32Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I’m not sure you’re clear on what “full-circle” means. Wesley started as an categorical, peerless dweeb and ended up as the baddest mofo west of the Rockies. That’s a 180, not a circle. By “full circle character” I meant he was a fully fleshed out, complete character. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-character-departures/480030/67 "2009-01-07T23:39:39Z")
You meant well-rounded, then. Full circle confused me too. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-character-departures/480030/68 "2009-01-08T03:03:16Z")
Two of the most unexpected departures when I was a kid were semi-regular Grace Garvey and the infant child of Mary Ingalls on “a very special episode of” Little House on the Prairie. Since it’s been almost 30 years I don’t think it’s necessary to spoiler- they burned to death in a fire caused by Albert Ingalls smoking! It was one of those “damn, never saw that one coming!” moments. # Speaking of, Albert Ingalls was perhaps the most enigmatic “departure” for a long term TV character. The actor left the series when Michael Landon and Karen Grassle left but came back to Walnut Grove periodically, once to kick a Prairie Smack habit and the other time to get sick and find out he was terminally ill with only a few minutes to live. At the end of that episode he climbs a tall hill, clearly struggling every inch of the way for breath, but he does it, and it’s assumed he died then or very soon after. OTOH, in a much earlier episode Laura (narrating in flashback) said that he eventually became a doctor like Baker. The character was never seen or referred to in any of the LH sequel movies. LHOP fans still debate whether or not he died. (Unlike the girls, Albert was a completely fictional character invented for the series so there’s no answer from the real Ingalls family, though of course they bore next to no resemblance other than names to the TV show anyway). Speaking of family shows from the 1970s, Grandpa Walton had a very moving sendoff. The actor, Will Geer, exceptionally popular with the audience, died while the show was on hiatus and the first episode dealt with the family’s adjustment to his death. ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-character-departures/480030/69 "2009-01-08T09:30:17Z")
> [@SaharaTea](#): > > The departure of Nurse Hathaway (Julianna Margulies) on **ER** was really touching. The end of the episode showed her reuniting with George Clooney, who returned for a suprise guest appearance. Too bad most of the other staff didn’t get such dignified sendoffs (helicopter crashing on Romano’s head). They had to give her a good sendoff that time since they totally flubbed it in the pilot. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-character-departures/480030/70 "2009-01-08T15:01:15Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > Gary on “thirtysomething.” I was shell-shocked for days. (I loved Gary.) I lost two friend’s to auto accidents when I was in my early 30’s. I thought this episode was particularly realistic because this is usually how you lose someone when you’re a young adult – no sickness, no long goodbye, just a notice that someone had died, with the shocking realization that maybe you’re not immortal after all. One second they’re there and one second they’re not, and it makes absolutely no sense at all. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-character-departures/480030/71 "2009-01-08T19:12:55Z")
Mac on Magnum P.I. He was driving Magnum crazy, so Thomas tells him to go away and start the car. Boom. _sniffle_ ---
**Author:** ![ponsonby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@ponsonby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ponsonby)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-character-departures/480030/72 "2009-01-08T21:17:33Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > I hated that. Worf should have left her to die when they were trying to help the Cardassian Gul defect a few episodes earlier. Would have been more poignant. I agree with that 100%! ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-character-departures/480030/73 "2009-01-08T21:58:36Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Thus missing the even more ridiculous airplane falling on a housing development, which was trumped by the shoot-out in the ER to kidnap Sam and her son, trumped in turn by Neela getting trampled at an anti-war rally, and finally by the exploding ambulance. > > County General: the only place in the multi-verse more dangerous than Gotham City. And before those were: [ul] [li] few other hostage situations[/li][li]A _tank_ that an escaped mental patient stole showed up at their door.[/li][li]A _different_ escaped mental patient stabbed Dr.Carter and Lucy, killing Lucy.[/li][li]Gun-nut patients walk in with not only a working grenade launcher (illegal by itself,) but one that’s _loaded_ causing Jerry to accidentally blow up part of the entryway and an ambulance.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-character-departures/480030/74 "2009-01-08T22:29:15Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > And before those were: > [ul] > [li] few other hostage situations[/li][li]A _tank_ that an escaped mental patient stole showed up at their door.[/li][li]A _different_ escaped mental patient stabbed Dr.Carter and Lucy, killing Lucy.[/li][li]Gun-nut patients walk in with not only a working grenade launcher (illegal by itself,) but one that’s _loaded_ causing Jerry to accidentally blow up part of the entryway and an ambulance.[/li][/ul] I don’t mind the mental patient killing Lucy Knight. Well, that’s not quite true–I don’t mean to wish death 'pon the winsome lass. But that was long ere the show’s descent into self-parody; it wasn’t nearly as silly as the tank (which clearly I had blocked thru hysterical amnesia.) ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-character-departures/480030/75 "2009-01-08T22:34:41Z")
I really like the way they killed off Tony Soprano’s water heater Everybody watching the show knew that Nancy Marchand had died, and so when the FBI guys tailing the family members suddenly noticed everyone getting phone calls and rushing back home, it was only natural to assume that the news we were about to get was about Livia. Brilliant writing. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-character-departures/480030/76 "2009-01-08T22:43:13Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Speaking of family shows from the 1970s, Grandpa Walton had a very moving sendoff. The actor, Will Geer, exceptionally popular with the audience, died while the show was on hiatus and the first episode dealt with the family’s adjustment to his death. Similarly, I felt that the way that The West Wing dealt with 9/11 was very good indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-character-departures/480030/77 "2009-01-09T02:07:41Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > I’m glad that Wesley’s character on “Angel” was heroic. Great end to a full-circle character. He is back as a ghost. 🙂 In hell. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-character-departures/480030/78 "2009-01-09T17:47:47Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Similarly, I felt that the way that The West Wing dealt with 9/11 was very good indeed. I don’t believe I have read words praising “Isaac & Ishmael” before now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-character-departures/480030.md?page=3)